Prices for service

[christmas22]

I am looking to replace my shocks, struts and exhaust, wondering how much I should look at that costing me. I don't believe I can do it myself. OH and brakes...maybe the order in which this should be done also.....any feedback would be great, I can change my oil, air filter, distributor and spark plugs...thats about how deep I have gotten... thanks for the feedback..just looking to replace, not really any super upgrades.

[86subaru]

exhaust 100 bucks, brakes all 4 aleast 100 if not more, front struts 100 + parts, could be higher

[dixracing]

the most accurate way would to go get an estimate on the work required....it doesn't mean ya gotta have it done there....it will give a better cost factor right up front ....in other words ....no extra cost surprises....diy can cost you more at times with rookie mistakes......jmo

[idosubaru]

shop around for exhaust, they can vary wildly whether they want to rip you or be nice. the cheapest way to get exhaust done is to have what you want in the trunk - have the muffler and converter you want (which can be bought really cheap) and stop by a place whenever it's convenient and ask how much to install them. since you have the expensive stuff already it's only a few dollars in parts and doesn't take a shop long to install them. so get a nice guy with some down time and they should throw it on for not more than $50. i had mine installed for $35. small mom and pop shops are the best. look outside of town, away from big cities as well, they are usually busy enough that they can charge higher prices.

 

what do you mean by "brakes". you want them all done for piece of mind or they're all bad? i'd do brakes first if they have issues. price will vary by whether or not they start telling you stuff like "you need new calipers and your rotors can't be turned"...$700. pad slap them and you'll get it under $100.

[Spiffy]

exhaust I've done 2 ways... on my '88 turbo I let Midas replace everything behind the cat... cost me $250... on my '82 wagon I bought everything behind the cat for like $30 here on USMB and then paid Superior Import Repair (Richie rocks!) to install it for me... total cost was around $100 for labor, helicoil (stripped exhaust threads in head), and misc gaskets...

 

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brakes I do myself... discs are easy, just pull off the wheel and there's 2 long bolts holding the calipers on... take those off, remove pads, twist the pistons down, replace pads, put back on rotor...

 

for rear drums and rotor replacement you should get a torque wrench, and a couple new cotter pins to hold castle nuts in place... reason being it that you have to take off the main part of the brakes (rotor/disk or drum) and that starts getting tricky...

 

just get a Haynes/Chilton manual and you can do the brakes yourself...

 

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struts can be a bit overwhelming... I'm about to delve into that on our impreza... you can get a spring compressor kit for like $10 (got mine at Habor Freight Tools)... you just need to remove the strut assembly (3 nuts on top of the strut tower, and a couple pinch bolts at the trailing arms) and you can compress the springs and get the strut out...

 

if your ride height is really low and you can't adjust it back up then you may needs springs as well...

 

time consuming, but a nice easy job...

 

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sounds like you'd want to do the brakes first, since they're pretty important... then exhaust, then struts...

 

unless you need to pass a smog test soon, then exhaust first...

 

 

--Spiffy