adamzan Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Ok, I will get a pic of it in the morning, but I wanted to give some background tonight while it was fresh in my mind. My brakes were loosing fluid, so I made an appointment at the shop where my parents go all the time, and they usually do great work. I get a call about halfway through my day, and am told that they replaced a wheel cylinder and the drivers side hard line on the axle. I pick up the truck and all is fine, and still is, but I am a TAD concerned. I was in a friends car, and when he pulled up to my place behind my truck I noticed something kinda hanging down. Upon further inspection, it turns out that instead of getting the PROPER hard line for my truck, they just took a piece of generic brake like (new of course) and shaped it along roughly to what the old one looked like, and TIE WRAPPED IT TO THE AXLE. From what I can see, if I were to go even on some mild wheeling, a branch or something could catch the line and rip it off, and well, everyone knows what would happen. My moms bf looked at it and he said that it's probably fine, but I still don't like it. I know I know, a pic speaks a 1000 words, but, would you complain? I think I'm going to mention it when it goes in on Thursday for my tires and exhaust. For 145 dollars I think it should have looked stock.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 You got ripped off. Especially since the driver's side rear hard line is only about $10-15 from the dealership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Pickles Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Agreed. 3 cents for a plastic zip tie + bending and putting some flanges in some aftermarket line does not = stock repair. Granted, no you didn't take it to a dealer or equivalent, but this sounds like crap work regardless of where you would have taken the truck. :worthless: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Take it back to them and tell them either they do it right, or they don't get paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Well, here's the thing..... on MANY occasions, gentlemen, hard lines are not available from the dealer. You cannot purchase the part, and put it in. I know this was the case with my parent's Exploder. Many of these things are done before the body of the truck is even put on, so working with a long hard line along the axle can be time consuming if you're not taking the body off the frame. Not to mention, an hour of labour at a shop is at least $75 nowadays. How long do you think it takes to make a brand new line, install it plus a wheel cylinder, and then bleed the whole system? I'd say it's not too bad. If it's hanging down below the axle, it should be redone, otherwise, it WILL equal a stock repair, or better if they know what they're doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msavides Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Well, here's the thing..... on MANY occasions, gentlemen, hard lines are not available from the dealer. You cannot purchase the part, and put it in. I know this was the case with my parent's Exploder. Many of these things are done before the body of the truck is even put on, so working with a long hard line along the axle can be time consuming if you're not taking the body off the frame. Not to mention, an hour of labour at a shop is at least $75 nowadays. How long do you think it takes to make a brand new line, install it plus a wheel cylinder, and then bleed the whole system? I'd say it's not too bad. If it's hanging down below the axle, it should be redone, otherwise, it WILL equal a stock repair, or better if they know what they're doing. I am with Simon on this one. If you do not want to do it yourself (or can't do it yourself for whatever reason) then you will pay for it, and it won't be done exactly like you would do it (or you would want it done) If they could have got the part form the dealer, they surely would have to order it. Then the thread would have been titled "how long does it take to replace a wheel cylinder?" I feel that when I do take may car to someone else to work on (which is pretty much never) I am never satisfied with the price paid or the way the work done. I also realize It is a business and when I work on my truck it is a labor of love. So I will clean off every part I remove, Give it a new Paint job and then reassemble. They are not going to do that. They need to turn over the vehicles as fast as possible to make any money. Just My .02 cents Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 The part I'm concerned about is to the left of the shock, I don't think you can see it in the pic very well but there is a big gap there. I'm worried a stick or something could snag that and rip it off. Also, the tie wrap to the axle just looks like crap. Here is the other side, for comparison. Wow, my truck has like no rust underneath. Wonder why THAT brake line had to be changed. Oh ya, I'm an idiot for taking my 500 dollar camera out in THIS weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 The tie wrap does look kinda goofy, but what can you do. I assume the proper hold points have rusted off. The far left is a little disconcerting....I'd just get it sitting closer to the axle, even with a zip tie as they've done in the middle. Why, though, if you thought it was wrong when you picked the truck up, would you even leave the shop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 (edited) I didn't notice it until two weeks ago. on me for not looking. It's going in on Thursday for other stuff, I'm going to mention it. Hopefully they don't berate me like last time I complained about a repair. I guess I better get the truck undercoated before that brake line rusts away. Is that krown I have layers of under there? It's real thick along the rail and under the body. Edited April 28, 2008 by redfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yozsi Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 looks fine to me, they probably replaced it because the fitting was frozen in to the wheel cylinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msavides Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 The part I'm concerned about is to the left of the shock, I don't think you can see it in the pic very well but there is a big gap there. I'm worried a stick or something could snag that and rip it off. Also, the tie wrap to the axle just looks like crap. Here is the other side, for comparison. Wow, my truck has like no rust underneath. Wonder why THAT brake line had to be changed. Oh ya, I'm an idiot for taking my 500 dollar camera out in THIS weather. Looks like they bent that line freehand. I would have rather had them run the line more on the upper side of the axle tube. And They probably stripped the hard off the old line trying to loosen it form the wheel cylinder. With a bender they could have done a nice sweep, they must not have had one. mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jitterymonkey Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 (edited) Well, here's the thing..... on MANY occasions, gentlemen, hard lines are not available from the dealer. You cannot purchase the part, and put it in. I know this was the case with my parent's Exploder. Many of these things are done before the body of the truck is even put on, so working with a long hard line along the axle can be time consuming if you're not taking the body off the frame. Not to mention, an hour of labour at a shop is at least $75 nowadays. How long do you think it takes to make a brand new line, install it plus a wheel cylinder, and then bleed the whole system? I'd say it's not too bad. If it's hanging down below the axle, it should be redone, otherwise, it WILL equal a stock repair, or better if they know what they're doing. x3, I would take it back and politely tell them since you offroad the hell out of this rig. You are concerned about how the line is mounted. If it's a good shop they should have no problem rebending it up and out of the way for ya. Edited April 28, 2008 by jitterymonkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 Thank you ALL for the replies, I will politely tell them. Although my dad told me NOT to mention wheeling it. Something about they could say it's my own fault for tearing a line, which is understandable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Okay, I revise my previous statement - mention to them that you are worried about how far away it sticks out... see if they can, maybe, shorten it a little? I'm not 100% sure if this is an actual metal line or a rubber one... I'm assuming metal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Doesn't look horrible...kinda shady on the hand bent line but it gets the job done without charging you for the additional labor to bend it and $145 for parts, bleeding and changing the wheel cylinder seems reasonable to me...i cant really tell from the angle but the LHS looks a little low but that may just be the projection of it... Next time you do the work and save the additional $ for something you want to add to the truck You'll learn that even if you screw it up its probably going to be cheaper for you to fix it than take it somewhere else unless you screw something up big time... my coworker (dumbass or I would have helped him) just took his saturn Vue (another reason I wont help) to a mom and pops shop to "inspect" the headlight switch b/c its not working and they said its $85 an hr to do wire testing and its automatically 1 hr of work...He's a knockoff EE (no eng degree but worked in the navy and thinks he knwos it all but when I told him to check it with the multimeter he was like uhh) and didn't want to take the time to figure it out but he can't afford food right now either and lives less than a mile from work but refuses to walk (he's a tad overweight) and buy's a $6 coffee 2 times a day M-F along with all of his porn/swinger memberships...the guy is really screwed up...so I know they're going to charge him like $300 if not more b/c it took 4 or 5 hrs to figure it out b/c with electronics you just cant tell...he'll be bitchin the rest of the week now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 Okay, I revise my previous statement - mention to them that you are worried about how far away it sticks out... see if they can, maybe, shorten it a little? I'm not 100% sure if this is an actual metal line or a rubber one... I'm assuming metal? It's a metal line, and yeah im going to ask them. Hopefully they won't charge me Uncc, the only thing that i won't do myself on my truck is touch the brakes, well maybe only the pads/shoes. Thank you all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUELER Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 Looks like the bottom shock mount will protect it from all the crazy objects.... I wouldnt worry about sticks and shrubs I dont think youll have any problems at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted April 29, 2008 Share Posted April 29, 2008 Uncc, the only thing that i won't do myself on my truck is touch the brakes, well maybe only the pads/shoes. brakes are easy...if it leaks tighten it up...if its soft bleed again and look for leaks or replace MC... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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