Double Face Palm, Mechanics Edition

I find this hard to digest.

I made an appointment two weeks ago to have the RIGHT FRONT, drive axle U joint replaced in this Dodge 4 wheel drive. It was the quickest appointment I could get.

I can feel it clunking at parking lot speeds, especially while turning.

Definitely the passenger side, which is the Right Side.

For those who aren’t Mechanically Declined, there is an INDUSTRY WIDE UNDERSTANDING, that when someone speaks of the left or right side of a vehicle, IT IS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SITTING IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT.

MMkay?

So I am literally talking to the owner of this repair shop explaining that I need this U joint replaced and that it it is on the right side, the side with the stub axle.

In case you weren’t aware of this also, the front differentials always sit off center compared to the rear differential.

The short side is the stub axle for obvious reasons.

I even went so far as to go down and buy the U joint and the seals, which turned out to be wrong because Dodge put two different front and rear differentials in these things.

A Dana 44 and a Dana 60. The 60 being preferred.

So they call me and tell me it’s done. I dropped it off this morning and got a ride into and back from work with a buddy that I work with that doesn’t live too far from me.

The total was $594 and change, $50 more than the estimate.

I’m not squealing, apparently the original style U Joint had a beveled edge around the top of the cap and are very hard to locate so they had to add bevels.

Great.

I am just tickled it’s done. So I pay, leave, head just down the street to return the wrong parts .

As I back out of the parking spot while turning the wheel, I swear I feel a clunking again in the right front.

I kept going and pulled into a Quickie Mart just down a block or so to snag something to drink. When I come back out, I bend over and start looking at the lug nuts and the threads on the studs.

I am not seeing any evidence of the ones on the passenger side having been taken off and put back on but when I go to get in, the drivers side have some shine on the threads.

You gotta be fucking kidding me.

Of course it’s raining so I get in the fucker and drive the mile or so back to the house, pull up in front and then drive the right front tire up onto the curb. I turned the wheel all the way to the right, get out and walk around the front and crawl under the bumper to take a look. The U Joint is right there and bigger than shit, it hasn’t been changed. Skinny over to the drivers side and bigger than shit there is a brand new U joint.

FUCK!

So I calls these people and tell them they changed the wrong one.

I SPECIFICALLY told you to do the RIGHT SIDE, the Work Order says the RIGHT SIDE and so does the bill, except it is split down the middle with a dotted line and right at the upper left they charged me for a LEFT SIDE. Run your finger directly across the page past the middle and it plainly states, change the RIGHT SIDE.

First thing I hear is that, well, that one was really bad too.

No matter, it’s not the one I specifically asked to be replaced and by the way, you have my phone number, you should have called me.

So they are going to eat this one.

I have to drop it off Friday, if the clunky one lasts that long.

Pissed off?

What do you think?!

In the mean time, The Wifely Unit’s Hoopty shit the bed, the water pump pulley is wobbling around like a drunk stripper, so she’s driving my old Chevy and we have an appointment for THAT at the same outfit on the 18th to do the Timing Belt and the water pump at the same time.

It’s got a Twin Cam engine, I did that water pump in the driveway four years ago IN JANUARY and I ain’t doing it again.

FULL STOP, DEAD SERIOUS, OH HELL NO.

I have to say that this little Fuck Up has not filled me with confidence but at least they are standing behind their work and fixing their Fuck Up at their own expence.

The real kicker is that if they had caught their screw up before they put it all back together and called me, I would have told them to just do them both and be done with it.

As it is, now I can cross this off my list of SHIT I GOTTA DO WHEN THE WEATHER FINALLY CLEARS UP.

Like late June, early July.

22 thoughts on “Double Face Palm, Mechanics Edition

  1. Yup! and this is why the surgeon takes a permanent marker and discusses with the patient (before they’re under – most of the time) which one is going to come off.

  2. Sorry to say, I know the mindnumbing stupidity. So many peckerheads today talk big but don’t know even the basics. And they’ll likely argue with you for calling them out.

    I would be tickled just to find a shop that is honest about their ability and actually can work on older Dodge Ramchargers.

    I’m still not finished with the saga of fixing the Dana 44 front axle on my ’89 Ramcharger. Its nigh twelve months and counting.

    I don’t have a place and I’m too stove in to be crawling around in the dirt face up to work on the beast.

    I have concluded that I’ll drive out of state (but not CA) and camp out in a hotel room if that’s what it takes. I’m serious. I’m in AZ.

    • Have you tried Arizona drive shaft in Mesa . Or 4 wheel parts in Queen Creek. 4 wheel parts went above and beyond working on my 83 Ramcharger.

      • Thanks. While I’m not in the valley, I will give them a call.
        Thank you.

        My kissing cousin is in Mesa, might be good to see her again.⁸

        • Good luck the Ramcharger takes a special kind of person. Because there’s not a lot of aftermarket options available. At least that’s what I have found .

          • A couple decades ago, my long-gone buddy in Sacramento swapped everything from an early Dodge Cummins (mechanical) 4×4 into a Ramcharger.
            He said everything bolts in, zero changes.
            .
            He was a customer of ‘All Dodge’ dismantling in Rancho Cordova.
            http://www.alldodgetruck.com/

  3. Welcome to the 21st C bro. Jose the Magic Mexican Mechanic (TM) has no concept of standards and industry norms seeing he trained on the side of the road with the trucks straddling the ditch, draining the oil into the ground and welding axles in place (I have seen all this first hand in several countries south of the border).

    Glad they agreed to fix the screw up, give em a case of Coke when done, things always go better with Coke, or so I am told (have not touched the stuff in 50 years)..

  4. First off understand I am not trying to be an asshole. But whenever dealing with a shop (whether I know them or not) I always use Driver side Passenger side. This way when someone fucks up like this, I can always say I told them which side. I know (and so do you) right side left side is from the drivers perspective, but you’ll be surprised how many people have not gotten that memo.

      • Then they both would not be done. Yes finding good help in the FUSA is a problem and getting worse daily. Stay out of the emergency room if at all possible. Technically they are mechanics as well.

    • I use driver side and passenger side when talking to the vet about the cat. He laughs, but he gets it.

  5. Just a heads up, once the whole thing is done, cycle into and out of 4 wheel drive a couple of times just to make sure it all still works. I’m not sure I trust this crew with my 30 year old Dodge hubs.

      • You might wanna look into having them changed to manual if they are the vacuum operated type. Lot of folks have ended up doing that on older models due to them screwing up and not being able to disengage the hubs.

  6. Too many people are getting moved through the tech schools with no practical idea for mechanical aptitude or willingness to learn it the way we did. By keeping our ears open and our mouths shut until we had a good grasp of what turning a wrench involved.

    Which is not entirely their fault, the schools are paid to move bodies, not teach. Yeah, there are a few exceptions, but not many.

    • I am by no means perfect and will never claim to be. I fucked up royally in my day on several occasions and it may very well happen again.
      All one can do is grit your teeth and try to make it right.

      • So did I, my friend, the difference is that we put forth the effort to learn on our own and to think about the repair, instead of just coasting through work.

  7. well, if the shop is willing to fix it on THEIR dime, you should at least show up with a pizza after they do it. there was a good shop back in philly that I trusted to work on
    my car/truck back in the day. one problem. the old wrench turner retired and the new guy was not the same. he fucked up my 94 4runner big time.
    has no idea what gaskets are for (?) and thinks RTV will seal anything.
    found a good shop close by here and they are stilling trying to unfuck it.
    the owner didn’t bill me as he wanted to keep the kid alive for a while longer.
    there are Jose’s everywhere anymore fucking shit up.
    still I wish he never touched my truck.

  8. 1996 Dodge Cummins 4×4, Dana 60 in front.
    A couple-three years ago, I pulled the half-shafts, and hand-carried them into Kaiser Suspension, Eugene, Oregon.
    .
    Them pressing in new joints was safer than my fumblings (picture a three-pound sledge tapping a lop-sided socket).
    .
    Cost was horrendous, I think a couple hundred fedbux each.
    I also did the front drive-shaft, ball-joints, ties, and everything else capable of absorbing cash.
    https://kaiserbrakealignment.com

  9. Pingback: Drive Axle U Joint Story Resolution | Bustednuckles

Comments are closed.