Cubey’s Adventures in Living

I didn’t get much sleep last night, I guess due to worrying about the car. I got it about 8am and got to the garage about 9am. They quoted me $705.38 parts & labor to replace 2 Front Quick Strut Assemblies ($237.58 each, $475.16 for 2), $5 shop supplies, $130.66 labor to install two quick strut assemblies (plus road test and other adjustments/checks suspension wise), $49.95 for a 4-wheel alignment and another $5.00 for hazardous materials (labor related) With $39.61 tax it comes out to $705.38.

This seems to be a somewhat accurate parts wise. And the labor is fair (about 3-4 hours of labor). However, I did find the exact same Front Quick Strut Assembly (Part # 171615 as listed on their estimate) from OReilly for $165 each ($330 for two, plus tax). But then I’d still have to pay labor to someone, plus an alignment of about $50-60. I think I will forget about getting it fixed for now. It’s only a soft clunk. In time (6 months or even longer) it will probably be noisier but by then I should have some money saved up to get it done without going flat broke. If it starts making noises when I go over hard bumps, then I know it’s time for sure to get it done.

But for now, it can wait.

I bought a new set of 215/60-16 Fuzion HRi tires from a local discount tire store and had them mounted and all that good stuff. Then I went over to Wal-Mart to get new wiper blades and upon leaving, I noticed the car was making a faint “clunk” type sound when I turned the wheel. I had the music down for some reason or another so I heard it. Every time I turned the wheel slighly to the left it did it. I called the tire place back and they said to return so they could look at it. They came up with the conclusion that it was the rack & pinion and quoted me $800-900 including ball joints and an alignment. I had them give me a written estimate.

Then I went over to a garage I trust and discussed it with them. They began to quote me for a rack & pinion but then I showed the mechanic there the problem that was occuring. A soft “clunk” sound when I turn the wheel. He exclaimed “that’s not the rack & pinion”. He went on to explain that it sounds like it’s a spring/strut issue. If I’m remembering correctly, he said it probably has to do with the spring “popping” under tension when I turn the wheel due to a bearing plate issue. The reason I’m in the dark about it still is by the time I got done at the tire place, I arrived at the garage at about 5:35pm and they must close at 6pm since they told me to come back tomorrow and seemed like they were ready to get out of there soon.

So, I will be taking the car back in tomorrow for them to look it over and get me a PROPER estimate. I was very worried about this but now I’m less concerned by the symptoms. If it was a rack & pinion problem, it would have problems with steering, but it doesn’t. It just softly clunks when turning, not driving straight (as far as I can tell). But they’ll check for rack leaks and all that tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

Wow, it’s been a while since I last posted on here. A fair amount has happened since my last entry. I sold the portable washing machine, nearly finished the trailer except for tires and decided I couldn’t afford the gas to tow it or even to drive my 1997 Ford E150 conversion van very far. I traded the van off for $3,500 trade allowance and paid an extra $1,265 cash (including TT&L) for a 2003 Ford Taurus station wagon. It has more miles than the van (145k vs 123k) but it’s mostly highway miles obviously for such a new car. It has many dings from rocks on the hood so the other day I bought some paint from Wal-Mart that matches the car and touched it up.

This evening I went back for some clear coat to put over the now well dried paint and found a 2 bike carrier on clearance for only $17! What luck! I just decided last night to get one of them in the future to carry my bicycle on rather than buying a trailer hitch and a hitch-mount bike carrier which would have cost me nearly $200 to do. So now I’m all set for a new bike carrier for only $18.70 with tax.

For now I will be keeping the 1967 Shasta Astroflyte trailer. I may decide to sell it later on if I don’t decide to come back and live in it.