Am I crazy?

I have this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/392511372831



While looking I found this one which is similar to the one Dirty Deeds uses in their Youtube video.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/162844203116

 

I suppose that can happen, I ran into something similar but it was getting the shock bolt into the LCA, but I attributed it to the aftermarket control arm since the bolt tabs were at a slightly different angle.

 

Wow, the prices on these aren't too bad at all.

 

The one I have was 100 a few years ago. It is a cheap Chinese pig iron monstrosity I have used more than 10x and has more than paid for itself.

 

Pay to play, i know my limitations and i pay the pros.

 

I have the same tool cabinet organization methodology!

 

If you can buy the tools for the cost of someone else doing it, then the tool is the best choice since it'll pay for itself on the second use... this is how I justify my purchases

 

Sure wouldn’t do it in the kitchen

 

Well, the lowest Fort Collins 4x4 would go is $140 to assemble them. Honestly, it’s fucking ridiculous around here.

He tried to make it sound like it was some super difficult process.

So I asked him what to would cost to install 5100’s just in the front and he said $475 for labor and $115 for an alignment. WTF.

 

Dude, it's a matter of they much like you have to pay through the nose for everything. Everyone makes more, everyone pays more. Been that way forever. Just because you or I might have gotten a nice raise or landed a better paying job don't mean jack. It's just the bubble is always getting bigger. That's why you or I can work somewhere for 25 yrs and a new guy starts at close to our salary.

 

I was really more annoyed by him telling me it would take at least an hour to get them put together, trying to play up the difficulty.

 

Man I feel like the last time I got an alignment it was like $70. Times are changing!

 

I would have been also because it only takes about 10-15 min with the correct tool. I paid $30 for both of my Bilsteins to be done in Mesa, Az at a hole-in-the-wall shop a few weeks back. Alignment on the truck with a Hunter machine at another shop was $59.

 

I feel ya, man.

 

Some small locally indie shops can be cool about it. Chains or 4x4 specific shops will charge you a lot. When i was assembling my OME 612's i couldn't do it via the no-compressor method because the spring rate was too stiff. I brought it to a local shop and the guy did it for free in 15 minutes. I ended up buying lunch for his whole crew because they were so nice.

Do not do it yourself with anything other than a wall/floor mounted spring compressor. Its different with a small spring for a commuter car. Truck and especially high spring rate off road suspensions have a LOT of force behind them under compression. I know people discussed ER visits for things like fractures and lacerations from them, but people die from springs flying or compressors failing and pieces turning into projectiles. I DIY just about everything, but some things are just not worth the risk.

 

I did this with roughly the same compressors, just went slow and little each side at a time. I will tell you that getting the top hats and the shock to line up properly are a fricken pain but doable. Arrow out, lol

Oh and you have to pull the big bolt completely out to get the "clamps" out of the spring when its finally assembled. Forgot about that fun fact.

 

Yeah I’m gonna just bite the bullet and let someone else do it. Haha

 

I was done with them almost a year ago. They don't do their own alignments. They have Ken's Muffler do it for them. I had them rebuild the front end of my F250. I went in to talk to them about 6 months later to ask about a leveling kit for our old 4Runner and the service guy acted like he was doing me a favor just talking to me. He told me it would take 4 months to get the parts in and that the only company that made parts that would work was Toyotec and that it was going to cost about 3000.00. We use it for a plow vehicle. so I am not into a whole bunch of fancy stuff. I just needed to get the front end off the ground for the plow.

I took the old 4Runner to 4 Wheel Parts in Loveland and had them do it for less than half of that and they didn't hardly charge me anything to pull. off the old XREAS system. They just quoted me 276.00 to assemble and install two Bilstein 6112s and the alignment was 138.00.

 

This is good info. As much as I try to avoid national chains… not one of the local shops has even come close fo getting my business.