shop fees

[blown XJ]

so i just got my xj back from the shop.. i had them install a truetrac i bought from yjboomer.. they called me and said the seals were shot. which didnt surprise me as i run in mainly mud, water and sand.. not the best to keep axle seals happy.. but my grip is they charged me almost 700 bucks to put the truetrac in and replace two axles seals.. i guess its time i learn how to set up gears on my own. .:???: i heard it isnt all that hard.
well thanks for letting me vent cheers :beer:

 

[Jeeper99]

More often than not, shop labor will rip you a new one. I'm like you, I would love to learn how to set up gearings so I can do that stuff myself. I've never pulled one apart and am hesitant to do so without some help from someone that knows what there doing.

 

[HiHood]

So research it and then buy an old axle and set and reset it. The main things are proper backlash and the ride pattern of the pinion gear on the ring. It's not real hard just takes TIME, and takes TIME and patiance to do. And it takes time to put it together and pull it apart again, add shims and start over. and did I mention it takes time.

 

[blown XJ]

yea as jeeper99 said i would be more comfortable about tearing into one if there was someone that knew how to do it watching me do the steps and that could tell me when i was doing something wrong.. one of these days i will learn how to do it.. it cant be that hard.. i mean i can rebuid a motor, just axles, trannies, and transfer cases for some reason scare me to open them up..

 

[wm69]

Keep in mind too that if you don't buy the part from the shop, they're gonna charge you more. I have a used truetrac and they quoted me $450 to install, and we all know it's always a bit more than they quote. Once they got into it I'm sure it would have needed seals etc and then add tax and it probably wouldn't have been much less than you paid.

 

[Weylyn]

my personal rule for if I am not sure, Pick a part auto salvage. I go in and get the part, break out the book or magazine that has what I am about to do and go from there. If all works well, I have a good part and replace that which went bad on mine (bonus, I have a spare). If all went to crap, no prob, I do it over and still learn something. Also I am known to buy a whole nother vehicle to rebuild parts I want or salvage parts I need. Example is, my VW project. I gutted my old baja, started painting it, neice ruined the interior, hacked the electrical so, I bought another car, getted the rusted up car for good interior, Now I have extra parts

 

[jtimberger]

true