iggyboo
New Member
- Joined
- February 12, 2006
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Richardson, TX
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '02 Explorer 4.0
Hi, I'm new to the forum, my son suggested I find a forum like this to ask questions because I think a couple of different local mechanics are trying to take advantage of me and possibly rip me off.
I went to my regular mechanic a few weeks ago and they printed out a list of maintenance things that I needed to get done, like flushes and such, which were okay. However, they also mentioned that my front wheel bearings were "bad" and that I needed to get them repacked and quoted me about $150 to do that. Well, I used to think this particular mechanic was honest because they did save me several hundred dollars when a Pep Boys place tried to rip me off. That was a couple of different cars and several years ago and since that time, my faith in them has been shaken by a couple of different things that have happened recently.
So instead of just taking their word for it, I called around to get some different price quotes from other garages, including a place called City Garage that's supposedly AAA certified. They were less and so I took my vehicle to have a power steering flush done (which I was also told by the other mechanic needed to be done really soon). While there, I told them to check the front wheel bearings because of what the other mechanic had told me. They asked me questions about the brakes and if I had been having any problems with the brakes or the wheels, which I had not. I have not been having any problems with the drive or with the wheels squeeling or vibrating, absolutely nothing has even given me the appearance that anything was wrong.
So these guys come back and tell me that the whole front wheel hub housing needs to be replaced because on my particular model of car, you can't repack the bearings, they come in a housing unit and you have to replace the whole housing unit to replace the bearings. He even took me out to the garage and with the tires off, he put pressure on the disc wheel and wobbled it back and forth to show me it was loose. He did the same on the other front wheel, and showed me on the back that the back wheels were fine.
Now, to do all this was going to cost me $700, and the parts themselves were going to run about $242 for each wheel, plus labor, and they said it needed to be done immediately, that it was extremely dangerous for me to be driving on the wheels like they were. What's interesting is that there was no wobbling, no vibration, no noise, no NOTHING to even suggest there's a problem. I told them I didn't have $700 to do this job and they got very agitated with me when I told them to put my car back together without authorizing the work to be done.
I came home and told my son about the situation, he's a weekend mechanic and knows enough to make him dangerous, and his opinion was they were trying to rip me off because what they were telling me just didn't make any sense, that they could have very easily loosened the nut that holds the hub housing on to make the disc wobble back and forth like that, and the whole hub housing vs. repacking the bearings sounded fishy too.
First of all, the first mechanic would have known - or should have known - about the whole hub housing vs. bearings so why would they have said I needed my bearings repacked when that wasn't possible? Unless the second place was lying? Or possibly the first place was just adding something to the maintenance list and lying to me about needing the bearings repacked in the first place??
Anyone have any info on this particular subject, or know anything about the 2002 Explorer and the wheel set up in this regard? Your input would be greatly appreciated.
I went to my regular mechanic a few weeks ago and they printed out a list of maintenance things that I needed to get done, like flushes and such, which were okay. However, they also mentioned that my front wheel bearings were "bad" and that I needed to get them repacked and quoted me about $150 to do that. Well, I used to think this particular mechanic was honest because they did save me several hundred dollars when a Pep Boys place tried to rip me off. That was a couple of different cars and several years ago and since that time, my faith in them has been shaken by a couple of different things that have happened recently.
So instead of just taking their word for it, I called around to get some different price quotes from other garages, including a place called City Garage that's supposedly AAA certified. They were less and so I took my vehicle to have a power steering flush done (which I was also told by the other mechanic needed to be done really soon). While there, I told them to check the front wheel bearings because of what the other mechanic had told me. They asked me questions about the brakes and if I had been having any problems with the brakes or the wheels, which I had not. I have not been having any problems with the drive or with the wheels squeeling or vibrating, absolutely nothing has even given me the appearance that anything was wrong.
So these guys come back and tell me that the whole front wheel hub housing needs to be replaced because on my particular model of car, you can't repack the bearings, they come in a housing unit and you have to replace the whole housing unit to replace the bearings. He even took me out to the garage and with the tires off, he put pressure on the disc wheel and wobbled it back and forth to show me it was loose. He did the same on the other front wheel, and showed me on the back that the back wheels were fine.
Now, to do all this was going to cost me $700, and the parts themselves were going to run about $242 for each wheel, plus labor, and they said it needed to be done immediately, that it was extremely dangerous for me to be driving on the wheels like they were. What's interesting is that there was no wobbling, no vibration, no noise, no NOTHING to even suggest there's a problem. I told them I didn't have $700 to do this job and they got very agitated with me when I told them to put my car back together without authorizing the work to be done.
I came home and told my son about the situation, he's a weekend mechanic and knows enough to make him dangerous, and his opinion was they were trying to rip me off because what they were telling me just didn't make any sense, that they could have very easily loosened the nut that holds the hub housing on to make the disc wobble back and forth like that, and the whole hub housing vs. repacking the bearings sounded fishy too.
First of all, the first mechanic would have known - or should have known - about the whole hub housing vs. bearings so why would they have said I needed my bearings repacked when that wasn't possible? Unless the second place was lying? Or possibly the first place was just adding something to the maintenance list and lying to me about needing the bearings repacked in the first place??
Anyone have any info on this particular subject, or know anything about the 2002 Explorer and the wheel set up in this regard? Your input would be greatly appreciated.
