Quote for Front Axle Overhaul

As I now have no garage with the house we are renting pending the purchase of a suitable property I am unable to do a lot of the maintenance on my 1996 90 CSW - plus a lot of my tools are in storage. There are no big issues with the front axle but I would like to replace the swivel housings and bearings plus the wheel bearings if necessary. So someone I know who has started up his own garage business has given me a quote - could someone look at the price of the parts please. You may have done this job recently or had it done. Just quickly scanning through parts prices, it seems to me that quite a few of these individual items come in kits but I'm unsure if there is a significant saving one way or another. I would add that I have emphasised to this chap that on no account are Bri*par* items to be used.

SERVICE / PRODUCTS SUGGESTED

1.0 LABOUR
8 Hours to overhaul and rebuild front axle £280.00

2.0 PARTS REQUIRED
2x Bearing Housing £197.06
2x Seal £10.24
2x Gasket £1.39
2x Front Half Shaft Seal £7.25
2x Hub Inner Seal £9.14
2x Gasket £2.32
2x Stub Axle Gasket £1.39
2x Hub Nut £7.51
2x Drive Flange Gasket £0.84
4x Wheel Bearing £46.40
2x Lock Washer £0.84
2x Swivel Pin Upper £20.88
4x Swivel Pin Bearing £11.31
2x Swivel Pin Lower £16.82
2x One Shot Swivel Grease £15.40
EXTRA PARTS IF REQUIRED (Recommended while axle is striped)
1x Stub Axle Front £90.46
1x Brake Pad Set Front £27.26
2x Brake Disc Front £46.69
2x Drive Flange Member £25.96
2x CV Joint

I'm soooo in the wrong job. What's so wrong with the axle that you want to throw that much money at it. I bought an axle off a discovery that was pretty good for eighty quid and have had no problems with it at all

why do you need bearing housings and swivel pins, and you could buy some parts cheaper, especially the gaskets

Yes I was thinking that. Most people replace the chrome balls, which tend to get rusty and pitted, but not the outer housings. Unless the bearings have been spinning on the stub axles and worn them, you usually find they're serviceable. Yes, gaskets seem a bit steep too. It's only a small amount in relation to the price of the whole job but I seem to remember the ones I bought last autumn were only pence rather than pounds.

Maybe the garage and myself are using the wrong terminology - I do mean the chrome plated swivel balls.

That's about £650, plus the recommended parts, I would consider what Marmaduke said, in fact, I did just that. Buy a good 2nd hand axle to get you through, pay your mate 3x£35 = 105 to fit it and rebuild your own axle when you have the time/space.

Wonder why they reckon it only needs one stub axle?

Quite a few front axles on ebay for 100 quid, someone with a smattering of mech knowledge will be able to tell you if they are any good or not and the correct type/year that way you could swap the whole axle or just the whole swivel assy, literally 7 bolts each side.

easy enough to rebuild tbh.

how ever i dont think the quotes unreasonable......I was 300 quid in parts and i didnt even change the swivel balls ! - although i did replace every other moving/sealing part in the axle. ...

It took me 5 hours to strip my axle and 3 hours per side to rebuild - thats having never done it before -

Issue with buying a used - especially a front axle is you dont know the inside condition really till you stick some torque through it.

also when i looked - the kits came with the cheapass britpart bearins and seals - i specifically went for the timken where i could and the britpart G series where i could.

lynall said:

Wonder why they reckon it only needs one stub axle?

Quite a few front axles on ebay for 100 quid, someone with a smattering of mech knowledge will be able to tell you if they are any good or not and the correct type/year that way you could swap the whole axle or just the whole swivel assy, literally 7 bolts each side.

Click to expand...

Good point but the answer is that I told the garage chap that I replaced the wheel bearings one one side plus one stub axle about 4000 miles ago. I advised that I couldn't imagine that they would need replacing again but best to keep an open mind. The parts listing is based on a worse case scenario.

They arent bad to do, maybe have an ask around Im sure someone on here would do it for a few quid.
What about buy spare axle, remove swivel assy, strip and rebuild that, then its just a quick swap job onto your axle at your leisure, plus you have loads of spares left.
I used one of the britpart black chrome balls on my 90 been fine so far.