I'm considering installing a Heidt's MII IFS in a '54 pickup. I have the truck all stripped down to the frame, motor out. What would you consider a fair price for a shop to install the complete IFS suspension minus transfering the steering over. A local shop quoted me $400 in labor without seeing the truck. Is this about right?
$400 sounds very reasonable. 8 hours of work at $50/hr? Sounds about right to me. I think it took me 16 hours to install mine, which included about 8 hours of head scratchin.
Me either. 400.00 is not all that expensive if the shop is a legite one. Steering is pretty simple after that.
Boy I would go for it as long as they know what they"re doing. Get it in paper. Took me about 10 hrs. Good luck
Make DAMN sure the underside of the crossmember is plated when they are done. These crossmembers have a tendency to develop stress fracture at the folds on the underside, leading to serious failure. The plates should be of the same material, and should cover the whole area from 'A' arm pivot back to frame. Please also consider using the original Ford design, with the trailing arm and rubber biscuits. This nearly eliminates any dangerous stress in the crossmember. There was a thread on this (and on MY car) back in 2002, but it's gone now. Cosmo
If it is just a matter of installing a pre-fit crossmember (like a heidts) it should only take 3 to 4 hours to box 16'' of the frame and weld in the crossmember. If it needs to be trimed to fit and all the suspension bolted on then it becomes about a days work.$400.00 doesnt sound that unreasonable! Just my 2 cents! Grant www.schwartzwelding.com
took me almost 2hrs to trim,weld mine up together (welder series crossmember) and tack it all in place. 400 sounds like a good price for half a days work.. good luck
$400 is cheap. If you're confident the shop does quality work, that's a very good price. Make sure the frame will be boxed and crossmembers installed properly and welded completely. No 'one sided' or tacked pieces. Post pics...
Uh, get that in writing, and then get on it. I just did a TCI MII in a '51 Chevy for $1250, just labor, no steering column or p/s pump hookup. I did chop the box off of the end of the column, and put on a bearing and and coupler to get him on his way. In-n-out, same day. I am always willing to negotiate, but if they just say "ok" when I quote a random price for fun, what am I supposed to do?
Thanks guys! Sounds like everybody agrees then that it's a good deal. The shop is a full blown custom frame shop and I've been talking to the owner about my project, so hopefully it's not the old bait and switch routine. I'm going to set up a time I can drag the old girl over there and talk with them about it. I do plan on getting it in writting before hand. I know how things tend to take longer than expected.
Well I followed up with the quote and it turns out the $400 was just to weld in the crossmember and box that area of the frame. it was not to install any components of the IFS. Now how does the quote sound? I have already cleaned the area to bare metal.
Based on what I've tried to get quoted out here in Jersey, that's a STEAL! I went to get a quote to do some tack welds (6 x 1inch long welds) to my shock mounts....place quoted me 360 Bucks!!!!!! I grabbed my junk and walked out.....so much for good deals during a recession!!!
this is making me dizzy. the other components aren't that tough to install..can you and some friends do it???
We have a shop locally that charges a base rate of $70 per hour. What they are not telling you is that is X every person that is working on it in that hour. Ouch!!! It pays to ask questions.
The price sounds pretty good to me. You're saying they are a high end, custom shop so, I'm sure their work is worth the price. I guess I don't understand the question at this point. If it's too much money, why don't you step up and try doing it yourself. If you haven't done this kind of work before, it always "looks" easy in the magazine articles. Spend the money with a good, quality shop, for a reasonable price and you and your ride will be happy when you hit the road.
do they know enough to put it ahead of the original about a 1.5"?i don't remember for sure how much forward so don't quote me it's cause the wheels in the fenders were too far back for my taste and when you lower it, it get's even worse 400 bucks ain't bad for just the install... can't say i've put a MII in a f100 but i did a pacer in one....
Be sure they know what they are doing, regardless of the price. A buddy of mine got a friend to install one... it ended up at the wrong height, at the wrong angle, etc. Never was right.. he sold his project in frustration because of it. Not a LOL. The new owner is tearing it all out and starting over. Gary
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