Sujet : Re: "Metalwork" by othewras
De : none (at) *nospam* none.com99 (Bob La Londe)
Groupes : rec.crafts.metalworkingDate : 05. Oct 2024, 18:24:41
Autres entêtes
Organisation : A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID : <vdrsoo$qmtj$1@dont-email.me>
References : 1
User-Agent : Mozilla Thunderbird
On 10/4/2024 3:15 PM, Snag wrote:
I dropped the axle from my '86 GMC pickup off at the shop yesterday . It's going in for "major surgery" ... The stock 2.73:1/standard differential gear set is being replaced with a set of 3.42's and a posi locker . I have apparently ventured a bit farther into the "high performance" realm than I meant to . Since I've got it tuned a bit better I've been having problems starting from a dead stop without the truck making screeching noises . I'm hoping the new stuff will improve that situation ...
I'm also hoping the gas mileage improves . The motor build was optimized for 3.42 gears , I should be in a more efficient RPM band with the new gears . Which is also in the torque band , so my trans should have to shift gears less often .
And as my neighbor told his wife when she asked what all this was for "better burnouts!" .
How do you find "other people" you trust to do work for you. I've had absolute shit luck with that. It's the main reason I do so many different things myself.
A plumber who leaves a shower dripping and says he'll come back the next day with the right stuff to fix the valve, and never comes back. A mechanic you ask specifically to do specific preventative repairs or do specific tests and those are the primary reason you brought work to them, and they just do a routine service and ignore what you brought it in for. A shop that says they'll check their schedule and call you back the next day to let you know when they can do some work, who then tries to gas light you and claim it was the other way around. Another shop that says you have to lift the bed of a truck to do a job (some jobs you do or its the easier way), and you have already researched and know they are just trying to juice the price. Another shop that takes your money and even after they have your money you have to ask them when it will be ready TWICE before they say it will be four months before they can get the item you ordered... you ask for your money back, order it yourself FROM THE MANUFACTURER, and have it delivered in less than two week from the opposite side of the country by truck... for less. A refrigeration tech who straight up lies and says that a refrigerant is no longer available, so you will need a whole new system, and then you have it delivered the next day ordered off eBay... When you call the reseller they let you know they can't make it anymore, but it will be decades before they run out.
When I was a kid I lived 60 miles from town. We had a country store (and later split it into two stores) with just about everything. Groceries, fresh meat and produce, hardware, dry goods, guns, auto parts, tools, etc etc. We didn't learn to fix everything ourselves because we had a choice. We learned to fix everything ourselves because we couldn't even get somebody to come out. I learned basic electrical, construction, refrigeration, plumbing, and wrenching because if we didn't do it ourselves we wouldn't have light, shelter, cold food, a shower, and we would have to walk.
Well I don't live 60 miles from town anymore, and there are multiple businesses "available." Generally I don't even dicker over price. I ask them how much and decide either I have that much or I don't. Last week I walked out of three shops just trying to get a gooseneck under bed turnover ball hitch installed in my new truck. Not one was because of price. One gas lit me claiming they didn't say what they said. Another straight up lied to me. The third said it was a piece of cake and then made it clear they had never installed a hitch on anything before and didn't have a clue how to do it. Yeah, I guess they lied to me too. In none of those cases do I trust them to do a good job. Its not that I can't do it. Its that I just don't want to. I've installed in bed hitch systems before. Its a bit of a pain (although this one "should" be easier) and I just don't want to.
I had similar issues last year when trying to get a hitch installed on my wife's car for an electric scooter carrier. Its a lease so I really wanted to have a "professional" install it. Yeah, nope.
I am so fucking tired. I have cash money. I just want to hire somebody to do a job right the first time. Whatever the job. I've spent my whole life doing things myself. When I was growing up because their was no who would do it and I had no choice, later because I didn't have the money to pay somebody, and now well because I don't have any choice again. One day I'm not going to be physically able to do it myself, and then I'll just be fucked.
Now don't get me wrong. I've had a few businesses give me great service. Unfortunately with a large portion of them the instant I sing their praises they do something shitty. I like to reward good behavior and not reward bad behavior, but I'm afraid to post a positive review or make a recommendation anymore.
Lots of people I guess are more tolerant. They seem to get by in this screw and lie business climate. I was raised in business and I would have gone to school the next day with purple welts on my ass if I treated a customer like I feel I am treated in many businesses around here.
To be fair there is another issue. We do have a large part time blizzard chicken population and there is a distinct prejudice against snowbirds by many locals including local businesses who do not directly profit from the "tourist" trade. I have a grey beard and greying hair. I guess I may look like an annoying blizzard chicken to them. I'm not particularly vane about my looks, but I am tempted to die my hair and my beard to see if it makes a difference with some of them.
Listen to me bitch and whine. Its just something to procrastinate for a couple minutes before I walk outside and drill a giant hole in the bed of my new truck. Actually I am getting prepped, but I have shop work for customers I have to do first. I'll probably install the hitch tomorrow. I hope.
Oh, yeah. I sold my Jeep and my Silverado 2500 AFTER buying a new truck. Dealerships just suck. Took me 3 months to find the truck I wanted from a dealer that didn't just BALD FACED LIE about their advertised price, bait and switch on me, grossly undervalue trades, and/or grossly over value what they had. One dealer did all four of those. Several did more than one. One sent me a quote where the base price before extras was higher than the advertised price and the final price was nearly $10K more than that. They also advertised if I found a cheaper truck anywhere they would pay $1000. I'm not going to fight with them, but I bought a higher spec truck for less elsewhere. A lot less.
Oh, yeah. I did have one really positive experience with a business this week. I need to replace the seals on two hydraulic cylinders on my front loader. I've done it myself before and they only lasted a year. I don't know if I did a crap job or if I got bad seals, but I did use OEM John Deere seals. None of the rods are nicked, scored , or pitted. I can't feel anything but slick oil. Its not cutting seals. I went into a local hydraulic shop and they listened, didn't put me down for doing it myself the first time said they would get on it in a couple days (open them up same day and order parts) and explained they don't keep a lot of seals in stock because they have a shelf life, and said that could be why my "new" seals failed. They could be old stock that have set on the shelf somewhere for years. I felt like I was someplace else. No bullshit, helpful, friendly, no judgement. I need to move a few things, and then this coming week I'll pull those cylinders and let them fix them
-- Bob La LondeCNC Molds N Stuff-- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.www.avg.com