Swivel hub rebuild costs ???!!!

[discomatt69]

How much should you expect to pay a mechanic to do swivel hubs, new bearings , seals and grease. Ball are in good nick so no need to replace them.
I was thinking about 2 hours each side and 150 in parts but I have never done it so not sure on time frames.
Just got a bill for 5 hours which is ball park but 490 in parts.
A kit for both sides is 150-250 depending on suppliers.
Have I been taken for a ride??

[Homestar]

Depends on what parts they changed. Did they do the top and bottom Railco bushes as well?

Labour sounds fine - by the time you do all that work, adjust the shims for the correct swivel pre loads, etc 5 hours wouldn't be far off. $490 in parts seems a bit steep, but it depends on what they did and what quality of parts they used.

Edit - first local place I found - https://www.allfourx4.com.au/Major-Swivel-Hub-Kit-for-Land-Rover-Series-2-2A-3-One-Side-LRKIT20 so $160 per side - not beyond the realms of possibility about marking them up to $230 or so per side, plus some consumables, new lock washer on the hub etc.

Don't think you've been had no, Mechanics will always mark up their parts, they have to make a quid somehow.

[weeds]

Ask the mechanic to brake down the parts list, mine does this on the invoice.

Four bearings
Four seals
Lock washer
Bearing grease
Swivel grease
Enviro fee
Rags
Parts cleaner
Bits he needed for swivels.

All depends where he buys his parts through.....

I used to do my own work, but leave it to the mechanic these days.

[discomatt69]

Maybe I just under estimated the cost but it was a shock to get a 1200 bill to do the job when I had priced the parts at about 200 for kits to do both sides and was ready to do it my self but thought bugger it because it can be fiddly getting the preloads right...
I am handy with the spanners but you need to know your limitations and patience

[AK83]

....
I am handy with the spanners but you need to know your limitations and patience

I can't remember my RRC being particularly hard to do the swivel preloads, so I had to give it a go on my D1 the other week(due to steering issues).
Wish I hadn't tho!
If you were doing it at home on the ground/on stands .. you'd ended up wishing you just spent the $500 for the mechanic to do it anyhow.

Homestar's link is to a series vehicle hub(with the railco bearings) D1 uses tapered bearings.
Going on that same vendors prices, swivel seal kit + bearing kit = about $185 per side(101.5 + 83.5).

As you said, $490 is on the high side for parts, but to be expected from the mechanic.

to change the ball seal, they have to remove the hubs from the axles to fit them, then on the bench it's easier to do the preload/shims, of course you need near on 2lt of diff oil(did you add this into the parts list?)
2lt of diff oil is about $30 at a shop .. so they probably charged at least $50 for it. ... etc, etc.

Did they crack the brake fluid seals? ie. did they renew brake fluid too, or just hang the calipers out of the way?

If your D1 is a late model(like mine) those incompetent morons at LR engineering designed the front brake lines so that the pipe from the caliper interferes with one of the major bolts to remove the top swivel pin/bearing.
But to clear the brake line out of the way of the bolt, you need to remove the bolt(ie. the part you want to remove interferes with the bit you want to undo to remove it). Awesome design!(not!!) .. probably would have tested your patience too :bat:

[timax]

Just a note on the parts. All 4x4's and many others supply pattern parts and not OEM. That will effect the costs greatly.
5 hours is about right for both sides i would think also.