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Individual/shop around Bay Area?

ChrisAwesome

ChrisAwesome

1/2 ton status
Joined
Sep 28, 2018
Posts
238
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Location
San Jose, California
Hi, I need to put ORD weld-in brace on my 1987 K5 Blazer. Is there anybody around Bay Area that would do that job for me in exchange for money? I called couple of shops, many don't do at all that kind of service, then I got one quote from Freeman Frame for $800. That's too pricey for me.

I already have the ORD Bolt-in Steering Box Brace Kit and Weld-in Frame Repair kit on me.
 
800 bucks ......... ha ha ha ha ...... wow what a joke . or it was the we dont want to do it but if your that crazy we will take your money price .
 
If you have the skills you might have better luck fitting up the parts at home and hiring a mobile welder to come by and weld it up. Any real welder should be able to aid in lining things up and getting things done right. This should be a ton cheaper, probably whatever the minimum call out charge is.
 
Talked with Troy over the phone for nearly 30min! He quoted me $400 but he said it really depends on the damage. He seemed very excited about the car, apparently he drives Blazer K5 1988. We talked about bunch of other things and I really like his attitude. I will go for it.
By the way, he moved from San Jose to Modesto. He suggested I get AAA membership for $91 and 'ship' the car to him instead of driving to avoid further frame damage.

I had a shoulder surgery 2 weeks ago, I'm still immobilized. Cannot do much around the car myself at this point.
 
man even 400 bucks . . . i know its shop rate and no flat rate time for a broken frame . . . . is this a worst case price or 400 its fixed ?

if you were near me on the east coast i would do it for less than that . i have done a lot of welding and fixed a few bad frames .

atleast you got half better than the 800 bucks .
 
sweetk30 said:
man even 400 bucks . . . i know its shop rate and no flat rate time for a broken frame . . . . is this a worst case price or 400 its fixed ?

if you were near me on the east coast i would do it for less than that . i have done a lot of welding and fixed a few bad frames .

atleast you got half better than the 800 bucks .
Click to expand...
I haven't been negotiating with him yet. I want him to see the car first and then I might ask for other items too. I have small leak on the oil pan and I have some leak on the rear differential. I could do rear diff myself in few weeks once my arm heals a bit, but if he offers that for a good price, I will have him do that too. Then I will try to negotiate deal for the whole package. Anyway, he seems very reasonable. If everything works out, I would totally be returning customer for big jobs. Sadly Bay Area is not cheap.
 
Yeah, its a pretty easy job... Id offer to do it for cheap if you were closer too. Id think two hours if you took your sweet time, but I could see more if they totally remove the brake lines and completely pull the steering box.

What was included in that price? Everything from removal of box to cleanup to welding to paint(hopefully not just some rattle can dust)?

And I assume you've seen this so you know exactly what it entails:
https://ck5.com/forums/resources/ord-weld-in-frame-repair-kit.62/
 
Troy does good work, he doesnt disappoint...had no clue he moved...i havent hit him up in a couple years
 
Can we get a follow up? i'm looking for shops that don't bullshit and get the job done in a reasonable amount of time and get the job done right. Price not the main concern here.
 
Sure. After all I had Troy do: put 2 ORD steering kits on (involves welding), change rear diff gasket + fluid, change valve covers, replace ball joint. I got probably 90+ minutes of conversation & advice over the phone with him. He's got a Blazer himself. Troy specializes in offroad/4x4 vehicles, so that's spot on. He also tries to help a lot by combining tasks like 'I already have the wheel off, could do this and that if you want'.

The way I did it with him - I shipped my car to him using my AAA tow and he shipped it back to me on his AAA tow. Not sure if AAA likes that much, but that's what we did. He was very helpful overall.

But then that's his business, so he charges regular shop rate.
 
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