Baystate Jeepers

Does anyone know and Jeep mechanics on the south shore, I had DaThug into the dealer for an oil change and
They said my left passenger tyrod has some play and should be replaced. With the customizations they can’t.

Also my rims which are steel and about 2 yrs old the lug nur holes are widening He said to keep an eye and they need to be replaced at some point. The tech sent me a pic. Has this happened to anyone else? I had not expected to replace rims before my tires. When I do given this I think I’m not going steel again. Thoughts?

Marcy

Can't give you any advice on a shop but I'm thinking your tierod replacement is wicked easy, most any shop should be able to get you set up. Widening lug holes? I had that happen on an XJ. Turns out the lug nuts weren't torqued (or even tightened!), they had some play, and widened the holes

How close is Abbington / Offroad elements to you? They are stand up folks and wheel the snot out of their jeeps.

Carl McFly wrote:Can't give you any advice on a shop but I'm thinking your tierod replacement is wicked easy, most any shop should be able to get you set up. Widening lug holes? I had that happen on an XJ. Turns out the lug nuts weren't torqued (or even tightened!), they had some play, and widened the holes

As you know I'm not a mechanic, I had something in the steering giving last winter, it was the inner nut was stripped. The shop guys all took a look and we decided to weld it in place. It's been great for months.

lugnuts are just weird.

https://flic.kr/p/2hc5adE

Hoodoo Man wrote:How close is Abbington / Offroad elements to you? They are stand up folks and wheel the snot out of their jeeps.

Abbington is really close, I didn't realize they were in Abbington. ill check them out, the other place I was looking at is Riverside in Woburn who has some awesome jeeps on the lot.

I talked with Riverside 3-4 years ago about doing some work on my jeep, my first impression wasn’t impressive. Seems like just a regular shop with regular mechanics that happen to do bolt on stuff to jeeps. For simple stuff I’d try them out, but otherwise stick with off-road elements if it’s close.

Thanks all, I've got an email out to Offroad Elements they are within 15 minutes of my place.

So follow up question.

I spoke to Riverside - They recomended I buy a heavy duty steering kit of my choice recommended Quadratec as a site to buy one and they would install it. I found them on the site ranging from $200 up for heavy duty.

I got an estimate from Eric for $1500 they sell the Teraflex at $837 . I was not expecting $1500 price tag..

What steering kits have others used?

I think it might help to detail what they are talking about for that price. Is this a tie rod and drag link replacement with an alignment after the installation? Do you know if your tie rod was wallowed out and need a new knuckle or was it just slop between the tie rod end and the tie rod itself?

Its not a bad idea to replace the tie rod and drag link at one time and if this is labor to install plus an alignment I'd say its ball park OK. I've been very happy with my synergy tie rod (cant recall if I did the drag link at the same time) but the tie rod and drag link cause a lot of incidents with death wobble so its one of those ounce of prevention, pound of cure things...

You could buy the parts and have a wrenchfest for this then have the alignment done. I know a number of people myself included have done this with the club. Would save you a few buck, how much would depend on what you were quoted.

I did the tie rod and drag link in my driveway myself, pretty straight forward, no need for wrenchfest.

I don't know the details of the issue other than when I had my tires rotated Friday, the tech told the service manager that there was play in my passenger tie rod. That he could move it and it should be looked at but they can't because it's not stock.

Near as I can tell from Off Road Elements, the part is on their site at $837 so that about 650 in labor said it would take 3-4 hours. I believe I'v run the 35's on the stock rods and drag as I don't recall Scoot upgrading those when he lifted it for me.

@Cassandra - I know 0 about replacing anything on a car, I'm know very very little about mechanics. I also wouldn't be allowed to work on it in my complex. It's my daily driver, I would never even consider replacing my self... specially when I'm toting a toddler around.

I'm going to go see Eric and see what he thinks, I'm not comfortable driving it as much as I do to wait. Just an large unexpected hit

An alignment can be done in the driveway too. Total job shouldn’t be more than an hour, maybe a little more including the alignment. Perfect job for a wrenchfest

Hey randy,

Interesting. A couple people here saying an hour or two. Eric is saying it’s 3 to 4 hours. I’d love to do a wrenchfest
But not comfortable waiting to plan one.

My girlfriend has a 19 month old and we are in the car a lot I’m not comfortable driving it for long given I don’t know how bad it is.

Marcy some good advice here but please don't go back to that other place. A wrench fest is a good idea or take Jeff's advice and go to Off Road Elements. They won't screw you and the work will be right. Missed you on the runs, hope to see you soon. Ken

thanks Ken! I really miss going on runs, life is slowly settling down and I hope to make at least one this season.

I'll have a better idea tomorrow, I'm stopping by Offroad for Eric to take a look and see what we can do.