Suburban (gasser) T-case Replacement

[trbankii]

I was talking to my neighbor last night. He has a K1500 Suburban - gasser, unfortunately - and had to relate a story to me since he knows I work on my K2500 myself.

He'd been hearing some noises, so took the truck into the dealer to see if they could diagnose it and give him an estimate. He was figuring that it was rear brakes. Got the call back and they gave him the bad news that it was the T-case. Told him a new one would be $1800 and that with labor he was probably looking at $2200 to $2500... :eek:

Well, he talked to his brother who has GM trucks as well and the brother suggested taking it to a transmission guy out in the country near where he lived. Took it there and the guy took it out for a spin. Came back and confirmed that it was the t-case... Started doing the math in his head and told my neighbor that with parts and four or five hours to pull it out, put it on the bench, replace parts, re-install it - well, he was probably looking at about $250 to $300...

As my neighbor was relating the story, I kept quiet, but my thought as soon as he said "replace" the t-case was "why in the heck would you replace the whole unit before even opening it up?" It is totally unbelievable to me that the dealer is going to just suggest total replacement for ten times the cost of a rebuild.

I'm thinking I'm in the wrong business... Pull the t-case, put in a "new" one, charge the customer $2500, when things are slow rebuild the "old" one, put it on the shelf, wait for the next customer to come in and need a "new" t-case... :rolleyes:

Just had to share...

[DmaxMaverick]

Sounds very typical. Dealerships don't (usually) repair or overhaul gearboxes. They replace them with remans from dealer stock or suppliers, which are priced high to begin with. The reman pool is priced according to the average cost of repair, plus the repair facility's markup. Add to that the dealership's exorbitant markup, and they get very expensive. Transmission shops, on the other hand, make their business of repairing gearboxes. The broken part of each gearbox, and not based on the cost of all gearboxes they've ever repaired. A hardware kit for NVG/NP transfer cases is typically between $100 and $200, and include seals, gaskets, bearings, and common failure/wear parts (Autotrac's are generally twice that). Most internal parts (gears, chain, shafts, etc.) are not expensive, by themselves.

[trbankii]

I'm thinking I'm in the wrong business... Pull the t-case, put in a "new" one, charge the customer $2500, when things are slow rebuild the "old" one, put it on the shelf, wait for the next customer to come in and need a "new" t-case... :rolleyes:

Actually, my other thought was that I had to start dumpster diving at the local GM dealers! :D

[93_Burrito]

I know a mechanic who works for a local Chevy dealership, by way of a neighbor whose racecar he is the crew chief for.

About a month ago, as they were driving to a racetrack near Gettysburg, one of the rear tires let go on the dually towrig. The next day they were busy pulling the rear wheels off, having found a set of 4 tires for a deal. The left brake drum was wet externally with gear oil, surely the oil seal had failed.

I told the mechanic it would be a good time to swap that seal and clean things up. He said at the dealership this presents a perfect situation to make money. In addition to the seal they'd replace the wheel cylinder, bearings, brake shoes and the drum... "gotta make money..."

I just looked at him and held my tongue. He's a nice guy and all, but it doesn't seem like he'd think twice before taking advantage of someone. And if that's not bad enough, he has two brothers that work for the same dealership.

He never did replace the oil seal on the dually...