mjeff87 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I so wish I had my camera when this happened...it was a priceless scene. Took the MJ down for safety inspection early Saturday morning. Went to a local location of a national tire chain and service center (name removed to protect the innocent :rotf: ), because they recently mounted and balanced the 35's, plus we have done alot of other business with them recently (read: spent alot of $$$ there). One of their senior techs is also a Jeep guy, and I was hoping he'd be there as well....but he wasn't. Service manager calls me over about 25 minutes after they pulled it in and says, "needs a left upper ball joint....but everything else passed with flying colors." I concur with him that the BJ is suspect (knew that sort of going in, but thought they'd let it go....they didn't). I say "how much?" and he says they have the part stocked, should take about an hour, and will cost me $100. Looking at the sign on the wall that reads "no repair cost shall exceed 10% of any written estimate" I ask him to put that quote in writing, which he does. He yells back, "GO AHEAD WITH THE BALLJOINT ON THE JEEP!" and I settle into the customer lounge with a cup of coffee and watch the saga begin :chillin: Nice big window for me to watch thru as the MJ is in the first stall. Tech starts in with gusto, pulls the wheel, caliper and rotor. Then he starts scratching his head, does something I couldn't see, then pulls the cotter pin on the axleshaft and spins the hub nut off. I watch intently as he begins to install a slide hammer on the hub, then remember the hub nut. Poke my head out the door and mention he really shouldn't use the slide hammer with the hub nut off unless he plans on installing a new hub for me. Puts nut back on then commences to wailing on the hub to no avial. Pop my head out again and ask him politely if he removed the three hub nuts from the backside of the hub. He then removes them :thumbsup: and attempts to pul the hub, which doesn't budge.....at ALL. Calls another tech over and they ponder it for a bit, try some more, and finally give up. He then pops the nuts off the BJ's after snapping the cotter pin off inside the lower one. I see where this is going......or so I thought. Out comes the cutting torch :eek: and he proceeds to try to cut the upper BJ after wedging a pickle fork between the C's and seeing a bit of daylight inbetween. Doesn't work, and the old grease in the joint starts a small fire. He extinguishes fire and brings out the cutting wheel (or should I say wheels....). Three wheels later he cuts thru, and a third tech joins the fun. Now they've got the lower joint popped, and the upper one cut in half, but can't get the press inside the C to remove the remnants of the old joint. AIr hammer time......lots of air hammer.....nothing. Time on job is now in excess of 1.5 hours...... I get another cup of coffee and they call me out for a conference. Tech and service manager (the one who quoted the job) tell me they have to cut the lower BJ off as well, and "we'll try to save the hub bearing if we can". I say cut whatever you want to, but I'll be driving out of here with only spending $100....lower BJ and unit bearing are not defective unless YOU make them that way. I return to customer lounge and resume watching the Brady Bunch on the TV (it was the episode that Alice fell on the Chinese Checkers and sprained her ankle BTW, good episode). You'd be amazed at how creative three auto techs and a service manager can get sometimes, but they analyed the situation and weighed their options carefully. They ended up getting the press on and popped the remnants of the old joint out in about 30 seconds. Installed new joint, put it all back together, cleaned up the mess they created and even used a torque wrench on the lugnuts when they put the wheel back on. Slapped a sticker on it and pulled it out. Service manager calmly calls me over and gives me the paperwork. He says "here's your $100 balljoint and your $16 inspection". I drive home, giggling all the way. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 :clapping: Great story!!! I needed a laugh this morning :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Great story Jeff. Sounds like the Goodyear shop down here. :D What I'd like to know is how these clowns even discovered the ball joint was bad? Using the old crowbar a wiggling it? Or was it noisy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Thats great. When you "reminded" him there were three more nuts he needed to remove to get the hub off he should have handed you the tools and offered to pay you to do the job. :shake: I would have gotten very nervous when the torch came out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 :jump: Great read - Brady Bunch :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfpackjeeper Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Great story Jeff. Sounds like the Goodyear shop down here. :D What I'd like to know is how these clowns even discovered the ball joint was bad? Using the old crowbar a wiggling it? Or was it noisy? I asked how he knew my balljoints were bad on the Cherokee when a place told me they could not align it. I was not being an @$$, it was a few years ago and just did not know how they tested for that kind of thing. The tech smiled and walked over to my truck on the lift, put both hands on the bottom of the 33" tire and lifted up. Tire moved close to an inch. My reaction, "Oh, hmm, guess ill be back after I change those" Tech says "yea, I know I don't want to do it, and I know you do not want to pay shop rates for me to do it", and "oh, by the way; spring for the HD quality joints, you are gonna need em." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 I've been chasing a very faint popping/clunking sound in the front end when I turned the wheel to the right....even had Jerry help me try to locate it one day while I had the engine bay empty during the swap. For the life of me I couldn't find the source, but it was so slight that unless you knew what you were listening for you wouldn't have even noticed it. One of those "mystery sounds" that Jeeps are famous for, but not anything I was afraid to drive with. The 35's made the sound a bit more obvious, and they did find it while the MJ was on the post lift with the full suspension hanging. The tech that did the work was actually hugging the wheel and cycling it while another tech was feeling around for the sound. I've got absolutely nothing against safety inspections, and this case proves my point even more. I'm happy it's been replaced (even happier that I didn't waste my Saturday doing it in my driveway, too :yes: ). What really frosts my cookies is the safety inspections where the shop tries to nickle-dime you into repairs that either aren't needed, or aren't even part of the inspection. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I too like to pay places to do a job that you know is a pita.. especially when they quote you a price as good as that one. it is priceless that you had to tell them how to do it as well. Score 1 for the customer... I hope you called their corporate office to let them know about it as well. I wonder how many customers got screwed by incompetenents (sp) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunks6067 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Great story :clapping: I've been chasing a very faint popping/clunking sound in the front end when I turned the wheel to the right....even had Jerry help me try to locate it one day while I had the engine bay empty during the swap. For the life of me I couldn't find the source, but it was so slight that unless you knew what you were listening for you wouldn't have even noticed it. One of those "mystery sounds" that Jeeps are famous for, but not anything I was afraid to drive with. The 35's made the sound a bit more obvious, and they did find it while the MJ was on the post lift with the full suspension hanging. The tech that did the work was actually hugging the wheel and cycling it while another tech was feeling around for the sound.Jeff What was the sound? My track bar was loose when i had similar symptoms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Friggin classic ------- great write-up, love the side notes (Brady Bunch, awesome!)!! :rotf: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Great story :clapping: What was the sound? My track bar was loose when i had similar symptoms Just a very faint, dull "popping" sound when I turned the wheel to the right, over-center. It felt like it was coming from the driverside LCA frame mount area. Never did it turning to the left, always to the right.... Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project88mj Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 lol short version you get there they find the ball joint you :( them :no: as the fixing is going on tech #1 :???: you :shake: tech #1 again :fool: you again :shake: then :smart: tech #1 calls over tech#2 and both :dunno: :help: over comes management ant he is like :hmm: watching, your like :popcorn: they feel like :dunce: they finaly get it done and you leave like :rotf: :rotfl2: :banana: :razz: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 lol short version you get there they find the ball joint you :( them :no: as the fixing is going on tech #1 :???: you :shake: tech #1 again :fool: you again :shake: then :smart: tech #1 calls over tech#2 and both :dunno: :help: over comes management ant he is like :hmm: watching, your like :popcorn: they feel like :dunce: they finaly get it done and you leave like :rotf: :rotfl2: :banana: :razz: :jump: Great job on that short version!! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 lol short version you get there they find the ball joint you :( them :no: as the fixing is going on tech #1 :???: you :shake: tech #1 again :fool: you again :shake: then :smart: tech #1 calls over tech#2 and both :dunno: :help: over comes management ant he is like :hmm: watching, your like :popcorn: they feel like :dunce: they finaly get it done and you leave like :rotf: :rotfl2: :banana: :razz: You may have found your calling :clapping: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 You may have found your calling :clapping: :idea: He could write a book... Forum Speak for Dummies :thumbsup: Why not?? There is a "something for dummies" out there for everything else... :dunno: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Don't know what I like more. The full write-up, or the short version. Both are classic! :rotf: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project88mj Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 thanks guys :chillin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Tech and service manager (the one who quoted the job) tell me they have to cut the lower BJ off as well, and "we'll try to save the hub bearing if we can" They did the joint without pulling the bearing or dropping the knuckle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 ayup...... :ack: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocco78 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 shoot, i would have let them pull the unit bearing apart... I know on mine they are shot anyway, free unit bearing! Great story though, I bring stuff like that to my local Midas. They LOVE to see me pull in, but they are great guys and don't mind if I watch or hang out with them while they work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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