(G) Guide price for replacing radius arms?

Both near and offside wheels are showing signs of being "toed in", and up on the ramp at ATS the very pleasant chap was happy to show me the excessive play around the bushes at the rear.

He advised that replacing the bushes is possible, but that often times the bolts to the radius arms are a bugger to get out in one piece, and for the work involved it is probably a sensible move to replace the radius arms too.

The price quoted for replacing both sides, parts + labour + VAT was £470. I've not yet had time to phone around for other places to do this, but I thought I'd get a sense from here if anyone has any feel for whether this is in the right area price-wise. ATS are massively convenient for me, so I am prepared to pay a little over the odds, but don't want to be completely ripped off.

Any ideas on price? I believe the parts are somewhere in the region of £70 per radius arm?

Cheers!

Matt

Try http://www.carparts4less.co.uk - They've got them listed at £49.80 inc. Vat.

£470 all in is way too pricey - Try an independent, they don't have fixed prices or the overheads and their work is mostly through recommendation, so are usually competitive and competent.

Cheers, the only problem I have is that there are no really "local" independents which will let me still get to work, or walk back home.

I called a main dealer today - they quoted £1175!!!! 12 hours of labour, plus parts totalling £260+VAT, so that makes the ATS quote look positively cheap!

Matt

£72 an hour !

I'd still ask around, the potential saving is enough to cover a long taxi ride and still leave you smiling.

Do you have a train station in Frodsham? You could go to the Olympic Garage in Rock Ferry as a good Fiat / Alfa Indie. You supply the parts and they will fit them and not burn a big hole in your pocket, there labour rate is £25 an hour.

Got both mine replaced by main dealer in Heswall for under £500.
By all accounts, a pig of a job.

It sounds as though there's a lot of lee-way for using a local mechanic and just replacing the bearings. A bearing set for both sides can be had from Shop4parts for around £35 delivered at the moment. A days labour from a one man mechanic should be no more than £300 max..

I guess I got lucky when I did mine as it was a very straightforward job - took about a morning, including fitting some grease nipples.

The trailing arms themselves are very robust. I think it's unlikely that they'll be the parts that need replacing. If you do replace them, there's also a very strong chance that you'll need to buy new ABS sensors as well, as they are a b1tch to get out without breaking them.