Service Writer Question

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
05/24/2019 at 15:35 • Filed to: None

2007 Mercedes Sprinter 3500 with HD/Camper suspension. How many hours does the book say in labor to replace the front struts?

DISCUSSION (18)

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/24/2019 at 15:50

We don’t do sprinter or I’d look it up for you. I would charge about 20 hours though.

Because F that job on an RV. That quote says “you’re better off going to someone equipped to work on these”

I did however remember to take a picture of my “daily driver” ratchets for you. I did not include my air ratchets, electric ratchet, or any other power tools, or stuff that never gets used . These are all fine tooth (72 or 80, I think) except for the craftsman 3/8". Every one of these had a different purpose, even though some of them look nearly identical at first glance.

Kinja'd!!!

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/24/2019 at 15:52

According to Repairpal:

https://repairpal.com/estimator/mercedes-benz/sprinter+3500/front-strut-replacement-cost

They say the labour cost should be between $202 and $256... which suggest to me that it’s around 2 hours of labour.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/24/2019 at 15:54

Per side?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
05/24/2019 at 15:59

I can’t tell; is that 3/8-inch and 1/4-inch?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/24/2019 at 16:01

Kinja'd!!!

You could add these to your collection for the cost of the postage, around $8.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/24/2019 at 16:05

Yeah. The little blue one at the end is technically a 1/4" bit ratchet. 3/8" grouped to the left, 1/4" to the right.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/24/2019 at 16:05

Lol

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/24/2019 at 16:10

Judging by this DIY video:

I would say ~1 hour per side is what it should take for a mechanic who knows what they’re doing.

And then you have to do an alignment after.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/24/2019 at 16:17

Yes, or even less than an hour. Which means nothing to quote writers. I’ll call a Mercedes dealership and ask them what the book hours are.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/24/2019 at 16:22

If there is a huge discrepancy between what the book rate is and what we see in the video, you may want to consider fixing it yourself.

The job doesn’t look to be that complicated.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/24/2019 at 17:14

My BIL has one of those campers and it needs struts. They’re quoting him $700 in labor to swap the struts. I think that must be excessive. Additional $100 for the alignment. I want to learn what the book hours are assigned to that job so that he can go back to them and ask them about their labor rate.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/24/2019 at 17:21

Well that youtube video pretty much shows you what’s involved. If a DIY semi-professional guy can do it in an hour or so (by the looks of it), then yeah, I would seriously question a $700 labour charge and directly ask them:

“This is a job that any competent mechanic can do in an hour per side.”

(show video I linked)

“What the fuck is your guy doing that it takes him so much longer?”

And this brings me back to a thing that really pisses me off about some mechanics... a good number of them charge the book rate and then do pathetic shortcuts and half assed work... like using the wrong oil filter or not torquing wheel lug nuts properly (guy in the video even had to deal with a lugnut that was overtorqued by the goddamn dealer).

Sloppy work like that even from dealers is what has motivated me to do work myself... or at least, see what is involved with doing a job and seeing the gotchas before taking it in.

Sometimes when taking the car to the shop, I’ll order the parts in advance so I know the part that’s going in isn’t some cheap garbage... so the only thing I’m paying for is their labour, equipment and skill.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
05/24/2019 at 18:11

I suspect they’re padding the labor estimate because he is supplying the struts which, surprisingly, are only $100 apiece for Bilstein parts.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
05/29/2019 at 11:58

Are your 1/4" sockets all S nap O n? Are they matched? If not Snap On, what brand?

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/29/2019 at 15:48

Oh hell no. 90% of my normal hex sockets are Craftsman. Because I started out with a large Craftsman set. But when those broke I upgraded to snap-on, Cornwell, or Mac. My SAE impact sockets are all harbor freight, except a set of universal joint ones which are Mac . All my metric impact sockets are either Cornwell or snap-on. M y triple-square, torx, and Allen sockets are Cornwell or Blue-Point.

Cheap sockets are fine. Snap-on socket sets are stupid amounts of money. And I’ve never had issues with cheap sockets. I spend the extra money on quality extensions (wobble plus FTW!) a nd wrenches.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
05/29/2019 at 16:15

Will you school me a little on extensions? Which are good?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
05/29/2019 at 16:16

That's me, exactly. 90% Craftsman and the odd Hazet.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
05/29/2019 at 16:21

Snap-on wobble plus. I have a six piece set. That’s basically all I use. They can be wobbly or not wobbly. They can handle a lot of torque. And I mean a lot. Most any professional grade tool company extensions should be fine though.