clutchdust
07-20-2011, 1:44am
I had forgotten why I hated Pep Boys, until today. A friend asked me to look at her car, a Hyundai Elantra. One of the CV joint boots ripped and flung out all the grease and the joint was running dry so it was not long for this world. I told her we needed to replace it before it left her on the side of the road. I did some calling and found a reman half shaft assembly at Pep Boys for $80. I told the counter guy that chick would be coming by to pick it up, then I told her to ask for "John" at the counter and he would already have it waiting.
So today I go over and start tearing into the axle. As soon as I get the wheel off I see we have a problem. The new axle is about a foot shorter than the one on the car. It still needs to come out so I pull the old unit and take it back to John at Pep Boys. "Oh, sorry, that's strange. This is the number that comes up for your car". Obviously it's not the right one because I'm not stretching this shaft 12" to fit in there. "Well the computer only shows two numbers, CV2183 (the one he sold chick) and CV2186. So I say "let's try CV2186 since CV2183 is obviously wrong". "OK, but I don't have it at this location. They have one at our Sunset store". Now I'm driving over to Sunset. Not a huge deal, but about six miles out of my way and I'm already over budget on time. I estimated the job to take 3-4 hours, which I would have been spot on had we gotten the right axle to begin with.
I get over to Sunset and they whip out the CV2186 and put it next to the old axle I just pulled out of the car. Hot damn, same length, I think we're in business! (Bolded for effect) I put the new shaft in, reconnect the strut, bolt everything back on all the way down to the rim. I start to jack up the car so I can remove my jackstands and ATF starts pouring out of the seal around the new axle. "Aw, shit" I think, I must have torn the seal when I installed the axle. I crawl under and look but as far as I can see everything looks cherry. WTF? After racking my brain for alternatives I pull everything back apart and pull the new axle out. I look but sure enough the seal looks beautiful. Just what the **** is going on? On a hunch I take a basic measurement and sure as shit the seal appears to be a solid 1/4" bigger in diameter than the seal surface of the shaft.
Back to Pep Boys. I talk to the manager of the store and we start banging ideas out. I think I must have gotten a manual axle shaft instead of one for an automatic. But we get another axle off the shelf and it's the same. Oh, and this is the store that has my core so we compare and sure as shit, the seal surface of the original shaft is visibly larger in diameter. Back to the other part number we go. Guess what? They don't have that fkr at that store either so off to a THIRD Pep Boys I go. This time they have the same part number, CV2183, I got the first time, but now this axle actually matches in length and all other relevant dimensions the axle that came out of the car. Apparently, the first axle I got was a completely different axle that was put in a box and marked with the number I needed. The second axle, I have no freakin' idea except that it was for a different tranny.
Finally have the right axle, I get back and put the car back together in about 45 minutes. So what should have taken no more than 4 hours, took 10 hours and trips to three different stores. And what do I get from Pep Boys? "Sorry for the inconvenience".
Won't be using those fkrs again.
So today I go over and start tearing into the axle. As soon as I get the wheel off I see we have a problem. The new axle is about a foot shorter than the one on the car. It still needs to come out so I pull the old unit and take it back to John at Pep Boys. "Oh, sorry, that's strange. This is the number that comes up for your car". Obviously it's not the right one because I'm not stretching this shaft 12" to fit in there. "Well the computer only shows two numbers, CV2183 (the one he sold chick) and CV2186. So I say "let's try CV2186 since CV2183 is obviously wrong". "OK, but I don't have it at this location. They have one at our Sunset store". Now I'm driving over to Sunset. Not a huge deal, but about six miles out of my way and I'm already over budget on time. I estimated the job to take 3-4 hours, which I would have been spot on had we gotten the right axle to begin with.
I get over to Sunset and they whip out the CV2186 and put it next to the old axle I just pulled out of the car. Hot damn, same length, I think we're in business! (Bolded for effect) I put the new shaft in, reconnect the strut, bolt everything back on all the way down to the rim. I start to jack up the car so I can remove my jackstands and ATF starts pouring out of the seal around the new axle. "Aw, shit" I think, I must have torn the seal when I installed the axle. I crawl under and look but as far as I can see everything looks cherry. WTF? After racking my brain for alternatives I pull everything back apart and pull the new axle out. I look but sure enough the seal looks beautiful. Just what the **** is going on? On a hunch I take a basic measurement and sure as shit the seal appears to be a solid 1/4" bigger in diameter than the seal surface of the shaft.
Back to Pep Boys. I talk to the manager of the store and we start banging ideas out. I think I must have gotten a manual axle shaft instead of one for an automatic. But we get another axle off the shelf and it's the same. Oh, and this is the store that has my core so we compare and sure as shit, the seal surface of the original shaft is visibly larger in diameter. Back to the other part number we go. Guess what? They don't have that fkr at that store either so off to a THIRD Pep Boys I go. This time they have the same part number, CV2183, I got the first time, but now this axle actually matches in length and all other relevant dimensions the axle that came out of the car. Apparently, the first axle I got was a completely different axle that was put in a box and marked with the number I needed. The second axle, I have no freakin' idea except that it was for a different tranny.
Finally have the right axle, I get back and put the car back together in about 45 minutes. So what should have taken no more than 4 hours, took 10 hours and trips to three different stores. And what do I get from Pep Boys? "Sorry for the inconvenience".
Won't be using those fkrs again.