Sway Bar Install Cost $350???

[cfritos]

I recently got a quote from my shop to install swaybars for $350! That seems a bit excessive since it is just the eurococe sway bars and not including the endlinks. Is this way over price or is that what you guys have paid for it. He said the sway bars are a PITA on this car. The only thing from stopping me from doing it myself is that it says you need to torque the sways at ride height, which i am not sure how i can do with jack and stands, unless you guys have some insight into that.

Thanks. I have an appointment for this Friday and was hoping for quick feedback so I know if I should cancel it or not.

[helix139]

I was charged 2 hours of labor for sways and end links at a shop that had never installed them on this car before.

[jl87]

Seems quite high, especially if no end links. A good mechanic should be able to install front and rear sways in an hour or so, maybe 2 with end links. Will wait for others to chime in though. Fronts are super easy and the rear you only need to drop a muffler off its hanger, nothing difficult.

[Stubek]

2 hours of labor is about right. I can do the front in my drive way in about 25 minutes. The rear is a pain and requires a box of band-aids for your knuckles as well. The rear needs the muffler dropped and also there is very little room to get to the nut on the end links. The nut head is about 1/2 inch from the strut. I had to buy ratcheting box wrenches to do the job the first time and even those, once you get them on only do about 3 clicks at a time.
End links only takes about an extra 5 minutes per bar.

[drob23]

That is ridiculous, at most 1-1.5 hr for any shop who knows their shit. You can drive onto ramps each time you need to torque the endlinks. Should be no issue with the right tools. I did this myself, and my wrenching skills at the time were about 2/10, look at SteveYem's thread on the install if you need any extra encouragement.

Edit: I should also say it took me quite a while to do it. So pay a shop if you value your time on the weekends or don't like to wrench. Here is Steve's thread: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...inks-my-review

[westwest888]

Sounds about right. One of the axles is always difficult, typically the rear cause they have to screw with the subframe.

[Skywagon]

I as charged four hours for front and rear sway bars with the links and a frame stiffener.

[drob23]

Sounds about right. One of the axles is always difficult, typically the rear cause they have to screw with the subframe.

Screw with the subframe???

You just have to drop the exhaust, maybe a couple mid-section hangers in addition to muffler hangers. It's a little frustrating to get everything to line up, and requires a ratcheting box wrench, but this doesn't require anything serious...

[pat_do]

Can't you just do it in your drive way with some ramps?

[littleredwagen]

I recently got a quote from my shop to install swaybars for $350! That seems a bit excessive since it is just the eurococe sway bars and not including the endlinks. Is this way over price or is that what you guys have paid for it. He said the sway bars are a PITA on this car. The only thing from stopping me from doing it myself is that it says you need to torque the sways at ride height, which i am not sure how i can do with jack and stands, unless you guys have some insight into that.

Thanks. I have an appointment for this Friday and was hoping for quick feedback so I know if I should cancel it or not.

Just drive the rear onto ramps, it keeps the suspension loaded. You could also when its time to tighten it up lift the car by the lower control arms until the car comes off the jack stands.

[SteveYem]

This should be 1-1.5 hours for an skilled shop. Sure it took me a fuckload more time, but
a) I had never done it before (on any car)
b) the EuroCode instructions do NOT tell you that dropping the rear mufflers facilitates removal/installation of the rear bar, so I struggled with trying to maneuver the new bar into place with the rear exhaust system getting in my way the whole time
c) I'm fairly positive the EuroCode instructions do not mention that a ratcheting 16mm box wrench is pretty much crucial for working on the rear endlinks (I may be wrong), so I struggled with other tools until I realized this on my own
d) I did the work laying on my back in my driveway, at night.

$350 to do this work might be "book rate" but it's bullshit. No way this takes ~3.5 hours to do.

[d.p]

I did them myself on jack stands and like everyone said the rear can be a PITA due to clearance issues. Front is cake.

[b6onboost]

True, but I also doubt the $350 equates to 3.5hrs. That's only a $100/hr labor rate. Lot of Audi dealers and independent performance shops are $120-130. Maybe more in Greenwich (expensive area). Its likely a 2.5hr quote.

Either way, shops overestimate labor time, its how they make money. No one should be suprised when labor quotes come back higher than expected. You just have to negotiate with the shop or find another that is fair.

$350 to do this work might be "book rate" but it's bullshit. No way this takes ~3.5 hours to do.

[DATZ]

Call Eurotech in Mahwah, NJ. They are less than 45min from Greenwich, will do a perfect job, and likely charge you a lot less than the quote you got.

[shadycrew31]

I did mine in 3 hours and had no instructions or the proper socket for the rear tipple square (Used an Allen head).

[infinkc]

I recently got a quote from my shop to install swaybars for $350! That seems a bit excessive since it is just the eurococe sway bars and not including the endlinks. Is this way over price or is that what you guys have paid for it. He said the sway bars are a PITA on this car. The only thing from stopping me from doing it myself is that it says you need to torque the sways at ride height, which i am not sure how i can do with jack and stands, unless you guys have some insight into that.

Thanks. I have an appointment for this Friday and was hoping for quick feedback so I know if I should cancel it or not.

more curious what you are using "Whelen Police Lights" for that are in your sig.

Id say 350 is a tad high, ive charged $100-150 to install them for locals.

[d.p]

The only thing from stopping me from doing it myself is that it says you need to torque the sways at ride height, which i am not sure how i can do with jack and stands, unless you guys have some insight into that.

1. Jack up your car
2. Replace sways and hand tighten bolts
3. Lower car and torque accordingly

[shadycrew31]

Car repairs are inconvenient the further they are from your work/house. I pay extra sometimes to use a shop where I can drop the car off and hop on a train to work. If it's a big job like the clutch, I'll drive somewhere for the day because I saved close to $1000.

This whole thread has a best case scenario of saving $100 and a worst case of wasting a lot of time.

It's not about that at all, the OP is asking if its a good deal to pay $350 to have sways installed. Which it isn't.

Time, distance, etc are not in question.

[SwissBliss]

I also did myself was a pain!! no room!! for the rear~ sway! I would give it a shot yourself!

[F16HTON]

This should be 1-1.5 hours for an skilled shop. Sure it took me a fuckload more time, but
a) I had never done it before (on any car)
b) the EuroCode instructions do NOT tell you that dropping the rear mufflers facilitates removal/installation of the rear bar, so I struggled with trying to maneuver the new bar into place with the rear exhaust system getting in my way the whole time
c) I'm fairly positive the EuroCode instructions do not mention that a ratcheting 16mm box wrench is pretty much crucial for working on the rear endlinks (I may be wrong), so I struggled with other tools until I realized this on my own
d) I did the work laying on my back in my driveway, at night.

$350 to do this work might be "book rate" but it's bullshit. No way this takes ~3.5 hours to do.

Step 1 in the instructions for the rear bar states to lower the exhaust.

http://www.ecodetuning.com/Pictures/...ll%20Guide.pdf

I installed mine with a standard box end wrench, and torque wrench.

[MYFASTA4]

350 is too much, i would buy a set of ramps, a couple of tools, save yourself a bunch of money. the eurocode instructions that come with the bars are very detailed.

[drob23]

LOL why do you keep talking about the subframe????

[helix139]

These threads always derail because prices for labor are a local phenomenon. In the everglades Florida you can pay someone $16/hr no health insurance and open a shop with no licenses.

In Greenwich, CT with the stock market at all time highs it's both expensive to run a business and everyone with a luxury car doesn't give a fuck what the bill is. You gotta pay your techs $75k a year with benefits and there is a lot of taxes so yes, it's $300 for "just taking the subframe off the car and installing a couple of anti roll bars".

Sent from Sony Android by Google Play

If your shop is taking the rear subframe off the car then they don't know what the hell they are doing. You certainly don't. And number of hours required doesn't change based on location. That's why most are giving expected labor hours along with dollars, dipshit.

[Stubek]

Thread closed due to too many off topic posts.

Sorry the OP had to deal with so many of you.