L8 APEKS

So...I called Vision Motorsports nearby just to get a ballpark price because I had no idea what a shop might charge to install a pair of torsion bars.

I was given a quote of $800. To make it seem like a bargain, she told me that also included an alignment and corner balancing.

I'm curious to know if any of you have either done torsions themselves, or had shops install them. I can't see it being more than a few hours of labor. Why the inflated price?!

Porsche-O-Phile

'cause of the crest on the hood.

GlenL

That includes alignment and corner balance? I've been quoted $270 by a good Porsche shop just for that. Doing torsion bars looks to be a real PITA.

How many hours for a decent home mechanic?

Geo

Perhaps a search is in order here. It would probably explain a lot.

tifosiman

That actually sounds like a good price if it includes the alignment and corner balancing. Take a bit of time to research what it takes to work on the t-bars. Look at the hours to do the job and multiply that out by the hourly rate. Then throw in the $250-$300 for the combined alignment and corner balance. You'll find that it is probably over that $800 quote.

L8 APEKS

All I know is, torsion bars on my Montero took me 2 hours, and then $60 for an alignment.

At most, I figure that out to about $140 in shop labor and $60 for an alignment, so certainly UNDER $250.

Corner balancing aside...where does the other $550 come from?!

L8 APEKS

I just called another shop...according to the book, it's 7.5 hours of labor. Their straight rate would be $450, but I was told to call back and talk to the owner of the shop this afternoon because he would certainly be able to charge me LESS than 7.5 hours of labor. So I'm guessing that might end up being $375 ish ballpark.

$375 and then maybe $65 for a rear alignment...a far cry from $800 bucks!

tifosiman

Well, if you can do this in two hours on your 944, you oughtta open up your own shop:

http://www.oz951.com/public/docs/Torsionbarsetup.doc

I've BTDT, and I can tell you this is not a 2 hour job on the 944.

streckfu's

I don't think access to the torsion bars in your car will be nearly so easy.

You can about it here

Ken D

Sounds like you found a shop, you should go with them. Report back to us with the final bill.

East Coast/New England prices are more in line with Vision's quote. My shop will charge $400 (4 hours @ $100/hr) just for an alignment.

Matt H

800 bucks is a good price. A 4-wheel alignment on a 944 with ride height measurement runs 3 hours. Corner balance adds to that.

There is no way you can do t-bars in 2 hours on a 944. Further, once you do get them in, there is a possibilty that they will be indexed incorrectly.

I hate when people **** and moan about price and then compare to some other vehicle. I can do a evaporator core in an Aerostar in 35 mins, does that mean that EVERY car built should be a sub 1 hour job? Of course not. In case you are wondering, early Neons, are closer to 14 hours.
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cruise98

It took me about 8 hours the first time, but then I had to do it again so the ride height could be adjusted correctly. So I guess it really took me 16 hours. You need to fabricate a gauge of some sort so you can measure the angle of the spring plate relative to the torsion bar mount. If you have the money, pay someone else to do it, otherwise, get some old clothes out and go get dirty. Kinda like a clutch job, not technically difficult, but very time consuming.

L8 APEKS

Yeah, I guess those high dollar shops are all charging by the book...but it certainly shouldn't take 7.5 hrs for any qualified mechanic with a full shop and a lift at their disposal. The trick is finding shops that don't pad their labor charge by quoting full price. Also, $100/hour labor compared to $60/hour makes a big difference on longer jobs (this other shop, Strictly German, charges $60/hour...they specialize in 911's but also do a number of wasserpumpers).

I think I may install my shocks now, and then do the springs and t-bars later in the summer (after I've had time to financially recover from a clutch and shocks).

I can certainly install the t-bars; that doesn't look difficult at all. It's indexing them that I don't want to bother with. hehe.

Thanks all!

ryans

If this looks like an easy job, then do it yourself. Gonna take you all day and you'll need some good power tools. And if you don't get those torsion bars set right, you gotta do it all over again.

Legoland951

It takes me 6 hours to do a pair without the extra 2 hours for the rubber bushing removal (torch and chisels etc). I would pay someone to do it for $400 (takes a semi act of god for ME to pay someone else to work on a 944) WITHOUT the corner balance and alignment if I know they are going to do it right. I unfortunately had to replace the torsion bars on 11 different 944/951s so I tried everything from removing the torsion bar housing to just dropping them down one side at a time. Its a pain in the a$$ every time and I hate it about as bad as a clutch job. Its no fun when you have to drop the rear suspension 3 times to reindex them properly and you will if its your first time.