t57f100
Member
hello all i have a 65 plymouth fury having basically a front end kit put in it i know the guys does great work.Question how much do you think parts and labor would be for this job.thanks for the help.
gee thanks for the quick reply so far its strut rod bushings lower control arm bushings while he is there and upper and lower ball joints and idler arm as far as i can tell for now he will give me a price on itThat’s a loaded question you need to provide us with more info on the parts they are installing.
By the way I like the car.
Our labor rate is $125 an hour, (in shop rate, field is $150 plus travel $$$), Ricky our truck side guy charged the company his time and I’m salary plus commission so I was free. Hey it is my truck right??? might as well pitch in. If another shop guy jumped in it would’ve been $250 an hour. Adds up fast brother!!!!in ct? parts and labor total: $1000.00. ct! land of the screwed!
All true. Our parts mark up is 45% PLUS freight, dang it there’s always freight....Figure parts mark up at 50%, shop time is around $100 per hour for front end work these days. This is a 6-8 hr job although any tech work his salt can beat the flat rate manual by 1/3 to 1/2. I would price this job at about $600 for labor. The next trick as mentioned above is to find decent after market parts, all of the crap imported from overseas is junk and not worth the trouble to put in. Think Car Crap, Blotto Zone etc.
Dave
So true in the Constipation state, oops constitution.in ct? parts and labor total: $1000.00. ct! land of the screwed!
i have had a noise from time to time from the front end but could not figure out where it was coming from until last weekend when it really made a scraping noise turns out it was a strut rod bushing.the guy who is doing the work is a great member of our community he understands old car needs and gets good quality partsCar looks nice. Sits "right", etc. How many miles and what prompted the desire for the new parts? Just curious.
There are some items in those kits you might not need. Like the tie rod adjusting sleeves, for example.
To me, just the control arm business, upper AND LOWER, plus possibly ball joints might be all that's really needed. Be advised that to do the lower control arm bushiness, the torsion bars will need to be slid back, SO the proper tool to do so is needed. Also check the condition of the rear boots on the bars, too, while you're there.
I know that everybody tends to be "kit oriented" in more recent times, with the alleged price savings, BUT don't replace something just because you can. If the current items aren't really worn, but just old, what you replace them with might be of lower quality, but new. So don't condemn parts just due to age. Over the years, there have probably been MORE Chrysler lower ball joints replaced, that were still very much "in spec", but made to look "worn out" by the techs that sold the new stuff.
Never did have to replace any lower ball joints on my C-bodies, but did have to replace an idler arm, once (cornering performance was affected).
Spending the money might be good for your "piece of mind", but if the existing parts aren't really "worn", are still "in spec", then you might spend a good bit of money for little real performance benefit. Your money, your car, etc.
Afterward, a good alignment needs to be done, too. PLUS setting the front end height if the T-bars are moved to do the lower control arm bushings.
Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
i will sir as far as shocks go i just put on nos pleasurizer shocks and what a difference it made the ones on the car were original ones from plymouth these cars i was told came with oil filled not the gas shocks or new style this car rides like a boat and i love that about it.Not to discount any wear issues in the suspension, BUT also check the input side of the steering gear for "in and out" movement as the steering wheel is turned its initial amount (before the steering linkage moves).
Reason I say that is that I tried for a good while to get my '70 Monaco to have less "slop" in the steering. All of the linkage was to spec and no alignment-setting/holding issues. But there was still more movement in the steering wheel before the car would react.
Tried adjusting the "top" adjustment, which did not help. I could easily see the "in and out" movement of the steering input shaft of the steering gear. NOBODY every mentioned that there was any adjustment there! The FSM mentioned the requisite special tools to reassemble the gearbox in that area, but little else. GM Saginaw steering gears, by comparison, had no such "play" issues.
When I showed the mechanic at our local Chrysler dealer, where we'd done business for years, that issue. He ran backwards and said "best not to touch that". So no help there.
When I went into GM parts later on, I discovered that GM called that part the "adjuster plug", which has some seals that would leak over time. There was an adjustment there, but on the Chrysler boxes, it took a special spanner wrench to do it, out of the car. So although my theory of an adjustment there being proven, never did take getting it adjusted better any farther.
That "play" just seems to be a part of the breed. Similar issues, but less so, on the '72 my parents bought. It's one of those things that if you key on it, you notice it big-time, but if you just drive and go on, not so much.
I have no experience with any of the Steer&Gear or FirmFeel units in this respect. Borgeson has a kit to put a late-model Jeep steering gear in place of the big Chrysler "chuck". I'm suspecting this might be the best option for an upgrade.
Not that there is some wear and such in your suspension items, but it might not be ALL of the reason you're headed in the direction you're headed in.
From my experiences with our '66 Newport, one of the BEST things you can do is to put HD shocks on the car. Plus run the tire pressures 30f/28rr, or possibly add 2psi to each amount. If it's a 318 car with no front sway bar, that can be added, too.
Sounds like you've got a good plan. Please keep us posted.
CBODY67