96 q tokiko blue upgrade

[qship96]

I think my backordered shocks may actually arrive this week after almost 2 months of waiting .I have ordered new dust boots and plan to have them installed at an independant front end shop.Should I order aNY OTHER PARTS for the install,and how many hours of labor is reasonable to do all 4 shocks ?

[DAEDALUS]

Replace all the rubber, like bushings, stop bumpers, and spring seats. You might need new spacers too. Your new ride should be remarkably improved. The new Tokicos will be pretty stiff at first, but this will be mitigated by the new rubber. With the right tools (and a good shop will have the right tools) all 4 can be done in 1-1.5 hours.

[firstq]

The book labor for the rears are around 2.5 hours - not sure about the fronts.

[DAEDALUS]

Front shocks are 1 hour each, by the book. My estimate of real time might be a bit off, but not by that much. I did all 4 struts with nothing but hand tools and total labor time was about 4 hours. I think more than half the time was spent cinching and uncinching the spring compressors (a REAL PITA with hand tools). A shop would have a vise. But I'm not surprised. Who do you think writes 'the book'? As another example, book labor to replace the upper and lower fan shrouds and the fan clutch is 1.5 hours, but no way in hell am I going to pay someone (1.5*90=) $135 to do something I can do in about 25 minutes. $135 to R/R 12 fasteners? Sounds like a government contract. Best bet might be to haggle on the labor time. I know of at least one independent shop that charges considerably less than book rates, but to be honest I'd never take my Q there.

[Q45tech]

We charge 4 hours [an hour each] and the process really need 2 people [for a few momemts] to slide the rebuilt strut assembly back in the upper mount 2 holes and to put the bolts on, while one pushes aligns from the bottom.

The problem is always expecting the experts to be there when you need them.....for serious diagnostic problems.

Unfortunately many independents are barely hanging on as owners retrench since 9/11.........repairs are down everywhere in Atlanta roughly 20% as used owners opt to buy new with low financing.

Everybody has tightened their belt or just given up and gone out of business. It's amazing how many former owners are looking for work -- back to turning wrenches.

Infiniti/Lexus dealers have taken advantage by bumping up parts costs to shops squeezing their margins even more.

[Q45tech]

Since it is 27F this morning and the new shocks and summer tires are stiff and hard. I should point out that October-November is best to buy New tires and May-June is best for new shocks. Heat tends to make the shock fluid less viscous so they will be softest till they wear in by Winter. Putting on new Blue Tokicos can be an experience in cold January.The cold weather will allow new All Season tires to breakin with lower stress and be the softest they will ever be in this or any winter [best traction] before that get permanently hard during next Summers heat.

I keep putting off rotating out my Summer AVS Int tires as the mornings are 25-30-35F but the braking and ride are slapping me trying to get my attention! And 15 minutes for the Nylon set to go away is getting on my nerves.

[firstq]

My experience is [perhaps the same as others] that on larger jobs the shops are willing to cut on hour estimates [including the dealers], but once you get into 2/3 hour jobs - it has been difficult for me to haggle on the estimates.

For example I did not have much of a say when my rears were done (2.5 hours), but on the chain guides I had room to play and sneaked in a lot of additional R/R into the price.

[90Q45blue]

I have a 1990 Q45 that is in desperate need of new shocks. I purchased the Tokico blues w/ dust boots for the front and the rear. I had two questions: First, in regards to replacing the bushings, etc. what exactly should i replace when having my shocks done and how much are the parts and where can i get them? Second, the shop in town says it will cost 450 bucks to put on. That seems a little excessive to me. I was thinking about 80 bucks an hour labor x 4 hours = 320 bucks. What do you guys think?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Nick

(p.s. just rolled over 244k yesterday )

[Q45tech]

Something owners must resolve: [do it yourself], find a moonlighting tech, or pay dealer rates.

Since you do this every 40-60k [every 3-4 years] it adds up somewhere between $450>>$1000.......or nothing.

Unfortunately shocks have nothing in common with other proceedures other than the tires/whels have to come off and the trunk divider removed..........maybe a free rotation or a discount on an upper link change out.

After tires and brakes shocks are usually an ignored item leaving an undilating uncontrollable monster of a car.

[DAEDALUS]

Go to http://www.infinitipartsusa.com and check out their listings for your car's suspension. They won't have all the parts listed on the website, but check out the diagrams, and then give them a call on their toll-free number. You can try other places to comparison shop, but Scottsdale will beat almost any local dealer hands down if you don't live in AZ. I think you should replace all rubber parts. These include the upper rubber seats for all struts and the rubber bushings for the rears. You will probably need new spacer gaskets too. These parts will probably be just over $100 for all and make the ride much nicer. At your mileage I can guarantee that your rear lower shock bushings are dangerously worn if they're original.front upper spring seats 54034-60U05front spacer gasket 54329-60U00 (non-active)rear upper spring seats 55034-60U05 (non-active)rear strut bushings 56217-71L00 (non-active)rear strut bushings 56218-71L00 (non-active)rear stop bumpers 55248-2Y000 (non-active)

I don't have the part numbers for the rear spacer gaskets or lower strut bushings. Also verify the numbers before buying anything; I can't guarantee they're accurate, just what I have in my records.As far as the quote you got, it sounds pretty inflated. Ask them what the book time is. Book time is published and doesn't vary much from one source to another. Then ask them what their labor rate is. If both numbers are accurate, then listen to the BS excuse they give you for the discrepancy between the product and the quote.

[Q45tech]

Book time assumes no air tools [whose use is optional by the technican since he has to buy them]. Same with spring compressor etc.A well equipt experienced technican can always beat the retail book time but not necesssarily the factory warranty book time [which is why they hate warranty work].....It is assummed that the service writer balances the load to somewhat equalize the weekly earnings of the techs.

If a tech is bad [doesn't suck up to the service writers] he may be punished with excess warranty and his children starve and his wife ignores him. Many Service writers have accidents after a year of abusing the help...........this is why they change jobs so often! The service managers are caught in the middle between the techs and the writers desire to sell as much as they can.

One of my friends just changed jobs from Service Manager to Service Writer to make more money and cut his hours!