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Hi. Please advise. Ok, I have 254954 miles on my caravan and everything on the front end regarding suspension has been replaced. Struts, mounts, sway bar links, sway bar bushings, outer tie rods, inner tie rods, cx axles, lower control arms, did I miss anything?
However, it was just this last week when I had finally had the drivers side cx axle replaced. The mechanic who replaced it has a few dodge grand caravans but not a 2011 like mine with touring suspension. Ok, I am usually always right over the shoulder of anyone working on my van if I am not doing the work myself. That is unless I am not allowed to be there. This mechanic works from his home though and I know him pretty well as he works on Dodge Caravans taxis all of the time.
When he removed my cx axle, he placed it next to the one that he would be installing into mine, and I noticed that the output shaft enclosure appeared to be a little shorter in length that the one that came out. I asked him about it and he sort of blew me off and said that it was because mine was messed up and the other one was new. The reason I replaced it anyway was because of the ticking noise that it was making and I recognized the noise from when I had to replace the passenger side axle. Because I trust him, I did not press the issue.
After about a day, I noticed a new noise and it was hard to pinpoint where it was coming from but it sound like it was coming from the right side and sounded like a popping noise that happened when I when over small bumps going slow and when I moved the steering wheel to the right or back and forth. So, yesterday when I went back there, and mind you this is before I had actually ever had replaced the outer tie rods. He put it up on a jack and showed me where there was some slight play in the the inner tie rods where it goes into the side of the the transmission or rack and pinion. It was not leaking and boots look good on both sides. But, because there was some slight play, he convinced me to replace both sides inner tie rods.
After doing this, when i went for a drive, the noise was exactly the same and especially coming from the passenger side front end, a popping noise very noticeable. So, I go back and I drive it up on the ramps and he tells me that suspension noises are hard to find but, crawls under the front end and tightens up suspension hardware. While he was under there, I got the notion to move the steering wheel back and forth and I heard this noisy popping like noise similar to what I hear while driving but not quite the same. So, he had e crawl under and place my hand on the inner tie rod so that I could feel the play while he moved the wheel back and forth. Then he tells me that I needed to replace my rack and pinion.
But, I had just spent the money on the inner tie rods and the rack and pinion comes with the tie rods. Anyway, I have spent money unnecessarily several times on repairs that did not fix the problem and I sick of doing that. Although, the mechanic counted the turns when installing the inner tie rods yesterday, I know I still have to have it aligned. The noise showed up after the Cv axle was replaced.
My question is, could he have installed the wrong cx axle?
Could the steering angle with regards to the rack and pinion been changed?
Are there any differences between the year models of the dodge caravan related to the cv axle?
Does the touring suspension require a unique cx axle?
Are there adjustments that can be made on the output shaft that can be done to compensate?
Could the noise be from misalignment?
I replaced the power steering fluid as I have done at least 2 or 3 other times before.
However, it was just this last week when I had finally had the drivers side cx axle replaced. The mechanic who replaced it has a few dodge grand caravans but not a 2011 like mine with touring suspension. Ok, I am usually always right over the shoulder of anyone working on my van if I am not doing the work myself. That is unless I am not allowed to be there. This mechanic works from his home though and I know him pretty well as he works on Dodge Caravans taxis all of the time.
When he removed my cx axle, he placed it next to the one that he would be installing into mine, and I noticed that the output shaft enclosure appeared to be a little shorter in length that the one that came out. I asked him about it and he sort of blew me off and said that it was because mine was messed up and the other one was new. The reason I replaced it anyway was because of the ticking noise that it was making and I recognized the noise from when I had to replace the passenger side axle. Because I trust him, I did not press the issue.
After about a day, I noticed a new noise and it was hard to pinpoint where it was coming from but it sound like it was coming from the right side and sounded like a popping noise that happened when I when over small bumps going slow and when I moved the steering wheel to the right or back and forth. So, yesterday when I went back there, and mind you this is before I had actually ever had replaced the outer tie rods. He put it up on a jack and showed me where there was some slight play in the the inner tie rods where it goes into the side of the the transmission or rack and pinion. It was not leaking and boots look good on both sides. But, because there was some slight play, he convinced me to replace both sides inner tie rods.
After doing this, when i went for a drive, the noise was exactly the same and especially coming from the passenger side front end, a popping noise very noticeable. So, I go back and I drive it up on the ramps and he tells me that suspension noises are hard to find but, crawls under the front end and tightens up suspension hardware. While he was under there, I got the notion to move the steering wheel back and forth and I heard this noisy popping like noise similar to what I hear while driving but not quite the same. So, he had e crawl under and place my hand on the inner tie rod so that I could feel the play while he moved the wheel back and forth. Then he tells me that I needed to replace my rack and pinion.
But, I had just spent the money on the inner tie rods and the rack and pinion comes with the tie rods. Anyway, I have spent money unnecessarily several times on repairs that did not fix the problem and I sick of doing that. Although, the mechanic counted the turns when installing the inner tie rods yesterday, I know I still have to have it aligned. The noise showed up after the Cv axle was replaced.
My question is, could he have installed the wrong cx axle?
Could the steering angle with regards to the rack and pinion been changed?
Are there any differences between the year models of the dodge caravan related to the cv axle?
Does the touring suspension require a unique cx axle?
Are there adjustments that can be made on the output shaft that can be done to compensate?
Could the noise be from misalignment?
I replaced the power steering fluid as I have done at least 2 or 3 other times before.