A lot of people also have the mistaken assumption that dealer service
departments are staffed with mechanics. Most have one mechanic and 10-15
"technicians."

As for specialty shops (in this case a frame and axle shop) they only stay
in business because they have a reputation to bale to handle any problem
quickly. Good dealerships subcontract to speciality shops for difficult
repairs.

How do you identify a good specialty shop?

1. The place will be dirty, no... it will be filthy. The cleanest the shop
has ever been was during construction.
2. The boss will look like he just lost a wrestling match in the grease pit
and he is the cleanest one there.
3. Standard headgear advertises chewing tobacco or farm machinery
4. Mechanical equipment you have never seen before is hanging from the
walls, and much of it looks custom made.
5. The other guys waiting around are mechanics from other garages



"Jerry Bransford" > wrote in message
news:v1PDe.18559$Eo.13241@fed1read04...
>I would have taken it to an axle shop, not the dealer. The service writer
>and service manager are commissioned and they're not exactly immune to the
>temptation to jack up the cost of an otherwise minor repair if they think
>they can get away with it.
>
> Jerry
>
> Peter Pontbriand wrote:
>> Well, I just got a call from the dealer where I took the GC this morning,
>> and of course they now insist that they can't just set the pinion bearing
>> preload like they agreed to, they have to take the entire diff apart
>> because
>> there are "internal problems". The revised estimate is for 6.5 hours +
>> parts. Naturally, this completely defeats the purpose of my swapping in a
>> known good axle (still under warranty), which was to avoid having to pay
>> for
>> the bearings in the original to be replaced. After spending so much of my
>> precious time on this, then being forced to cover a monstrous repair bill
>> anyway, I don't know any swear words sufficient to express the way I'm
>> feeling right now.
>>
>> /Peter
>>
>> "Peter Pontbriand" <TRIMsprocketATstormDOTcaTRIM> wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>>I made an appointment with the Jeep dealer in the city who seemed to
>>>think
>>>resetting the pinion bearing preload because of a yoke change was no big
>>>deal.
>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> Jerry Bransford
> PP-ASEL N6TAY
> See the Geezer Jeep at
> http://members.cox.net/jerrypb/