Alan_Myers
Luke Skywalker
Offline
Hi all,
I've had a bit of trouble finding a local machine shop to do a relatively simple job: Press new outer bushings into two TR4 front suspension lower A-arms and ream them to fit a new trunnion. These are the bronze type bushings and it's a relatively straightforward job I've had done in the past.
Has anyone had this job done recently on their TR2/3/4? Mind if I ask what you were charged per bushing?
I finally found a shop through what has been a pretty reliable, local parts store. So, I left all the parts (which I already had) with the store for them to send out to their vendor, and have been awaiting a quote for about a week.
The store called me a few days ago saying the shop didn't have a small enough reamer, could they drill them to size? I said "no, absolutely not" and they offered to check with other machine shops they use. I agreed to that and said I'd await their quote on the work.
Today they got back to me with a $90 per bushing quote! After I finished squealing like a stuck pig, they quickly dropped the price to just under $70 apiece. Still, in my head I had guess-timated something between $10 and $20 apiece, the latter allowing for the fact that here in Silicon Valley the prices of just about everything are roughly double much of the rest of the country!
So, I'm trying to find out the realistic cost of labor only (press out the old, press in the new and ream those to fit). I supplied all the parts. Heck the A-arms were even clean and paint-free, freshly sandblasted and degreased, and the trunnion is brand new!
What's worse is that they went ahead and did the job without providing any quote and giving me an opportunity to take my business elsewhere, and without my agreement to go ahead and do the work.
On the bright side, I only needed two bushings done. If it had been all four, at these prices I'd consider buying a press and reamer and doing it myself!
Thanks in advance for any info you can share!
I've had a bit of trouble finding a local machine shop to do a relatively simple job: Press new outer bushings into two TR4 front suspension lower A-arms and ream them to fit a new trunnion. These are the bronze type bushings and it's a relatively straightforward job I've had done in the past.
Has anyone had this job done recently on their TR2/3/4? Mind if I ask what you were charged per bushing?
I finally found a shop through what has been a pretty reliable, local parts store. So, I left all the parts (which I already had) with the store for them to send out to their vendor, and have been awaiting a quote for about a week.
The store called me a few days ago saying the shop didn't have a small enough reamer, could they drill them to size? I said "no, absolutely not" and they offered to check with other machine shops they use. I agreed to that and said I'd await their quote on the work.
Today they got back to me with a $90 per bushing quote! After I finished squealing like a stuck pig, they quickly dropped the price to just under $70 apiece. Still, in my head I had guess-timated something between $10 and $20 apiece, the latter allowing for the fact that here in Silicon Valley the prices of just about everything are roughly double much of the rest of the country!
So, I'm trying to find out the realistic cost of labor only (press out the old, press in the new and ream those to fit). I supplied all the parts. Heck the A-arms were even clean and paint-free, freshly sandblasted and degreased, and the trunnion is brand new!
What's worse is that they went ahead and did the job without providing any quote and giving me an opportunity to take my business elsewhere, and without my agreement to go ahead and do the work.
On the bright side, I only needed two bushings done. If it had been all four, at these prices I'd consider buying a press and reamer and doing it myself!
Thanks in advance for any info you can share!