adamj
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2015
- Posts
- 349
- Reaction score
- 43
- Location
- Colorado
- First Name
- Terrence
- Truck Year
- 1987
- Truck Model
- V20 Suburban
- Engine Size
- 5.7L TBI
This is why I do all the work on my vehicles myself, I just can't trust people because they're not going to put the same effort and care into my vehicle that I would. The old saying is true, if you want it done right, do it yourself. This would have never happened if I had just done the work myself...
Anyway, here's my sad story:
I was on a deadline and needed work done before a road trip in the burb, so I brought it in to a shop to have them do the last few things I didn't have time for. I hated to do this, but it was winter and I don't have a real shop and time was running out.
I needed the front diff's bearings replaced, and the front end gets pretty much fully disassembled in order to do this, so I thought I would have them throw on new parts while they had everything apart: pads, rotor/hub assembly, calipers, x4 ball joints, axle shaft u-joints, bearings/seals, and new warn premium locking hubs.
I should have suspected something was up with this shop when they called and said the new hubs weren't fitting. Well that's strange because it's absolutely the right part number and is a very universal part: Warn 20990.
I said fine, just put the old hubs back on, I leave for a trip the next day and don't have time for this, plus the old ones were still usable.
After my roughly 2,500 mile road trip, I notice a whole vehicle vibration beginning to develop as the trip goes on, and also see that my front tires are wearing down irregularly and alarmingly fast. I take it to a tire shop to have them balanced and rotated. They immediately call me in to the shop to show me this excessive amount of play in the wheels that was causing the wear. They said the spindle nut has probably backed off. How funny, since the last people in there was that driveline shop - they probably didn't even break out the torque wrench and torque that outer lock nut to 160-205 ft lbs. This is my life they're playing with!
So now I need to confront this shop and get to the bottom of this. I am wondering if anybody has experienced poor quality work before and how they handled the situation. It's for this very reason that I never have shops do work on something I can do myself (pretty much down to only tire balancing and complex differential stuff right now).
I want to approach this calmly, but make sure I don't get screwed over if they try and get out of doing any work.
So far I will be demanding new tires, these are expensive mud terrains close to $250 a piece, and they are badly cupped and ruined in my opinion because of the uneven wear. And that's just the start, I'm not sure what kind of damage the front wheels wobbling around like that for over 2k miles has done to other suspension parts like ball joints, tie rod ends, steering connecting tie rod ends, etc.
Any advice/tips?
Anyway, here's my sad story:
I was on a deadline and needed work done before a road trip in the burb, so I brought it in to a shop to have them do the last few things I didn't have time for. I hated to do this, but it was winter and I don't have a real shop and time was running out.
I needed the front diff's bearings replaced, and the front end gets pretty much fully disassembled in order to do this, so I thought I would have them throw on new parts while they had everything apart: pads, rotor/hub assembly, calipers, x4 ball joints, axle shaft u-joints, bearings/seals, and new warn premium locking hubs.
I should have suspected something was up with this shop when they called and said the new hubs weren't fitting. Well that's strange because it's absolutely the right part number and is a very universal part: Warn 20990.
I said fine, just put the old hubs back on, I leave for a trip the next day and don't have time for this, plus the old ones were still usable.
After my roughly 2,500 mile road trip, I notice a whole vehicle vibration beginning to develop as the trip goes on, and also see that my front tires are wearing down irregularly and alarmingly fast. I take it to a tire shop to have them balanced and rotated. They immediately call me in to the shop to show me this excessive amount of play in the wheels that was causing the wear. They said the spindle nut has probably backed off. How funny, since the last people in there was that driveline shop - they probably didn't even break out the torque wrench and torque that outer lock nut to 160-205 ft lbs. This is my life they're playing with!
So now I need to confront this shop and get to the bottom of this. I am wondering if anybody has experienced poor quality work before and how they handled the situation. It's for this very reason that I never have shops do work on something I can do myself (pretty much down to only tire balancing and complex differential stuff right now).
I want to approach this calmly, but make sure I don't get screwed over if they try and get out of doing any work.
So far I will be demanding new tires, these are expensive mud terrains close to $250 a piece, and they are badly cupped and ruined in my opinion because of the uneven wear. And that's just the start, I'm not sure what kind of damage the front wheels wobbling around like that for over 2k miles has done to other suspension parts like ball joints, tie rod ends, steering connecting tie rod ends, etc.
Any advice/tips?
