The Saga Continues... M1008 front end reassembly

[hndrsonj]

You need a new mechanic.

5 months to figure the caliper was on incorrectly? Yep-Fire the mechanic!

 

[a175]

Technically from what I saw, work only began a few weeks ago. I agree I need a new mechanic. However, I am kind of stuck at this point. The day I get it back, I'm seriously considering taking it to the nearest Chevrolet dealer for them to inspect it. Lord knows what else could be wrong. If any semi-local members want to give me some hands-on training, I would appreciate it. Book knowledge is one thing, but experience is another. I can't tell you how many times I read through The Ranger Handbook. That doesn't mean I got all the knots down-pat.

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[wikallen]

The best mechanic you will find is in your own driveway.

I do not remember all from the other thread, but what exactly was wrong with it for the last 5 months?

 

[a175]

Driver side hub and spindle were chewed up pretty bad when the bearings broke apart. The spindle nuts were seized to the spindle and had to be broken to remove them. Tie rods/steering linkage went bad from dead rubber. Front axle seals were apparently dead, as when I removed the pumpkin a bunch of water/giblet gravy came out.

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[a175]

Getting an alignment right now. Followed immediately will be new steering shock absorber thingy and the u-bolt support doohickey for the new long left-to-right steering rod.

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[rickf]

That has got to be one of the easiest front ends to work on. Everything is basic. Any shade tree mechanic would have been able to figure out what was wrong fairly quickly, like hours, not months. It sounds like you took it apart and he is putting it together? I get the impression there is a lot more to this story. You say it needed a new bearing race, did he also replace the bearing I hope? You never replace one without the other.
I would definitely have a certified mechanic check it over right away. This is your steering and brakes you are depending on. Do you really trust that monkey that much?

Rick

 

[a175]

Yes. I was the one who took it apart. A previous thread squared me away (thanks SS dudes!) as far as I could go with simple hand tools, zero experience, and almost no elbow room to work with. The driver side reassebly stopped with the lower bearing race. Nothing I did could seat it, and I didn't have the right tools. The passenger side stopped at the lower kingpin cup thingy.
One thing the "mechanic" mentioned was that he would have gotten it to me sooner had it not been disassembled already. While there may be some truth to that, I told him he was full of it and had told me on previous occasions that he was working on other folks cars because they were bigger money jobs (and they were probably smart enough to have NOT pre-paid for a service).

 

[rickf]

If someone brought a basket case to me it was always going to cost more than if I did the entire job myself since first I have to find all the parts. Then figure out what parts are missing and there are always parts missing, usually little things like bearing nuts, washers, spacers. Stuff that is a pain to get usually. Then there is the process of finding out what damage the owner did taking it apart along with what damage was done to begin with. All of this would have been taken care of as I disassembled it if I had done the job. I would always quote the normal shop rate plus 25% with a guarantee to return any money if I finished sooner. And I did on several occasions. I did not ask for prepayment but I did ask for 50% up front. It was never treated as a back burner job, it was the same as any other job. The reason for the upfront was the plain fact that 9 times out of 10 the vehicle was a piece of junk anyway and I wanted to make sure you were coming back for it. If you did not then at least I got my parts money out of it plus whatever I could sell it for. No way should it have taken months, the guy must not have had much business to be able to have a bay tied up that long.

Rick

 

[a175]

Bay? Hah! How about outside behind the shop. A bed full of my new parts, his trash, and standing water.
I'm glad it's over with.

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