New 87 GN (Topic merged with "It's On!" post)

[Steve Wood]

bring them over, I will do them for you

I never believe anyone on these kinda deals

[SuperSix]

Still no call. I am gonna raise some hell.

It's not a "deal", it's 10 minutes of work for someone half-competent with a press.

[Steve Wood]

I did not mean deal as in bargain

[SuperSix]

They finally called at 4:14 to tell me they still didn't have them done, and wanted to now if I wanted to wait until tomorrow or pick them up. I think I will let them do them, and then dispute the charges. Cocksuckers.

[$1987 GN$]

They finally called at 4:14 to tell me they still didn't have them done, and wanted to now if I wanted to wait until tomorrow or pick them up. I think I will let them do them, and then dispute the charges.

So who is this place; a chain?
If so let us know who it is.

AJ___

[SuperSix]

Yes. "The Tire Choice & Total Car Care Store":
http://www.thetirechoice.com/find-a-tire-choice-location/tampa-bay/store/land-o-lakes-27.aspx

I guess I should have read the Google reviews:
https://plus.google.com/103314222461580381225/about?hl=en

Or the Yahoo reviews..
http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=44750217&stx=the+tire+choice+%26+total+car+care&csz=Land+O+Lakes+FL

[daveismissing]

I dislike this trend which attempts to put a glossy franchised face on smaller mechanic shops. Putting more layers and overhead between me and the actual mechanics does nothing to increase my confidence.
 

[earlbrown]

$50 is a pretty good deal if they actually would have done it.....



....on the other hand I did every replaced every bushing in my car and did it with a framing hammer and no press.



so it is possible to do it in a driveway.









huh huh

"do it"


huh huh

[SuperSix]

I just called them to tell them I just wanted to pick them up..

He tells me "you spoke to the most inexperienced guy here, those ball joints are riveted in, I can't do it for that price,".  (I reminded him that I REPEATEDLY  told them I didn't want the upper ball joints done, that *I* would do those, I didn't even drop off the Moog upper ball joints and I spoke with the floor manager, who then went and conferred with the service manager before quoting me a price)

He then said "We were extremely busy Saturday when you brought them in." (I asked him why then weren't they done Sunday? That the floor manager I spoke with said that if they couldn't get to them Saturday, they would be done "first thing" Sunday morning when they opened at 9)

He said he would look at the work order and "Call me right back". this was at 10:30AM EST, let's see how long it takes for him to call back.

I'll bet they thought they had to do the upper ball joints, and balked at the quoted price, so they didn't do any work on them.

[SuperSix]

The comedically inept shop called me to tell me the job as done. Well, what they could do.

They couldn't get the lower ball joints out, and forgot they were supposed to replace the bushings on the LCA.

So - they are charging me $20 for what work they did do, which was replace the UCA bushings.

They gave me some sob story that the district manager came by and bitched at them for working on customer's parts, and recommended next time I bring the entire car to them, then they could do the LCA bushings, but not the lower ball joints.

Idiots.

[SuperSix]

Went to pick the parts about 3:30. All the got done was the upper control arm bushings, they couldn't figure out how to get the lower control arm ball joints off, or the LCA bushings.

While they were getting the parts together, they noticed they lost one of the bolts on the end of an upper control arm - as seen in this pic:


He said since they lost the bolt there was no charge for replacing the upper control arm bushings, and I should go to Home Depot to get a replacement bolt. I laughed in his face - and told him I seriously doubted they sold swedged, suspension grade bolts. He said he had a buddy with a salvage yard and would ask him to send me a bolt - I told him not to bother, just give me my shit so I could get out of there before I made a scene.  He said I needed to sign something saying they did the work, and I picked the parts up. He startled mumbling about how much work it was, and how he had to comp the labor - I told him to fuckin zip it and get me out of there.

I went to the other shop, they flat out said "No, we're not a machine shop."

The lady was nice, the owner that I talked to was a dick about it.

Oh well, looks like I a doing the replacement myself, at least I will know it's done right.

[$1987 GN$]

wow

Sounds like a monkey and a manager could setup shop down there and make some serious coinage . . .

AJ___

[SuperSix]

It's pretty damn pathetic.. What concerns me more is those "mechanics" repairing anything.

A customer of mine who is a gearhead too told me to check Advance Auto - sure enough, they have a really nice ball joint press kit on their loaner program - $159 deposit, I get it all back when I return it though.

No loaner tool for the lower control arm bushings, I will just cut/burn/beat the old ones out, and then use a large socket and a vise to get the new ones in.

I'll get them done tomorrow..

[SuperSix]

Finally got them done today, after making a trip to the junkyard to get a replacement A-Arm bolt.

Lower ball joints were a breeze with the very nice loaner tool kit from Advance Auto.
http://www.alltradetools.com/catalog/rental-loaner-tools/416-648602-ball-joint-u-joint-service-kit.html

Using that tool, and some old sockets - I got out the lower control arm bushings, even though the dickheads at the "shop" had tried to hammer one out.

Ground off rivets and removed the old upper ball joints, and cleaned the lowers. One side had about 1.4" or hardened grease on it - that was a joy to get off, using a putty knife, screwdrivers, and finally a wire wheel.  Used a grinder to smooth the edges too.

Spindles are degunked too, I must have scrapped/cleaned a good 2-3 pounds of crud off of them. Previous owner dicked up the threads on one spindle - I had to repair the threads a bit with a die - I am not surprised.

Today I plan to clean the uppers, and paint both the uppers and lowers with some undercoating.

Left degunked, prior to degreasing with purple stuff




Uppers with ball joints removed, pile of old bushings. They were really bad - cracked, dry, etc.


Lowers after all cleaning and degreasing:


Finally, cleaned spindles.

[Steve Wood]

Looks like you need this  http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/s_trmt_extend_spray/directions/Loctite-Extend-Rust-Neutralizer-Spray.htm