Watch your mechanic

[Thunderduckie]

Originally Posted by aldridgec Any clue why the drag link was separating? Was the joint stud coming out of the knuckle or something? The stud had in fact come free of the knuckle. In conclusion, the REAL mechanic determined that in the 70,000 miles I had the truck, the knuckle had never been greased.

[ford7379trucks]

Always know your mechanic. Befriend him, ask questions. So what exactly do you have to do to replace this? I do all my own work but if i don't feel like it and have the money i take it to a friend. I know how to fix it be for I go and i pretend like i want to know how when i get there. Dont tell him how to do his job. Make him think hes telling you. All vehicles have there way of doing things. Your mechanic mite not know about. Knowing like asking on here will save you some money and maby from making a mistake on who you let work on your truck.

[EXv10]

Originally Posted by jake00

my wife took the durango to jiffy lube to get a tire rotation....

she calls me up frantically saying they "broke a lugnut on a wrench"

We head back there and it turns out the guy stripped a nut on his nice socket.

I asked for the nut, He complained that it was attached to his MAC socket. I told him he could hand me my lugnut , i didn't care what it was attached to, or I was going to get a lot louder in front of the 20 waiting customers. he asked if i'd return the socket, Some day I might.....

Right on Jake My worst experience was as a Midas muffler shop. The truck was up on the rack and we were under it and he kept pointing things out and trying to sell me an expensive muffler and wanted me to sign something saying I declined all the offers he had ( All new brackets, tailpipe, brake parts etc.) . I said; I told you I want a cheap standard muffler and went to lunch. I came back and the idiot was standing under the truck with his clipboard and said I didn't sign anything yet. They finally put the muffler on (without me signing) and they offered me a rose when I paid. I told them to keep the rose and smoked the tires out of there. I'll never step foot in a Midas or any other chain muffler shop again.

[ruschejj]

The psychology of retail business is frightening. People spend their whole lives trying to figure out how to swindle us!

I have been to our local Firestone for tires a few times. Guys are pretty decent but they size you up as you walk up to the counter and choose which way they are going with your sale. Every woman that leaves one of those chain stores gets hit with "need new wipers, air filter, fuel filter, brakes w/new rotors, alignment, cv boots, ball joints"

To the OP: Scary and your advice is well received here.

[senix]

I always double check any work that I have done, no matter what it is just because of these issues. I used to turn wrenches years ago and I know it can be quite temping to take that short cut and not double check your own work.

[tommypic]

There was an older lady came in my friends shop in tears . She told him that she just had her late model ranger serviced and they told her it wasnt safe to drive . They told her the brakes was worn out , needed brake fluid , trans fluid , rear end dope and power steering fluid changed . said it had a transmission leak ( it was bone dry ) . She had seen a coupon for one of those tire stores and was close so she went in for an oil change . We told her thats how they can do it cheap ( oil change that is ) if they can get a few people to get those things done . They have nade their money on the oil change . I got a friend thats got a shop and he does all my work

[n4aof]

Originally Posted by sphinx

He starts going over what was done and gets to the point where he says that all 4 tires where inflated to the proper pressure, because the other 3 were at 45 psi so we set them with what the door sticker said was right for the vehicle, 32 psi.

So I stopped him and asked him to repeat that. He did, and then I asked him if 32 psi was what the tire sidewall said. He replied that what the tire said didn't matter, you went off what the door sticker said. So I asked what if the tires aren't the same as came on the truck from the factory (which they aren't) He said " doesn't matter the sticker is what you go by.

So, you were both wrong. And the point is??

[CampD]

[quote=Thunderduckie;7819852]Recently, I replaced the ball joints on my '03 F-250 4x4. I have always worked on my own vehicles, and thanks to this post by Dave http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/35...ll-joints.html I was able to comfortably and easily complete the job. I took my truck to the local Firestone the next day (Saturday) and asked that they do an alignment, balance and rotate the tires, do an oil and lube job and inspect the truck. I told them that I was taking my family on a trip to Chicago (about 1500 miles round trip) and I wanted to make sure that the truck was roadworthy and safe.

This is the first problem (not bashing here) but replacing the ball joints you should have noticed the drag link (always inspect all front end parts when you replace one). Now on to the part about the chain stores, most responding posts are correct, these stores are manned by kids out of school and getting on the job training. Your correct a good mechanic would never had aligned the truck without checking it over first, 2nd the alignment rack would have alerted the mechanic to a problem.
Finialy, glad that you and your Family are ok.

[alchymist]

WARNING - long story-

Case in point....while I was working in the Peoples Republic of Maryland, my daughter purchased an '04 Focus from a very large Ford dealer in Columbia. The car she originally looked at was advertised with a large discount promotion or something to that effect. Anyway, I advised her to do a little research before buying, as it appeared the car had been in a wreck. When the salesman called her at home, she told them she wanted to get a Carfax report before making up her mind. "No problem, we can get it for you, just come back in and we'll have it". They did have it, and it did show collision repair. Just "minor" according to the salesman. I told my daughter it was her choice, but if it were me I'd walk away. She really liked the car, but decided to pass, and told the salesman so. She asked if he had any other vehicles like that one. Of course he didn't, and if she didn't take this one someone would surely grab it, as it was a great deal. She said no thanks and we headed for the door. The sales manager stopped us and asked the salesman what was happening. After the story, he asked the salesman if he had shown us the tan '04. What tan '04? Anyway, the tan '04 had 10k less miles, clean carfax, etc, and same price.

To make a long story short, the dealer offered free oil changes and car washes for life of the vehicle. When she took the car in for an oil change, they "inspected" the car, and it "needed" $800+ in repairs, including brake job, new tires, etc. They also told her that if the work wasn't done, it canceled the free oil changes. As I looked the paper work over, I noticed that on the inspection report, there was a line for "cabin air filter (if applicable)". The mechanic had checked "not applicable". On the list of required repairs was the line "replace cabin air filter". They also said they would do the work for $600 as a courtesy to the customer.

When she got home, I looked the tires over...no problem there. Later I pulled the wheels and inspected the brakes - no problems there either. 70-80 % pads front, and 60 on rears. Interestingly enough, neither rear wheel had been pulled. The tires lasted another two years, and the brakes were finally serviced after three years. Needless to say, she never went back there for service work.

[superduty4x4]

Great post, and this is exactly why if I can't do it myself, I will stand there and watch them work on my rig. It's not that I don't trust people, I just want to make sure that what I ask to have done actually does get done.

[sphinx]

Originally Posted by sphinx

He starts going over what was done and gets to the point where he says that all 4 tires where inflated to the proper pressure, because the other 3 were at 45 psi so we set them with what the door sticker said was right for the vehicle, 32 psi.

Originally Posted by n4aof

So, you were both wrong. And the point is??

yep, you're right just looked it, was late and my memory is failing. The door says 30 psi cold and the tires say 44 psi cold. So they had set the tires to 30 psi when they should have been 44

[brian42]

I'm glad you were all okay and got it fixed before it completely failed.

I also use Firestone for my alignments (lifetime). I also did my ball joints recently (except I replaced both drag links, both tie rods and adjustment tubes too) and took it in to Firestone for an alignment. I told them to straighten the steering wheel when the align it. "No problem" they said. It was apparently their standard practice.

I go to pick up my rig. They show me the alignment sheet (surprise, it was way out) and they're upset with me because of the time it took them to align it because it was "so far out". Are you kidding??!!!?! Then I go to leave and the wheel is easily an 1/8 of a turn to the right when I'm driving straight! since the drag link adjustment tube is two 15mm nuts (torqued to 40lb-ft), I did it myself at home. If only I could find a place with an alignment rack that I could use...

If I ever take my wife's truck in (free rotation/balance at Discount Tire) when I don't have the time to do it myself, I watch them every second. I tell them torque wrench only. They are usually good about that, but other shops I have been to will just whip out the pneumatic wrench and have at it...

[CampD]

[quote=brian42;7821665] I watch them every second. quote]
Ever notice how much this bugs them? more reason for me to watch them closer.

[n4aof]

Originally Posted by sphinx

The door says 30 psi cold and the tires say 44 psi cold. So they had set the tires to 30 psi when they should have been 44

The point is that the tire sidewall does NOT state the correct inflation pressure for that tire regardless of the vehicle. For any tire there is a range of 'correct' air pressures depending on the actual load. Generally the sidewall lists only the MAXIMUM inflation pressure for that tire when installed on the intended width rim and operating at full rated load.

This is why mechanics are routinely taught to follow the manufacturer's recommended tire pressure (as listed on the vehicle sticker) NOT whatever happens to be listed on the tire sidewall. The actual correct pressure is a bit more complicated, but the door sticker is right far more often than not.

Yes, the manufacturer's recommended tire pressure is for the OEM size and type of tire; and yes, a significantly different tire may require a different tire pressure -- but in no case is there any reason to assume that the maximum tire pressure shown on the sidewall is the "correct" pressure for that tire regardless of what it is mounted on.

Any decent tire manufacturer can tell you the correct pressure for one of their tires if you tell them the exact tire, the actual rim width, and the actual load. The better tire stores will have this information available as provided by the manufacturer either as tables in a book or on a computer The data will generally only be available for one rim width or perhaps a few rim widths across a narrow range based on how the tire was designed to be mounted.

Because the correct inflation pressure does depend on the actual load, trucks typically should adjust the pressure (particularly at the rear wheels) differently between loaded and unloaded. This is usually not a problem with cars unless loaded very heavily.

[EXv10]

My other bad experience was when was when I had my ball joints done in another state (SD). They didn't put snap rings on the lower ones (4x4) and left 2 of the 4 nuts off of the steering knuckle, which I didn't discover until after a year of offroading. They only charged $425 for the 2 lowers but they wanted $25 for a clip they said was missing on the caliper. I told them a didn't ask for the clip and left. Down the road I realized they didn't offer a reciept and came back.