Shop’s Liability
02-18-2019, 05:13 PM
#1
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Shop’s Liability
I need to know if my argument makes logical sense to people other than myself. This past September I took my truck to a local truck outfitters shop to get a leveling kit installed that included coilovers and UCAs for my front end(it’s a Stage 3 Motorsports kit) and was pleased with how the install went. Early last week I started hearing this metal crunching sound coming from my front left wheel when I was driving around that would not go away regardless of being in 2wd or 4wd. I took it into the dealership where they discovered a bad check valve coming from the IWE system of that wheel. Upon further investigation they found that the axle nut had actually sheared off the threaded end of the CV axle, thus destroying those pieces, plus the hub assembly and actuators. The mechanic at the dealership told me this is due to the axle nut being torqued down incredibly too hard by the mechanics shop that had worked on it to install the kit, as they were the only people to have ever touched that nut since the truck was built. Repairs for it are running around $1700, and I am fighting for the shop who installed the leveling kit to pay for the repairs since it was caused by their negligence. Is this a reasonable and logical stance to take on the issue? The truck is a 2015 XLT 4wd.
02-18-2019, 08:52 PM
#3
Trying to figure it out!
Totally acceptable. As long as you can prove they were the only shop to touch that part - which I have no doubt believing. This happened to my brother just last week when he was changing the brakes on his daughters car. It was in back in Nov/Dec and had new struts put on. He pulled the wheel off last weekend and the axle was sheared in the same place you're talking about.
I hope it works out for you, there is always small claims court if needed.
I hope it works out for you, there is always small claims court if needed.
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chimmike (02-24-2019)
02-24-2019, 08:45 AM
#4
Senior Member
Here's a question..... was the broken stub/nut inside the dust cap, or MIA? If missing, it's obviously been broken by human hands. If present, you have no case. Those threaded stubs are small and easy to break, especially with the crimp style lock-nut that Ford uses. There is no load on the stub/nut, it just keeps the axle from sliding out of the hub so it's practically impossible to break one in service. I have little doubt that it wasn't a case of fat hands that broke it, but you'll probably never be able to prove it. The other problem is you now have two different sets of hands involved, and they're probably just going to point at each other.
Last edited by PerryB; 02-24-2019 at 09:39 AM.