Become your own Tech (1 Viewer)

[photogod]

6 months and three thousand miles ago I had a trip to the dealer to do a left side inner and outer seal job. I know I should have done it myself but I didn't have the balls, O.K.? I watched the tech do the job and it took him 1 hour and 14 minutes start to finish. As I waited I asked that the belts be checked and to make sure the birfs were topped off with grease. Not such a hard thing to do I thought. When I payed the bill I asked why they had charged me for three hours labor when it took slightly over one and how were the belts and the birfs? The charges were attributed to the "book" telling them that 3 hours is the average time for a birf job and the belts and grease are perfect. Pissed and payed. Today my son and I were going over the truck before his big dance date (gotta love the kid for taking his girl to the dance in a LC!) and decided to revisit the belts and birfs. We changed all the belts as they were cracked almost all the way through in many places. I am amazed they haden't snapped already and the birfs took one full canister on the left side and 1 1/2 on the right. Makes me wonder why I went into photography when I could be charging triple time for auto repair. I do it myself from now on with the kids help. fawlkin dealers, just can't trust them .

 

[Gumby]

3 hours is a good book time for birfs. If a mechanic can get it done in less, due to experience, he makes more money. If it takes more because lack of experience, broken bolts, frozen fittings, etc. he makes less. It would take a heck of an experienced wrench to do a complete birf job in less than two hours.

pay him what it's worth, or do it yourself. His dogs gotta eat too.


Belts are another story. My guess is the mechanic didn't get the word from the service slug. Topping the birfs off with grease through the filler hole will take a tube or so if it was done right. you just overfilled your knuckles and may be contributing to your inner axle seal problems.

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Originally posted by photogod
The charges were attributed to the "book" telling them that 3 hours is the average time for a birf job and the belts and grease are perfect. Pissed and payed.

How much did you get charged? My brother in law paid the dealer a hefty amount of money. He paid $1100 for both birfield job. I told him to wait for me so we can tackle it together, but he is a bonehead so he went to the stealer. And there it goes, chaaa chiiingg!

 

[e9999]

are you sure he did a *real* Birf job here? 1hour 14 mins for a side seems pretty fast... and why would there be insufficient grease if he did the Birf job as he would have had to clean the old one out and replace it...

 

[photogod]

Topping the birfs off with grease through the filler hole will take a tube or so if it was done right. you just overfilled your knuckles and may be contributing to your inner axle seal problems.[/QUOTE]


I inspected the birf cavity with a wire probe and didn't get grease till I hit bottom. It was not overfilled but almost empty. I had the left birf job done soon after I bought the truck for the Son as it was leaking when I got it. The right side was done before I got the truck so I half expected that it would be darn near dry, that took 1.5 tubes. Didn't squirt out the top, I just stopped there. The left took 1 tube didn't squirt out the top, I just stopped there. Do you think that is over fill? The FSM doesn't seem to point out quantity for the cavity but does say to replace every 12 mos or 7500 miles

 

[photogod]

How much did you get charged? My brother in law paid the dealer a hefty amount of money. He paid $1100 for both birfield job. I told him to wait for me so we can tackle it together, but he is a bonehead so he went to the stealer. And there it goes, chaaa chiiingg!

Bone heads of a feather... He and I should hook up. It cost me $580 for the left side.

 

[photogod]

are you sure he did a *real* Birf job here? 1hour 14 mins for a side seems pretty fast... and why would there be insufficient grease if he did the Birf job as he would have had to clean the old one out and replace it...

Tore it down, pulled the birf, cleaned it off, repacked it, new bearings and seals, put it back in, wrenched it all back even used a scale to measure (preload), spun the hub a bunch of times, torqued it again, put the wheel on, cleaned off the oil seal on the backside of the knuckle and that's where I went to check out. I didn't watch him load the knuckle housing. Couild be that he didn't top it off/ I can't see in the FSM where it tells quantity for the fill of the housing?

 

[e9999]

well, if he physically pulled out the Birf cup and replaced the inner seal in the housing, he did indeed do the job I guess. Fastest guy around! That's impressive.
Of course, seems like he forgot to fill up the knuckle, but that would only have taken 30 secs...

 

[gregc]

I don't know of a dealer or repair shop that charges "actual time" for anything unless it's a buddy doing side work.

Book rate is the way of the world....otherwise he would have dogged your birf repack, taken all day, and you'd have paid $1,000 labor + parts.

That's why I've invested in tools and time so I can fix my rig myself. When I ask myself to check something, there's no one to point fingers at.

Y'know, maybe I SHOULD bring it to the dealer techs again..... :-D

G

 

[reffug]

I hate dealerships.

And thats all I have to say about that.