Back from tire shop with bad news

[PrimerPLus]

I took my car into JTS today to get my tires balanced. There was some shaking going on at about 50mpd so I thought maybe I had tires out of balance.
Well after they inspected my tires, drive train, shocks brakes, this is what they had to say.

Right front bearing loose - recommend new bearing / hub assembly
Right front strut is leaking- recommend new front struts
Driveline U joint at the rear going bad
Differential is worn (Rust coming out of it)
Not sure what they mean by rust coming out of it?

But they wanted $995.99 to do it

So I will be doing it myself.

I was just looking for any tips tricks, things to be sure to do. Part numbers, should I do other things ontop of what was listed. Any special tools I will need?
I have a feeling that my axles will not want to come out of the hub, based off the horror stories I read about having to cut them out.

Should I upgrade my entire suspension? I know I want to lower my car some to fix the wheel gap. My car will be sitting for a while so I want to do everything right fix it all at once.

Just one thing after another I tell ya
Thanks guys

 

[BLAKSUNSHINE]

When I took a 2000 maxima to the local ntb for new tires,I received a call from them saying "we did a quick inspection on the car and found that you are leaking antifreeze from your radiator,so we want to do an engine pressure test to see if you blew your headgsaket"I told them I would be down to not touch nothing.So when I got to the car ,fair enough there was fluid that had leaked all over the engine bay but it looked like from the radiator cap,so he handed me the quote for the work 1000+ dollars, I just told him no thanks I will take care of it myself,so he just crumbled the quote in front of me like in he was mad,ha ha dumbass thought I was going to be suckered in!! Changed the radiator cap and refilled it,and has been running fine for half a year since then! So dont let them get you down just trying to profit off your lack of knowledge on mechanics,everything they named can be verified through your car manual on how to check certain parts.good luck

 

[PrimerPLus]

Yah I can understand that .
But I know there is issues because of the vibratiosn etc. I am pretty confident in my mechanical skills
But I have never done any suspension work ever, only engine. So I was just seeking info from people that have done such repairs and had some advice. I watched a youtube video of a guy that works on his dsm and videos it, I believe he is a member on this site too. Anyways he showed redoing the drive line. Changing all the u joints etc..

 

[pauleyman]

You haven't listed any difficult repairs. Does the state of alaska use alot of salt on the roads? Wasn't sure about that far north if it even did any good. It's the salt that kills the driveline and rusts everything.
Bearing shouldn't be difficult or expensive. Carrier bearings on the driveshaft aren't cheap. Ujoints aren't bad. Dunno what to say about differential. Rust inside it? Doubt it.

 

[PrimerPLus]

Yah I don't see how there is rust on the rear differential but guess I will find out when I get there.
I am pricing out parts and trying to decide if I should replace struts with stock or go with an aftermarket set. I will want to be lowering the car some to fix gap. Any recommendations?

 

[ouchtime]

Well, as to rust in driveshaft, if it is an 2peice then it's not uncommon,.warrants checking, but not usually a big problem, 1peice, check any boots and make sure they aren't holding water/debris, had a 1peice in a 1990 montero brake because a boot held moisture and rusted thru about half the diameter of it. Now as to rust coming out of diff, not really sure how, maybe rust coming off off it, but in any northern area, that is norm.

 

[PrimerPLus]

I am going to replace all the components of the drive shaft. I watched this series
Driveshaft 101 - Parts, Tools & Tips - YouTube

I am replacing both front hubs and rear hubs.
Now I am looking into struts. These ones EXTREME PSI : Your #1 Source for In Stock Performance Parts
But IDK if they are worth it. Or if I should get something different.

 

[DSM1G90]

Good luck, but having a shop do all of this that the install labor and parts are under a guarantee.

 

[PrimerPLus]

I just like hearing peoples input. I have not had any troubles with my mechanical endeavors.
On that note, how do you think these will work?
EXTREME PSI : Your #1 Source for In Stock Performance Parts
EXTREME PSI : Your #1 Source for In Stock Performance Parts

or
EXTREME PSI : Your #1 Source for In Stock Performance Parts
EXTREME PSI : Your #1 Source for In Stock Performance Parts

Or something different?

 

[H@xtGSX]

Yea, but if you know what you're doing and do it yourself, you know it was done right and won't have to depend on their "guarantee". I haven't taken any of my vehicles to a shop for anything in 11 years. I got screwed by a well known and usually respected repair shop over a load of BS that came up from a State inspection. The car was less than 2 years old, and I had taken care of it. After all the crap was done that needed to be "fixed" the car was nearly undriveable. I had to use their "guarantee" 7 times before the car was even in sellable condition... And new stuff turned up nearly every visit. After that, I don't trust anyone to work on my cars except myself, and haven't since. Considering that the quality of the work done could have fatal consequences, who do you trust more?

 

[gearhead07]

The rust they are talking about is a red powedery rust. It's different then ## normal rust on.a bolt or body. It knda takes a trained eye to see it. And this is a rust that develops when bearings start to deteriorate.

 

[ouchtime]

Good luck, but having a shop do all of this that the install labor and parts are under a guarantee.

Yea, but when you do it yourself, you know it's done right,, as for those shocks/struts, if their shipping isn't bad, they're cheaper than the OEM replacements I just put in rear of mine dude, and koni don't make trash springs are pricey, ouch

 

[pauleyman]

eibach and koni. Yes I have owned both on a 1g. Without going something very very pricey this is about as good as you can get in my opinion. You may hear lots of opinions on coilovers blah blah blah. I see no advantage on a street car.

 

[Tha Fella Dylan]

I just spent two days trying to replace my hub assembly. It's easy as hell but if you live with rust, good luck. I took it to a shop and they did it for 50 bucks because I had the part already.

 

[ouchtime]

Lol, hubs aren't hard, I've used a puller to press out the cv shaft on passenger front of my eclipse rs(shown in avatar pic), worked fine.

 

[pauleyman]

You guys in the rust belt states must hate life. I even own a 20 ton press but I never have to use it for things like axles.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

I'd call back and find out what they were going to do about the "rust coming out". Something tells me they weren't going to do all that stuff and then pull down the rear end to rebuild it/replace it with a new one for a grand.

 

[Fast-Orange]

Checking wheel bearings is fairly simple, you can jack your car up anywhere as long as the wheel is off the ground. You put one hand on the outside top edge of the tire and your other on the bottom. Then push on the top then bottom at opposite times sort of like a back and forth motionand try to feel for loose play. To verify have someone put there finger between the rotor and backing plate at the top or bottom and you can feel the movement if you cant see it.

Here is a good link on how to deal with the rust welded axles without destroying them http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-drivetrain/447130-saving-your-rust-welded-axles.html

Look to see if the strut is very wet or just slightly seeping, if its just seeping i
wouldnt be to worried if you plan on uppgrading suspension in the near future.

U joints are simple as well, leave your tranny in neutral and apply e brake. you need to grab your driveshaft on both sides of the u joint and twist in your hands in opposite motions from each other back and forth and watch the u joint for loose play. Aslo look at the u joints where the caps meet the u joint body and look for rust comming out. both are signs of bad u joints.

As far as the diff being bad due to rust comming out, more information on where exaclty and a picture of where its comming out would help. since the bearings in a diff are usually oiled by your diff fluid i dont see how rust is comming out unless they mean there is rust in the oil.

I took my car into JTS today to get my tires balanced. There was some shaking going on at about 50mpd so I thought maybe I had tires out of balance.
Well after they inspected my tires, drive train, shocks brakes, this is what they had to say.

Right front bearing loose - recommend new bearing / hub assembly
Right front strut is leaking- recommend new front struts
Driveline U joint at the rear going bad
Differential is worn (Rust coming out of it)
Not sure what they mean by rust coming out of it?

But they wanted $995.99 to do it

So I will be doing it myself.

I was just looking for any tips tricks, things to be sure to do. Part numbers, should I do other things ontop of what was listed. Any special tools I will need?
I have a feeling that my axles will not want to come out of the hub, based off the horror stories I read about having to cut them out.

Should I upgrade my entire suspension? I know I want to lower my car some to fix the wheel gap. My car will be sitting for a while so I want to do everything right fix it all at once.

Just one thing after another I tell ya
Thanks guys

I'd call back and find out what they were going to do about the "rust coming out". Something tells me they weren't going to do all that stuff and then pull down the rear end to rebuild it/replace it with a new one for a grand.

Exactly^^ sounds very fishy to me. Things like this is how shops ruin reputations of my trade.

 

[ASpeedFam]

rust is from water meeting iron/steel. if there is actually rust coming out, there is water in your diff, or there was in the past, that means the internals need to inspected for pitting/overheating ect. i know you asked for tool tips, but this rust thing worries me

 

[AlaskanDsm]

Does the state of alaska use alot of salt on the roads? Wasn't sure about that far north if it even did any good. It's the salt that kills the driveline and rusts everything.

Just to point this out... In Fairbanks (further north than Wasilla), we do not use road salt at all. They just lay down crushed gravel on the roads for traction. I would imagine from my time in Anchorage that the result is the same in Wasilla. The only difference would be getting closer to the salt water down in those areas but not Wasilla specifically.

 

[ouchtime]

Water in diff could be a pointer to bad gasket or seals, but good point in checking over the internals

 

[PrimerPLus]

Yah I don't believe they use salt. I think it's mostly some type of sand/gravel.
I will be sure to check the differential when I am doing this. When I drained my rear diff. fluid to put in my redline heavy shock proof fluid it did not seem to be bad. The rear diff. was decently clean. But I will take a look at it.

 

[H@xtGSX]

You guys in the rust belt states must hate life. I even own a 20 ton press but I never have to use it for things like axles.

That is what I have been thinking... Here in the desert, you have to really work at getting much rust.

 

[ouchtime]

Lol, yea, grew up in MI, rust is a nuisance up there, it's not bad here in NC though

 

[BLAKSUNSHINE]

If you changed the fluid on the diff and it didnt seem bad,or have water,is there any time between then and now you could have picked some up?