Cost of Control Arm Bushing Install

68/70Vette

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Joined
Jun 19, 2008
Messages
1,051
Location
Torrance, Ca.USA
I removed my old bushings and ball joints from my C3 control arms, cleaned and painted the control arms. They looked like new bare control arms. I took them to a local shop to have new polyurethane bushings installed. The bushings cost about $190. Thats almost twice what I could buy the bushings for from a Corvette vendor, but I figured the shop was just basically charging a retail price similar to what a car dealership would charge for their parts. I never asked about installation cost. I was surprised to find I was charged for two hours labor for a total labor cost of $200. This doesn't seem right. I assume they had the factory recommended Kent Moore tool to press in the bushings. It seems to me that half an hour of labor would have been plenty generous. Is pressing in the bushings more of a job than I suspected?...or did I just make a contribution to the shops overhead?
 
IMO, job done in 45 minits if the arms are off the car....so a total charge of 200 bux is fine....twice that.....

well.....:eek::tomato::suicide: which is why I have done all my own word except for short block assy for some 50 years now....

:thumbs:
 
That is exactly why I'd rather buy the tools to do the job myself. Not that I am that cheap but I don't like getting ripped off.
Hopefully they did at least a good quality job.
 
I just got to thinking.... the press at harbor freight is 110 and the tool kit is probably around 100
 
Ripped!

I've done several front and rear bushing replacements and always by far the hardest most time consuming part is the part you did... dissassembly removal and clean up. The new ones almost always go in very easy and quick and I've never needed a press. The rubber bushings you can get at the "Zone" are around $6 bucks. They are much quiter than the poly ones and about 1/3 the price and much easier to put in. They do not last as long though.
IMHO you got ripped!
 
WOW $390 bucks, i rebuilt my ft end last winter,sand blasted every thing and then powder coated all the parts and R&R all the bushings myself. Used a pneumatic hammer to drive the old ones out and my bench vise to put them back in. $200 to R&R control arm bushings with the arms off the car seems a little steep. But if they did a good job and you are happy then i would not worry about it to much,the shop does have to pay for their overhead i guess,but that $200 labor fee could have purchased more parts or tools for your own shop.
 
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