My 1998 Ford Explorer came with a host of problems. The most costly quoted to me was 1500.00 worth or repair/parts for the upper/lower control arms (front.) It turns out that Autozone has the Upper control arms for 105.00 apiece and the lower control arms for 134.00 apiece. Then, just pop off the tires, loosen the brake system (disks and wiring harness) Unbolt and replace/rebolt the lower control arms. Do the same for the upper control arms. Replace brake system, tires and voila! You have repairs to this costly repair for 476.00. It took 6 hours for the work to be done in my driveway with a Chilton Manual. Save yourself a thousand dollars and keep your Explorer!
But if someone were paying YOU to do the work, just how much money would you expect to keep in your pocket ?
I love it when somebody uses the word ‘just’ to describe a pretty involved job. Great that OP could do it, but it sounds like $1500 is a reasonable price to pay a shop. Also, did OP align it? That might have also been part of the $200. And were the parts of equal quality? I can imagine bottom-line Autozone parts being cheaper than OE parts.
I wouldn’t charge my friends… That’s just the way I am. If I were in a different place and needed something done that I couldn’t do myself or had any mechanically inclined friends… Check the local labor rates for mechanics, (usually between 35-80 dollars per hour)depending on where you are.
The parts from Autozone came with a lifetime warranty, so no worries! The alignment was down at home with a jig and a laser. The price for an alignment is about $70.00 here in Central Texas. If a job doesn’t require endless bleeding of a system, removal of half a tranny or engine just to get to the job, then, a ‘JUST’ is warranted in my opinion. It WAS my opinion and experience that was posted. Have a great day!
There’s not a problem with doing it yourself.
There is a problem if:
Someone accuses the shop of being a ripoff because they don’t like the price quoted.
Someone accuses the shop of gouging them because of a parts markup.
If the DIYer mangles the job.
If the DIYer mangles the job and THEN expects the for hire shop to sort out on the cheap the damage they’ve caused. (This is a pretty common disease.)
Sounds like you know your stuff, and have the equipment and skills to do it. I guess I’m just wanting those without those qualifications not to feel bad if they need to pay a mechanic $1500 to do it. It’s good you could save a bucket of money.
I agree with that synopsis. My vehicle is running and performing wonderfully, thanks! I can imagine the DIYer messing things up is job security for a shop and a source of entertainment as well.