As some of you know, I had a bad left front u-joint and read all the repair help on this forum. I know I could have fixed it, but a local shop quoted me $440 to R&R both front u-joints using Precision 464 joints.

I dropped the truck off this morning and signed the repair order for $440, I also signed the line that says "No additional repairs may be made without prior authorization" and I was sure to tell the owner that I would not pay for any additional parts or labor and if he thought something was wrong he MUST contact me before he does anything.. I'm paranoid, and this same shop told me I needed ball joints 70,000 miles ago ( I still have the original joints).

I hadn't heard from him all day and figured I'd call before 5pm. I looked at the phone and saw there was a message. He had called at 3:15, it was now 4:30. His message said call me as soon as you can.

I called and he said the job is worse than he thought, and I would need two new unit bearings, a new spindle and new brakes.

I asked why and he said he destroyed both bearings by heating them and hitting them with a hammer, and even so, one won't come off so he wants to cut the spindle to get the bearing out. His estimate is to replace two new unit bearings ($840.00) and order a new spindle ($350.00). These prices are for parts only.

I told him there is NO WAY I am authorizing additional repairs, and as far as I'm concerned, he had no right to destroy a bearing, let alone two bearings without letting me know. My thought is that at some point in the repair, the mechanic has to know that what he expected to find is not happening, and if he does the next thing (torching the bearing, beating on them with a hammer, whatever) that the cost will go up and he was NOT authorized to exceed the estimate without approval.

His reply to me was that the truck was now immobile on his lift and he is wasting thousands of dollars in lift time so he just proceeded.

So now what? I can't hardly get my truck back with no front axles on it.

 

He did it the expensive way. A freind I work with has an 01 and anouther freind with a nice home shop was helping him put new ball joints on and they couldent get the bearing out. They where abough to destry it to get it apart and then he called an freind of his that suggested to cut the ball joints off with a sawsall and then take the entire bearing asembly to a hydraulic press and press it apart. it worked but it was abought all the 40 ton press could do to get it apart. It saved him from having to by new unit bearings and saved him a ton of money.

 

Show him this - http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog If this guy is running a professional shop then he should have known better.

 

The shop has to pay for the parts they damaged by not using proper tools and procedure when removing the hub bearing. Hitting with hammer and heating will destroy any bearing and the mechanic knew this but still proceded without telling you first. Your responsible for the amount that you authorized only.

 

I wonder why they cut the spindle to be honest I can see no need for that. That said I doubt the guy is going to just let you walk out paying the orginal amount. I would try to come to a middle point, you pay half parts, and he pay labor and the other half of the parts. I would also tell him that you will not ever come back and plan to tell everyone you know about your bad experience.

 

This!

The shop is responsible. If there was a line that you signed that said you only authorize the original amount and they did more work than needed, THEY are at fault. They should have stopped until you could be contacted. They did not loose thousands of dollars on lift time if they tried to call you at 3:15 and you called back at 4:30.

 

holy s***! No way should you pay them for messing up good parts. The bearings can be a huge pain to get off, but I have never experienced one that didn't eventually budge with the right tools/method. The shop needs to eat it. It's their mistake, not yours. If it were me and they wouldn't - I would get a lawyer.

 

I know that if the shop I work at had this issue, we would eat the additional repairs. I would not pay and look at other options to get them to make it right, or have it towed to a shop you trust and then you may have to take them to court for the difference.

 

It's not uncommon to have to replace the bearings when the axle joints are replaced. ESPECIALLY in the areas where salt is used like it's free in the winter. In Chrysler's design, their outstanding engineers felt that, "We build these trucks so well they'll never need repairs, they'll outlast our customers. So there's no need for a little anti-seize on that bearing socket..." When you replace the bearings use anti-seize on re-assembly and the next time (if you keep the truck, THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME) repairs are needed it saves time and my personal favorite, money.

 

You should win out on this; hopefully the owner will be a stand up guy and eat what they did. Some people should not be allowed to handle a wrench. We had a mechanic were I use to work, book smart, wrench dumb.

 

make sure if they do eat the cost they use factory bearings not some cheap autozone or the like bearing, alot of places including dealers will use cheap part from chain auto part stores.

 

Because I had the dealer do mine I am not too familier with how that tool would work. Wonder if they have any pictures of how exactly it works. I would buy it if it does what they say it does.

 

it works great...takes two people to use it safely...after loosening the bolts in the back of the bearing you put that on the head of the bolt and turn the steering wheel of the truck, it wedges itself between the bolt and the yoke of the axle housing, using the power steering to push the bearing out...many times you have to go back and forth going to the opposite side and turning the wheel the other way...
If you have the resources you can make your own tool to do this, you don’t have to buy that one…when I still worked in a shop I was able to make anything I wanted and made a few of these for friends…

 

UPDATE:

Well, you won't believe this because I still don't.....

I researched the law pertaining to auto repair and think I was in the right. I had explained I would pay no extra, I'd just as soon do the work in my own shop as I am a pretty fair mechanic with all the necessary tools and lifts, but at his price of $300 for labor I just couldn't see it being worth my time to tackle the job..... However if the price was more than that I would do the work myself.

So this morning I was ready for battle. I was about to call my attorney so I would know how to pay to get my truck out of his shop yet retain my right to sue for damages later. In Wisconsin a person can sue for twice the amount of the repair plus all costs. I am self employed and not exactly poor, so I had the time and money for a battle and I was ready.

Then the phone rang. It was the shop, and the owner apologized for how he acted the day before (I didn't think he acted rude, just told me that the cost was about to jump 500% and I'd have to pay, tough luck, nothing I could do..). He explained he was upset yesterday and he had made a mistake. Today was a new day and he would cover all damages and I would only pay the original estimate amount.

I was dumbstruck. I asked if he would still repair the truck. Yes, immediately he said. Both sides I asked? Yes sir, we'll get it done and get you back on the road as soon as possible. I asked if I could still come down and look at the truck and he said stop by anytime....

I did go to the shop and sure enough he had the front end all torn down. I noticed the rotors looked like new and asked about them, he said he had them deglazed, as long as they were off he likes to do that for customers.

He said he had let the right bearing soak in penetrating oil overnight and I told him about the snap-on tool or using an extension, and while he said he had heard of that, I'm not sure if he had, or maybe his mechanic hadn't and he would be overseeing the rest of the repair. He had a new spindle on order in case he couldn't get the bearing out. The only thing extra I would give up is some time because he didn't think it would be done until Monday.

Well now I felt bad. I'm a business owner and my employees make mistakes too. I pay for those mistakes. But I know I was getting extra value here and felt I should be paying SOMETHING for getting new bearings. Even if they could have been removed and reused, I was still getting new bearings.

He had recommended new brake pads and I now agreed to put on whatever he recommended. I liked the original OEM pads (106,000 miles of heavy hauling and towing on them) but he said he'd use the severe duty Wagner pads so I asked him to add them. He said he would not charge for installation because it wasn't much labor to install pads at this point.

He had a new estimate printed out, I again signed the same 'do not exceed without authorization' line and went on my way.

He called later today and said the truck is done. I went again and expected something amiss, but the charges were as he promised, the truck drives fine, the brakes stop fine.

This is not common in today's society! This shop I trusted before, then yesterday I thought they were shysters like most other shops, and today they came right around and just floored me. All I can figure is one of his mechanics attacked the front end destroying as he went, never stopping to let the boss know things weren't going well. After the owner thought about it, and talked to me and heard me say this is completely unacceptable and I would not stand being treated like this, maybe he realized the fight was wrong or not worth it. Maybe he reads DTR... Maybe he really is a good shop owner like I originally thought.....

So while half of me is waiting for something to implode or grenade on the front end, the other half is telling EVERYONE I know about the experience. How the shop made good, and how they are trustworthy. That kind of advertising is priceless.

Which makes me consider actual costs here: U-joints retail at $70 so maybe he has $50 each ($100) bearings were retail $560 ($450) and pads retail $98 ($70) So he probably has $620 in it plus labor, and I paid him $500. So he really did take a heck of a loss. I'm not someone who wants to make anyone lose money so I feel bad about it. I may need to send him some money to make myself feel better, kind of square up with him.

 

That is absolutely great!!!
No details but I had a similar problem with my Subaru. When the dust settled I felt guilty (even though I was right). I wound up dropping off almost $100 bucks worth of sandwiches and donuts onto the managers desk so he could share with the crew. I didn’t mind spending the bucks because they could have shafted me out of a lot more even though I would have fought it. I felt they deserved something since they did the right thing (and it was close to Christmas anyway).