Help please- how long to drop rear axle on Fiesta Mark 4?
Discussion
Hi, could anyone please help with this? I think my brother has been overcharged for work on his 1999 Ford Fiesta - how long would it normally take to remove the rear axle from a 1999 Mark 4 Ford Fiesta, please? I have tried Google and have ordered a Haynes manual but this won't arrive for several days and I'm not sure if this will state the actual time required. If anyone has the relevant page from a Ford workshop manual and could send a pic of this to me, that would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I'll take a guess
Squirt lots of penetrating fluid on every single one of the mud and rust covered fixings. 5 minutes
Wait half an hour, then wire brush the crud of any exposed threads. Try undoing the fixings, find one that wants to move. More penetrating oil, more waiting.
Try the fixings again, some are showing signs of submission, but most are going to need a lot more faffing. It may be that a blast with a blow torch will help on some, but not on others. Then it's MIG welding nuts onto the rounded bolts so that, a) some torque can be applied, and b) the thermal shock from the welding will free things off.
...and I still belt that there's some that would still only be removable with an angle grinder or a drill.
Forget book times on a 22 year old car unless it's in concourse condition. Every single fixing will fight like buggery.
Squirt lots of penetrating fluid on every single one of the mud and rust covered fixings. 5 minutes
Wait half an hour, then wire brush the crud of any exposed threads. Try undoing the fixings, find one that wants to move. More penetrating oil, more waiting.
Try the fixings again, some are showing signs of submission, but most are going to need a lot more faffing. It may be that a blast with a blow torch will help on some, but not on others. Then it's MIG welding nuts onto the rounded bolts so that, a) some torque can be applied, and b) the thermal shock from the welding will free things off.
...and I still belt that there's some that would still only be removable with an angle grinder or a drill.
Forget book times on a 22 year old car unless it's in concourse condition. Every single fixing will fight like buggery.
If it was just to remove the axle, I would happily quote for 1 days labour, and hope to do it in half of that.
But if you wanted the axle replaced, (or even, to be replaced), so you need all the threads and brake lines in good condition, then expect at least a day. That is without looking at it, I might quote more after looking.
But if you wanted the axle replaced, (or even, to be replaced), so you need all the threads and brake lines in good condition, then expect at least a day. That is without looking at it, I might quote more after looking.
Took me 2 days but 6-7 hrs of time to remove one, refit of a new rear axle with new bolts from a breakers yard took around 3 hours
Every single bolt had to be cut out, fubar'd my angle grinder after doing the near side and had to wait to get the new one the next day to resume - that's working on axle stands on the driveway
Every single bolt had to be cut out, fubar'd my angle grinder after doing the near side and had to wait to get the new one the next day to resume - that's working on axle stands on the driveway
Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Much appreciated!
Sorry for my delay replying - there is a 24 hour wait for newbies to reply to avoid spam.
To answer Scrump - he has been charged 50 hours of labour and £2,000. This was for removing the rear axle, cutting out some rust underneath it (chassis legs?) welding up the rust, and cutting some small sections of rust out of the wheel arches.
Sorry for my delay replying - there is a 24 hour wait for newbies to reply to avoid spam.
To answer Scrump - he has been charged 50 hours of labour and £2,000. This was for removing the rear axle, cutting out some rust underneath it (chassis legs?) welding up the rust, and cutting some small sections of rust out of the wheel arches.
c.milton said:
Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Much appreciated!
Sorry for my delay replying - there is a 24 hour wait for newbies to reply to avoid spam.
To answer Scrump - he has been charged 50 hours of labour and £2,000. This was for removing the rear axle, cutting out some rust underneath it (chassis legs?) welding up the rust, and cutting some small sections of rust out of the wheel arches.
Is that a total cost of £2000, in which case it's not unreasonable, or £2000 for parts and another 50 hours of labour at some unspecified rate?Sorry for my delay replying - there is a 24 hour wait for newbies to reply to avoid spam.
To answer Scrump - he has been charged 50 hours of labour and £2,000. This was for removing the rear axle, cutting out some rust underneath it (chassis legs?) welding up the rust, and cutting some small sections of rust out of the wheel arches.
c.milton said:
Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Much appreciated!
Sorry for my delay replying - there is a 24 hour wait for newbies to reply to avoid spam.
To answer Scrump - he has been charged 50 hours of labour and £2,000. This was for removing the rear axle, cutting out some rust underneath it (chassis legs?) welding up the rust, and cutting some small sections of rust out of the wheel arches.
What authorisation did you give for the work? Sorry for my delay replying - there is a 24 hour wait for newbies to reply to avoid spam.
To answer Scrump - he has been charged 50 hours of labour and £2,000. This was for removing the rear axle, cutting out some rust underneath it (chassis legs?) welding up the rust, and cutting some small sections of rust out of the wheel arches.
I am not sure yet how to reply individually, but:
My brother is dyslexic and on the autistic spectrum, he paid up front for the work.
The welding has not actually been done - he finally recovered his unfinished car last week; the axle is back on but most of the rust is still visible and the inner and outer arches are just shredded.
As above - being on the spectrum, the car has enormous sentimental value to him. It was mum's car and he inherited after she passed away 10 years ago. He would be buried in it, if he could
My brother is dyslexic and on the autistic spectrum, he paid up front for the work.
The welding has not actually been done - he finally recovered his unfinished car last week; the axle is back on but most of the rust is still visible and the inner and outer arches are just shredded.
As above - being on the spectrum, the car has enormous sentimental value to him. It was mum's car and he inherited after she passed away 10 years ago. He would be buried in it, if he could
The cost total divided by hours would be around £40 an hour which is about right for a small garage, rebuilding a rear end chassis, wings, arches, axle drop and refit etc I could see hitting 50 hours easily if the rot is quite bad
However if he's paid for work that's not been done/completed then that is a matter to discuss with the garage or persue further through other means like small claims etc
However if he's paid for work that's not been done/completed then that is a matter to discuss with the garage or persue further through other means like small claims etc
Thank you Captain Answer, I suspect that small claims will be the way to go.
According to the recovery agent who collected the car, the only work that seems to have been done is the axle being lowered or removed (hence the reason for my original question) and a very small amount of cutting to the arches and 2 small patch welds.
As well as the labour cost, my brother paid for £1,500 worth of new "parts", none of which he has actually seen, never mind got back with his car, yet.
The garage owner is no longer replying to emails, has blocked his (and my) number for texts/calls, keeps the gates to his yard locked and is never "there".
Thanks again for all the replies, everyone. I will say goodbye for now and concentrate on helping him as much as I can to deal with a claim.
I will update if there is anything positive in the future.
According to the recovery agent who collected the car, the only work that seems to have been done is the axle being lowered or removed (hence the reason for my original question) and a very small amount of cutting to the arches and 2 small patch welds.
As well as the labour cost, my brother paid for £1,500 worth of new "parts", none of which he has actually seen, never mind got back with his car, yet.
The garage owner is no longer replying to emails, has blocked his (and my) number for texts/calls, keeps the gates to his yard locked and is never "there".
Thanks again for all the replies, everyone. I will say goodbye for now and concentrate on helping him as much as I can to deal with a claim.
I will update if there is anything positive in the future.
c.milton said:
Thank you Captain Answer, I suspect that small claims will be the way to go.
According to the recovery agent who collected the car, the only work that seems to have been done is the axle being lowered or removed (hence the reason for my original question) and a very small amount of cutting to the arches and 2 small patch welds.
As well as the labour cost, my brother paid for £1,500 worth of new "parts", none of which he has actually seen, never mind got back with his car, yet.
The garage owner is no longer replying to emails, has blocked his (and my) number for texts/calls, keeps the gates to his yard locked and is never "there".
Thanks again for all the replies, everyone. I will say goodbye for now and concentrate on helping him as much as I can to deal with a claim.
I will update if there is anything positive in the future.
My son is autistic and it pisses me right off that your brother has been treated this way. According to the recovery agent who collected the car, the only work that seems to have been done is the axle being lowered or removed (hence the reason for my original question) and a very small amount of cutting to the arches and 2 small patch welds.
As well as the labour cost, my brother paid for £1,500 worth of new "parts", none of which he has actually seen, never mind got back with his car, yet.
The garage owner is no longer replying to emails, has blocked his (and my) number for texts/calls, keeps the gates to his yard locked and is never "there".
Thanks again for all the replies, everyone. I will say goodbye for now and concentrate on helping him as much as I can to deal with a claim.
I will update if there is anything positive in the future.
Ripping off vulnerable people is scum behaviour of the worst kind.
Sadly though, you might be better off writing this off and moving on with life.
Getting someone like you describe to actually cough up even with court decisions in your favour will almost certainly prove fruitless and all you`ll end up with is lost time,wasted effort and a load of stress.
I appreciate it`s a decent wedge of cash but that just makes getting it back even more difficult.
Sounds like he's been ripped off, I'm afraid, yes.
The rear beam on those Fiestas is extremely simple, basically two bolts at the front and two bolts for the struts, that's it. There's more involved with disconnecting the brakes if you need to totally remove it, but just getting it out the way for access to weld a repair is easy enough.
The big unknown is how cooperative the bolts will be with a couple of decades of rust on them, and then whether new bushes are needed etc.
But the garage should be able to assess that easily enough before starting work.
The rear beam on those Fiestas is extremely simple, basically two bolts at the front and two bolts for the struts, that's it. There's more involved with disconnecting the brakes if you need to totally remove it, but just getting it out the way for access to weld a repair is easy enough.
The big unknown is how cooperative the bolts will be with a couple of decades of rust on them, and then whether new bushes are needed etc.
But the garage should be able to assess that easily enough before starting work.
Seems odd a garage would shutdown their operation just because of one unhappy customer.
But paying up front unless it was a 100% trusted garage, is nuts....
But if he has not got the work that was agreed, then some sort of legal route may be the way to go, but without any evidence of what was agreed, it could be difficult
Such repair work if it was all done, cutting out rust and fabbing repair sections etc is an extremely time consuming task if done well.
But paying up front unless it was a 100% trusted garage, is nuts....
But if he has not got the work that was agreed, then some sort of legal route may be the way to go, but without any evidence of what was agreed, it could be difficult
Such repair work if it was all done, cutting out rust and fabbing repair sections etc is an extremely time consuming task if done well.
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