A sad day!

[tony314]

Well, I'm saddened and pissed today. My rear ends been acting funny sense I got my truck from the dealer. They said it was just the way it was ( coughbullshitcough). Also as of late it's been slipping in and out of gear radomly and my brakes have felt a little lose.

I was driving today and was about 6 car lengths away from a braking car going 35. I went to brake and felt the truck trying to stop but couldn't in time and have to swirve to miss them.Lucky me, I was next to my friends auto shop and pulled in immediately.He put the truck up and went to remove the drums and couldn't. He had to beat them off with a small sledge hammer. The moment he removed the drum ( happened on both side mind you )hing but rust came pouring out. When he cleared the dust, it was any ones worst nightmare. These drum brakes and hardware were so rusted,that he had to heat up the adjusters to remove them because they were coated in rust and he said they have been for well over a yr or so.

He put new adjusters on just so I could get home and have brakes and get it to the dealer. The brakes stop working good pretty fast too. He also started viewing the rear end after he test drove because he felt the shifting in the back end I've been feeling and the dealership said was normal. He put it back up and measured from the center of the hubs on the passenger side and it was at 125 1/2 inches. He then measured the driver side and it was at 127 1/4 inches. His 9 yr old son pointed out the passenger side tire was sticking out.Indeed it was by over an inch and the driver side was receded by the same. He spend 2 hours on the truck checking EVERYTHING.

After 2 hours or so he noticed the leaf springs were flat ( no normal arch ) and that they were all warped up really bad. It was causing the rear axle to move all over the place while driving. He noted and pointed out to me that the axle was were it was supposed to be in relations to the factory mounting to the leaf springs and that the retaining bolt that keeps it from moving on the leaf was solid and intact. He did how ever state the U bolts were now warped and that with the leaf springs warping and bending all over Gods green earth that it was a matter of time before something had to give because of all the stress and torque bending to the leafs,shocks and other components.

I went to the dealer immediately and have the rusted shut adjusters in hand, bill for the repair and all the info I seen and was told. Needless to say I called them out on their " QUALITY ASSURANCE AND SAFETY CHECKS THEY DO BEFORE SELLING ANY CAR OR TRUCK ". They gave me that BS smile and called their shop and their shop told them my truck wasn't safe to drive and to bring it in right that second. The shop managers jaw dropped when I showed him the adjusters and all the info.

Now, the key is are they going to try and BS me some more and not make the repairs? Odds are, probably. I have that covered. I have the safety inspection from them and will turn it and all info I received from my mechanic ready to turn over to the State police ( They help in force and regulate safety inspections ) ( it should not of passed with non functional rear brakes and a bad rear end that travels every where, safety hazzard )and my wife is second in charge of a local charity ( national as well ) and they have many connections in radio and local TV media that I will tap in to! I'll also file a complaint with the BBB ( they are a member ) and the State Att. General !

I'll keep you up dated!

 

[Toms01PSD]

Definately. If they passed the truck through inspection and there was a clear problem there could be serious charges. Here in NC, if you illegally pass a vehicle you can be charged with a felony. Shitty that stealerships do this but it happens. Shut em down bud!

 

[tony314]

I plan to be all over them like white on rice in a rain storm!

 

[Jay FX4]

Totally unacceptable. What if you found this out doing 70 on the highway?
They damn well better take care of it....

FIGHT THE POWER!!

 

[tony314]

Like I told them. That axle could of shift the wrong way on the highway causing total loss of control resulting in the injuries or deaths of me and my child or others.

P.S. I miss my baby! ( My Ranger )

 

[MusicManiac]

Scary stuff bro. Good luck getting them to fix it! Give'em'hell!

 

[B2 Addict]

Good luck man, I'm glad the problems were caught before disaster struck, I hope you get it all straightened out. I learned about dealing with stealerships the hard way. I will never spend big money on any vehicle again, as long as they get their $$$$$$$, they generally don't give a #**#.

After my Stang is fixed & sold, the only things in my driveway will be pre-90s Ford beaters that I paid cash for... no more dealing with car payments, worthless warranties, & all those snobbish, uncaring robots that run "todays" Ford. Nothing surprises me anymore.

 

[tony314]

My foot and their asses will be having a meeting real soon! I want my baby back and it's only been a few hours!

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

How long have you had your truck?

If the transmission is slipping in and out then that is a no brainer, something is wrong there.

I don't get how flat springs will let your axle shift around... if you have a broken main leaf then yeah, but whooped springs shouldn't hurt a thing but ride height. My springs are flat and my axle doesn't shift around, as long as it it is still connected at both ends there isn't anywhere for the leaf to flex but up or down.

And the warped U-bolt thing is kind of weird too, unless they were loose they don't just bend themselves... but if they were loose then that would explain your shifting rear axle.

Brakes form rust, nasty, nasty rust. I have never done a brake job that didn't envolve sweeping up a pile of rust that had fallen off of the braking system when I was done. Adjusters being in the middle of it are not immune to it either. We had to cut the ones on my dad's Dodge with a torch to get the drum off, they were stuck and the drum had enough of a ridge on it we couldn't pull it off with a prybar.

The bigger of a prick you are to the dealership, the less they will do for you. A good dealership will try to bend over backwards for you if you don't march in there on the warpath, sadly they will usually still get bashed for their efforts.

 

[tony314]

A little over a week

I've been polite so far just to give them the chance to do the right thing. But, I am prepared if they decide not too!

I've seen plenty of normal wear and tear rust,but this went even beyond that.I used to have a 79 F 150 custom I bought years ago and rebuilt that sat in a field for 15 yrs and the drums on it were NO WHERE near as bad as this was. Even the mechanic was horrified and he's been in the buisness 20 yrs. This was so rusted you'd need a tetnus shot just looking at it. Many of the parts are almost rusted through completely. If I had my camera I would of shown you pictures.

 

[Will]

My parents live in a small town and their dealership always takes care of them.

Sadly, our last 2 new cars have been Hondas ('99 CR-V and '05 Pilot) and since neither has ever had a single problem we've never gotten to find out if our stealership is rotten. They are also a Ford dealership (Renner Motors in Columbus, Indiana) so maybe next time I'll buy a Ford so I can finally become aquainted with the service department.

 

[Frank The Tank]

My dealer ship was awesome...... free abs sensor, bedliner (best i have ever seen, and I hear the same all the time)
Windshield replacement on a chip.........
3 month detail job. (that I never took up on)
New "name brand" tires.
Full tank of 87 octane upon purchase.
They send me "cookies" freaking cheese, and meats every few months.
All Ford and Chevy vehicle updates, and a list of new used vehicles and prices.

I'm pretty happy with my first and only dealer experience.
Even though I did freak them out when I paid cash.

Frank

 

[Toms01PSD]

We had a lady come into the shop with a 96 Impala SS with discs on the rear. The drivers side rear disc was completely seperated from the hub and one side of the vented discs was gone. You could spin the braking surface seperate from the hub. Also, on my Ranger, I had a rear drum that was rusted through and you could hold it up to the sun and see it right throught it.

 

[Iron Ranger]

They send me "cookies" freaking cheese, and meats every few months.


Frank

MMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm......................cookies...................



Yeah, when I bought my Cobalt, I tried to look it over as close as I could, but it was -30 and very windy. When I got home, I noticed that my rear tire was almost flat and the front -right tire was 2 sizes bigger than the other three(1-215, 3-195), I brought it in to get the flat one fixed, and there was sand and rocks wedged between the bead and the rim, causing a leak(previous owner must've been powersliding on a dirt road, carfax showed no accidents).

Needless to say, I called the dealership(which was 8 hours away, the good deals are always far away), and they paid for the new tire to replace the odd one(lucky it didn't mess up the spider gears because of 2 different sized tires on the tranny), tried to get'em to pay for 2, but I ran out of luck. Oh, well.


But that's no where near the problem that you faced. That's a major safety violation and great harm or death could've ensued.

You should turn in the documents to the cops, just so that EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE on that dealer's lot is checked top to bottom, so that someone else doesn't get screwed too.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

You should turn in the documents to the cops, just so that EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE on that dealer's lot is checked top to bottom, so that someone else doesn't get screwed too.

It is likely one that slipped thru the cracks, they wouldn't stay in business long if every car was like that.