"Where do I start" issue with Auto Shop! please take a look

Here is the super condensed version, I needed brake pads and I had a popping when I drove at slow speeds. Took it to an auto shop here to get the pads done and investigate the noise. They tell me my pads are wasted but they can turn the rotors, and that the noise was the rack and pinion. They put new pads on, turned rotors and replaces the rack an pinion and aligned the truck. It drove a little better, but the next day the same popping could be heard. I did some looking my self and right away I could see the drivers upper ball joint was in bad shape, knowing that could become a real issue, real quick I took it back to them (hoping for a discount since it didn't fix the issue). I also had them put my old stock wheels back on seeing that my Mickey Thompsons where worm out bad and shook the truck at times.
When I left that time the noise stopped, but a new one started. It feels like the rotor was warped, or it had a very rough spot on it. But at slow speed breaking, i.e. traffic, it sounded and felt horrible, like metal on metal. Thinking it might be new pads or something I let it ride for a few days and tried to break in the pads. Noise never left. So I jacked it up and pulled one of the wheels and I just need some advise on what I'm looking at here. The first pictures are of some kind of bent pin, cant be correct. Also when I pulled the wheel it was pretty hard to rotate the rotor and for sure there I one point in the turn that is way harder that the rest..... like its warped or something. I don't know if this pin is part of the brake pad install or what. The next pictures are what the new rack and pinion look like. The tie rods are at completely different angles. The tie rods have been smashed with a hammer, the dust shield is all chewed up, the boot is destroyed, the cotter pin is gone! I just want to see what you experts would say. I don't know much about automotive repair and I don't want to look like a fool going back up there. Thanks so much for hanging in there!

 

The tie rod sweeping forward I don't think is an issue. However the tie rod that has been hit with a hammer and no cotter pin is not good at all. The brake pad that has the bent piece just looks like a shim that was bent not really a big issue. I would go back to the shop and try to explain your concerns as politely as possible and see what happens.

 

Is this a continuation of this thread/problem?

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/318171-wtf-wrong-here.html

 

I'd go back to the shop and discuss it over with the manager/owner. If they don't cut you a heck of a deal then contact the BBB and never go back.

 

The bent pin is just the shim for the brake pad. You can straighten out yourself with a pair of pliers or just replace it. Would take all of 5 min.

It's common practice to hit the tie rod end with a hammer on the female end to get the tie rod end to come out. My guess is your old one was pretty stuck in there and required a fair amount of "encouragement" from the hammer to release. Just stick a cotter pin in there and call it good. Hard to tell from the photo but if the boot on that rod end is torn, they should replace that if it's a new rod end. That shouldn't be torn. The bent dust shield is probably from them using the hammer to get the old rod end out. Careless of them but it should hurt anything.

Between the two issues it will cost you a total of 50 cents (maybe) for a cotter pin and about 10 min. tops.

As for the noise, if they replaced the upper ball joints already you should count yourself lucky since that wasn't what you took it in for originally. If you got a discount on that you're probably as good as you're going to get on that.

The other noise from the rotors could definitely be from warped rotors even if they turned them. I know people say you can turn down the rotors for these trucks but IMO that's just a bandaid and they will warp again quickly. I would replace them with NEW rotors any time they need it or when they are warped.

As for the shop......well there are just signs that that they were a bit careless with the repair. Also, I'm sure they should have noticed the torn boot and the damage to the dust shield. At the very least they should have told you about that. They never should have let the torn boot on the rod end leave the shop. That tells me nobody checked the work of the technician who was a chump for trying to slip that past you. Same goes for the dust shield. Leaving out the cotter pin is laziness too.

In the future, do your homework a little more on the shops you use, or better yet do the work yourself so you know it's done right. All of those things are pretty easy repairs that lots of people here could have talked you through if you needed help. All but the alignment.

 

Yeah but still he paid for a job that he shouldn't have to fix himself. And on the tie rod they should have used a puller instead of a hammer.

Granted, every time I can't do a job (illness, recall, etc) and have to settle on someone else to do it, I have had to repair it >90% of the time. Sometimes it is easier to fix it yourself than to mess with taking it back. However, I do like taking it back and showing the issue to the manager/owner first so that they know that they need to take a second look before having the customer pick it up. Honestly, I think that I'm just in a bubble of crappy techs since I haven't had this bad of luck anywhere else I've lived.

 

See my edited post above. I agree. The reason I say to take care of it yourself, is this place clearly doesn't care. Do you think they're going to happily replace a bunch of parts on their own dime that they screwed up? I doubt it, so I wouldn't trust them to take care of any of the issues. All of them are simple so just do it yourself, and then stay away from that shop.

 

Thanks, I plan on doing it all my self, and yes it is a continuation of the above mentioned thread, I just had some better photos this time. I didn't know that it was ok for the tie rods to be at different angles so thanks for letting me know that. I just wish that nasty annoying breaking issue was gone. I guess there is no real way to say they did this to the rotors and I cant swing money for some new ones right now. I guess Ill be dealing with it. Is it normal to require some force to turn a rotor that is free hanging in the air? mine was pretty stiff.

 

can I pull that bent pin straight out? its really jammed in there like something got pulled up into the wheel and rammed into that brake assembly and wedged that thing in there like that (just what it seems like) Will it effect the brake pad to remove it?

 

I'd say so. Nice catch TomTom.

 

They didnt replace the upper ball joints for me, I told them to replace the driver side UBJ because it was in horrible shape and they def. charged the heck out of me for doing it!

 

No, don't straighten it out. The bend keeps the shim from sliding down farther into the caliper behind the brake pad.