Well, that was 4 hours wasted.
02-28-2012, 03:19 PM
#1
Well, that was 4 hours wasted.
So today was the day I was supposed to have my Bilsteins put on, all 4. Took the morning off, had the truck there 30 minutes before my 8am appointment.
I had spoken with the service manger at National Tire and was told he would have a certain worker doing it, his best one.
I told them I wanted to speak with the tech before he started as there were a couple of things I wanted to touch base with on (such as level height) and others. We went out to the truck and I showed him the parts I had, his eyes got huge "I've never seen anything like that, but I'm pretty sure I can get it all on". Worry sets in. I gave him in the instructions and off the truck went.
About 11am (3 hours later) I asked the counter person how far along the tech was as this was only supposed to be about a 2hr job they said. He came back and told me the tech was 'just about to disassemble the lower control arm on the driver side to start getting the strut out.
I asked to go back and talk to the tech and he said 'since you've got that puck in there, the lower arm has to come out to get the strut off, no other way'. The counter person then told me the quote of 225 for the fronts was being reestimated at 450.00 double- They were sorry but they thought I had a different type of front strut. Not sure what they meant there.
Told them it had been over 3 hours and just to bolt the UCA down to the knuckle , put the wheels back on and forget it. Then I was told it would be a $50 'job fee' for canceling. I told them 'well you didn't tell me it was going to be at least 450 until 3 hours in. They caved , wheels on and I left.
I'm the most upset I've been in a very very long time
, years perhaps and that was 2 hours ago. To add to it I was asked 'would you like us to rotate your tires while they are off? How is your oil life monitor?'.
I guess they aren't getting put on after all. Ford won't do it around here, and that's the biggest chain place I can find that does struts.
I had spoken with the service manger at National Tire and was told he would have a certain worker doing it, his best one.
I told them I wanted to speak with the tech before he started as there were a couple of things I wanted to touch base with on (such as level height) and others. We went out to the truck and I showed him the parts I had, his eyes got huge "I've never seen anything like that, but I'm pretty sure I can get it all on". Worry sets in. I gave him in the instructions and off the truck went.
About 11am (3 hours later) I asked the counter person how far along the tech was as this was only supposed to be about a 2hr job they said. He came back and told me the tech was 'just about to disassemble the lower control arm on the driver side to start getting the strut out.
I asked to go back and talk to the tech and he said 'since you've got that puck in there, the lower arm has to come out to get the strut off, no other way'. The counter person then told me the quote of 225 for the fronts was being reestimated at 450.00 double-
They were sorry but they thought I had a different type of front strut. Not sure what they meant there.Told them it had been over 3 hours and just to bolt the UCA down to the knuckle , put the wheels back on and forget it. Then I was told it would be a $50 'job fee' for canceling. I told them 'well you didn't tell me it was going to be at least 450 until 3 hours in. They caved , wheels on and I left.
I'm the most upset I've been in a very very long time
, years perhaps and that was 2 hours ago. To add to it I was asked 'would you like us to rotate your tires while they are off? How is your oil life monitor?'.I guess they aren't getting put on after all. Ford won't do it around here, and that's the biggest chain place I can find that does struts.
02-28-2012, 03:38 PM
#4
Senior Member
Dang man I hate to hear that and $450 is insane for that kind of job. Why not do it yourself? The only special tool required (assuming you have a collection of metric wrenches/sockets and a jack) is a coil spring compressor. I've helped a friend do a set and it took about two hours to complete everything and it was the first time I had disassembled an IFS front suspension. I removed my coilovers the other day and it only took about an hour to remove/replace both sides. It's definitely a job that can be done at home unless you just don't want to fool with it.
02-28-2012, 03:42 PM
#6
Dang man I hate to hear that and $450 is insane for that kind of job. Why not do it yourself? The only special tool required (assuming you have a collection of metric wrenches/sockets and a jack) is a coil spring compressor. I've helped a friend do a set and it took about two hours to complete everything and it was the first time I had disassembled an IFS front suspension. I removed my coilovers the other day and it only took about an hour to remove/replace both sides. It's definitely a job that can be done at home unless you just don't want to fool with it.
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02-28-2012, 03:47 PM
#8
Senior Member
I had two guys doing mine out here. I stood right next to them and watched them. They also had to drop the lower control arm to remove the assembly. I think the whole job took about 2.5 hours. Other than the Ford dealer, which I do not trust here, this was only shop in town I could find that seemed to know anything. When I pulled in, there about a dozen dune buggies, many of which with Corvette engines, guys with laptops hooked up tuning, etc. They had never messed with 5100s before, but the only argument I had was with the manager trying to insist the rears went on "boot up". I also started talking about tuning, mentioned 5 Star, and he immediately started talking about how good of friends that him and Mike were. All of that being said, they still told me that no front end alignment was necessary...contrary to advice I am getting on the forum. I guess the moral of the story is that some of us do not have a whole lot of choices when it comes to installs. Oh yea, and they charged me about $200.
02-28-2012, 04:13 PM
#10
To make things worse I took half a day off work and drove 50 miles for it .
Last edited by Damn Dirty Ape; 02-28-2012 at 04:17 PM.