stolen cat replaced/now control arm broken from mechanic?
 

Hi , I, like many of yall, had my catalytic converter stolen in front of work, off my 99 ltd. Luckily the insurance covered the $2500 repair bill (sound high?). I picked up my truck minutes before closing, on friday evening, and noticed a rattle right off the bat (I couldn't go back, too far, and they were closed.) Then, turning into my parking spot, a lound clunk occured. I endured through the weekend, and brought it back in this am. Just got the call, and they are saying my left control arm was super rusty, and is now broken, and both should be replaced. They also stated that they probably didn't catch this when they first drove it, because of the missing cat (well, don't you drive it after the repair?). I'm suspecting they fubard it, but my question is would they have had to remove/disconnect the control arm to get to the exhaust manifold, in order to replace the cat? The 250$ I have been quoted seems steep, and my gut is telling me this is their fault. Any advice for a newb?
Thanks

no they dont need to come close to the control arms to replace the cat....

what all did you get for $2500


sounds fishy to me.

all oem, new cat, new muffler, new tailpipe, convenience charge, and broken control arm. Yeah, sure does seem fishy, I have to go over there and get it, with just the control arm being disconnected till I can afford to get it done, and I wanna have my ducks in a row to apply the necessary leverage to get them to take care of this, if it is actually their fault. Thanks for the response,

WOW.. You can buy an aftermarket cat and have it welded in for less than $200. Those guys stuck it to your insurance company. Next time call me and I'll replace it for that price! What exactly is broke on your truck? If your control arm broke your truck would be sitting on the ground totally out of commission. Are you referring to your sway bar end link maybe? Got pics?

yeah, you nailed it, this shop is notorious for sticking it to the insurance company. Since nothing on my insurance will change, and they are a local business, right down the street, I didn't mind. No pics as of this point. But, hopefully in the next hour or so, when I go to retrieve it, they will Explain it to me. I am a service manager at a sail loft, and had I or my guys missed such work, in a quote job, I would have to, and be willing to, eat some of that "missed repair burrito". The not hearing it driving it onto the lift, I can understand. But the not hearing it after, or the not driving it after, isn't sitting well. Ironically, the insurance declined the cat-guard, and won't lower my rate If I do get it. Thanks for the help!

Also, yeah I could be confused, but it may be the sway bar end link. Would that have had to be removed/disconnected/ loosened/broken to swap the cat and exhaust parts? thanks again

No like Tofer mentioned they should not have been working anywhere close to your front end.

ahhh , copy that. OK, so, it is looking as though this was just the time for it to go, unrelated to the mechanics, but completely related to my bad luck harvest. Thanks for the help. I know how much I hate being accused or inferred that I or my work may have caused something completely impossible. Thanks again

i'm now betting its the swaybar end link..... pull it off you dont need it :)

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forum...y-bar-4931.jpg

OR

http://www.nsor.com/featureditems/to...comparison.jpg

which of those is broken

But, But, the kid told me my 4runner would roll over without it? If I don't need it, and it won't be an issue, (again assuming its the swaybar end link), then I feel much better. Though, I haven't received the call to go and pick it up, after they disconnect it, and then explain to me what is up. So those pics, although may be helpful down the line, won't help me figure it out, thanks though.!

swaybar end link. the 4runner might be more prone to flip over in an emergency steering situation. maybe.

it will drive a wee bit floppy BUT if you don't drive like a clown no swaybar is OK. it will not pass inspection w/o swaybar end links. they are cheap, and on the 4runner, prone to rotting anyhow.

thanks. Ending my week on the theft note, and beginning my week on a note of suspicion, is really bringing the worst out in me. But your people's help has calmed me down heaps,
Thanks again

if it's an end link, my pass side one snapped off a couple months ago from corrosion. i got a used one from Deathcougar for $25 and put it on with two wrenches in about 5-10 minutes tops in my driveway. even if you aren't good at mechanic work and you don't have tons of tools, you could easily fix that yourself on the cheap and quickly. i don't think i would take my truck to a shop that is notorious for ripping people off or if i suspect them of anything shady. $2500 for a cat and full exhaust is still crazy too, $250 to replace that little part is nuts. i would run the other way, or drive away clunking in your case :D

$2500 for everything that was done is not a bad price.

Some of you need to educate yourselfs on what an OEM cat contains, vs an aftermarket cat. Aftermarket cats are made of cheap metals, like nickel. they do not contain the precious metals Platinum, Pallidium, and Rhodium that OEM cats contain. OEM cats are MUCH better at cleaning your exhaust than aftermarket cats, and many aftemarket cats are not CA smog legal.

Insurance covered the repair bill anyways, so whats the problem?

As for the control arm, that would have been pretty easy to figure out too. Is it, or is it not rusted? The shop can't magically make it rust in half in one day, so again, not seeing why you are blaming the shop. Everyone is always so quick to jump on the "blame the shop" bandwagon, but the reality is 99% of shops are NOT out to get you nor will they try to screw you. Shops would never stay in business if they did that.

The sway bar end link rustout problem is very common, I sell every link I ever get my hands on because of rust. Especially if you live in an are where they salt the roads, this is very common. Sounds like it was the links time to go is all.

$2500 is not a bad price, at least for a california spec vehicle, there's NO legal aftermarket catalytic converters what so ever. Toyota OEM replacement only and you will need two of them.

I wasn't sure if anyone was making CA smog legal cats yet. I guess not :D

I had my cat stolen from me. have you used a non-oem cat on your vehicle?? i did and it sucked!! i went from 17-19 mpg to 11-12 mpg. i fought with my insurance to replace it with a OEM and they did.

When it comes to aftermarket cats. They suck. They are about 85% efficient when new. When your cat is below 80% efficient, you will get a check engine light for p0420 (catalytic converter efficiency below threshold). So- Using a poor aftermarket cat you get about 5% of efficiency to be lost before you are back where you started.

Nobody wants to pay for OEM, but there is a difference.

Did your MPG's go back up after the OEM? I had around 18 mpg when my OEM cat went bad. Usually cat's don't go bad unless the sensors are gone, because that is what regulates what is being burnt up inside of them. The harder they work, the less time they will last. OEM though IS the best replacement because of the metals used in manufacturing. My mpg dropped about 1 mpg when my cat went bad. I could tell this was the case because the honeycomb that is inside was coming out of the tailpipe and the rings that are tack welded inside were rattling around.

You could say that having an aftermarket cat would be similar to straight piping your vehicle (since they aren't as efficient). Even when you straight pipe your vehicle you won't lose that many mpg's.

I live in MT so I replaced my cat with a Magnaflow aftermarket cat. Have had NO issues with my mpg at all. With that replaced and my O2's replaced, my gas mileage has gone back up. It seems fishy to me that you would drop up to 8 mpg just because you had an aftermarket cat... they might not pass emissions in CA, but they seem to be legal (and work for that matter) in other states...

And to Jeremy...I have had my aftermarket for over a year now, and I haven't thrown any codes. I did notice you said poor aftermarket cat. The Magnaflow seemed to be reputable that's why I went that direction