Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Rang Pedders in Hornsby for a quote:

Front Castor bushes $99 -OK

Fornt lower control arm bushes $205 - hmmmm

Here's where i think it gets silly

$330 install +$75 wheel allignment

$300 install for front and rear coilovers

=$675 labour.

Is this how much it costs?

on my old car a lil maz 323 i had my shocks and stab bar rubber and eye bushes replaced for $130 at my local...

ring whiteline for another opinion on the parts costs.

install costs depend on where you take it. $60-75 for a wheel alignment is not uncommon. the amount of labour also depends widely on the specific car and its suspension, some suspension is easy to pull apart some of it you are at it for ages.

labour costs to pull all your suspension apart are always going to be higher than a couple of little bushes.

Prices like that mean they don't really want the install side of the job, but if you say yes then theres lots of fat in it for them.

I'd shop around some more (or do the bushes myself).

Cost me $330 in labour to fit coilovers, whiteline front and rear swaybars and a 4 wheel alignment on my 34 :pwned: at a place called signature on the gold coast

ring whiteline for another opinion on the parts costs.

install costs depend on where you take it. $60-75 for a wheel alignment is not uncommon. the amount of labour also depends widely on the specific car and its suspension, some suspension is easy to pull apart some of it you are at it for ages.

labour costs to pull all your suspension apart are always going to be higher than a couple of little bushes.

$75 for a wheel alignment will get you rubbish. They will most likely just do front toe and that's it. A skyline needs a full 4 wheel alignment (front toe, rear toe, rear camber and with your bushes front caster too). This will cost between $140 and $200.

the install prices they quote is not too bad. possibly a bit of fat there to allow for unknown problems.

Yep pedders is a rip. I took my castor rods off myself and pressed the old bushes out my self. Only problem was my press wasn't gustsy enough to push the new ones in. Anyway before work took the rods and bushes in to pedders and said i need these done by 4:00. Got there he still hadn't done them, he proceeded to do a couple other things and then finally got around to it. Took him about 2 minutes... had a whole day and still couldn't manage a 2minute task and still charged me $20.

Go somewhere else don't support these guys, essentially they were charging me $600/hour.

$75 for a wheel alignment will get you rubbish. They will most likely just do front toe and that's it. A skyline needs a full 4 wheel alignment (front toe, rear toe, rear camber and with your bushes front caster too). This will cost between $140 and $200.

the install prices they quote is not too bad. possibly a bit of fat there to allow for unknown problems.

Gah! You get yours done at $140 - $200?

I pay $50 for a FULL alignment.

And it's all this guy does (All he has done for 30+years)

Sets EVERYTHING on my car! Toe, camber, castor. Checks all my bushes, rack etc.

Keeps telling me to rip my HICAS out... LOL

how long does your $50 alignment take?

since I have about 3 alingments or more a year I can tell you there is no way someone could properly align a skyline for $50 and make any money at all. they would be loosing massively. especially if you have adjustable camber and castor (which apparently you do, as do I). I would average the time of 1 wheel alignment guy and the machine at $100 per hour. It takes around 1.5 hours to get it done. (sometimes even double that if there is a lot to do).

even typing out:

front right toe

front left toe

rear right toe

rear left toe

front right camber

front left camber

rear right camber

rear left camber

front right castor

front left castor

traction rod

check

adjust

check (for each of the settings above)

takes up $50 of my time just to type it out! each of those tasks will take around 10 min to get spot on.

how long does your $50 alignment take?

since I have about 3 alingments or more a year I can tell you there is no way someone could properly align a skyline for $50 and make any money at all. they would be loosing massively. especially if you have adjustable camber and castor (which apparently you do, as do I). I would average the time of 1 wheel alignment guy and the machine at $100 per hour. It takes around 1.5 hours to get it done. (sometimes even double that if there is a lot to do).

even typing out:

front right toe

front left toe

rear right toe

rear left toe

front right camber

front left camber

rear right camber

rear left camber

front right castor

front left castor

traction rod

check

adjust

takes up $50 of my time just to type it out! each of those tasks will take around 10 min to get spot on.

Agreed, the only place in melb i have found that does a spot on job including all the big name alignment guys is Ray from resevoir tyre power.... new machine, in depth knowledge on motorsport and willing to spend the 2hrs or so that is needed to set everything up perfectley.

im meant to get charged 85 for wheel alignment because its for 4 wheels but im a good customer and only get charged 45

do half of the stuff yourself, save some cash and learn something....

Coilovers is easy! 3 bolts each strut and they come out! ive never done any suspension work before but ive done all front bushes, coilovers, rear cradle bushes.......

save cash then get wheel alignment!

how long does your $50 alignment take?

since I have about 3 alingments or more a year I can tell you there is no way someone could properly align a skyline for $50 and make any money at all. they would be loosing massively. especially if you have adjustable camber and castor (which apparently you do, as do I). I would average the time of 1 wheel alignment guy and the machine at $100 per hour. It takes around 1.5 hours to get it done. (sometimes even double that if there is a lot to do).

even typing out:

front right toe

front left toe

rear right toe

rear left toe

front right camber

front left camber

rear right camber

rear left camber

front right castor

front left castor

traction rod

check

adjust

check (for each of the settings above)

takes up $50 of my time just to type it out! each of those tasks will take around 10 min to get spot on.

Well you need to take up some typing lessons and go a bit faster, because you are very expensive .

LMAO, Pedders quoted me $750 fat ones for install of coilovers

"yeah mate it will take us all day if were lucky, your kind of car is very difficult to work on" <----- wank

i have a S1 R33 and it took me 5hrs to install and i don't know shit about suspension.

Aif

I dont kno much about it, but what I do know is that anything to do with suspention and breaks is something id like done by a professional. I wouldnt like my wheel falling off or my breaks not working because i forgot to bleed the system fully.

on a hoist at work with a a rattle gun and the right tools, did my coilovers in under 30min, you realy have to consider a real workshop for an import, not your local discount suspension imho. most time they can deff do the job. but wont know what works well for alignment specs on a skyline.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • I got back to Japan in January and was keen to get back on track as quickly as possible. Europe is god-awful for track accessibility (by comparison), so I picked up a first-gen GT86 in December just to have something I could jump into right away. The Skyline came over in a container this time and landed in early January. It was a bit battered after Europe, though—I refused to do anything beyond essential upkeep while it was over there. The clutch master cylinder gave out, and so did the power steering. I didn’t even bother changing the oil; it was the same stuff that went in just before I left Japan the first time. Naughty. Power steering parts would’ve cost double with shipping and taxes, so knowing I’d be heading back to Japan, I just postponed it and powered through the arm workout. It took a solid three months to get the car back on the road. Registration was a nightmare this time around. There were a bunch of BS fees to navigate, and sourcing parts was a headache. I needed stock seats for shaken, mistakenly blew 34k JPY on some ENR34 seats—which, of course, didn’t fit—then ended up having the car’s technical sheet amended to register it as a two-seater with the Brides. Then there’s the GT86. Amazing car. Does everything I want it to do. Parts are cheap, easy to find, and I don’t care what anyone says—it’s super rewarding to drive. I’ve done a few basic mods: diff ratio, coilovers, discs, pads, seat, etc. It already had a new exhaust manifold and the 180kph limiter removed, so I assume it’s running some kind of map. I’ve just been thrashing it at the track non-stop—mostly Fuji Speedway now, since I need something with higher speed after all that autobahn time. The wheels on the R34 always pissed me off—too big, and it was a nightmare getting tires to fit properly under the arches. So I threw in the towel and bought something that fits better. Looks way cleaner too (at least to me)—less hotboy, less attention-seeking. Still an R34, though. Now for future plans. There are a few things still outstanding with the car. First up, the rear subframe needs an overhaul—that’s priority one. Next, I need to figure out an engine rebuild plan. No timeline yet, but I want to keep it economical—not cutting corners, just not throwing tens of thousands at a mechanic I can barely communicate with. And finally, paint. Plus a bit of tidying up here and there.  
    • Nope, needed to clearance under the bar a little with a heat gun, a 1/2" extension as the "clearancer", and big hammer, I was aware of this from the onset, they fit a 2.0 with this intake no problems, but, the 2.5 is around 15mm taller than a 2.0, so "clearancing" was required  It "just" touched when test fitting, now, I have about 10mm of clearance  You cannot see where it was done, and so far, there's no contact when giving it the beans Happy days
    • It's been a while since I've updated this thread. The last year (and some) has been very hectic. In the second-half of 2024 I took the R34 on a trip through Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland - it was f*cking great. I got a little annoyed with the attention the car was getting around Europe and really didn't drive it that much. I could barely work on the car since I was living in an inner-city apartment (with underground parking). During the trip, the car lost power steering in France - split hose - and I ended up driving around 4,000kms with no power steering.  There were a few Nurburgring trips here and there, but in total the R34 amassed just shy of 7,000kms on European roads. Long story short, I broke up with the reason I was transferred to Europe for and requested to be moved back to Japan. The E90, loved it. It was a sunk cost of around EUR 10,000 and I sold it to a friend for EUR 1,500 just to get rid of it quickly. Trust me, moving countries f*cking sucks and I could not be bothered to be as methodical as I was the first time around.
    • I assume clearances were all a-okay?
×
×
  • Create New...