i wonder if it could be the sealed wheel/hub bearings are seized on the truck (failed). that would explain why the front wheels wont turn and act like the hubs are locked.

the thought never came to mind until i was reading about the dynatrac conversion kits for our trucks in a diesel magazine and they mention how a failed bearing would cause the truck to seize up and not move.

 

Yeah, go in there half caulked making threats, that will get you real far. I'm a tech in a dealership and have been for years, people that come in with this attitude get put on the back burner FAST!

The retail list on a quart of 75-140 over the counter is close to $30 a quart! Go in there telling them that your gonna pay no more then $20 is retarded. Go to wal mart and tell them that your gonna only pay $2 for a pack of whitey tighties and see what they have to tell you.


But I do agree that price is silly, if they do have to have some lube provide it yourself. get it at autozone, wal mart or whatever.

 

I completely agree, I used to work on tractors at a farm and even though the jobs were urgent, the more the boss rode me the slower I went... sort of relavent, but the best way to ever get things taken care of is to be cool to the guys. Treat others with respect, and they will do the same. Plus, I do have to give them some props, Any other shop in the area that was AAA certified couldn't even look at the beast until Tuesday!!! I have a friend of a friend that sent me an email saying 'you're f'ed in the a' with the work load around here. I guess the economic down turn is actually causing people to fix their cars instead of making it the dealership's problem and getting a new one. Oh well, thats another topic for another day, but just venting frustration taking my mind off of all the other **** that has gone belly up in the past few days. Just to give yall a slight overview (stop reading if you don't care becasue this is venting to anyone who will listen) on Sunday I ran my Honda CB650 over with the truck initiating the series of bad events, Monday 3 close pseudo relatives passed away (2 of the girlfriend's family members) and an extremely close friend of the family, the cell phone took a digger so no phone, the little lady's 17 year old best friend squirted out a kid (her dad died the same day), and the truck broke. To further complicate matters, I need to be moved out of my apartment in Grand Rapids and back to Flint (1 hour 45 minutes) for move in back at school at 8am Saturday morning.

When it rains it pours, and I just figured out i lost my favorite hat gosh darn it. Oh well, it's time for a tall boy or two... off to the refrigerator!

Thanks for all the advice and support guys, makes things a lot better in a time that starts with 'S' and ends with 'HITTY'.

 

You said the front wheels were not spinning when the wrecker was pulling the truck!!
Whats up with that. Sounds fishey to me. Sure you don't have a bad bearing in the front? Sure the hubs are unlocked? Clockwise lock...Can't wait to here the diagnosis...


Dick

 

So they looked at my truck on the hoist and all that, according to them nothing is wrong with it. Everything free spins, no excess play, no binding or clunking.

They are taking it on a road test this afternoon, what do I do if they take it on a drive, say nothing is wrong, then I drive to flint a blow something up?

Why am I paying $85 for an inspection to tell me nothing is wrong when obviously something is.

Will this make them liable if something blows up after the fact or while they are test driving it?

 

I would not let them road test it no way...What if they get in a wreck...Maybe around the parking lot would be fine...


Dick

 

You know how to duplicate the issue so if they tell you nothing is wrong ask the service writer or manager to go around the block (or whatever it takes to safely re-create the problem). No way would I take the truck home with a diagnosis of "nothing is wrong".

 

Go with them or you drive it..

 

IMOHO-- "In for a penny, in for a pound" might sound true, but it's a recipe for disaster.

You have already enunciated your reservations about this proprietorship. Why darken their door any longer?

What about having it hauled to another site you trust more? What about driving it slow? Is the problem, whatever it is, going to cause you to total your truck, or will it remain isolated, e.g., in the rear differential?

Just my left-field PoV...

 

Road test is the only way, dealership has insurance so not worry about that. A duplication of the conditions is probably the only way you are going to get anywhere. Most of the time they will credit you the inspection charge if you have to go right back.

 

But say the rear end or whatever is still good. Some teenager takes the truck for a spirited test drives and breaks cracks demolishes whatever and guess who has to pay for the damage.. you don't drive a vehicle that locks up on the road. A professional has to carefully examine the truck without possibly damaging it any further...Thats how I would handle it. If its the transmission it may be hard to duplicate.

 

I was going to say the same thing, the dealership should have insurance in case they are road testing it and they crash it.

This is all very weird.

For the record, please describe the exact circumstances and results again, so we can all get it straight.

 

So after 3 test drives they got it to replicate once rendering the truck immobilized in the middle of an intersection... then after sitting a second it drove back to the dealership fine and inspection resulted again in everything's ok. However the service manager did say it's unsafe to drive and won't release it, but on a positive note I can provide my own oil so I'm not slapped paying $30 a quart for gear lube.

Tech says it's a long shot but he thinks I have a broken spider gear in the front end pushing the axles out locking up the hubs and binding everyhting else up.

 

Glad to hear they got it to happen! I was rather concernced that you might try to drive it again... Never let life's pressures lead you to make life shortening decisions!

He mechanics theory is as good as any at this point.... Seems like it shouldn't cause problems when in 2wd with hubs unlocked, but as with aircraft crashes, "freak" incidents usually require at least 2 bad things happening at the same time. And this one sounds quite unusual. Please keep us apprised of what you find!

 

sounds kinda like what happened to my truck....i broke my passenger axleshaft(4wheeling) and the my drivers side hub failed and locked out....which locked out my front end(i was lucky nobody got hurt because i was pulling a horse trailer with two horses in it!) After a while i was able to get the hub unlocked and was able to drive to the nearest shop(i drove 10mph on the side of the road) I was close to home so i took it to my friends shop and we were able to figure out the problem. I replaced my axleshaft and put some warn hubs in, and also did my balljoints while we had it all apart...

hope this helps cause i know how much it sucks having broke truck.