After having it up in the air and looking at it, I'm now thinking alignment which is what the first mechanic had first said. When backing up, the wheels caster is wrong and is pulling the tires out at the bottom. I kind of proved this when the tires were splayed, and I jacked it up and back down and they were back to normal.

I rocked the tires from the bottom and the top and I didn't feel any movement, not that the BJ's don't eventually need replaced because of age, and they do have zerks on them. Does that mean they are not original? I got the van at 80k and I didn't replace them since then.

So I put it all back together and greased the BJs and the tie rod end and will find somewhere to align it.