heyg uys, i took my truck to a mechanic to have an overall inspection..and ig to some bad news....its going to cost over $1600 to fix.

Front axel U-joint
Upper ball joints
lower ball joints
Rancho steering staibalizer
Sensa-track shocks x2
Pinion seal


all these plus labor is over 1600$

I went to midas. I am really starting to dislike midas. they seem very pricey, and the employess are careless. when i had my old dakota..the guy would drive it in the shop, swing open the door and bash the door against the concrete pillar! i was like wtf dude! I have sen him do it 3 tiems with my old dakota, and when i took my ram in there today he did it again!!! then, when he was doin lookin at it...he backed it out and started revving the engine, to damn near redline.????? hello this isnt your vehicle!!! he got out smiling...i gave him a dirty look. whats your guys's opinion about midas? my problem is i dont know of any good mechanincs around here really.

Anyway...about these parts...would they be hard to replace on my own? i havnt really had any expeirence with these kind of parts, but im learning..how hard would it be?

 

If that's now they treat your vehicles, why even think of taking anything back there?

I'll let others comment on how hard the items are. I've changed the ujoints in the front axle, wasn't fun, but not impossible either. Think a lot depends on your ability and tool selection.

 

Years ago I had a 78 TA with a LS. They didn't use the right fluid in the diff, the rear shuddered and they refused to fix.

 

Why do you keep going the F back there?!?!?!?!?!?!?! There giving you a good screwing!!

 

The front axle u-joint(s) and the upper/lower ball joints can be tackled by a relatively decent garage mechanic. I have replaced all of those on my own and could probably get it all done in about 3 hrs give or take as long as there wasn't any/many problems. The stabalizer can be swapped out in about 10 minutes, its only 2 bolts.

as far as the shocks or the pinion seal, i'm really not sure but it could probably be tackled pretty easily.

Now, as far as price goes:
the front axle u-joints from AutoZone are about $15 a piece
Ball Joints are I think roughly $60 a pair (uppers or lowers)

So, I say screw Midas and just tackle it all yourself if you are decent with a wrench.

 

don't go back there except to tell them to eat $hit and die.

take your truck to a couple of front end shops that look like they've been in business for awhile. ask them to check your truck and estimate what it needs. pay attention to what they look at and what they say.

decide what your needs are -
fix everything and damn the cost
or
fix only whats really really bad.


decide if you want to fix things yourself.
you'll need a place to work, might need a spare vehicle for awhile, some tools. special tools can be borrowed from autozone or advance. you'll need jack, stands, hand tools, light, maybe an air or electric impact or big breaker bars.

the parts you mentioned are not expensive, except the bearings which are real expensive. you can probably buy all those parts and a set of tools for $500.

 

Get greasable u joints.

 

Got a couple opinions on this.

First off QUIT GOING TO THAT SHOP. The 2nd time that dude cracked my door off a pillar I would have beat the **** out him

Second off QUIT TAKING YOUR TRUCK TO THAT SHOP. If some ***got revs your engine up and then ****s on your by smiling at you then you need to kick him in the ****ing ***** and stomp on him.

Thirdly QUIT TAKING YOUR GODDAMN TRUCK TO THAT ****ING SHOP. That's like $500 worth of parts. There was a time when if you didn't know how to do something you had to take it to someone who did. Now with the internet, and information as abundant as it is, anyone can do anything. Hell there's websites that will show you how to build nuclear bombs if you could actually aquire the materials. And if you need help on your truck you're already a member of the dodge forum.

 

My girlfriend took her car to the shop and they wanted $950 to take care of exhaust system. I fixed it with 2 $1.97 pipe clamps.

As to front U joint, I paid dealer $140.00 P&L to change one. Wish I had changed the axel seal at the same time -- not leaking but was open.

 

heres the problem....

The dealer gave me a 30 day 3k mile powertrain warrenty. We we told him we wanted tot ake it to a mechaninc and he said he would help us out with the costs if there was any...well there is. The dealer better help me pay this **** off. When i was there looking at the truck the guy at the dealer kept saying " we have one of the best mechanics around, he makes sure all these cars are in tip top shape before we put em out on this lot." BULS****. i just got the truck 2 days ago and look what needs done. Im thinking about cancelling the check on the truck to give me some leverage to work with.