So not being in the states and not being able to take care of old blue I tried to have my wife go to drop my truck off for a lift kit by her parents "family mechanic". the guy said he had a motor to build before he could even look and give me a price. so there wasn't a rush because of not being in town for a while. 3 weeks later she calls and he still hasnt looked at it. so i decide its time to go get the truck or see what his deal is. Come to find out he has picked up to more motors to rebuild on the side. So my wife takes my truck back. As she is getting the keys that were still left on the seat where she left them he walks up and says oh yea your truck is leaking everywhere. Not being home i cant tell where the leaks are. So she goes across town the next day to get another opinion. they say its has some leaks and they refer her back to him!! So i decide being the nice guy i am to see what he says is wrong with it. He says i need the oil pan replaced which i have gotten mixed reviews on because he says he needs to lift the motor slightly. i hear both yay or nay on that. Then he says im leaking antifreeze and my rear main seal is leaking. then calls back and says my rear diff is leaking and that he could "move" my rear end around. Does this rear end need complete rebuilding? i found a ford 8.8 rear end complete set up with .327 gears for 175 bucks on craigslist and if its possible i could get that if its the route i should take. any advice helps. again being as that im not home i cant do a thing as far as seeing the truck myself. he wanted i think 750 to rebuild my rear end. He is also the guy who replaced her mothers camry's front axle because he didnt know if the ticking was from the hub assembly or not and just wanted to be sure of it getting fixed. told me 2700 to fix all the leaks and rear end. I also live in the decatur/huntsville, AL area so if anyone knows a good place near there im willing to give it a shot. thanks!

 

Go to a real shop.not some back yard guy.

 

Your rearend probly just needs a gasket. I think this guy is pretty rediculas if he thinks its needs rebuilt if its just leaking.

 

To you, at least half this site could be considered "shade tree" mechanics. If you've come on here looking for answers/help with any problems your truck has then chances are "some back yard guy" is going to be the one helping you.

To OP, if the truck isn't going to be used and its not a huge priority just keep the truck at home and work on it when you get back.

 

Its true you need to lift the motor to do the oil pan gasket. Its a tough job on this truck. The rear end can be resealed without rebuilding but without being able to check it out I wouldn't know if it needs a rebuild or not. From the information you have its hard to tell if your mechanic is just doing his job or taking you for a ride. Replacing a front axle because it might be ticking however is a bit sketchy. Also $2700 sounds a little high even with a rear end rebuild. For the record I am a professional Ford mechanic.

 

Considering i am a ASE certified diesel mechanic I'm saying from advise. Many people come to me saying well i let my brothers dads best friend work on out and now its worse off. If you can't fix it properly then take it to see one who can

 

Not getting into the ASE/non-ASE crap. I'm saying from experience, a good portion of this very site is "some back yard guy". Don't advise someone not to use a STM just because that's what they are. If the mechanic does sketchy work that's one thing. As far as I remember OP saying, hes not even around. I would recommend just waiting until he gets home before doing anything.

 

Just because you have a piece of paper that says ASE on it doesn't mean you're smart.

 

I said I wasn't getting into it...so Sean did. Should have seen that coming.

 

I agree here. I've know great mechanics and terrible ones with degrees certs years of experience or nothing at all. You can never tell. From my experience there is definite benefit to training and education and nothing can replace hands on but if your a bad mechanic or a cheat nothing will fix that. To the op I think at least a second opinion would be a good idea.