Anyone hear of repair companies modifying Fox steering stabilizers?

[nerp]

I recently had my steering stabilizer replaced at a shop in Parker, CO. They replaced a pretty crappy aftermarket stabilizer with a much nicer Fox version. They said the old stabilizer had "dead spots" and was "worn out." It had been on for 35,000 miles, and cost about $60, so I'm kind of ok with the replacement.

When I got the bill, they charged me >$350 for the stabilizer. I spoke to the owner and he said that they had made a special deal with Fox where they bought a palette of JL steering stabilizers and then changed the pressure in them and made a few other proprietary adjustments. This is why the price was marked up 2x more expensive than on Amazon or most retailers.

I never agreed to buying a modified aftermarket part and wondered a couple of things:

1) Does Fox know?
2) Why doesn't he re-brand the shocks?
3) What's wrong with the Fox shocks that makes him think he knows better than them??

This same mechanic charged me $300+ for a rear differential fluid change. When I questioned that, the owner said that they take the differential apart and wipe it down instead of just draining it. If true, this seems like a metric shit-ton more risk than just draining and refilling. He literally also charged for a can of brake cleaner during the differential fluid change. 3 sprays per valve is all it takes, but no - this dude easily charged me for a whole can of cleaner.

Terry

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[Kevin Mojito]

time for a new shop........

 

[rustyshakelford]

What’s the part number?

To get custom shocks you do have to get a pallet but im skeptical of their story!

Brett

 

[DVJeeper]

Re-valve of shock is common, not sure on steering stabilizer. At the very least they should have explained these things up front and given you different options. I would look for a new shop.

$300 for a diff fluid change is excessive.

 

[nerp]

time for a new shop........

I'm from Los Angeles, and use a different shop for my normal needs ... but, I was visiting Colorado and had an issue with bump steer that nearly ran me off the road on the side of a mountain in a hail storm after a car flipped in front of me while towing a 2500 pound trailer ... I really just wanted a mechanic to check the torque on all my front suspension. Instead, this well-respected mechanic charged me for $1,000 worth of repairs. So, yeah - I'll use them again when pigs fly out of my ass and beg to be cut into bacon slices and fried up extra crispy to be fed to my dog.

 

[nerp]

What’s the part number?

As far as I can tell (they didn't tell me despite me asking) ... it's Mopar 77072360 - just like this one:

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mopar/f...-AZ__LSG7f1daVhl2o0FbUX7dchOGgTIaAkSkEALw_wcB

 

[nerp]

Re-valve of shock is common, not sure on steering stabilizer. At the very least they should have explained these things up front and given you different options. I would look for a new shop.

$300 for a diff fluid change is excessive.

Yeah - that wasn't the only thing that was excessive. The alignment (front only) was ridiculous as well. I'll attach the bill to the original post.

 

[Arterius2]

Yeah - that wasn't the only thing that was excessive. The alignment (front only) was ridiculous as well. I'll attach the bill to the original post.

Dude, differential oil change is like the EASIEST thing you can do on the Jeep, takes literally 15 minutes and 2 plugs. why didn't you do it yourself, I had ZERO mechanical experience going in when I bought my Jeep, and I've almost done everything myself on the Jeep thus far including swapping out the entire suspension system and wiring up the electricals.

Also a front wheel alignment cost $100 CAD ($70 USD) here, I imagine it's even cheaper in the states. Or, you can recenter the steering wheel yourself by loosening the drag link bolt and turn the sleeve and be done with it in 5 minutes and $300 still in your pocket.

So he mugged you for $1000+, and all you got was a steering stabilizer, an alignment and some rear diff fluids? Jesus.

You got slaughtered by him hard, like PUMMELED IN THE REAR AGAIN AND AGAIN, and went back for some more, WHY? You didn’t ask for a quote before you pay for them? Seriously?

Sorry if I sounded super frustrated, because I am, but I just hate to see people getting taken advantage of.

 

[nerp]

So he mugged you for $1000, and you got was a steering stabilizer, an alignment and some rear diff fluids?

Yup. And the sad part is that I changed my own diff fluids front and back about 20K miles ago ... so, yeah. I don't always know what's customary, but this was so out of whack that I just had to post about it. I also sent a note to Fox to see if they actually approve of this practice.

When the owner called me to talk about the bill, it was clear he wasn't going to budge on it. He had one of those "I know best and I do everything for my customers" attitudes that you just can't argue with... and seriously - this place has like a 4.8 star rating on Google with 100's of respondents.

Sad that I had to get raped to tell others to avoid this place.

Terry

 

[Arterius2]

Yup. And the sad part is that I changed my own diff fluids front and back about 20K miles ago ... so, yeah. I don't always know what's customary, but this was so out of whack that I just had to post about it. I also sent a note to Fox to see if they actually approve of this practice.

When the owner called me to talk about the bill, it was clear he wasn't going to budge on it. He had one of those "I know best and I do everything for my customers" attitudes that you just can't argue with... and seriously - this place has like a 4.8 star rating on Google with 1000's of respondents.

Sad that I had to get raped to tell others to avoid this place.

Terry

My take is, he didn't do anything to the steering stabilizer and lied. It's a steering stabilizer for god sakes. You can even drive the Jeep just fine without a steering stabilizer at all.

Probably an opportunist and scam clueless customers for a living.

Just imagine what he charges for some real work to be done on the car.

 

[nerp]

Just imagine what he charges for some real work to be done on the car.

OMG I do not want to :/.

 

[Arterius2]

As far as I can tell (they didn't tell me despite me asking) ... it's Mopar 77072360 - just like this one:

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mopar/f...-AZ__LSG7f1daVhl2o0FbUX7dchOGgTIaAkSkEALw_wcB

Holy s... dude.
I paid the same $300 for this on mine:
https://www.amazon.com/Fox-Shox-983-02-148/dp/B07MLYBPQZ
And guess what, it has 25 clicks of settings from soft to firm that you can set on the fly with a knob, and you get a much better stabilizer, being equal force and a piggyback reservoir. The one he sold you was way overpriced for what it does.

 

[rustyshakelford]

I don’t want to talk poorly about another shop, but I wouldn’t send an enemy there. That’s a shame. What’s the deal with the gasket on the Diff service? They are reusable. Check to see if the paint is chipped off the bolts for the Diff cover, if they aren’t, the brake clean charge is bogus as well because he just pulled the plugs.

My best advice would be to find a different shop for future repairs. That was pretty inflated. Also at least and hour for steering stabilizer? That’s literally like a 60 second swap. I’ll have to look up book time and see what it says

Brett

 

[rustyshakelford]

I'm from Los Angeles, and use a different shop for my normal needs ... but, I was visiting Colorado and had an issue with bump steer that nearly ran me off the road on the side of a mountain in a hail storm after a car flipped in front of me while towing a 2500 pound trailer ... I really just wanted a mechanic to check the torque on all my front suspension. Instead, this well-respected mechanic charged me for $1,000 worth of repairs. So, yeah - I'll use them again when pigs fly out of my ass and beg to be cut into bacon slices and fried up extra crispy to be fed to my dog.

It’ll be stamped where the rod goes into the shock. There’s a black ring and it’ll be white lettering.

Brett

 

[Kevin Mojito]

I'm from Los Angeles, and use a different shop for my normal needs ... but, I was visiting Colorado

If he has a 4.8 rating. I think he just took an out of towner for a ride. You should give a 1 star review and post price. You got a $175 part and paid $125 to have installed in 10mins.

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