As you get older, and lazier, your wallet tells you, hey, let some other dude wrench your machines and enjoy those greasy skinned knuckles:) BAD MISTAKE FOR ME THIS WEEK. A simple power steering leak snowballs into a lesson in the realities of life...the other guy a)does not give a shit about your ride b)even if he cares, does he know how to fix it?
ARGG! Lower balljoints shot at 54k, I can live with that. The 95 Jimmy is not a porch poodle like 95% of SUV's, she's out there in the west texas dirt a couple of weekends a months, year round.
Then the moron puts a golf ball size glob of grease OUTSIDE one new ball joint, and doesn't get ANY grease actually in any of the other fittings. All other zerks were still dry. I had pulled all the skid plates MYSELF so the bastard would have an easier job. Front end alignment still out of spec, duh the camber effects whether you will stay in your lane or not! All they did was set toein.
Can't even swear the power steering pump was replaced, and all that dripping oil on the new lines...back to see the monkey, er mechanic.
The right front new ball joint grease fitting was turned towards the wheel, impossible to get the grease gun onto! No wonder it was dry! So we killed an hour watching the grease job get sort of re-done. The leaky power steering, who knows, the ahole admitted he got on them with a wrench an tightened the shit out of them when I asked about how he had torqued the tubing fittings onto the "new" pump. Said the drips were from filling the unit. I guess he never thought someone who had a leak would want it wiped off after being fixed, so at least it would look fixed.
The state inspector who started this fiasco said, hey, it's still dripping, when we took it back. The monkey said, he did not know they checked for powers steering leaks on the saftey inspection(nice to have reliable steering, don't you agree?).
So now, I get to recheck the torque specs this weekend, regrease the damn front end, wipe off all the stray oil, and hope I never have to use that shop again.
I will get another shop to correct the front end alignment, and send all the documents to the better business bureau...their alignment notes say the caster is way out, and they did not feel like adjusting it?!*
OH gee, better not make them angry before that great 6 months warranty runs out, CHRIST, these guys claim to be big time church goers, etc. How come NAPA and EVERYBODY offers warranties rebuilt/remanufactured stuff for "life", at half their price.
I feel a basic betrayal of trust, considering having a front end "shop rebuilt" is to preserve your tire wear in the first place, and not having them even grease the damn thing, or align corectly after the work...
All I want is my caster at 3 degrees:) One partial turn of an eccentric cam. Can't do it in the driveway, argg. Time for meds. Monday, look for a new alignment shop, cause I sure as hell don't let morons touch my ride twice.
Hell, it's not even the money, it just burns me that letting someone else earn a buck doing something I should have done myself blew back on me, and I hope the bastards starve, 'cause this is a small town, and my complaint with the better business bureau is a slam dunk against their competence and integrity.Time for meds, sorry Wayne but steam was about to pour out my ears, and I can't resolve this mess till Monday, meanwhile, I AM FINISHING the Hagerman Tech phono stage this weekend...so a quick rant here seemed appropriate somehow...OMMMMM..OMMMMM...calm and peaceful...time for the Roger Waters "trilogy" of "The Pros and Cons of Hitch hiking", "Radio Kaos", and "Amused to Death". And some 10 year old bourbon, comfortably numb till dawn, when I have a date with a hot solder iron, right after the damn grease job and retorking...argg...OMMM...OMMM...i better leave now, Sam
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