Front Axle repair cost - is this right?

[ozarkroozer]

Yes, these guys were honest and like i said before after personally talking to the tech he mentioned that the caliper bolt or drive flange could also be the problem. That assessment was unprompted and he didnt know I had already consulted the MUD ARMY on this problem.

 

[Polak]

Awe,,,,, another happy ending!!

 

[Doc]

Glad it was $50 instead of $2400.

But, does anybody else here feel that a bolt, and torquing to the propper specs shouldn't cost $50?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Glad it was $50 instead of $2400.

But, does anybody else here feel that a bolt, and torquing to the propper specs shouldn't cost $50?

This sounds like 1/2 hour of shop time to me and so yes, close to fair.

 

[Shamrok]

Nice...what a relief that had to be.

 

[MARLIN375]

Frankly. I would have stuck a new bolt in and told him to have a nice day.

But Im from Canada...it's the way we roll.

The OP would be back, and you could square up the next time.

 

[jasonmt]

Glad it was $50 instead of $2400.

But, does anybody else here feel that a bolt, and torquing to the propper specs shouldn't cost $50?

My approach would start with the truck up on a lift to check things out. Upon discovering a missing caliper bolt both front wheels would have been take off if they were not already so that all four caliper bolt locations could be inspected, remaining bolts removed and cleaned/inspected and then installed to the proper torque spec.

$50 is 25-35 minutes at most dealership shop rates so $50 nothing but even more than fair in my mind.

 

[Southeast Overland]

$50 is very fair. You can't get much of anything done by a mechanic for $50 or less.

The Cruiser was probably put on a lift, wheels taken off, bolt replaced, other parts around loose caliper checked for damage, hopefully all other caliper bolts inspected, wheels back on, truck off lift, truck test driven - a well spent $50.

I'm glad you found what seems to be a decent dealer mechanic.

I would post up contact info b/c they did you right. It would have been nice if they said "this is a high-ball but it could be as low as $50" but in the end you weren't screwed.

 

[Box Rocket]

Did you check your caliper bolts and the inside of your wheels (inside meaning inner exposed surface directly adjacent to the breaking surfaces)?

I would immediately check those. There is a (relatively) common problem of the bottom bolt coming loose and falling out, whereupon the action of breaking causes the caliper to bind heavily into the inner surface of the wheel. Everything seems fine in reverse though.

If this was a road with washboarding, I wouldn't be all that surprised. That is a very easy and very inexpensive fix.

This was my first thought too. Edit: late to the party I guess, I posted after reading natergator's first post and hadn't read the final outcome yet. Haha. Glad it turned out to be something minor. I had the same thing happen to me and now I'm always checking my caliper bolts to make sure they're tight.