Labor Quote - Good or Bad?

[twolow]

OK, through my many recent posts you might know Wes is sending me:

4.10 gear
That neat gear girdle plate with bolts
Tuner
JLT Intake
And I already have some Eibach springs to put in

The local good ole boy shop run by my high school friend's dad is known in the area as high but dependable and trustworthy and eager to stand behind their work.

He quoted me $600 to:

Put the gear in (with fluid of course)
Put the springs in (alignment as well)
Mess with the air suspension bracket to get the back end lower to match (tad bit higher) the front
Throw in the Intake (I can do it of course by why if they are all over the car anyway)
And finally a oil change

Sound good?

[Rider90]

"Mess with the air suspension bracket to get the back end lower to match (tad bit higher) the front"

I hope he didn't stress this was difficult. You can do this yourself, I've adjusted mine two or three times already it's very easy - do a search. It should save you some money if you take it out of that quote.

[huot5]

The rear end should be no more than 200, provided the old guy has done a set recently. A friend of mine even did the rear girdle and the rear addco sway bar for the 200. If you help the old man ( and get to inspect your car while your at it) he might cut you a break. a few cold ones may help too:beer:

Is the car going on a lift? That eases the job tremendously.

Front springs can be a bear, ifn he's done those too. those he will appreciate some help with.

The Intake, oil change and rear air bag adjustment ain't a big deal at all.

600 is a bit steep but...you may not want to make any enemies.:rasta:

[RoyLPita]

I've seen the rear go for $250 plus fluids (3 quarts synthetic gear oil and 2 bottles of friction modifier). Does the Eibach job come with an alignment? If so, look for the custom specs on the site.

[twolow]

It does come with the alignment. Its a new state of the art shop with 8 bays on the front, 8 on the back and room between the the front and rear bays to fit third car and you can lift a car up and work on a car under it in all 16 bays. They stay busy thats for sure. I work next door and hang out there at times and stuff.

He didn't say anything was hard, just that he was going to have his top guy do it that has the best skills & does the performance parts/4x4 lift/lowering/etc work. They commonly do work on local race cars and such. He is so busy and generally good that he charges a hefty price for work such as this as it pulls the best tech off engine repair work and stuff...I would basically slow down the progress that day on other rides.

Its high but I want all my stuff done at one shop as they will know the car and me and since they back up their work unlike a lot of shops here I think thats a biggie.

I think I'm done trying to convince myself to go there and pay 3x's too much :)

[fastblackmerc]

It does come with the alignment. Its a new state of the art shop with 8 bays on the front, 8 on the back and room between the the front and rear bays to fit third car and you can lift a car up and work on a car under it in all 16 bays. They stay busy thats for sure. I work next door and hang out there at times and stuff.

He didn't say anything was hard, just that he was going to have his top guy do it that has the best skills & does the performance parts/4x4 lift/lowering/etc work. They commonly do work on local race cars and such. He is so busy and generally good that he charges a hefty price for work such as this as it pulls the best tech off engine repair work and stuff...I would basically slow down the progress that day on other rides.

Its high but I want all my stuff done at one shop as they will know the car and me and since they back up their work unlike a lot of shops here I think thats a biggie.

I think I'm done trying to convince myself to go there and pay 3x's too much :)
It comes down to what you feel comfortable paying. After he does this work I'm sure you'll have an even better relationship with this guy and I'm sure he'll "help" you out later on.

[Pat]

Having the job done right is worth premium price for those who don't do the work themselves. I shopped around for a mechanic that does this sort of work and comes highly recommended by people who have used his services in this very application, rear end gear changes. His price was $318.00 plus the fluids, seals and other odds and ends, $95.00. Other mech's were cheaper but couldn't find anyone for me to refer to.

I'm very satisfied, three months into the gear change and no problems. BTW, I armed myself with questions about this procedure from info on this site and he knew all the answers, then some. Soooooo, I was pretty confident in his ablility.

[SergntMac]

Take advice give here lightly, labor rates are remarkably different all over the country. Frankly, you 600 buck sounds very reasonable to me, up here in Chicago, all that stuff would be a grand. Does this shop know you have coil over front struts?

[twolow]

Take advice give here lightly, labor rates are remarkably different all over the country. Frankly, you 600 buck sounds very reasonable to me, up here in Chicago, all that stuff would be a grand. Does this shop know you have coil over front struts?
Yeah, he mentioned that to me. He is a 'licensed' Eibach dealer so they routinely do sping replacements.

[RF Overlord]

^^^what SergntMac said^^^

For the amount of work being done, $600 does not sound unreasonable in my area, either...

[twolow]

If Wes would hurry his rear up I could have it installed already :P




j/k of course





actually I'm not, hurry up Wes!

[CRUZTAKER]

Take advice give here lightly, labor rates are remarkably different all over the country. Frankly, you 600 buck sounds very reasonable to me, up here in Chicago, all that stuff would be a grand. Does this shop know you have coil over front struts?I agree....out this way the labor on the gear done correctly would easily run $300 and the springs aren't a walk in the park. I forget what my labor was on the springs, but would venture to say easily another $200 with the precision alignment.

As far as the JLT, any home depot representative could do the install and assemble your new gas grill for $25. :P

[twolow]

As far as the JLT, any home depot representative could do the install and assemble your new gas grill for $25. :P
That wasn't factored into the price. He gave me the quote then I said, while your add it throw in that cold air intake since its nothing to do and he said sure.

BTW, Walmart will put together their grilles for free :P