On the day of 10/11/07, I had a few new parts put on my truck, by a professional mechanic I know very well. Parts Included Left Side inner and outter tie rods, idler arm,(both parts having grease fittings which i grease every two months) as well as other parts not important as of now. 3 weeks ago, I blew the differential gears. Upon bringing my truck to my dads mechanic whom i do not know. He REPLACED MY WHOLE REAR AXLE, that now has bad seals and leaking like a sieve, changed the rear brake cable, and the rear brake line ( which i personally just swapped out) . Along with the whole axle, he also did the left side tie rod ends along with the idler arm I had replaced 2 years ago and grease them rutuinly. AM I WRONG FOR RESEARCHING THIS TOO MUCH THINKING HE IS TRYING TO MILK ME FOR MONEY? PLEASE LEAVE RESPONSES AND COMMENTS AS TO YOUR PERSONAL OPINIONS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME
Studying to be mechanical engineer,
Michael Kanniard

 

Let me first state for the record that I will not sugar-coat this at all.

This slime ball grease monkey did not just milk you for money, HE R*PED YOU without even giving you a kiss, let alone Vaseline or K-Y jelly when he drilled you for oil.

The ONLY reason to change rear ends in a vehicle is due to the housing being bent beyond repair (i.e. in an accident). The MOST that should have been done is new ring and pinion set, installation kit, possibly new axles if the splines were chewed up, and a new differential. Most of the times I have had this done, a new pinion bearing and seal were also done, but that is because I do those due to being in the area, and it just seems right to do. You SHOULD NOT have to change emergency brake cables unless they are corroded or stuck, nor brake hard lines.

As for the tie rod ends and idler arm, they should go for 100,000 miles without too much more than lubrication at proper intervals. You got screwed again by this grease monkey.

I would personally report this lousy rip off artist of a grease monkey to the BBB, and seriously look into legal action against him also. These types are the ones who give honest mechanics, like the ones I deal with on my vehicles, a bad reputation.

Also, from this point forward, go to your known good mechanic for ANY repairs, and tell EVERYONE you know about this worthless slime ball grease monkey. Word of mouth is VERY powerful, just ask Oprah !

 

Wow... thank you so much for your input... it means alot to me seeing as my father has been going to this guy for years and the first time i go he tries to do this **** to me.... did i mention i got plowed in my parking space at school, and i used the 4 wheel drive 2 days before going this *** clown and he tells me my four wheel drive is broke? im not that dumb, I wen tunder the truck n looked at anything possible for him to say this, and oh yah.. the f*ucker undid the little pin connecting the shifter the drive mechanism.. think hes tryin to get me to pay him to fix my four wheel drive? haha .. you seem very mechanincal/smart about the real things in life... mind if i add you as a friend on my list ?

 

Feel free to add me to your friends.

It just burns me to see so called "mechanics" do things like this to people. I went with a friend to a Quick Lube one day; talk about a rip off. Supposedly, a 20,000 mile vehicle has leaky main seals, needs a serpentine belt, new filters, tires rotated, and wiper blades. Sure, I told the "mechanic", let me inspect those parts myself. The "mechanic" then backed off.

The place I go to for repairs ALWAYS takes pictures of the repairs, and will show you the parts that they replaced when they replace parts, and tell you why the parts were replaced. As the owner says, it is best to show a customer why and exlain why than to make them feel cheated.

Also, sounds like Dad needs a new mechanic. Refer him to yours.

 

now in order to change a pinion and ring, gear kit etc in the diffy box, do you have to remove the drum brake assembly off the rear axle? because i qoute " He tells me they had to take out brakes etc to remove the rearend and fix it " .. i wouldnt think that? im not that far into learning this stuff but wouldnt it just be taking the diffie gear case cover off and going from there?

 

alright i been researching .. looks like you do take brakes off

 

or not even off but just the wheels? to drain it? i dont know

 

Unfortunately you do need to remove you brake assembly to remove your ring and pinion gears (basically you are completely disassembling your rear end). There are C clips that hold your axles in place in the rear diff. These clips have to be removed and the axles pulled away from the gears in order to replace the gears. But as to all the other stuff that "was" replaced without you telling him to, was a complete rip off.

 

Always ask for old parts in the new boxes when you do repairs. That way you know they at least did something.

 

Depending on the damage to the diff, total axle replacement is very well possible. Being most people don't bring in their vehicle till they have to, quite a bit of damage happens. Now, if they spun a bearing or wore through it, you WILL need to replace the entire axle. It's more common than you would think. Not saying it was neccesary, but very much possible.

As far as the front end goes, is your truck lifted or running larger tires? This as well as driving habits greatly reduce front end life. I've seen trucks with 33 x 10 in tires along with a 4ish inch lift eat through ball joints and tie rods yearly. This is deffently not the norm, but again, possible.

 

That is among the lowest quality of people in my book...

 

just throwing this out there....a complete USED rear Diff. is often alot cheaper then a new ring, pinion, bearings, labour ect...

 

exactly. what gets me is the guy did all this work without getting your approval first...

 

ALWAYS get a quote or estimate and have them call you as they dig through and find out issues. Sometimes it is hard to say exactly what is wrong the day you drop your truck off but they should never proceed with any work without a call first and then explain your options. I am a contractor and it works the same way.

For that k *** to play with the front end without consent gives you the right not to pay for it!!!!