Update on the botched lift installation.

[Daltong2000]

Okay so this is my story with a local 4x4 shop near me installing a lift. When I got it back I noticed a loud popping noise from the front drivers side during left turns or hitting bumps. I did some searching for it and didn't take long. Found that the spring was not sitting in the upper isolator properly. my coil spring on the drivers side was actually curved. They tried to blame it on the alignment guy. Once i took it in for them to look at it, they said theres nothing they could do and it was installed correctly. Despite me bringing up the curved coil spring. They then claimed they'd have to grind down the upper bumpstop housing. I told them no way in hell are they grinding anything. They wanted to charge me $160 plus another $70 for an alignment! All in all they ended up doing it for free, obviously, their mistake. And the older man at the shop made the statement that he was "sure I'd be back again soon for more work" and that "I stuck it to them this time but they'll stick it to me next time." That gave me a bad feeling. I started noticing a loud hissing noise right away but assumed it was my power steering or something similar at first. Then I thought it was a bearing in a pulley gone bad. Given it was not doing this beforehand. Took it to my local Orielys autoparts because it threw a code. Code was an intake temperature sensor. But then we noticed when we turned the jeep off, the hissing sounded like air being sucked into something. so we started searching. Didn't take long, we found the issue. My vaccuum lines had been unplugged! Seriously?! They had to remove the battery tray. But absolutely no need to unhook vacuum lines! Plugged them back in, hissing stopped and went away. Check engine code went away after shutting my jeep off and starting it again.

I think the shop tried to sabotage me.

 

[kejobe]

Personally, no matter what happens in the future, I wouldn't take it or any other vehicle back there again. And recommend to anyone they not take theirs either.

 

[Daltong2000]

Personally, no matter what happens in the future, I wouldn't take it or any other vehicle back there again. And recommend to anyone they not take theirs either.

Am I just being paranoid or does it seem they tried to sabotage me?

 

[kejobe]

Could be sabotage, or could be something stupid that they moved them for whatever reason and forgot to plug them back in. Either way, I wouldn't trust them for anything after at that BS.

 

[tommudd]

Yes was going to get even next time weren't they ??
Sad that someplaces are like that

 

[Daltong2000]

Yes was going to get even next time weren't they ??
Sad that someplaces are like that

They could have really screwed my jeep up man. Now I gotta take it my mechanic and have him look over everything and make sure they didnt do anything else. Sad thing is theres no way I would've been able to prove it. But with the comments he made I'm positive it was sabotage.

 

[Aceofspades]

Its pretty crappy they took on a job that they apparently couldn’t take pride in doing.
As for the vacuum line by the battery try -
You do not need to remove that but the tray you do. You could unclip the evap line and move out of the way. However the plastic T on vacuum was brittle and broke.
On my other one, it was the evap fitting that was brittle and broke off.

If you’re usinf JBA arms , make sure you notch out the new front bumpstops

 

[JasonJ]

They could have really screwed my jeep up man. Now I gotta take it my mechanic and have him look over everything and make sure they didnt do anything else. Sad thing is theres no way I would've been able to prove it. But with the comments he made I'm positive it was sabotage.

Yeah, sounds like they were purposely careless ... if you catch my meaning.

At least the front shock/coil is sorted out.

That vacuum line business probably would not have caused any serious harm to the engine; unless you drove it with a dead miss or running so poorly for quite a while. But clearly you felt and knew something was wrong and had it checked out right away

This is why I advocate trying to learn to do as much as you can on your own vehicle (as much as the vehicle will allow you to nowadays).

Some shops will treat you like gold and others will find any way possible to scam you, screw you, and even put you in danger with the work that they do.

 

[tommudd]

Its pretty crappy they took on a job that they apparently couldn’t take pride in doing.
As for the vacuum line by the battery try -
You do not need to remove that but the tray you do. You could unclip the evap line and move out of the way. However the plastic T on vacuum was brittle and broke.
On my other one, it was the evap fitting that was brittle and broke off.

If you’re usinf JBA arms , make sure you notch out the new front bumpstops

He does not have JBA arms or extended bumpstops , but will need them soon with the spacer lift

 

[uss2defiant]

what's the name of the shop so we can all avoid it?

 

[Aceofspades]

So you’re saying all this fuss was over a spacer lift? That’s so easy you could pay peanuts to monkey to do it lol

 

[Daltong2000]

what's the name of the shop so we can all avoid it?

The shop is called Freedom 4WD. Located in Mount Holly, North Carolina

 

[JasonJ]

The shop is called Freedom 4WD. Located in Mount Holly, North Carolina

I'd rather risk killing myself and disassemble the coilovers myself in my garage (again) rather than deal with a shop that like that... who's work may result in catastrophic parts failure and lead to my death anyhow.