Willys55

the rail is, and a few times in the past I have pulled the housing off and changed them on the bench........but I do have one hell of an oil filter wrench set.

Bugout4x4

I like the width of that band! I have a couple that style but the bands are not that wide and when I get a rough one it likes to crush into the side of the filter. And once it does this it is out of round and hard to get another bite on it when room is limited. Do you mind me asking what brand that is?

EEVEE

Thank god i havent come across any yet. I heard stories, Only ones i really had major issues with is Volkswagens alot still have the stupid plastic oil plug and either they snap or have no life left to which we have to use our oil plugs which i say they suck ***. in the middle of the threads it has a little o ring and that typically will strip an oil pan like no one elses business, That or the next time they come back we have to replace it because it comes loose over time which is why i hate these specific plugs you CANNOT go past 20 pounds or else the plug will strip but it doesnt matter itll be loose the next time it comes back. Tbh the oil changes wont be so bad if we had an air ratchet or an electric one atleast for the brush guards and skid plates alot of cars especially the new santa fe had 23 bolts holding it on and youre down there forever taking it off or the best one is a volkswagen or a saab and volvo when you take the brush guard off that took a screw driver, ratchet and a torx bit only to find out we cant get the oil filter housing off if its a cartridge or the oil plug is rounded, stripped or anything else. Broke many a tools trying to the point one time my manager tried taking a filter off and it started skidding the car forward and thne snap the filter band thingy broke

kbeam418

This is why I try to find a locally run shop, the shop I take my car to pays their employees well and has at least one guy/gal who knows what their doing for tough jobs. The thing I like about them is they go out of their way to make sure your' car is running good. Had them do a complete brake job on my grand marquis, they checked everything and even found the source of annoying squeak and told me everything that was wearing out without trying to sell me a repair. This shop made a name for themselves for their honesty and getting the job done correctly. Their secret is they only hire people who have actually worked on cars and they let the guys take their time on jobs. It took the guy two hours to change the brakes on my car but he did it right and my car brakes great without any noise or excessive dust.

The chains lack good service because it's all about speed and service cost. The problem with speed is you get half done jobs, I notice this when I ever I get my alignment done. Had the alignment done on the XJ, the toe was out and the steering wheel wasn't centered but hey I only spent 30 minutes in belle tire's lobby! I went to Michael's after replacing the steering box it took them two hours but the toe is good and the wheel is centered and I couldn't believe what I saw! They actually did a test drive after they got it done to make sure it was driving good. I get a kick out of people who complain about waiting, I was at a belle tire once when a soccer mom was cussing out the manager (and threatening to have her husband come in with his gun) because the job was taking too long. The manager went into the service bay put the tires on and used a half inch impact until the lug nuts stopped moving. She was banned from every belle tire and told that warranty claims have to go through the manufacturer.

Bugout4x4

Absolutely! And what you indicate here is most important...

"She was banned from every belle tire and told that warranty claims have to go through the manufacturer."

At some point there is a rational limit to customer service and what your employees should have to go through with an ignorant sadistic customer. And the company ABSOLUTELY NEEDS to back up their employee sometimes. Contrary to popular folklore, the customer IS NOT always right and more often wrong because they lack rational knowledge concerning the work being done.

Screw them... If they are abusing employees or asking for something that might create a liability for the company they are NOT RIGHT and need to go. Buying an oil change does not give license to take their problems out on, practice sadism, or abuse your employees... And the company needs to back up their employees on this period, they are humans not robots.

First place to start is with the written estimate and contract they sign before the work is done. Language needs to point out these issues in plain bold writing and have them sign it. The company owes it to themselves, their employees, and the customer to have these limits set in stone, understood, and signed before they touch it.

EEVEE

Reminds me of this guy who freaked out when i took his car on a figure 8 to make sure his wheels dont fall off. He waited right next to the bay door waiting for me to pull out but my co worker told him to move because we cant have customers near the doors as vehicles are pulling out so he did then blew up when i did the 8 and parked it and stormed up to me saying how i was joyriding his car and wasting his gas and tried taking the keys from my hands which im like well no you just got 4 new tires, a battery and oil change i am NOT handing you the keys till you pay

Bugout4x4

Lol... Now don't get mad at me because I'm just ribbing you a bit, but I'm going to say to you what I would if I was your boss. lol

"Cmon, You knew the wheels were not going to fall off..." lol

But I still would have backed you up about not handing him the keys until he paid.

EEVEE

lol love it and exactly 980 dollars in work nope!

Martlor13

uhh thats a completely diffetemt situation man, and one i think you were wrong doing haha....i probably would have gotten upset too if you did that and then told me "i was making sure your tires wouldnt fall off" hahah woulda been like wtf!!?? Really!!??

EEVEE

didnt really say that lol tho walmart if we take a wheel off we have to figure 8 it to make sure everything is up to quality or so my manager said its mostly for hubcentric wheels as we figure 8 it then take it back and retorque them. Ik its kinda ridiculous too but if we dont test before it leaves then we get coached on it

Bugout4x4

Lol... Can you tell I would be fun to work for yet? The only employees that did not think I was cool to work for were the ones who didn't want to work. I'm the kind that If you are doing your job to the best of your ability and everything is getting done efficiently you won't hear a thing from me. And you will see me working along side just as hard as I would expect everyone else to or even more so.

And if someone screws up I will take their back and even the blame as long as they are straight and square with me by taking responsibility and not jerk me around. But...I never hesitated to immediately get rid of someone right on the spot if they are not being honest with me or do a half *** job on purpose and don't care about making an effort to do their best.

And when things are flowing good as they should, I pop up with pizza or fire the grill for lunch on me quite often for a job well done. I'm the kind of boss I would like to work for...

This is how you run a productive efficient and profitable business. It starts with how you treat your employees. You have to take the "boss-employee" thing out of it as "equals" and apply productivity and smooth operations with mutual respect and no personal hangups as a common goal.

Bugout4x4

You need to fire your boss... lol

Bugout4x4

A figure 8 ain't gong to do that anyways. It takes a hundred miles or more before needing to be torqued. I see what he is talking about, but a good tech can "feel" if it is seating all the way on the hub correctly when they are put on.

EEVEE

Have had 3 times where some wheels didnt seat all the way. One was a hub that was very frickin rusted so once i got the wheel off i wire brushed it, anti seized and put the wheel back on and once i clicky sticked it im like hmm it doesnt feel right, It spun straight but i felt it may of hit the hub but another side of me was like lemme test to make sure. And sure enough it wasnt seated on the hub. So took it back and redid it and this time i made sure it was on. Boss was pissed about the wasted time but c.y.a there. Then a ford ranger came in and my GOD that wheel wouldnt come off to my boss came by and whacked it for a good hour with a sledge till it came off and again wire brushed and anti seized it and again no bueno no feel right when i turned the wheel there was a clunk and little hesitation before the steering responded so back it went in and oh look the lugs were loose so clicky again and all was well. Latest was a new guy who came back saying the car felt loose so he didnt press the rim to the hub all the way so i showed him for next time and havent had issues since. All bout dat seating lol

RegularGuy

I once had to drive a screwdriver through the filter housing and use it as a handle to get enough torque to get a filter off my first XJ. First oil change after i got it, aftger that i didnt trust other people to do it anymore.