front-end work on a 90 Fox

I have a 90 Fox w/ 193k miles and I suspected it needs some front end work so I went to a local Les Schwab location (tire chain out west) and they put it up, wiggled the wheels and such, then told me I needed bearing plates for the top of the struts, tie rod ends and then an alignment - total cost $243. That sounds OK, but could they have missed anything? Also I thought front-end work cost more than this. TIA Tom Seattle

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Frank Zappa
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Reply to
Tom Resi

Reply to
Frank Zappa

I got suspicious and took the car to Hans, my local VW mech. His son, Hans Jr put it up and looked at it and said there was not really as much of a problem as Les Schwab said, and said the bearing plates normally have some play when the car is jacked up, something the other guys weren't aware of, and that the ball joints and tie rod ends were ok. He also showed me how little brake pad I have left, something the other guys didn't even look at. Did the tire store lie/make a mistake? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you! I should have gone to Hans in the first place. Tom Seattle

Reply to
Frank Zappa

This is so elementary that it never crossed my mind that they didn't inspect the brakes. I drive now my second Fox '87 for a grand total of over half a mil. miles. I've been only twice to a mechanic in 12 years, not because Fox is a great car but I do all repairs myself. On my first Fox I had 226k when it was totaled in a crash. At that time the car had over 50k off road/desert driving (gentle, but no paved road). Changed shocks 4 or 5 times, rebuilt & changed drive axles 3 times, changed coil springs once, changed the top bearings once. The car was never abused but it had a lot of heavy terrain driving. I'm on my second '87 Fox now and I didn't do ANY of the above work on it. Coming back to your car now, the top bearings can last for the life of the car if it's driven nice. I changed mine because I didn't like the free play they had, compared with a new bearing. But they did pass a hand inspection! If you can, buy one new bearing and compare it with what you have, if you can live with it, don't change it, and return the new part. These bearings can take a lot of usage without affecting the steering. But at 193k you need to change the ball joints and tie rod ends anyway. This is not the first time, right?! Remember, these two parts are built VERY stiff, and need a lot of usage to fail a hand inspection, only if you take them down you can decide if they need replacement. A new part needs a significant amount of force to move them, if they can be relatively easy moved by hand, just change them. Remember to check the stabilizer bar bushings after you took down the retaining clips!

Good tools and dirty fingers can save you a ton of cash.

Frank Zappa wrote:

Reply to
Tom Resi

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