I have a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan with a 3.0 engine and with just 2 wheel drive and 14 inch tires It has over 249,450 miles on it. I have to change the ball joints on both sides. My question is, is this something I can do myself and how hard is it? or should I just take it to a mechanic and let them do it, I got a quote for both ball joints and to install 1 CV axle it's going to cost me just under $600.00 (I'll supply the CV Axle as this is warranted for the life of my van). Thank-you for any help

 

I just finished the passenger side ball joint on my 99 3.0L 2 weeks ago. I can do a write up of it if you like, lemme know. Hard to say if you can do it yourself without knowing how mechanically inclined you are. It's not a terrible job to do, just make sure you have time for snags.

 

Here's the deal Huffman,
With that many miles on it, you may be better off buying the complete control arm--bushings and all. The mechanic has to pop the ball joints apart to install the new axles anyway. Plus, you'll need an alignment after the ball joints.

Moog control arm with new ball joint is $85 from Rockauto.com

Labor guide shows 3.6 hrs to do both control arms. Labor to do just the ball joints is 3.4 hrs. So the labor is a wash to put in brand now control arms. Labor to do both axles is 1.6 hrs on top.

 

Huffman,

Here is the write up I did. I hope it helps.

http://tducketts.com/downloads/Ball%...w%20To_v1A.pdf

 

I have to say that I agree with RickMn about replacing the control arms. I did it last year and the van drove like it was brand new when I was done. I also did the tie rods so pretty much everything on the lower end of the suspension was new.

 

You don't necessarily need an alignment after replacing ball joints, in fact, usually not. The distance between the top of the strut and lower ball joint is so huge that camber and caster will not change to a significant degree. The same is not true with cars using SLA suspensions. The ball joint would need to be a lot different in shape (longer or shorter) to make a significant difference in toe. You don't get that issue with premium aftermarket ball joints. A need for alignment would be immediately detected after the replacement. If the steering wheel changes orientation (crooked) after the job when driving in a straight line on level road then toe has changed some and realignment would be necessary.

Changing the whole arm generally adds more alignment error than just changing joints. However the same sanity check applies. If the steering wheel position does not change after the job, a realignment is absolutely not necessary. A tiny 1/16" change in toe will noticeably affect the steering wheel orientation. A 15 yo van with 200K mi will likely have worn out, cracked and floppy control arm bushings so I'd probably replace the arm assy.