'06 Dakota V8 Quadcab having a noisy front suspension. Dealer says control arms and ball joint replacement for $2700 plus alignment. NOT! Looking at the parts, it appears that the lower control arms(that's what the dealer reccomended) are making the noise (89,000MI) and the Rockauto parts (left and right) include the ball joints for about $265/pr. Appears that the ball joints on the upper arms may need some replacement also or do the complete upper control arm w/ball joints need to be replaced/ordered. Are upper ball joints sold separate from the replacement upper control arms or are they integral with the upper control arms? Should I just replace the bushings on the upper control arms instead? Seems like they would have put greaseable ball joints up front OEM but I guess Mopar did not think of that.
Labor done locally- what can I expect for the approx time charge for the work?

 

Lower ball joints are pressed in and can be replaced without replacing the control arms.

Upper ball joints require purchasing the whole upper control arm. Which does make replacement very easy as its just three bolts in and out. I went with moog problem solver parts for everything and it took me about an afternoon to do all of the work in my driveway.

 

Change the upper and lower at the same time get it over with. I went with MOOG Problem solver parts also. None of the newer manufactures have serviceable suspension parts from factory anymore

 

Appreciate the info guys. Looks like about $450 for parts plus labor. Dealer quoted $875 labor so should be able to come in under that. Uppers look real easy with the lowers requiring some heavy work. Add a Front end alignment and I should be pretty good for at least another 50K miles.
Got new rubber on it, new rear shocks, front struts, rotors and brakes, tie rods and stabilizer bar links. What else can go wrong? Used mostly for towing a 4000# boat/trailer combo mostly local ;-)

 

I did one lower on the weekend, took me 2 hours, but the 3-year-old from across the street came over to "help" and that likely added another half hour.

Make sure you have the 35mm socket for the half-shaft if you are 4wd. Otherwise, good spray of penetrating oil and some well-placed anger goes a long way (3-year-old thought it was pretty funny when I said "I'm going to get angry now" before I got out the BFH, then we had a little cheer when the part came loose).