Q/A your mechanics

[Phillip w]

Even if you have repairs done at a dealership, better double check there work. I had kanequip rebuild the four wheel drive. Kanequip is a dealert in Kansas. I noticed a lot of slop in the front axle. I crawled under the tractor to find missing bolts, bolt only finger tight, and some just loose ( could see two to the turns of threads showing) I nearly lost the whole front axle out from under the tractor. On of the bolts that holds on the front axle was loose and others were missing. It jimmied the threads threads on the bolt. I hope it didn't jimmy the threads in the axle housing cause I don't have a metric tap and die set. I don't keep many metric bolts around so it looks like I'm headed to town. Who would have thought or expected this kind of workmanship coming from a dealer. Very frustrating.

 

[Spanner]

This happened to you the other day as well.

Same Problem, Different Day

It's a dealer-workmanship issue. Get them to fix it properly.

 

[Phillip w]

Hey my bust. Sorry. It just seems like the more I'm getting into, the bigger the mess they made. Truthfully I have never had agco or an agco dealer stand behind anything. John Deere and Kubota stand behind their products. A couple of years ago I bought my wife a dodge journey (suv). We had a couple of issues pop up and dodge and the dodge dealership took care of everything including a tow bill. (What is agco problem?)

 

[Spanner]

I see a few posts unhappy with each brand/colour as I browse the forum. To be frank, None of it is a manufacturer issue. They just make the stuff. And they all try to make a good product but even they are at the mercy of their Dealers.

It is always the Dealer. The Dealer is who you deal with. They are the weak-link in the chain from Manufacturer > End User. The dealer decides the outcome of your 'Customer Experience' as the modernists call it. They are the ultimate Quality Control over the product before it reaches your land. Before it even leaves their workshop actually.

Dealer, Dealer, Dealer... Always, everything reflects on the Dealer. ullinghair:

There are some 'great', some 'good', some 'not-so-good' and some downright 'bad' Dealers. (All are dependent on staff and there-in is the focus of the argument.)

'Good' is good. 'Great' is better.

 

[atsah]

I brought my car into the dealership for an oil change and tire rotation, got home and for some reason I looked at the driver side wheel and noticed four out of five lug nuts missing, everything has to be checked after any service, car, truck, tractor whatever, people make mistakes, some make more than others.

 

[Deere Dude]

Went to a Tires Plus? to get a set of tires for my car that have special rims. Later on I found some lug nuts torques way to high and some very loose.

When I had them rotated 7000 miles later I told the service manager to hand torque them. Watching the mechanic through the window I noticed he just used the air gun torque stick. After the car was done I told the manager I disapproved and to retorque them as instructed. He came unglued on me abut how accurate his torque stick was and told me he is not going to recheck them although he did hand torque one wheel with me then shrugged and sneered and walked away.

I brought my own torque wrench in case I got some crap and rechecked the other three wheels. Most nuts were fine, but 2 nuts were only on half way. It took at least 4 full turns to touch metal. I don't trust them... period.

 

[ray66v]

As a rule, I do all my own repairs, and maintenance, on everything I own.

I hate having to have anything worked on by someone else. Not because I am difficult to please. Not because I don't realize people make mistakes. But because, having done service work all my life, I know, the difference between an understandable mistake, and incompetence. People have always expected me to perform my job properly, and professionally. But, I can never expect that to happen when they do work for me.

People do make mistakes. But, there are some mistakes you can't excuse.

A person can forget to tighten a screw. A person can miss an item on a long repair order. Those kind of things are understandable. And, while they are disappointing, they do not cause you to lose all confidence in the repairer.

An incompetent person, leaves off all but one lug nut, forgets to put fluid in the radiator, or, not only doesn't fix the problem you brought it in for, and actually makes it worse, before returning it to you, with paperwork, that declared it repaired.

After giving my dealer a shot with my first problem, when I was under warranty, and having them completely fail the competency test. I made a deal with the service manager, and completed that repair, as well as the rest of the warranty work, myself.

That worked better for both of us.

 

[ray66v]

Went to a Tires Plus? to get a set of tires for my car that have special rims. Later on I found some lug nuts torques way to high and some very loose.

When I had them rotated 7000 miles later I told the service manager to hand torque them. Watching the mechanic through the window I noticed he just used the air gun torque stick. After the car was done I told the manager I disapproved and to retorque them as instructed. He came unglued on me abut how accurate his torque stick was and told me he is not going to recheck them although he did hand torque one wheel with me then shrugged and sneered and walked away.

I brought my own torque wrench in case I got some crap and rechecked the other three wheels. Most nuts were fine, but 2 nuts were only on half way. It took at least 4 full turns to touch metal. I don't trust them... period.

I ask every tire installer I see using torque sticks, how they calibrated their impact wrench to the torque stick? The answer is always, "Huh"? I reply, "Yes, Junior, there is a lengthy process, required to determine the air pressure setting, and power setting, to achieve an expected torque value, with each different impact wrench". They usually reply, "No, no, the torque stick does all that automatically". Yeaaah sure it does.

Some vehicles are very sensitive to rotor warp-age from over tightening of lug nuts, and some, it doesn't make a bit of difference how tight you make them.

Tire shops seem to almost always over tighten them. Except, for the lug nuts they leave lose.

When I can, I take the wheels off the vehicle, and drop them off at the tire shop.

It gives me a chance to look at the brakes, and suspension anyway.

 

[check]

I check the torque on every wheel that any dealer or shop r & r's on my F150 and my Honda Pilot.* Rarely is it ever done right. And most people failt to realize rhat you have to RETORQUE them after driving for a bit ESPECIALLY with aluminum wheels.

Almost had a couple of wheels fall before I realized this.

*BTW, isn't it a shame how they "jelly-beaned" the new Pilots? We hate the new look, so we are going to drive our 2010 into the ground or get a 4Runner if we have to.

 

[irvingj]

BTDT, Ray.

First thing I do after work done that required wheels to be removed is check 'em all again with my calibrated torque wrench AS SOON AS I GET HOME. Sure, it's a PITA, but I just do it anyway, doesn't take that long. Do my own snow tire/summer tire swaps.

I've had too many instances of a flat which could in no way be removed with the mfr-supplied tire wrench. After a respectable relationship with a mechanic is established, I feel I can insist lug nuts be torqued by hand and know I'll be taken seriously.

My opinion of torque-sticks is the same as yours; don't trust 'em. At all.