I hate taking my truck to the shop.

[Chevy Fleetside]

I would rather do the work on my truck myself, but sometimes you have too. I needed the front end aligned. I took it down and they did it. Now for the fun part. About a week after maybe more it started drifting to the left, of course I had that look on my face like what now.. I jacked it up and noticed the idler arm had to much play so I figured that might be the problem. At the same time when pulling into a driveway with the wheels cranked to the right there was a bump noise and I could feel something loose hitting the frame.

When I was changing the idler arm I decided to grab the tie rod end on the right side and the guy forgot to tighten one of the clamps so they were rocking a bit. I just grabbed a few wrenches and did my thing.

After changing the idler arm I drove it but not much differnt. Ok fast forward to today. When backing out of the garage it would clunk when I tapped the brakes so I stuck my head out the open door and notice the top of the tire moving in and out. I then grabbed my jack and prybar and poked around more.

It happens the nut on the upper control arm came loose or something and all the shims fell out. I have to take it back to the shop and make them fix it. I am sure this doesn't happen all the time and I am sure they will make sure all is tight. What a PITA.
Im not going to proof read this so I hope it makes sence...

[jonzcustomshop]

always gotta double check their work... which is a pita.
I lost a nice slotted mag to a tire shop once... they either didn't torque the bolts, or just plain did not tighten them... by the time I figured out what the noise was the inside of the wheel (mounting surface) was all chewed up....

[Turtleman]

Good lord,, I can tell you stories of shops and what they didnt do.. gets me sick.. Its one of the main reasons I got back into a older truck I can work on without all the "Dealer Only" items..
I think one of the main reasons is about All Shops now pay there help piece work,, they get paid by the job spec in the book not by the hour...
I had a 99 Cad STS that I drove away in only to find the whole Air box was still laying inside the engine compartment.. the guys never put the thing back together

[AcampoDave]

We have a great old school tire and suspension shop in my area, same guys have been there for years. A rarity I guess... the owner even has an all original '63 c10. Come to think of it, one of the mechanics has a vintage Challenger too.

[OldGMJon]

I took my old truck to the shop and the service guy just said I should go somewhere else since these mechanics weren't even born yet when this truck came out. Experience is the key for older vehicles.

[Bears63]

I used to have a '71 C10 and last winter the starter gave out during a nasty cold snap. It was temps below zero and since I don't have a shop I tried taking it somewhere to have a starter put on. Keep in mind that I had the starter, just needed it installed. No kidding, no shop would even do that on the ol' girl. I ended up bundling up and doing it myself.

[chakah]

I would suggest after all the re-work is done, have them set up on the lift with the tires in the air. Make sure you're there to double check all their work. It might piss them off but you're paying for this. This comes to a real safety issue where, God forbid, you have an accident. Also check for any missing cotter pins where they sometimes break off when removing, and some shops never replace. Good luck.

[NEWFISHER]

Originally Posted by chakah

i would suggest after all the re-work is done, have them set up on the lift with the tires in the air. Make sure you're there to double check all their work. It might piss them off but you're paying for this. This comes to a real safety issue where, god forbid, you have an accident. Also check for any missing cotter pins where they sometimes break off when removing, and some shops never replace. Good luck.

+1

[Old Truck Man]

If the shop did such a sorry job the first time why would you give them another chance? Back when I was young early 1960,s My dad had a 283 truck that started burning oil. He worked away and was only home a few day a month so He took it to a shop to get a set of rings & bearings. Supposed to cost $150. When we went and picked it up and the bill was $210. told us the crank needed turned so it cost extra. So the truck ran poorly and still burned oil. We decided to check it out and turned out it had a flat cam one exhaust valve didn't open. a crankcase full of gas, Well we pulled the engine and for $125 bought a Sears rebuilt short block & with gaskets new lifters & new oil pump it came to $150. It was a 283 bored .060 that made it a 292 That was the very first engine I put together and installed. Well we found out that the engine had never been removed from the truck by the so called mechanic. So the crank obviously hadn't been turned. In fact the main bearings where the originals. We put the original engine in the truck bed and drove to the guys shop. He apparently seen us coming and hid out. We talked to his help and told them to have the guy contact us. The next week at school the guys daughter gave me a full refund check for $210. Never took anything to anyone ever again. I learned by trial & error to rebuild automatic transmissions just so I could do my own work. It seems trustworthy repair shops are as rare as hens teeth.

[Indian113]

I am so lucky to have a shop that does excellent work and always charges a fair price for it. A friend of mines son started a shop in our town and has helped me many times on my Rods. He is the one that guided me on my S10 when I put in my 5.3 he also changed out the T350 for a 700R4 in the 64 when I needed it. He is a Full service and does alignments also. One thing that keeps me going to him is he races a Pro Mod Camaro, what a beauty!

[61_FL_Apache]

Where I get my alignments done, I can actually stand over the guy doing it.. I have had to point out things before leaving and double check when I get home.

[KJSR]

Buy an alignment tool and do it yourself. Super easy and you can get the settings you want. Even more important when lowered....

[Old Truck Man]

Originally Posted by 61_FL_Apache

Where I get my alignments done, I can actually stand over the guy doing it.. I have had to point out things before leaving and double check when I get home.

If you gotta watch them do it ? you just as well do it yourself. I never let anyone watch me work on anything. Years ago I was working in a truck shop. Changing the clutch on a cab over international. The owner operator came in the shop. I was under the truck and he came leaning over the frame rail blocking my light and knocking dirt down on me. I told him Westly Hardin one time shot & killed a man for sanding in the window & blocking the light. He moved and went and got a chair and came and sat down and kept asking stupid questions. I just quit and crawled out. We sat and talked for about two hours. Finally He stated when are you gonna work on my truck. I replied In working now your paying the hourly rate right now. So far you bothering me has cost you $50! He got mad and went into the office. the shop foreman brought him out into the shop and pointed to a sign that stated. Employees only. It boils down to this if you cannot trust someone to do the job correctly don't do business with them. And If you really want the job done to suit you do it yourself.

[cg285]

Originally Posted by Old Truck Man

Well we found out that the engine had never been removed from the truck by the so called mechanic. So the crank obviously hadn't been turned. In fact the main bearings where the originals.

maybe in your case but many cranks have been turned in the vehicle - especially in that time period. i happen to have that equipment. strangely it's called the "in the blok crankshaft grinder" (from winona). i also have an "in the rod" boring tool (from winona). don't use them much anymore tho'

[cg285]

Originally Posted by Old Truck Man

I told him Westly Hardin one time shot & killed a man for sanding in the window & blocking the light.

hahaha - assuming he knew what you were talking about. i never had the luxury of getting paid by the hour so i just made sure that everywhere a customer was standing was where i was going next. then once, or twice, or more, i accidentally unloaded an air powered grease gun in their direction. these days you just point to the sign on the wall stating how your insurance co does not allow it. i HAVE (once so far) been busted by the insurance co when they made a spot inspection. almost got dropped.

[Old Truck Man]

Originally Posted by cg285

maybe in your case but many cranks have been turned in the vehicle - especially in that time period. i happen to have that equipment. strangely it's called the "in the blok crankshaft grinder" (from winona). i also have an "in the rod" boring tool (from winona). don't use them much anymore tho'

Yes im old enough to remember those tools. the old Babbitt rod chevy engines the crank would be bad and they sometimes would turn just one throw. you could pull the piston down far enough below the cyl bottom to remove the wrist pin and change out the rod. In our engine they had steam cleaned and painted the engine. When I pulled out the original engine there was still grease & dirt in the places that didn't get steam cleaned. The bearings where still std. the guy simply wasn't honest and didn't catch the flat cam when adjusting the valves. He knew it and knew my dad knew it. That's why we got a full refund. Back then your settled things like that by beating someone about the head. My Dad fully intended to inflict some pain on him.

[Old Truck Man]

Originally Posted by cg285

hahaha - assuming he knew what you were talking about. i never had the luxury of getting paid by the hour so i just made sure that everywhere a customer was standing was where i was going next. then once, or twice, or more, i accidentally unloaded an air powered grease gun in their direction. these days you just point to the sign on the wall stating how your insurance co does not allow it. i HAVE (once so far) been busted by the insurance co when they made a spot inspection. almost got dropped.

Shop rate was $25 per hour I got 50% of chargeable hours. So I was the one who kept up with the hours on whatever I worked on. Big shop each mechanic had three bays. You would tear down something and maybe have to wait for parts. so you worked on something else. There was a clipboard with the work order for every job. and you wrote your time down and kept a accurate tally.

[cg285]

i was always strictly flat rate. one nice thing about that was we NEVER got any pay for diagnosis. sunsa*****es
and the flat rate wasn't very good. (GM)

[MikeN]

Originally Posted by Chevy Fleetside

Ok fast forward to today. When backing out of the garage it would clunk when I tapped the brakes so I stuck my head out the open door and notice the top of the tire moving in and out. I then grabbed my jack and prybar and poked around more.

It happens the nut on the upper control arm came loose or something and all the shims fell out.

I had this happen on my 64 C10 repeatedly. Turned out that the bolts/nuts holding the upper control arms to the frame were just plain worn out, and the nut would loosen and let the shims fall out no matter how they were torqued. It might be time for a thorough inspection, and be prepared to take all four control arms off and replace all mounting hardware. These trucks are a half-century old at this point. JMHO

[Chevy Fleetside]

I did take it back and they did it under warrenty. A differnt tech did it this time and is seems to be pretty good. I will be checking every once in a while just to make sure everything stays tight.

[1971 GMC SHORTY]

I Worked Flatrate For 27 years and always Took Care of Customers from GM Dealer To Independent Shops To the Last 10 years As A Movie Studio Mechinc Building Cars For Fast And Furious And Others Movies, Always A Self Taught Wrench I Do it All.. Hate Hack Work... Do it Right The First Time!!!!!

['65 chevy lover]

Originally Posted by Chevy Fleetside

I would rather do the work on my truck myself, but sometimes you have too. I needed the front end aligned. I took it down and they did it. Now for the fun part. About a week after maybe more it started drifting to the left, of course I had that look on my face like what now.. I jacked it up and noticed the idler arm had to much play so I figured that might be the problem. At the same time when pulling into a driveway with the wheels cranked to the right there was a bump noise and I could feel something loose hitting the frame.

When I was changing the idler arm I decided to grab the tie rod end on the right side and the guy forgot to tighten one of the clamps so they were rocking a bit. I just grabbed a few wrenches and did my thing.

After changing the idler arm I drove it but not much differnt. Ok fast forward to today. When backing out of the garage it would clunk when I tapped the brakes so I stuck my head out the open door and notice the top of the tire moving in and out. I then grabbed my jack and prybar and poked around more.

It happens the nut on the upper control arm came loose or something and all the shims fell out. I have to take it back to the shop and make them fix it. I am sure this doesn't happen all the time and I am sure they will make sure all is tight. What a PITA.
Im not going to proof read this so I hope it makes sence...

That sucks. Especially after you pay your hard earned dollars to have the work done. Hopefully, they will MAN UP and, fix the problems without BS.

[Chevy Fleetside]

They did fix the problem. God knows I will not go back, not even to buy tires.

[Micmac]

I would rather get a root canal than do a brake job. Especially when it's cold. I don't have a heated shop. Every time I drive by this shop in lil ol Independence, Virginia right across the state line from my house. I see old stuff in there being worked on. I heard what I assumed was metal to metal when applying the brakes so I stopped in and asked the proprietor if he would do a brake job for me he was about what looked to be 80. He told me he was booked for a few days but if I could bring it back in two days time he would do it for me. I dropped it off on the agreed upon day. I left my phone number and asked him to call when it was done. A week went by, I was getting upset. I thought about it all day long yesterday and decided to go give him a piece of my mind. I walked in and saw him and asked him when my truck would be ready. He replied,"I was finished the day you brought it", I queried him as to why he did not call, he stated, "boy, when your my age you can't remember everything" and chuckled . He explained that I didn't need a brake job after all. A clip had come off the emergency brake causing the dragging sound I was hearing, and he fixed it. He also put a bulb in my dome light, and replaced the wiper blades because" they looked like they needed changing" (he was right, they were almost dry rotted) final bill $51.23. Guess where I will be going from now on for work I can't get to, or don't want to do? He could have done the brake job and charged me serious coinage if he was underhanded. I guess you can't do that in a a,mall town and survive in business, plus he is from a bygone era where honesty is paramount.

[Chevy Fleetside]

So I took my truck back on the 6th I believe. today I started hearing a noise out of the front left. Well now the upper rear shims fell out. I did catch it before I lost them, even the new bolt they put on was loose. I got out my bar and socket and made sure they were all tight because the right side was a bit loose also. I am going to recheck them in about a week or two depending on how much I drive it to see if they come loose again.
If they do then I will try red lock tight. I sure will call the tire company back and let them know.
At least this time I tighten them and know they are tight. I should have checked that when I got it home but was just to darn lazy. I wanted to drive it..