pep boys; fail inspection; brake line; tie rods; e-brake

[Stick_man]

went to pep boys. they failed inpspection for said items

they are saying i need tie rods and ball joints. the left side was not lubed. i did myself a couple of years ago i thought they came lubed.

how do I really know if i need it or not?

I did notice that every 6 months i would have to add brake fluid; i just assumed that was the wear from the pads. is that really enough to cause concern for a car i drive on sundays basically. i train it to work?

the e brake hasn't worked in years.

$83. rear right cable
$26 brake shoes
$43 park brake kit
$126 labor for rear brakes
$136.50 remove and replace tie rod ends
$58 for tie rods
$52 limited ext waaranty (whatever this is)
$346 remove balls joints
$230 install brake line
$49 brake line
$70 brake fluid exchange package
$85 wheel alignment

I can do the tie rods and rear brake pads. but how do i know if even needs it.
ball joints sound hard especially if they are charging $346
i could not do the brake line
comments?

 

[jdtractor]

ball joints are not hard but you will need a line up after you do you ball joints and tie rod ends, me personally i would do all that work myself search around on the forum there is a bunch of "how to" threads on all of that.

 

[RangerX]

I don't know anything about NY inspections, but can you bring it somewhere and try to pass there?

 

[Stick_man]

Yea I could bring it elsewhere and do that but it would run me another 37 bucks


Meanwhile I must have been driving like that over a year a remember first addi. Brake fluid like a year ago and just added more 3 weeks ago. I never noticed any difference

The left tie rod I did 2 years ago. Could they just be full of it? At least on the tie rod ? And does anyone really have a working e brake?

 

[RangerX]

Well yeah, it would run you another 37 bucks, but what's the end objective, to have the current safety sticker?
Or, to fix everything Pep Boys says you need to fix, costing you potentially hundreds, and then have the current safety sticker?
$37 seems minor if you can just find another place that would pass you easier.
Maybe all the other shops there are just as strict and thorough, I don't know. I'm just going on past experiences in states I've lived in.

 

[Stick_man]

Well yeah, it would run you another 37 bucks, but what's the end objective, to have the current safety sticker?
Or, to fix everything Pep Boys says you need to fix, costing you potentially hundreds, and then have the current safety sticker?
$37 seems minor if you can just find another place that would pass you easier.
Maybe all the other shops there are just as strict and thorough, I don't know. I'm just going on past experiences in states I've lived in.

yeah pretty much i want the sticker and a relatively safe car. perhaps just biting the bullet and going else where is the thing to do. i mean the tie rod i did 2 years ago i doubt that needs replacing again and the ball joints is them just throwing in extra sh*t i bet. its the same when they do brake pads they want to put new rotors on too because the pads sit better ... like wtf.
its like they no sense of saving you any money just put new stuff on.


i just had someone pump the brakes while i was under the car. after 5 min. of pumps -- violent ones -- and holding down the pedal maybe about 3-4 drops leaked out by where the rubber hose meets the metal part of the line. rear driver wheel. they feel spongey however

 

[shadowless127]

First off, #### pepboys. I brought my X there a few years ago, TOLD THEM UPFRONT I needed my e brake repaired and needed an inspection; 3-day long story short, these ####heads charge me $280 worth of labor after telling me they can't fix my ebrake and I need to take it to Ford; then they go ahead and do the inspection ANYWAY and fail my truck and charge me the $37 inspection fee anyway.

I'd try another shop that may look past these little things. I use a shop in Long Island City that just cares if my brake pads and tire tread are good and then drops the OBDII scanner on and as long as my sensors are set I get my sticker.

 

[Stick_man]

actually F autozone too that boot is ripped. Guess I am doing that again. not sure about doing the other tie rod. Think Ill just do the 1; rear brakes; and have a shop do the leaking line. new balls is BS

 

[jremington59]

The bad part about getting an inspection now in NY if the vehicle is iffy is the damn camera that's mandatory so they can watch inspections being done. My friend owns a garage and had to have the camera installed. They told him they can't hear what's being said but I'm not buying that, lol.

I'd go get an estimate from some local garage. Just looking at the 136 for labor to put on two tie rod ends is enough to drive me away.

 

[Bobmbx]

First, find out what the NY inspection requires.

 

[jremington59]

It requires everything he listed except the alignment and warranty. They're pretty thorough on the safety inspection in NY.

 

[Verse]

The bad part about getting an inspection now in NY if the vehicle is iffy is the damn camera that's mandatory so they can watch inspections being done. My friend owns a garage and had to have the camera installed. They told him they can't hear what's being said but I'm not buying that, lol.

That's insane.

 

[shadowless127]

The bad part about getting an inspection now in NY if the vehicle is iffy is the damn camera that's mandatory so they can watch inspections being done. My friend owns a garage and had to have the camera installed. They told him they can't hear what's being said but I'm not buying that, lol.

I'd go get an estimate from some local garage. Just looking at the 136 for labor to put on two tie rod ends is enough to drive me away.

It's a video only camera, and it only turns on when you initiate the OBDII portion of the inspection. to make sure you're not pulling any shenanigans.

 

[jremington59]

The camera turns on when the tech starts the inspection and scans the VIN number. It's done so they can't cheat on the safety inspection. There's no cheating on the emissions test. All this equipment, along with the Inspection station is purchased through the DMV. And it's all connected to the internet. I sure wouldn't gamble that there isn't a speaker somewhere.

 

[Stick_man]

my parents were on vacation ( and I was too for awhile) so I parked the truck in their driveway to avoid summonses for an expired safety sticker and give me a good place to work.

I did the rear brakes and the passenger side tie rod.

I took it to another garage where they did the brake line, the alignment and they passed it. 400$ later and im on the road again. thanks all

 

[spitfisher]

Before you go somewhere else, ask yourself, what will you do if the same prognosis is found to pass?

 

[Stick_man]

Before you go somewhere else, ask yourself, what will you do if the same prognosis is found to pass?

well they wouldn't be able to do the alignment if it needed ball joints and the other tie rod. not to mention i shook the one tire after doing the tie rod and there was no play at all

 

[crunchie_frog]

Hi Stickman,

You can do all of this work yourself. It seems likely to me that all of this work is needed if your vehicle has over 100K miles. Ball joints and tie rods are normal wear items. If you are in the rust belt, disappearing parking brake components and rusted out brake lines are also common. Also, it is really very, very dangerous to be driving around with a leaking, rusted out brake line.

You can do all of this work yourself if you have the desire, time and some simple tools for these jobs and I would guess parts would be <$300 if you shop around. if you search this forum, you will find all of these jobs are on here, many with pictures and step by step instructions. You still would need to take it in for alignment.

If you don't want to do this work yourself, PepBoys prices sound reasonable however, you could take your list somewhere else and get a quote for the same work and see if you can beat PepBoys prices.

 

[Stick_man]

 

[koda2000]

w/out getting out the parts catalog and a calculator, doing the work myself (and including the $85 wheel alignment) i think these repairs would run me around $380 vs $1,304 to Larry, Moe and Curly, but i have the tools, time and experience to do the work. i guess if you've gotta pay someone else to do the work and pay their mark-up on parts, it's not that far out of line. the things that jump out at me is the $230 to replace a brake line (were they planning to remove the body to make access easier?) and the $136.50 to replace the tie-rod ends.

BTW, i only paid $1,400, back in April, for my '97 Sport and so far the only things it's needed were a couple of front sway-bar end links (about $20).