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?