Did I spend too much $?

[commonlaw]

So I needed some work on my truck (I am sure that some of you were tired of those tranny/clutch questions I had incessantly posted around here for awhile) and need to take the rig in for some therapy. I got a recommendation from a buddy and so I took him my rig and told him that it wasn't shifting well. He took it apart a bit and told me that my clutch was basically toast (I actually got under the lift and sure enough). So he said he would replace the clutch new and all the linkage (throw-out etc). He quoted me 800 bones. I thought that sounded OK and then told him to proceed. He then said that I had a crack in the belhousing and that my fork was FUBAR. So, he ordered those (and a new cable for the speedometer) and ended up charging me $1144.00 for the whole thing: beefy clutch, all new linkage, belhousing, fork, quick fix on speedo. Sound reasonable?? Drives really well.

 

[Daddy4zack]

If it drives well and you had the $$ then OK.. but it does seem like a bit high of money... ohh well sometimes its just easier to pay someone..

 

[NicksTrix]

you didn't mention what you paid for parts and what his shop rate is.
could the bell housing not be welded? or was that not really an option.

main thing is the job was done right, the truck runs well and you didn't have the be under it doing it. that's what you brought it in for right?
enjoy
nick

 

[commonlaw]

you didn't mention what you paid for parts and what his shop rate is.
could the bell housing not be welded? or was that not really an option.

main thing is the job was done right, the truck runs well and you didn't have the be under it doing it. that's what you brought it in for right?
enjoy
nick

Yeah, fair amount of money but I dont have the expertise and I need her running soon for a couple of events. That price was parts, labor and long overdue peace of mind. With my limited knowledge, I was just wondering whether I got totally hosed or whether it sounds fairly reasonable. Looks like the latter.

 

[feitctaj]

Thats not high in The Puget Sound area, the base of 800 is normal, then go up with the needed parts, but I wish you would kept your bad parts, so i could have the old stuff, I could probably weld the Bell.

 

[commonlaw]

Thats not high in The Puget Sound area, the base of 800 is normal, then go up with the needed parts, but I wish you would kept your bad parts, so i could have the old stuff, I could probably weld the Bell.

Oh, I am keeping the old parts...I made sure of that. Hell, I stopped in there everyday just to see my baby up on the lift and make sure the doctor was doing his job. I actually havent looked over the bellhousing. Dont suppose you are going to be in seattle soon?

 

[feitctaj]

I go through about everyday, in the middle of the day. But I have a buddy that lives near Greenlake, I can hookup with you when I go to see him. I may be there this weekend.

 

[fitpays]

72302 -i looked in your gallery and that is one hell of a nice looking truck! 1100 bucks is cool if you've got it. you could have done a little better on the price, but you get what you pay for. personally, i try to do everything myself except paint. but for me, i have a best friend to help me that is a mechanic at a ford dealer. for someone without the means to do it yourself, 1100.00 is great if the price is right. i saw that you are a youn guy according to the pics, and for someone in your position, you need to pick your battles with wrenching. start out small to learn and work your way up. if you tried to save a buck or two and do it yourself, it could have been tragic. when i was in high school and college i had 2 Z-28 street cars with tons of motor work done to them. i tried to put a cam in the first one that was a fuel injected car. it turned into a total abortion and i ended up paying a mechanic to finish the job. if your truck runs good now, the money was well spent. i am getting ready to swap my motor and put in a fresh clutch. i will be doing it with my friend the ford wrench, but if i could throw a thousand at it and be done, i probably would! by the way if i didnt metion it earlier, your truck is sweeeeet!

 

[daddyg]

Nice truck!!! $1,100 sounds reasonable for everything you had done. I like to do most of the work myself, but if you have the money but don't have the time go for it.

 

[DPM77]

Oh, I am keeping the old parts...I made sure of that. Hell, I stopped in there everyday just to see my baby up on the lift and make sure the doctor was doing his job. I actually havent looked over the bellhousing. Dont suppose you are going to be in seattle soon?

Funny how ya can't leave your EB somewhere for any amount of time without going by to look at it isn't it? Had mine in storage for a while, made me crazy, drove by there every day!

Seems that if the 800 was a fair price(and from other posts sounds like it is) another 350 for everything else you described, is a fair deal. I like the fact that you were able to monitor the work daily, and it sounds like this is a shop that will stand by this work. Also, dependable clutch and speedo work in the same shop provides a level of confidence.

dpm

 

[commonlaw]

I go through about everyday, in the middle of the day. But I have a buddy that lives near Greenlake, I can hookup with you when I go to see him. I may be there this weekend.

I am truckin over to Spokane this weekend so I wont be around but PM me anytime because I live 1 mile from Greenlake and would be happy to give you the parts if you think they will be of any use to you.

 

[commonlaw]

72302 -i looked in your gallery and that is one hell of a nice looking truck! 1100 bucks is cool if you've got it. you could have done a little better on the price, but you get what you pay for. personally, i try to do everything myself except paint. but for me, i have a best friend to help me that is a mechanic at a ford dealer. for someone without the means to do it yourself, 1100.00 is great if the price is right. i saw that you are a youn guy according to the pics, and for someone in your position, you need to pick your battles with wrenching. start out small to learn and work your way up. if you tried to save a buck or two and do it yourself, it could have been tragic. when i was in high school and college i had 2 Z-28 street cars with tons of motor work done to them. i tried to put a cam in the first one that was a fuel injected car. it turned into a total abortion and i ended up paying a mechanic to finish the job. if your truck runs good now, the money was well spent. i am getting ready to swap my motor and put in a fresh clutch. i will be doing it with my friend the ford wrench, but if i could throw a thousand at it and be done, i probably would! by the way if i didnt metion it earlier, your truck is sweeeeet!

I appreciate the input. I would love to work on it myself but as I am without the space and tools I have to pick and choose my battles. I am a bit of a novice so I have undertaken smaller stuff like installing easy gaskets, new radiator, wiring problems, that kind of stuff...for now. One day I will have more resources and ability.

I am going to update my gallery soon as the rig has changed a bit and the pictures are blurry.

As someone else said, I think this guy will stand by his work and now that I have someone who has worked on the truck, there is at least one other person in the world who knows the history of my truck and its repairs.

 

[Ryans71]

Sounds like a decent deal to me. Especially if they did the other work you described.


Ryan.

 

[66horse]

time, money and knowhow.

All you had was money this time... seems alright to me

 

[BroncoWyatt]

Being a shop owner, I see this type of work everyday. That seems like a fair price to me. That is a good looking Bronco. Is that a Sugarloaf sticker in the rear window? Brett

 

[texaswildcat98]

Seems fair to me.

I paid $1100 a couple of years ago for a new pressure plate, flywheel, clutch plate, throw-out bearing and bushing for my 95 F150. I was in a bind at work with projects so I had to send it to a shop and rent a car... We all do what we have to for peace of mind... my $0.02

 

[commonlaw]

Being a shop owner, I see this type of work everyday. That seems like a fair price to me. That is a good looking Bronco. Is that a Sugarloaf sticker in the rear window? Brett

Brett,
That is a "loaf" sticker. As the only sticker on the rig, it had to be important. My best friend and roommate's father (one of my friend's as well) is the CEO up there at the loaf as well as sunday river. I told him I would give him some free press and he puts me up and gives me free passes whenever I can make it to Maine. Good trade, and besides the self-serving aspect, I love skiing there.

 

[BroncoWyatt]

Thats awesome, I used to do a lot of skiing there. My best friends dad is on the ski patrol there, and one of my employees used to work at Sunday River. I used to have the same sticker, in the same spot on my Bronco.

 

[TurnerBurn]

Well, I'm new here, and I mostly lurk.

Mostly I'm just reading and trying to soak up as much info as possible. However, my opinion is that the original cost of $800.00 was too much. I don't want to get you down. If the job was done right, that really is paramount. But that rivals the price of a C4 rebuild w/ torque conv. etc around here. I mean, check out the links below. Now, I know this is labor intensive. I am wondering how much the "mark-up" is on your mechanic's parts. I would imagine it's massive. I too go to mechanics, and I know you get what you pay for, I just have learned to provide my own parts. Sometimes they will not guarantee the work if you do not use "their" parts. So, before I tell them that I'll get the part for them, I find out what "kind/type" they use. I get that, if it's good. Then present it to them. This usually prevents a 75-100% mark-up. They don't like it. I had a mechanic tell me before that if I provided the parts that the labor rate would change. Nice businessman, right. He's already in the $45-50.00 an hour range. That was weak.

I edited out the links, they would not work. However, they were for all of your parts. Clutch kit, bell housing w/ fork, etc. From Tom's and BroncoGraveYard. Check out their prices.

 

[BroncoWyatt]

Brett,
That is a "loaf" sticker. As the only sticker on the rig, it had to be important. My best friend and roommate's father (one of my friend's as well) is the CEO up there at the loaf as well as sunday river. I told him I would give him some free press and he puts me up and gives me free passes whenever I can make it to Maine. Good trade, and besides the self-serving aspect, I love skiing there.

So is your friend an Otten?