2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Vent some frustration

[cluckmaster]

Hey. Sorry to do this, but I need some outside perspective to see if I'm way off on this. Back around the middle of March, my rear started to grind and clunk, so I called up a shop that my dad recommended that's supposed to do good work. They couldn't take it for two weeks, but I knew I could borrow a car so I said ok and set the date. Trailered it an hour and a half to the shop Mon night and dropped it off for Tues. I called Tues afternoon, and they were a man short that day, so they couldn't get to it. Wed. I called and they said they had to order the bearings and wouldn't have it done until Fri. I called Friday, and they said they had it apart and they dicovered that the pinion broke a tooth, and they could either put a used rear in for $1500 or try to locate a new ring and pinion set. I said I knew where I could get a set and I'd order them. He said order for a Dana 80 3:54L, so I called up Randy's R&P and had them send em out that morning. Came in on Mon, dropped them off the same day. By Thursday he said it would be done Friday morning. Called Friday and he said while working on it Thurs. night he discovered that it was the wrong size set. He had called a dealer with the VIN and they told him it took a Dana 80, but it's actually a 70. So, drive another hour and a half to pick up the parts from him, ship em back, and order the correct parts from Randy's (all the xtra shipping is on my own dime). Parts come in this past Tues. Drive em right over, but now he says he was shipped the wrong bearings, so I have to wait longer. Supposed to be done yesterday afternoon, so I drive up, call from my dad's shop, and it's not done, but will be done Friday morning. Sooo... this time I called first, and, of course, the mechanic who was working on my truck is out sick, so it's not ready until Mon. Now, since my truck went down about A MONTH AND A HALF AGO, the tags expired, so I have to get it early enough in the day that I can run over to the motor V or I'll have to wait even more, plus I have to pay a late registration fee. On top of it all, I'm sure my bill is going to be enormous. Any idea on what the hours should be on a rear rebuild? I'm pretty aggravated and can't imagine what someone would do if they couldn't borrow a car. So, am I being unreasonable? I haven't pressed the issue yet and have been extremely patient (except when I get off the phone I feel the need to destroy something).



'97 4x4 ext. cab SLT auto/ #8 plate/ straight piped/ Lukes Linked/ 35" MT Claws/ 248k mi

 

[biggy238]

I always try to do the "Thinking" part on my own if I don't know how to do a job... . Get the model numbers, parts and soforth myself. I feel for you man.



It should say right under the hood what the rear end is.

I think my front end is going south slowly.

 

[Casey Ray]

As for the registration, can't you pay the fees now and take the truck in later to the DMV to get whatever needs to be taken care of then, thus avoiding the late fees?



Just trying to save you a few $



Casey

 

[EricBu12]

I feel for you, I have my truck in the shop to replace the 53 block... . The block I bought was bored out before but the pistons sent with it was standard so they have to re-sleeve it to standard size... . This has taken most of a week so I am hoping to get the truck back by the end of next week.

 

[BILLVO]

Cluckmaster You should call a dealer to see what the flat rate time is.

I have done many having worked at a gear shop for a few years and can tell you it should not be billed out at no more than 6 hours labor to do a complete diff rebiuld.

Call other independent shops to see what the flat rate time is for this job. Any respectable shop will not charge more than this.

 

[cluckmaster]

Hey, thanks for the support, guys. Glad to know this sounds weird to someone else.



"As for the registration, can't you pay the fees now and take the truck in later to the DMV to get whatever needs to be taken care of then, thus avoiding the late fees?": Thats a good idea. Not sure if they'll let me or not b/c you can't register it if it without going through the lane. I'll give em a call.



"I have done many having worked at a gear shop for a few years and can tell you it should not be billed out at no more than 6 hours labor to do a complete diff rebiuld. "- That sounds reasonable to me. Hopefully that's what he'll charge, so I'll make some calls on Monday. When they were just going to replace the bearings in the beginning, they estimated $350 - $400, so I imagine they'll tack some more labor in there for putting in the ring and pinion, plus shims, etc. And when my pinion broke it took out my speed sensor (ABS) so they're replacing that. I picked up the ring and pinion set (Yukon) for $190 = shipping. Wish I could have spent this much on power upgrades instead. Haha.