Real Hours to Replace Front Shocks
#1
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Real Hours to Replace Front Shocks
Thanks in advance. My front air shocks have met with an early demise due to an unfortunate bit of unexpected offroading on a recent vacation. Front end bounced up and down violently half a dozen times. Now they will sag overnight to empty, takes hours, but in the AM the fenders are practically touching the tires. She's a 2012 with 73k miles. I'm planning on trading her in soon or private selling, truck is immaculate, perfect paint. So this was really unfortunate but it is what it is. I have two new shocks on order, cheapies so hopefully they'll work out, but how many hours is appropriate to charge for the swap? My mechanic is telling me 3+ and I'm not buying it. Everything I've heard is that this is a milk run, simple, quick swap. What should I be paying a corner? Again, thanks in advance.
#2
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Why do people do this sort of stuff? If you'd put in Arnott, you could brag to the buyer that the front struts have a lifetime warranty. You'd get more in added purchase price than the difference in cost.
Why not? I've done it several times and 3 hours for both sounds legit.
Why not? I've done it several times and 3 hours for both sounds legit.
#3
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Why do people do this sort of stuff? If you'd put in Arnott, you could brag to the buyer that the front struts have a lifetime warranty. You'd get more in added purchase price than the difference in cost.
Why not? I've done it several times and 3 hours for both sounds legit.
Why not? I've done it several times and 3 hours for both sounds legit.
My mechanic was quoting 3+ each corner, sorry, wasn't clear on that. But thanks again, sounds like you're confirming the estimate is high. Certainly seemed it.
#4
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If you put sawdust in the transmission, it will shift quieter, too.
Everybody who is buying these things with >60k miles knows the air springs are a problem. You'd be better off telling them it's a wear item and it's already been taken care of.
Karma's a b-. I'm just saying. With an attitude like, "lol I banged it up good when I accidentally went off road at highway speeds", it will catch up to you. Trust me. </sermon>
Six hours is excessive, absolutely.
Everybody who is buying these things with >60k miles knows the air springs are a problem. You'd be better off telling them it's a wear item and it's already been taken care of.
Karma's a b-. I'm just saying. With an attitude like, "lol I banged it up good when I accidentally went off road at highway speeds", it will catch up to you. Trust me. </sermon>
Six hours is excessive, absolutely.
#5
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If you put sawdust in the transmission, it will shift quieter, too.
Everybody who is buying these things with >60k miles knows the air springs are a problem. You'd be better off telling them it's a wear item and it's already been taken care of.
Karma's a b-. I'm just saying. With an attitude like, "lol I banged it up good when I accidentally went off road at highway speeds", it will catch up to you. Trust me. </sermon>
Six hours is excessive, absolutely.
Everybody who is buying these things with >60k miles knows the air springs are a problem. You'd be better off telling them it's a wear item and it's already been taken care of.
Karma's a b-. I'm just saying. With an attitude like, "lol I banged it up good when I accidentally went off road at highway speeds", it will catch up to you. Trust me. </sermon>
Six hours is excessive, absolutely.
You don't know me. I'll say this once. My cars, all of them, are meticulously serviced. Implying I'm the type that would sawdust a transmission, well, there's one in every forum I guess. I don't spend much time here because my wife drives the Mercedes. Chick car. But the only thing that's gone in that tranny is the recommended flush at 40k miles. The paint is without swirl, sealed with ceramic. Oil changes every 5k miles. So, anyway, thanks for confirming 6 is excessive. But jeeze man, WTF. And FWIW, following your logic ad absurdum, shouldn't I be doing OEM replacements just to brag to the next owner? The next buyer of my 8yr old GL isn't going to go like "wow, let me pay more for this old MB because it has Arnotts". If they're new and working, I'll get it sold and have zero on my conscience.
Have a nice day.
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#7
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#8
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Wow! Kinda catty, ladies. Break it up.
I've done my fronts on both my E500, and my GL450. 45 minutes per side, maybe a bit longer when you factor in loosening the support brace, raising the vehicle, and removing the tires. Full disclosure: the first time was a witch! One of the strut retaining bolts just didn't want to come off and, well, curse words everywhere.
In any case, 2 - 3 hours sounds about right.
I've done my fronts on both my E500, and my GL450. 45 minutes per side, maybe a bit longer when you factor in loosening the support brace, raising the vehicle, and removing the tires. Full disclosure: the first time was a witch! One of the strut retaining bolts just didn't want to come off and, well, curse words everywhere.
In any case, 2 - 3 hours sounds about right.
#9
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I bet you could put Fix-A-Flat in the air fitting at the top. Jack the car up so it's at normal ride height, and the goo would settle at the bottom of the fold, which is where the leak usually is. It would last the duration of the test drive, that's for sure.
#10
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Thanks. I couldn't care less about bragging to the next owner about the Arnotts. She's getting traded in on a new Aviator this fall. I may try private sale, maybe, with a backup of dumping it at Carmax instead, but there's no scenario where I want to even broach the topic of the shocks being replaced at 73k miles.
The job probably pays three hours...a side. A decent mechanic should be able to beat that by a healthy margin. If you're so worried about being taken by this laborer, why don't you try it yourself? The fronts area way easier than the rears, and those took me about 1.5 hrs a side; including removing the interior walls.
Last edited by Max Blast; 08-23-2019 at 10:22 AM. Reason: Add info
#11
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73 k miles is in the failure window, you're simply being a good steward of this vehicle and replacing the shocks at the first sign of leakage, in order to preserve the other components in the system.
The job probably pays three hours...a side. A decent mechanic should be able to beat that by a healthy margin. If you're so worried about being taken by this laborer, why don't you try it yourself? The fronts area way easier than the rears, and those took me about 1.5 hrs a side; including removing the interior walls.
The job probably pays three hours...a side. A decent mechanic should be able to beat that by a healthy margin. If you're so worried about being taken by this laborer, why don't you try it yourself? The fronts area way easier than the rears, and those took me about 1.5 hrs a side; including removing the interior walls.
My mechanic is great with my Cayenne but I have caught him a time or two running up the labor a bit. OTOH he only charges $80. I'm not too worried about it, was just looking for a sanity check, may call him out gently if he bills me for 6 or more.
As for doing it myself, I really can't. I did some work on cars into my 20's but that was decades ago. I'm in my 50's now, have arthritis in my thumbs, too. I'm better off doing what I do and paying an expert to do what they do. Really my only option, and that's okay.
#12
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The other thing you could have done is cracked or disconnected a level sensor arm, or broke the sensor itself giving the ecu a bogus bum level signal and possibly triggering it to try to “level” itself.
9 of 10 times the bags are the culprit and cause other secondary failures if not rectified ASAP.
if it rights itself every morning after having leaked down over night your level sensors are fine, and the ecu is making the correct level adjustment commands.
#13
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Nope. You did some physical damage, either to the bags themselves which; depending on how it sits, results in an intermittent leak down issue.
The other thing you could have done is cracked or disconnected a level sensor arm, or broke the sensor itself giving the ecu bum level signal and possibly triggering it to try to “level” itself.
9 of 10 times the bags are the culprit and cause other secondary failures if not rectified ASAP.
The other thing you could have done is cracked or disconnected a level sensor arm, or broke the sensor itself giving the ecu bum level signal and possibly triggering it to try to “level” itself.
9 of 10 times the bags are the culprit and cause other secondary failures if not rectified ASAP.
EDIT: Ordered, back in line. Should have them early next week. My wife is supposed to take it to NJ in less than two weeks. I'll try to get up to my mechanic in the next day or three to look at the sensor arms.
Last edited by icspres; 08-23-2019 at 05:51 PM.
#15
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But here's an easy way to test: Lift the suspension (off-road mode), and then spray the bags with soapy water. You'll see froth if there's a serious leak, and "stoner spit" where it's slow.
Side note: Dunno about your vintage, but I had a really hard time getting my '07 stuck in the sand. You probably needn't have worried.
I'd go for the six hours with a mecho that you like. $80 an hour just ain't that bad.
And remember: Arnotts have a transferable lifetime warranty.
#17
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I have one Arnott on order, and now my mechanic is thinking valve block because he's seeing the same behavior we were, works perfectly and then occasionally completely drains the front right down to nothing, then start back up and it's fine again, potentially for several starts and stops, and then eventually will happen again. Thoughts?
#18
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I have one Arnott on order, and now my mechanic is thinking valve block because he's seeing the same behavior we were, works perfectly and then occasionally completely drains the front right down to nothing, then start back up and it's fine again, potentially for several starts and stops, and then eventually will happen again. Thoughts?
If he has a DAS system have him run the diagnostic software to check the valve block, individual bags and central reservoir.
That'll tell him where to look for the leak.
#19
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![EEK!](https://mbworld.org/forums/images/smilies/eek.gif)
Valve body arrived and my mechanic had taken off to deep creek lake for the long weekend....sigh. So Tuesday, he goes to pull it into his bay to do the valves and low and behold, the front right airshock leaks down to nothing very loudly right in front of his eyes. So good news, yay, validation. We know what it is, what you already knew and that's fine. I get the return teed up with CarID for te valve block and call Shock Warehouse back, where's the shock? These idiots actually called the package back from fedex, against my very clear written instructions, and then charged me like a 20% restocking fee which I have in writing they would not. So now I have the shock on order from CarID as well. Shock Warehouse unresponsive. appropriate feedback online, and now here. But yeowza, I had a look at their feedback various places after leaving mine and they clearly suck...lol. I have four corners and a pump on not only this car but my '06 Cayenne Turbo S as well. Idiots...lol.
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icspres (09-05-2019)
#21
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I've always heard great things about Arnott. I was going to go cheap because I'm planning on selling the truck this fall but you talked me out of it. The difference isn't worth the risk or the karma. Just FYI, I complained to Arnott about these idiots as well and Arnott actually took the time to call me. More than was called for, very little $$ just really pissed me off. But yeah, not just a great product, great people. I'm glad I'm throwing them my dollar votes.
#22
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Hey, that's great to hear.
Sorry about the trouble with ShockWhorehouse, btw. What aggravation. Companies like that don't last long.
TBH I owe you an apology for my attitude in the first place. Truth is, it cut close: I've done borderline unethical things in the past, and now regret it. I now wouldn't do anything to fix up a car (or whatever) that I wouldn't happily tell the buyer about. I may not have always done so good, but at least I done my best.
Sorry about the trouble with ShockWhorehouse, btw. What aggravation. Companies like that don't last long.
TBH I owe you an apology for my attitude in the first place. Truth is, it cut close: I've done borderline unethical things in the past, and now regret it. I now wouldn't do anything to fix up a car (or whatever) that I wouldn't happily tell the buyer about. I may not have always done so good, but at least I done my best.
Last edited by eric_in_sd; 09-05-2019 at 03:21 PM.
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StradaRedlands (09-08-2019)
#23
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Hey, that's great to hear.
Sorry about the trouble with ShockWhorehouse, btw. What aggravation. Companies like that don't last long.
TBH I owe you an apology for my attitude in the first place. Truth is, it cut close: I've done borderline unethical things in the past, and now regret it. I now wouldn't do anything to fix up a car (or whatever) that I wouldn't happily tell the buyer about. I may not have always done so good, but at least I done my best.
Sorry about the trouble with ShockWhorehouse, btw. What aggravation. Companies like that don't last long.
TBH I owe you an apology for my attitude in the first place. Truth is, it cut close: I've done borderline unethical things in the past, and now regret it. I now wouldn't do anything to fix up a car (or whatever) that I wouldn't happily tell the buyer about. I may not have always done so good, but at least I done my best.