First off, I would like to say that I am usually not in the business of bashing businesses local or nationwide. But, I had a recent experience that could have cost the life of not only myself, but my family as well. I suppose the true purpose of this post is to remind you that mechanics are people, too. Inherently people make mistakes. Sometimes they are minor and have small consequences. Sometimes they can be very costly and even deadly. Always double check what your mechanic has done to your vehicle. If in doubt, make them show you exactly what they did, and ask to see the old parts.
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.
About three hours after I dropped the truck off I received a call saying that the work had been completed and the truck was ready to be picked up. This Firestone store had been the only mechanic shop that I had ever taken my truck to in the six years of ownership, so I paid the bill, got in my truck and drove home.
The truck sat idle for three days until it was time to hit the road. About 75 miles into the trip I noticed a vibration forming in the steering wheel. This vibration got worse and the miles went by to the point that the cups in the cupholder threatened to eject themsleves into my lap. I attributed this vibration to speed because I had been running 80 mph. Within another 10 miles, the steering started to fade. I could turn almost a quarter turn before the wheels would bite and try to whip the truck around. This finally ended with the truck on the shoulder limping at 10 mph to the next exit to find a mechanic.
I was able to get to Copeland's Auto Service in Boonville, Mo. The folks there were TERRIFIC and got me right in. They put the truck on the rack and discovered that the drag link was almost seperated at the spindle. Also, the grease zerk had seald shut with rust. They showed me that they could turn the passenger side tire and wheel almost 15 degrees by hand before the slack was taken up by the drag link. Also, the front tires were 3 oz. out of balance.
After 5 hours and $400 we were back on the road and able to complete our trip. Upon return, I looked at the paperwork I had received from the Firestone store. On it they never listed my vehicle, showed that the alignment needed no adjustment (new ball joint installed 24 hours prior) and that my truck had a broken windsheild. The windsheild in my truck is brand new thanks to some kids tossing a cinder block off an overpass on my way home from work. I now wonder if they even took the time to place my vehicle on a rack and check anything at all.
I am pleased to say that after a phone call, the regional manager for Firestone in Kansas City has agreed to pay for the complete cost of the repairs, but that only goes a short distance considering that the lives of my wife and two children were put at risk.
I have learned a very valuble lesson from this experience: Always double check what someone else does to your vehicle. Your life, and the lives of your loved ones depend on it.
I took my truck a FEW times to the local firestone shop only to find them doing a poor job and they changed prices on me all the time. They quote one thing and try to charge another. I stopped going there.
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Doug--
2003 F-250 4X4 CC SB 7.3 SRW Lariat Sonic Blue with Silver 2 Tone
This is why I do alot of the work myself. Firestone is no different than Pep Boys or Jiffy Lube for that matter. I often change my own oil on my other cars, but when I do occasionally take to Jiffy Lube I always double check their work. Once, my wife's car was 2qts short of oil after they did the oil change!
One of my friend worked at that Firestone I think (around Roe and 103rd or 95th). He quit a few years ago though.
Glad you're back safe though.
-rockstate
This is the Firestone at 23rd street and 291 highway in Independence. Appreciate all the comments. Good to know there are still people that look out for one another.
That's why you have to get in bed with a really good guy, that you personally like and trust. I've been taking my vehicles to the same guy for years and have always been extremely happy. Find yourself a good mechanic and stick with him.
__________________ 2002 F-250 - V10, Crew Cab, Short Bed, Lariat 4x4 aka My Lovely Big Girl.
Click HERE for my full review w/ pictures of the Banks Powerpack Exhaust System.
I took my wife's car in for a tire that would not hold air that they just put on and they flattened on side of the rim and tried to sell me a used rim for $250 and said she hit something. After seeing the bent rim they did it on the tire machine breaking it down. Cant trust firestone...
Wow good story and so glad no one got hurt. thats a good reminder to double check everything yourself. I plan on doing as much of maintanence I can on my new rig but things like alignments and such, well, hard to do that yourself.
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09 F-350 V10 4x4 6spd CC/8' ordered 5/26/09 delivered 7/6/09
99 F-150 4x4 Reg/Short bed
78 Big Bronco 4x4 (a work in progress)
84 Tbird (351W project still in dry dock)
I live in Minnesota, and years ago I would take my vehicles into a Firestone shop nearby where I worked. One day I arrived early and wound up sitting in a convenience area for about 15 minutes during a lunch break. There were no vehicles on the lifts and only one of probably a normal 4 or 5 personnel available.
What was really interesting to me was that this one fellow was non-stop calling people who had their vehicles in for tires, and telling them all pretty much the same story about how they had discovered a need for more repairs than just the new tires. In each case he explained that the vehicles were then "on the rack" and the repairs should be made right then.
The thing was, I had a full view of the repair shop, and all of the customer vehicles were outside in the parking lot. Plus, it was an amazing coincidence that all these vehicles had developed problems which this small shop could readily fix....
Never went back......
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2005 F350 V10 6spd dually, 15K receiver. No 4WD, no LS, no A/C, no special cab - just a lean mean towing machine!
I brought my truck to the dealer to replace a bad fuel pump under warranty and the guy that put it in did not seal the o-ring on the pump assy. I was at the gas station filling the tank and smelled gas so I looked under the truck and saw gas pouring out of the top of the tank and going near the exaust pipe. I also have a 100 gal transfer tank on the truck if it would have caught fire it would have been a bad scene.
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2008 ford f-250 cc 5.4 super duty , raider hi rise camper top with thule ladder racks, front winch bumper top gun, rear bumper top gun,12,000 lb. winch, 98 gal. aux tank, on board 12 volt puma air compressor w/10gal tank and 50' auto hose reel,1000 amp 2nd battery,1,000,2,500,6,000 watt power inverters, 9" hid lights, running boards, air horns by hadley, xm radio, fac. 6 cd nav. center, air bags, cb,2-4'12volt flourescent lights in back.
That's why you have to get in bed with a really good guy, that you personally like and trust. I've been taking my vehicles to the same guy for years and have always been extremely happy. Find yourself a good mechanic and stick with him.
-Agreed (except for the "in bed" part, lol), I just recently found a mechanic i can trust. I would even go as far to say to stick with a privately owned shop, IMO they just seem more thorough, but everyones human.
Been meaning to post this one about Tires Plus.
My wife came home from work and told me that the front tire on her Tahoe was low. I screwed around getting to look at it til 7:00 thinking it probably had another nail and it was no big deal since it's seems to be pretty common so I keep plugs on hand.
When I finally got around to looking at it I found that the valve stem was cracked, didn't see that one coming. So the only place I knew that was close and still open was Tires Plus, right up the road from where we live.
After getting there it took then an hour and a half to take the tire off the truck and replace the valve stem. They roll it out into the lot and the desk pilot calls me up to pay. 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.
At this point I have a complete understanding of why all those Explorers were rolling over and killing people after the tires blew out on the highway.
I spent the next 15 minutes arguing with him over this, and explaining what happens when you run tires without enough air. He never did get it, he kept telling me that 45 psi was way to much pressure for a passenger vehicle tire and that I "Just didn't understand".
Finally got to the point where I told him he was a retard and he needed a career change and left.
Which reminded me why I swore I would never go to Tires Plus again, The truck my wife had before the Tahoe ( and the kids) was an extended cab ranger which I lifted and put 33 inch thornbirds on. Looked cool but it killed the balljoints in a hurry.
So after replacing them, I had taken it to Tires Plus ( same one, but 5 years earlier) for an alignment. They called 3 hours after I dropped it off saying they needed the key for the locks on the wheels, I said, in the glove box, they said no we looked. I had too right before I dropped it off and I had even told the guy who checked me in thats where it was.
But he didn't rememeber so we were back to the missing key, which they had to have to do the alignment. After some arguing about it, the guy I was talking to told me they could get the locks off, but they might damage the wheels doing it and it would only cost me an extra $1000.00.
yeah, I could see where this was going.......
Told them to hold that thought, I was on the way and to make sure the manager was available.
He wouldn't give an inch and kept swearing he was present when they looked for the key and couldn't find it. And to be nice and "work with me " they would only charge me $500" to remove the locks. But, they still might damage the wheels.
I ended up driving away with no work done and having to shell out $300 to get the locks off and another $150 for an alignment at a small locally owned shop.
Which on the bright side I found a really good shop to get any suspension work done, they are a little more expensive, but not getting jerked around and worrying about if it was done right far outway the price difference.
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.....
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06 F250 CC v10 4x4 Lariat
RIP BIG GREEN owned her from 08.17.04 - 05.10.08
I have been using my mechanic for over 18 years now. He is great. If there is something he knows I can fix, he tells me about it (unless its needed for an inspection, then I just let him do it) Also anytime I have a problem, I can just call him up or stop by the shop and he will take some time and help me out to figure whats wrong. He is also a big time Ford guy and continually goes to classes to be up to date on stuff.
__________________ 2002 Ford F250 4x4 V10<-FORD's best kept secret. 1947 Ford 1 Ton 2001 Sport Trac (Wife's vehicle)
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