Shop quoted $1200 to replace front control arms and tie rods

[LordBritish]

OP, where do you live? I help people break their cars in exchange for pizza and/or beer.

I live somewhere in N. Virginia (fairly close to D.C.).

Thanks for the offer but I'm quite capable of breaking my own car. In fact breaking things is what I excel at !!

 

[tjm73]

I live somewhere in N. Virginia (fairly close to D.C.).

Do we have a new State? North Virginia ..................just busting balls.

 

[86GT351]

Do we have a new State? North Virginia ..................just busting balls.

it's just a State of Mind

 

[skwerl]

For that kind of dough you may be able to have Cam's dealership wrench on it.

 

[TGR96]

I don't have a jack or jack stands. I'm a little intimidated to do this myself as I have no experience doing it.

I will be doing the the spark plugs myself though (discussed here http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131857)

No need to be intimidated. This job is lit'rally just turning wrenches.

I'd be more intimidated doing spark plugs than control arms. Lol! Like others have said, check out Youtube. It could be a little time consuming, but you gain some experience. At one point, none of us knew how to do shit to these cars.

QFT! I remember the first time I did springs and dampers by myself with no help. It took some time, but man when I was done, I felt like the greatest mechanic to ever grace a garage! LOL

 

[AndrewNagle]

For that kind of dough you may be able to have Cam wrench on it.

 

[bujeezus]

My box is not that big. I have about 125K invested in everything including Scanners and Lab Scopes, etc. That is sitting in my garage at home collecting dust know. Don't need them here at the dealership. They get used for working on my own toy.

Man, that is one beautiful ride.

 

[bujeezus]

No need to be intimidated. This job is lit'rally just turning wrenches.



QFT! I remember the first time I did springs and dampers by myself with no help. It took some time, but man when I was done, I felt like the greatest mechanic to ever grace a garage! LOL

For real. Even little jobs like changing the oil, I usually walk around afterwards with my chest poked out. Lol!

 

[AnotherS197GT]

Find another shop. Labor should never be based on parts being supplied by the customer.

I don't know. I see the shops point. They are expecting to make a certain profit on labor and also profit on parts. They may depend on that combined profit to make their profit requirements. If you pull some of that profit away they can either adjust labor or turn down the job outright and service another customer.

You gotta make a profit to keep the lights on, pay the mortgage, pay the employees, etc.... And then the owner needs to get some scratch for bankrolling this whole venture.

They're probably charging more in case he shows up with crap parts that add more hassle to the job. It's harder for them to remedy an issue (getting incorrect parts, getting two of the same side, etc...) if the customer brought their own parts. Its just a CYA thing so they lose out less if his car ties up one of their hoists because of his screw up.

That being said, I had an S197 come into the shop today where a customer tried to replace his own ball joint. He ended up getting an 18mm 05-10 ball joint instead of the 11-14 19mm ball joint. Lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfcuSkoN7wg

 

[LordBritish]

This video shows how to do the install:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhnpHfLvCH4&t=173s

It does seem to me that you need to know what you're doing before attempting this or else you're going to get stuck or break things.

 

[Phil1098]

Should I get the Motorcraft MEF201 end links or the MOOG K80899 ?

I would use the Motorcraft MEF201 links. It's what I did and they are very good.

 

[LordBritish]

I ordered my GT500 front control arms (pair) for $292 shipped. I got it from AmericanMuscle.com and used a promo code to get $10 off.

The shop quoted a price of $245 per control arm and those would be the OEMs for a total of $490 for the pair.

I know shops have to make a profit but that's too much.

 

[tjm73]

I ordered my GT500 front control arms (pair) for $292 shipped. I got it from AmericanMuscle.com and used a promo code to get $10 off.

The shop quoted a price of $245 per control arm and those would be the OEMs for a total of $490 for the pair.

I know shops have to make a profit but that's too much.

They are not making that much profit on the arms. The OEM replacements from a dealer probably would cost the shop close to $200 each. Weird but true.

 

[skwerl]

Shops usually don't have the luxury of shopping price online and ordering parts to be delivered 3-4 days later. Shops put the car on the rack, pull the bad parts and then order the replacement parts from the supply houses that will deliver within an hour. Once the car is on the rack it needs to be finished before the shop can pull it off the rack and start the next vehicle, so waiting 3 days for parts isn't an option. The local stealership is going to charge a lot more than Rock Auto or Amazon.

 

[A John In NJ]

Some what of a relevant, Are the 2011-2014 V6 and the GTs Front lower control arms the same?

 

[AnotherS197GT]

FRPP parts pricing is also a lot different than OEM pricing, even though you get the same parts. I'm sure a lot of people remember when the timing drive kit for the 3V was cheaper than a single replacement phaser from the dealer.

 

[AnotherS197GT]

Some what of a relevant, Are the 2011-2014 V6 and the GTs Front lower control arms the same?

Mid-2010-2014 are all the same between V6, GT, GT500. I just checked with my parts department yesterday since I'm replacing my BMR arms. 05-09 are different from mid-2010-14

 

[46addict]

FRPP parts pricing is also a lot different than OEM pricing, even though you get the same parts. I'm sure a lot of people remember when the timing drive kit for the 3V was cheaper than a single replacement phaser from the dealer.

This is true. Getting the FRPP head changing kit (includes both head gaskets and head studs) for $82 is like $20 more than a single head gasket from Rockauto.

 

[A John In NJ]

Mid-2010-2014 are all the same between V6, GT, GT500. I just checked with my parts department yesterday since I'm replacing my BMR arms. 05-09 are different from mid-2010-14

I read somewhere that the bushings on the 2012+ are easier to remove due to the new bushing they used after the 2011s. Any way to confirm this?

 

[86GT351]

I ordered my GT500 front control arms (pair) for $292 shipped. I got it from AmericanMuscle.com and used a promo code to get $10 off.

The shop quoted a price of $245 per control arm and those would be the OEMs for a total of $490 for the pair.

I know shops have to make a profit but that's too much.

Sometimes it is hard to understand. OEM and Ford racing although the same part will have different prices.