I think they're called "acorn" style nuts. The outer part can strip/round or break off (as happened to me) and then there's a smaller nut part (more like a real nut) inside.

 

Just spoke to shop.

They said the lug bot was frozen.
So, they broke it off.
His tone reflected that they put a lot of unexpected time
(ie: This is gonna cost you)
I said that's ok, that's how it works, and things happen.
Said it took 3 hours to drill it out, etc.
That was a relief, since that damn XJ was on their lift the entire day.
That's a lot of lost revenue, so I said I understand.

I just got $1000 from the teller, just to be safe.

But, they said it's out for a test drive.
Thank god this problem was punted.
Huge relief (until I see the price)

 

No, he had called me to say the job was done. The brake was adjusted. Come pick it up.
Then I said, "What about the pedal travel?" That's when he said it was the M/C.
I said then go ahead and fix that for $300.
Then I called back and said to also do the drums.
That's when he said the wheel was stuck on.

That means he never took the wheel off, and was not planning on doing it for the e-brake adjustment.
Kind of sketchy.

At this point, I am not sure I am going to bring it up, since it's now a moot point, and he got hosed on this repair.
Once a shop is charging 1:1 for real labor, they are losing money.

 

They did put in a lot of unexpected time. It took 3 hours to get a lug nut off that normally takes 3 seconds.

Its certainly acceptable for him to convey that more time is more cost.

That the XJ was on their lift all day is their problem - not yours. If they could make more money without it on the lift then they would have taken it off the lift - there's no NEED to have it on the lift to drill out a single lug nut. They're making plenty of money off of you for the Master cylinder alone.

3 hours = ~$300 labor (based on the typical auto shop labor price - it may be higher in places like NY or CA.)

Based on your description, if it's 300 for the MC, you're probably looking at $900 as a fair price.. 300 for MC + 300 for lug-nut + 100 check adjust drums + 200 for new drums + misc parts.

That's a pretty good profit (at least 600-700 of that is labor).. so don't feel like they're doing you an extra special favor.. If anything, I'd worry you're getting taken, but that's just my opinion.

 

sure, if the inside nut didnt strip as well. You strip that cap, the nut underneath is the next size down socket. The socket you stripped the cap with is bigger then the nut so then that strips too. Thats when you have to cut and end up drilling like these mechanics did.

 

Do you know they're charging for real labor? Were you there the entire time?

Dude - trust me, they're conducting normal business with you. They may have preferred to be doing something rather than drilling out a frozen nut, but they're not getting hosed.

 

In that situation, is there a reason one couldn't weld a bolt head to the nut and snap it off that way?

At least once the cap is off the lug you can get PBBlaster at the front of the nut.

I remember drilling out my frozen lug and 3 hours sounds about right. Not fun.

 

Agreed. Especially if you were as clear as you are saying you were about checking/adjusting the rear drums. If the pedal travel was solved by a new MC and they adjusted the e-brake, were they going to charge you for a drum adjustment they didn't do because it didn't actually need it?
You wouldn't know if the drums didn't need adjusting and they didn't do it, you'd definitely notice if you paid for new drums and didn't see bright shiny new drums behind the wheel.

 

Picked up the car.

M/C $180
2 New Drums $110
Fluid $10
Stud and Nut $10
Labor $200

Total bill was $500.

He said the lug bolt did not shear.
Rather, the lug nut snapped in half inside the wheel cavity.
They had to drill it out.

Did not look like he was pulling a fast one.
The guy looked like someone kicked him in the nuts.

I offered to pay another $100
since there was only $200 in labor for the entire brake job.

He said don't worry about it, but he's working until 10pm tonight to catch up.

The Barnacle's wrath extends far beyond the hapless BimmerJeeper!

 

Well, in that case I think that you got a very fair deal and makes me think a lot more highly of your shop than I did previously. In fact that's downright cheap if the work is high quality.

I have to think (hope) that the guy is playing up the effort, maybe to soften the blow of writing up high bills. It makes sense that if he had an unforeseen bump (stuck lug nut) and was stacking jobs tightly that it would impact the schedule. I think the guy is kicking himself in the nuts by perhaps promising times without accounting for things taking longer than expected, or again, maybe just playing things up to look more heroic.

Who knows though. Regardless, I'd feel pretty good about getting that work done at that price - even if he said everything went well with the repairs.

 

depends on the rim. The one that came into the shop, i don't think it was a gambler, mayhave been, but its the wheels that have the lug nut openings with a deeper wall. We really couldnt get a good weld in, but we tried haha....it was a pain in the *** to get that stud out

 

Yea I know but once you get that outer cover out of the way the lug nut can be remove with the proper size socket. Unless of course it's cross threaded or was over torqued when installed.

 

Had the mechanic replace the rotors and pads.
What a massive difference!!
The brake pedal is now hard as a rock with zero pedal travel or play.
Amazing!

 

I'm replying to this old thread because it was linked recently. On you model of Jeep are the rear drums not adjusted via the port on the inside of the brake assembly that is accessed from underneath with the rubber insert removed?
That controls the total drum distance from the shoes. The adjuster mentioned multiple times controls the slack in the emergency brake. If I were to adjust my own drums, then that is what I would do. I can get under it on the ground without jacking nor removing a wheel. I surely wouldn't remove a wheel to adjust under a lift.