Technical Rear Axle

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Technical Rear Axle

davies22

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Hi All
the rear Axle on my fiat 500 needs replacing. Any ideas on cost for part and labour roughly?

Many Thanks
 
Assuming your 500 is a Nuova 2007-2012 then the main beam, 14 variants listed, cost £730 inc. VAT in 2014. Save sees to be true for the My 2012 versions. I also note that some of those listed 14 can be only £580.

My guess is a good workshop could change the rear axles, including transferring all all the bits over and bleeding brakes etc. in about 5 Hours.
Independent garage rates probably £65+VAT? Main dealer £100+ +VAT
 
im axle specialists, who advertise here on our forum, seem to do one for £175! - https://www.imaxle.co.uk/axles/fiat - If my Panda ever needs one my current plan would be to buy from them and do the job myself. It's not a technically difficult job but, as all the brakes need to be stripped off and refitted to the new axle there are considerable possibilities for cost increasing labour charges due to seized up fixings etc so, if you're not doing it yourself, you need to get a very clear commitment from the garage as to what they intend to charge before they start work.
 
Yes DIY rear axle jobs are certainly within the scope of the DIY person with jack(s), axle stands (for under body/chassis), good tools and plenty of lubrication (tea / coffee / ....) AND good body health.

Same goes for rear subframes but front subframes present a much bigger challenge depending on how the engine and gearbox are mounted.
 
Most of what's important has been said already. When the axle is removed and stripped down, there are a number of wear and tear items that might either need replacing, or be worth replacing if they are in less than great condition. If they do need replacing, it shouldn't add to the labour cost, since everything is coming off anyway, but it might make the parts bill hard to predict in advance. The beam you'll know about; I'd expect most folks will go aftermarket for that and save at least £500 over an OEM part. Most of the rest aren't individually expensive, but they could add up.

I'd be looking for an independent garage to quote on the basis of a fixed labour charge plus parts at cost. Beware of garages recharging parts at list prices; aftermarket parts generally are heavily discounted, usually by at least 50% and sometimes much more. It's common practice for garages to quote a low labour cost and then make their profit by inflating the cost (to them) of the parts.

If you're doing it yourself, you'd think you'd avoid this kind of tomfoolery, but some factors will only give a discounted price to retail customers if the parts are first ordered online before collecting.
 
Assuming rust is the issue, are you sure it can't be welded? Depends where and how extensively it is corroded though.
I've pondered quite a bit on the advisability of doing that and there's a recent thread on the forum - I think the chap lives in Spain or maybe Portugal? He had it welded up twice and both times it failed again. Being a twist beam design I would guess that, at least part of the axle spanning the width of the vehicle, is not going to be mild steel but some sort of high strength and therefore high carbon steel? If this is so then welded repairs will be prone to failing because unless welded under very specific and controlled conditions high strength steels become brittle when welded. There's quite a lot about this problem appertaining to crash repairs where serious structural repairs are required due to the use of high strength steels in modern monocoque construction.

There's also the possibility of problems with your insurance company if an accident happens which they can attribute to this sort of repair. Personally, given that the replacement axles are now available at such a reasonable price, I don't think I'd risk doing anything more than welding up a wee hole in a spring pan.
 
I've done this exact job see this thread https://www.fiatforum.com/threads/rear-axle-replacement.482912/

I would not try doing it if you have no garage at the moment I did it "on the road" in summer time also you need to be quite good at home car DIY whilst simple there's lots of small "issues" to overcome that all take time.
At the very least you'll need the axle, two wheel cylinders, two new brake pipes-very cheap, IF you can get them made up, I went to my dads old MDC that's been there 'Forever' since I was a small child and cost about £3 each.
Assuming you're going to keep the car for some time and you wouldn't do this job if you were not keeping it, I would also replace
Bump stops
Springs
Shocks
Brake fitting kit
Brake shoes
Hand brake cables ( new star lock washers too )
IE everything
 
I've pondered quite a bit on the advisability of doing that and there's a recent thread on the forum - I think the chap lives in Spain or maybe Portugal? He had it welded up twice and both times it failed again. Being a twist beam design I would guess that, at least part of the axle spanning the width of the vehicle, is not going to be mild steel but some sort of high strength and therefore high carbon steel? If this is so then welded repairs will be prone to failing because unless welded under very specific and controlled conditions high strength steels become brittle when welded. There's quite a lot about this problem appertaining to crash repairs where serious structural repairs are required due to the use of high strength steels in modern monocoque construction.

There's also the possibility of problems with your insurance company if an accident happens which they can attribute to this sort of repair. Personally, given that the replacement axles are now available at such a reasonable price, I don't think I'd risk doing anything more than welding up a wee hole in a spring pan.
Yes that's all very sensible.

I've been looking at older 500s for sale recently (I've always fancied a 1.4...) and one does see a few in the 2007-9 range with MoT failures on the rear beam now. But then in their histories they pass subsequently (sometimes the same day) and are released back into the wild. I can't imagine all of these will be having new axles put in. I think the spring cups tend to go first - as you hint Jock they may be more amenable to being welded up to live another day perhaps....hmm.

Nick
 
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