Suspension work.... $4k!!!! :(

[janek]

Well, it has finally gotten the better of me. I have put up with the ghia crabbing all over the highway for about 6 months now, and took it in to Pedders this morning to have checked out.

Expecting a bill of approx 2k for a reasonable amount of work, its jumped up to 4k now... :(

Heres the to do list:

ball joints (upper and lower), nolathane bushes all over, front and rear shocks and springs, bump stops, IRS top mounts, Camber/castor kit, front wheel bearing, rear right hub and bearing (the biggest issue- over an inch of play!!!), rotation, balance and alignment.

Needless to say, i will be utterly broke after all this, but hopefully will be well worth it. Car has done a tad over 120k, but has spent at least 30k towing.

[Casper]

Get a second quote.. thats absurd. I've never heard of such a rip off.

That is just robbery.

[StealthAu]

Acording to your list, it costing you $1700 for your irs top mounts and wheel bearings. I paid $2300 for everything else at pedders

[Bucknaked]

Pedders are like Harvey Norman. Great products, but expect to pay more.

Have you thought about contacting Fulcrum Suspension. They are the site sponsor and can probabbly hook you up with someone in your area, if they arn't.

[The Monty]

Dont do it at pedders. I got the 28 point/$14 thing done, on this car and my camry. Any little thing they find wrong, even if its so minute that its not going to die for 200 000k's, they will say need doing. My "to fix bill" was $1500, had it looked over by someone else, everything bar one thing was fine. Said my power steering rack was leaking, which is bull crap, got it up on ramps, and it is A1. If you wait a couple of weeks, they will send you a "You must get all this stuff done, so we offer you 15% off all work quoted if you book in now" letter.
Get a second opinion.

[Mechan1k]

Also ... if it's going to be so expensive ... don't get it all done in one go.
Not everyone can fork out that much .... but $4K seems pretty steep too.

front wheel bearing - complete hub can be purchased from www.ozeparts.com.au for $80 .. delivered to your door ... cheap as chips.

Definitely speak to fulcrum though ... excellent parts ... and one of their recommended workshops I went to was excellent.

I'd say labour will be high though ... especially doing the control arm bushes ... it's labour intensive burning the old rubber ones out.

If in Sydney ... I do recommend going to Wholesale Suspension in Penrith.

[DOC]

? Is the car worth spending 4 K on ? i doubt any re sale value would increase by that much, not saying it does not need the work, but find a cheaper way as others have said.

The art of restoration is
Spending the least amount of money and effort for the best possible result.

[TCK-098]

Well for that sort of money i would want fully adjustable konis and a set up simular in build and quality of a V8 supercar.

[janek]

the above comment, yes. i am keeping it for a long time yet. I love it, and have big plans. I have gone ahead with it, simply because i need the car finished by tomorrow midday. Theyre the only ones that were able to commit to a 24 hr deadline, plus they have an interest free payment plan. I'll double check the list on completion and raise any issues. The rear hub and bearing assembly is costing 650 plus fitting. It is a ford only part as far as i know, and last check was 600 when i rang ford a few yeard back.

It is steep, and i really did not want to pay that much, but my hands are tied.

[private9]

Originally Posted by janek

the above comment, yes. i am keeping it for a long time yet. I love it, and have big plans. I have gone ahead with it, simply because i need the car finished by tomorrow midday. Theyre the only ones that were able to commit to a 24 hr deadline, plus they have an interest free payment plan. I'll double check the list on completion and raise any issues. The rear hub and bearing assembly is costing 650 plus fitting. It is a ford only part as far as i know, and last check was 600 when i rang ford a few yeard back.

It is steep, and i really did not want to pay that much, but my hands are tied.

Realistically you're paying about double what you should. Pedders have a habit of exaggerating on what needs to be fixed as well, I've had a couple of different experiences where I've had cars checked by Pedders and received a 2k repair estimate back, and have then gone to other places to be told 1 minor bush needs to be replaced etc etc.

I highly doubt your suspension is as bad as they're making out, but at the end of the day, if your happy to pay it, your car should drive much nicer in the end. 4k nicer though? I highly doubt it!

[AUTickford]

Well they saw you coming from a mile away,got a pedders check done on my eb and they didnt even find all the rooted bushes in the front end[every single one] just went to get a wheel alignment and found out other stuff they missed doh.I would have been better off spending 14 bucks on a footlong subway with double ham etc and a nice drink because they are friggin useless as tits on a pedders bull and thats no bull! good luck with that :togo:

[FGII-XR6]

i know pedders put a premium price on their interest free deals so it's not really interest free the interest is built in. but if it suits you good luck i hope it all goes well

[JefXR8]

Makes me want to start installing suspension,id only have to do 1 job a week and id be set lol

[sfr rob]

OUCH! That would probably cost more than half of what the car is worth?
That is crazy, Pedders have been really good and reasonably priced with my stuff, I don't know who you p!ssed off to get that kind of quote.

[FTE217]

That is Retail robbery and whats worse your paying it off !!
My god Nolathane all round ?! be happy hearing every noise from the road and stress other components in future k's...yes it's good in certain applications but damned if I have it everywhere.
$4k man did you ask for a discount ? oh I can't think of this anymore got to go sorry.

[AUIIISR]

Wow thats a rip off, im about to have all the front end bushes replaced with nolathane and a new rack because its leaking bad, plus align and such, thats only setting me back 1200

[b2tf]

Lmfao!

[duaned]

You have already accepted the quote, but can you do whatever it takes to ensure everything that you have been told that is in need of replacement is actually done? I can't help but think the odd quoted component may not be replaced and you still end up paying for it!

[BLACKAUXR8]

the hubs are exterely easy to do on the au's. You dont even have to get grease on you to do the wheel bearings. I got the whole assembly i think it cost about 300 for both sides and took less than half hour to fit. The rear shock mounts are a little harder but still easy enough to do yourself. in my opinion id do what you can yourself then get a second opinion on the rest. Pedders quoted me 1000 bucks just to supply me with 4 new sports rider shocks the other day. I think they like to over charge

[Oo_xrsx_oO]

The exact reason I like to stay away from franchises including ford. Independent workshops are the way to go as good reputations go a long way even then you should shop around. I would be sick if I had to fork over 4 large even if it did get me some serious go fast bits. I just hope you don't get too much work done that really isn't required (which going by what you hear about pedders won't be the case), what a joke.

[NeishaXR8_347]

Well you have gone ahead with it so i wont say anything, but i dont believe they will be changing everything like they said by midday tomorrow, what happens if its not ready in time, maybe he will knock 2k off. I would want him to have it on the hoist for you and point out everything done or at least see the old parts.

[janek]

i have already requested to keep all the faulty components. he knows i have a midday deadline, and i will refuse to pay if it is not ready by the set deadline. I will be speaking with him tomorrow morning in any case to reinforce this fact.

[Mr Hardware]

janek, you'd be better off hiring a falcon for a week and getting it done elsewhere... you'd save much motsa. Even friggin getting a cab everywhere and sorting out a cheaper place would be better. If you're paying the thing off... you can't afford it.

[Stav]

If you go to the auctions you may find a whole car with the bushes for that price.

[sfr rob]

hehehehe Your on the money stav!
Sorry bloke, but, your crazy for paying that much!

[AUTickford]

Whats wrong with nolathane bushes? My whole front end in the eb has nolathane bushes,ive had no probs.

[Dark Horse]

Hrmm I don't like the idea of deadlines or ultimatums, generally the job never gets done properly.

[BPXR6T]

Just tell em to off. Pedders are a joke. I took a car down there because of a ticking noise coming from the front end. They told me it was going to cost $1800 to fix. I found out the next day it was a dodgy recap!

[old_mate]

far out mate

post on forums BEFORE committing. I bet those Fulcrum sponsors would have been able to help! someone should PM them a linky for an opinion.

my EL has 260k and im only having to replace HALF the stuff your doing now. And yes, my car used to be a tow warrior.

[Stav]

I went to a popular suspension place in penrith.They said all of my shocks were stuffed,lower bushes etc.I went to Easy automotive in Newport and they chaecked it out and said its ok. You seem to get the little blokes having more quality and honesty in general.