Wheel Bearings- Amputated Leg.

[SubCool]

How ar eyou all doing. I havent been here in a while.
Ok, I know it sounds odd, but, good old ma' borrowed the car. Yes i know, bad idea.
The Wheel bearings went on the passenger side. I bought the replacement, and she never had it install. So im Driving, and all **** pulled me over before i crashed. The Ball bearins shattered, abs is nearly gone on that wheel. Close enough to recognize the DNR and put her down. So, From my CV joing out has to be replaced. Shaft, hub, and whatever else may be included. (Not the wheel its self)
The car is in the shop, and about to get worked on. He told me it should be about 400Dollars in parts alone.

My Question is, I did some research, and i THINK it should only cost like 200. The Shaft, and the hub. Am i wrong? If so.... what else? and should i get "performance" or just OEM parts?

I would hate to be pushy, but could i have to callt he mechanic with my requests before he orders the parts and im stuck with what he gets.

Thanks guys.

Will

 

[Shoaz]

IIRC, a entire new axle is about $60 at AZ after core return, and the bearing is about $30. The new axle will include the ABS ring, so that shouldn't be a problem unless it ate the sensor, too, somehow.

So I don't know where $400 is coming from, or even $200.

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

agreed...60 bucks for the axle, a new sensor is 50, a new bearing for 30 plus labor (2 hours if that) . give the guy 220 bucks cash to fix it all (sensor included). If he doesnt bite, then seriously, you can do it yourself.

 

[shojuan]

When the bearing went on my 89 many years ago (had much warning but didn't replace. Sound familar?) the outer CV joint stub sheared off. So I bought a new CV joint (comes with new ABS ring installed...not that I have ABS on my 89) ~$85, 1 inner and 1 outer CV joint boot kit ~$11 each (only needed the outer one, but good idea to replace inner while I was there), a tube of redline CV2 grease ~$9, a new bearing and hub kit ~$60, and THAT'S IT. So I rebuilt my own half shaft at a cost of about $125 (Raxles didn't have any cores at the time and the double shipping would have cost extra money + extra time), paid $45 labor to have what was left of the old shredded bearing + hub pressed out and the new ones pressed in...So $185 in quality brand new parts,shipping, and fancy synthetic grease plus $45 labor so a total cost of $230. If I had done it half assed by buying a "rebuilt with used parts (but lifetime warranty! )" axle I would have saved $60 but would have been looking at an eventual CV joint failure down the road, whether sooner or later nobody knows! I'd rather spend extra time and extra money and have the peace of mind that I won't have to worry about anything but occasionally taking note of the boot condition. Seems like most folks aren't like me and would rather spend less money, roll the dice and take their chances. Sure it's not very hard to change a whole axle out but when and where is it going to happen? Maybe when it happens you won't want to be changing axles. Maybe you won't be able to afford the downtime while you procure the parts, whether under warranty or not. Maybe it will happen 1000 miles from home on a roadtrip with your hard earned vacation time! I don't have those worries with my CVs. Boots don't fail all at once so even taking a rare peek at their condition will give months if not years of head's up. IOW can procure new boot kits and fancy grease at one's leisure.

Ok, back to the topic. My estimate is $125 to $185 in parts depending whether you go the cheap and easy way or do it the right way. And isn't the right way always more expensive and labor intesive? Add $45 to have a machine shop press out the old and press in the new bearing+hub if you do it yourself. If not then add $60 or whatever in a mechanic's labor plus whatever he'll charge to have the old and new bearing+hub pressed out/in plus whatever markup he'll charge on the parts if you don't want to bother taking him new parts and let him do it for you. If the abs sensor is toast then you'll have to add the cost of one of those of course.

I could see a mechanic charging $350 parts AND labor, shoot perhaps even $400 for an expensive guy. That's total cost. $400 in part alone is BS.

 

[rangerj]

Gentlemen, and ladies,

A professional shop is in business to make money. They do that by charging for their labor and selling you the parts. If an axel has a retail sales price of $100 you may be abel to buy it for $85, but it will be sold to you for the $100 by the shop. The shop most likely pays between $50 and $60 for that axel and sells it to you at retail. Profit is not a dirty word and you are not getting ripped off.

The shop has overhead expenses it has to pay, like insurance, utilities, employee wages, workers compensation, employment taxes, real estate taxes, tool and equipment updates and repairs, accounting and legal fees, rent or mortgage payments, advertising, etc. If you do not want to pay the price do the work yourself. Then you can buy the parts at a 15% to 25% discount and save the labor charges.

You may have to spend some money on special tools, or pay for some services like pressing in/out the bearings, but in total you will save money. Just don't expect a professional to discount their services because you can do it your self cheaper. Do you ask your boss to discount your pay?

 

[SubCool]

Hey Guys,
I Couldnt thank you enough for the promptness of your responces.
You have all told me basically what i need to know. He Already ordered the Hub, because i need a new hub assembly. That got rattled around too much.
Well this all sounds great. Ill have a talk with him tomorrow. Just for The other parts... I would think i need a new CV joint thing. (sorry, still working my way around the car) It did look pretty busted. The Sensor is fine. its the metal thing that gets shuved out to hit the ABS that is shot, not to mention the ring. But this is all great info.

ShoJuan, I am exactly like you on that. I'd rather get it all done NOW, and right with the best or most resonable parts that will help the car last longer. and work better.

Could anyone mention materials these parts should be made of? (Carbon fiber -p), some alloy. i dont know, anything i should look for? And are there any better makes or performance/Durable parts i should consider?

Thanks alot guys
You have been of great help.

Will