Did shop break my hub or ??? (pic)
 

So i took my hubs to a shop to have the outer metal DTSS bushings pressed out and the outer delrin sleeves pressed in. When i came back they told me one of the hubs cracked when the were pressing the delrin bushing in. My question is, is this even possible? The store manager fed me line after line of bullshit about why it happened. "oh you brought it in cracked." No i didn't i responded, both the tech and I looked at them before i handed them over. Then it was "it's probably because of the hard plastic is tougher the rubber originally in it." To which i replied that the outer piece was originally metal. Then he said that it was a "faulty design" (referring to the hub). Then he pointed out how it was dirty inside the crevice where it broke and it should be "shiny". It is a faint brown color inside the crevice, not dirty as i can't scratch it off. I think maybe they used a torch on it? Things that are hard to see on the pics (sorry they're blurry) are that at the top of the crack it looks like it was smashed some how, and the middle section caved in. How can it cave in when a bushing is being presssed in? Isn't that basically exerting outward force on the hole? So basically i paid $50 and got a broken hub in return. :mad: :mad: :mad: Anyone have any advice?

that is blurry, turn on your macro function on your camera. The flower looking symbol and take those again. I don't know if its savable with jb weld or anything.

Did they actually use a press, or try to wing it with a C-clamp and a hammer?

Damn, they broke that shiat.

those pics are terrible........

what can I say though...if it'd happened when you were pressing them out, you'd be pissed off, but because you leave it in someone else's hands the ol' buck passing begins....

IMHO if the shop is even SOMEWHAT competent they can press the old bushing out and new one in without any incident, in this case I would say that it was probably going to happen anyways, but those hubs are difficult to break....

my guess:

tech realizes he has a bitch of a job getting out the bushings (cuz they are IN there man - hehe)
tech heats the hub around the bushing
tech isn't familiar with heating properties of aluminum
press press press
snap

the pictures are horrible

but based on what can be seen it looks like some moron took a cutting torch to it.

that is a very simple job to do btw, someone fucked up big time.

heres a photo-howto of doing the dtss bushings, it's almost trivial.
http://pengaru.com/~swivel/cars/rx-7/pics/09-05-2001/

Wow that's pretty fucked up. Almost looks like the press wasn't on it right and it was trying to press the part instead of the bushing and finally the metal gave up or it jumped off the part/center.

Now here is one problem. You left the store with it that way. If you did not accept it you would have had a better chance of fighting them for a new one.

Now they have a bit of shady business of "It wasn't that way when it left our shop" stuff to work with.

if you ever go back to the shop just tell the owner that he will not be getting you or any of your friends/relatives business again. people reap what they sow and someone who can't sack up that they screwed up in the end will wind up again with 0 after people realize that they got jerked around.

btw, you could probably have that pressed out, repaired and pressed back in by a real machine shop for about $100, just don't go back to the fuckwits who broke it.

looking at those photos again (although they're blurry as hell) it looks like there is still a portion of the OE bushing in there....maybe not....

it may have also been that they tried to actually cut out the steel portion with a cutting torch..........and obviously have very shaky hands

yeah sorry about the sucky pics. It sucks but i picked up a hub for $50 im just gonna take a hit on this one :( BTW fuck tire and wheel country on evergreen :D :D :D bitches :fawk: :fawk:

I would make them pay for a new hub......that might sound contradictory considering I myself own a shop.

But if I screw something up (cmon we're all human) I always right it with the customer, so why should this jerk-off get off scot free?

i second that

i would hassle him about it but if he has the balls to lie about breaking it then he has the balls to see if you will show up for court. is it worth the time, headache and the $25 court filing fee? if you want to do damage then have your states bureau of automotive repair/better business bureau know about the issue, they will probe around and make life difficult for the owner.

i myself would also admit to my mistakes and take care of my customers, hence my original statement.

better pic:

yeah i plan on the BBB part of that. It's just to much hassle to fuck around with it. Time better spent getting my car running.

yeah man they f'd that stuff up...

I would say take it to a machine shop... any competent monkey in a machine shop can get those in and out in about 20 minutes with 2 beers in between the in and out...

I did mine (I bought a 10 ton press :) hehe) anyways pressed mine out in about 5 minutes for both... have yet to install new RB toe eliminators but I can't imagine it will be hard at all.

looks like it was dropped if you ask me.

seriously? I would think it looks like it was heated.... or they pressed too hard and just broke the metal... I wouldn't think dropping it would do that...

the rubber has a pressure fit, dropping it on the corner would basically crack it and cause an almost like explosion and the missing chunk to fly out. Al has a low melting point, if it was due to heat that whole section of the arm would be a ball of molten aluminum.

ALWAYS pay with a credit card. your credit card company will back you if you tell them the company broke your part and refuses to replace it and wouldnt give it back without payment so at least you wont have to pay the fuck stick for screwing up

yeah I know Al has the low melting point, hence the reason I refuse to use a torch near it, but I didn't realize it would crack like that if it were dropped... I guess ya learn something new everyday... SHIT!!! I learned 2 things today... what was the other one... hehe

whoever told you that? first i have heard of it. you have something in your hand you have to pay for it, if you feel you were wronged you either call the police or go to court. if you call and cancel a payment that is called "theft", bout the same league as what the shop owner did but much easier to prove.

where can you get replacement bushings for that same spot that broke, when i took that bolt off my car the factory bushing just crumbled out

dealership?

so after i pressed the bushing back out (still in good shape!) and had a look inside the bore, i've decided to go talk to the guy again and see what he has to say about it. New pic, the area inside the yellow square isn't dark black because of lighting issues. . .
TORCH FOR TEH WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was clearly heated with a torch.

now it looks like it, they blasted the excess metal right off but they also somehow managed to crack it, it looks like they dropped it to make it appear that it was a faulty arm.

I believe thats the DTSS bushing and you can get eliminator bushings for like $40 for the pair from RacingBeat and mazdatrix or you can get the factory bushings from mazda for about the same I would think, but problly much more I don't know that for sure tho.

Definitely heated with a torch. The first in-focus photo shows it clearly, the area around the crack where the outer skin appears to have been 'collapsed' like the skin turned into fabric and was draping in is a dead give away.

Anyone who has welded aluminum can tell you this in a instant just glancing at the photo.

The shop owes you the cost of a new hub and should also give you more for the lies and time wasted.

That is nuts man ... I would not leave that shop with out satisfaction.

That is BS

You. Go back to that shop, and give them hell. NOW!

How can someone screw up so horribly??

easy, someone was drinking a beer while using a torch on something that shouldn't be torched.

I just put my Toe Eliminators in using a balljoint installation C-clamp... and it was easy, took some time (like 10 minutes per hub) but I didn't need a torch. I am still trying to figure out why they even needed a torch.

C clamp takes 2 hands to use, so does a press... torch only takes one so the other can hold the beer.

ah yes... this is true, I know when I work on cars I prefer having beer in my hand.

beer+torch+aluminum=hot molten lava

Jason sorry to hear about that! I would make that shop liable for their mishap.

there is a law that when using a credit card for goods and I'm sure services within a specific distance and the goods where not satisfactory then you can call your credit card company and dispute the charges. they in turn will cause the payment to the vendor to be reversed. so the vendor get no money.


you do have to in good faith first try to resolve the problem with the vendor though. without doing that there is nothing they can or will do.


it isn't theft

what's up bro?!? haven't heard from you in a while. yeah it sucks but it's water under the bridge now. Full time job + school = no time for fucktard shops. i ended up doing the other side my self with a ghetto press. I saw you were looking a a blue FD, good luck bro!

Heating and rapidly cooling aluminum can cause cracks. Maybe he doused it with water? Possibly he heated the area and the outside cooled faster than the metal bushing inside? Doesn't really seem to matter how exactly they managed it. Stupidity knows no bounds.

they had the shop bitch that gets paid 8 bucks an hour do it and he fucked it up, now they dont want to pay because they do crappy work, everyone probably knows this, but they charge cheap prices for half done work, fuck the guys, i post flyers all over town with the shadyness of this establishment, call my credit card company and get my money back, report them to the city, report them to the BBB automotive department, and flatten all they're tires, lol


fuck those guys

One of the problems with trying to idiot-proof the world is nature keeps producing better idiots

Hey, any updates on this?