Hi,

We have a 2008 Grand Caravan with 108K miles. It has been very reliable, and with the exception of new brakes, it hasn't had a single problem.

Within the past 2-3 months however, it has become very noisy from road noise, relative to speed.

My assumption is the wheel bearings are failing (I think all 4 wheels but front is the worst), which has been confirmed by countless posts of similar situations. I've ruled out the tires as well.

I see new bearing/hub assemblies are readily available from about $120-$180.

Of course, money is always tight. I work on my own cars and have done just about everything (except auto transmission rebuilds) so a little grease doesn't intimidate me.

My Question: What are people's thoughts on pressing out the old bearings and replacing them (with good US made bearings) and using the same hubs?

Or is it worth paying the $$ for the new hubs? What brand (NAPA, Mopar, other)?

Thanks in advance.

 

I believe the 2008 may or may not have a recall on the front hub bearings. You can call your local dealer and give them the vin number and they can check or you can send me a pm with the last 9 of the vin and I can check.

 

You can also go to the Contact Us page on www.dodge.com.

Go to Recall Information. It will give you a place to enter your VIN.

 

Our 2008 Dodge GC SXT had the same issue. I believe in september 2011 the basic warranty period(3yr or 36K) on minivan front wheel bearings was extended to 5 yrs or 90K. The extended warranty covers select Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge GC models from 2008-2010.

 

I bought Timken front hubs on ebay for a lot cheaper than that. They were actually reboxed factory pentastar Chrysler oe hubs. The factory parts are good. The manufacturer screwed up in 2008 which caused premature wearout but that issue has long since been corrected. The same bearing fits all years of Gen 5. You should buy new $5 washers from the dealer which fit between the halfshaft and bearing assembly. They aren't sold elsewhere. The job is fairly easy.

I missed the extended warranty by 3 months.

 

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately, this van isnt under warrenty nor has the VIN been recalled.

Would it be possible to press out the old bearings and replace the bearing in the old hub?

 

No. As can easily be determined thru internet searches, the Grand Caravan bearing hubs are only sold as a complete sealed assembly. Vehicles with factory-sealed hub assemblies don't allow simple bearing replacements or rebuilds. At least I know BMW, GM, Ford & Dodge don't. The bearings and hubs that separately press into the spindle are quite labor intensive to repair. The savings in parts is flushed on hydraulic press work, spindle removals and/or special tools. The Grand Caravan setup is simple to repair.

As other's pointed out, the 2008 extended warranty for bearings expires in 5 yrs or 90K mi. You missed it just like me.

Buy Timken on ebay or rockauto. They are half the cost of dealer but it's the same exact part with pentastar logo. Any brand aside from OE or Timken will be a risky potshoot. I would strongly advise you to stay away from generic bearings because some only last a few thousand miles. It is not worth double work and double parts cost trying to save a few bux. The OE supplier corrected the factory defect less than a year after the 2008 was released, so any new OE or Timken bearing should hold up for the life of the vehicle.

 

as mentioned, you can not. Just go buy a TIMKEN bearing from Rockauto, they are very easy to replace.


I would hesitate buying from Ebay, too many counterfeit parts.


Also, you can ask if your dealer would sell you the Wheel Bearing that is used under the extended warranty. Those Wheel bearing are cheaper, only thing it is missing is the wheel speed sensor.

 

I have had tremendously positive experiences buying automotive parts from ebay over the last decade. Probably spent $10K for street and track cars and repairs for other's. There is no better place I know of to investigate seller reputation and history and get zero risk buyer protection. Bad sellers with counterfeit or substandard parts simply can't maintain a good reputation. All sales including electrical parts are protected by paypal full money back guarantee.

I never once got a counterfeit part off ebay.

Rockauto, Jegs, tirerack and the largest, deepest discount Dodge dealerships sell on ebay.

The fake parts on ebay are found in almost all aftermarket parts stores. They are simply generic or remanufactured parts. Some sellers do word the auctions in a fashion which makes it difficult to tell. I don't get tricked easily. Read the auction closely and you will see that the $23 new power heated mirrors for your Grand Caravan are really generic "like quality" parts, not a Dodge $80 factory part being sold at 70% off. Same goes for $60 radiators, $30 window regulators or a set of four new BMW M3 wheels for $600 (List price at dealer is about $550 for one).

I'd be bankrupt if I bought all my parts from dealerships even though I get about 30% off. My 2001 Grand Caravan is probably 1/3 generic ebay at this point lol. The $60 generic radiator has about 140K miles on it.