Bunch of woosies

After contacting several local "mechanics" about doing the kingpins on my Chevy K-30 [military] I found that they would rather not do the job.It seems that this job is too hard for them to do..I decided to do the job myself despite the extreme knee problems I have going on..I'm not real impressed with Dana Corps. idea of king pins with spring loaded plastic upper tapered bushings.. Who thought up that fubar ?? Did them both today..Gonna set the toe-in after installing new tie rod ends tomorrow.. If I had a lift I could have done this job in 5 or 6 hours..Maybe these youngsters didn't want to get dirty 'cause it sure wasn't brain surgery..I'm getting a new knee in the late winter/early spring...Anyone have a Dupuy knee ?? Pro's and con's ??I have a great doctor lined up.. I just hope I can still work on trucks and equipment afterward..Now I feel a little better..Thanks

dad had both knees put in at the same time.rough couple weeks.he has had great luck with them,thats been 14 yrs ago, this yr he got both hip joints ,hes 80 stills works around a saw mill ever day . good luck tom

they did not want to do it because it involved work and more then likely they had no idea how to do it.if they can't open a box up and put a new part on they are screwed. just ask the dealer sometime to replace the brushes in a delco alt. they will not do it but they will replace the hole thing. most can't fix anything just replace it

Replacing brushes is easy and we did it for years and years but nowadays they're taught to send it to a facility where the brushes can be run in properly. $$$$$ Actually, they do a better job. But still, $$$$$

Roy,

I worked in an honest-to-goodness garage when I was in high school. That was back in the late 50s, early 60s. We actually repaired stuff.

I haven't replaced a kingpin since then. How did you press them out? We used to have a small hydraulic jack on a flexible hose that we used. We'd chain it to the spindle and pump the kingpin out. Sometimes had to heat and pound, but they always came out.

How did you get them out?

Tom in TN

Had a knee replaced three years ago.Had put up with the old one for several years. Wish I had had it done long ago. Gotta do the therapy or you in trouble. I am 82 and do whatever I want. Don't want to run or jog tho. Have had a hip replaced too. Both are Great. Do the exersizes!!!!!!

There not mechanics today, there "techs". If they can't hook a box up to it, that tells them a code of what's wrong, there lost. My fil had his knees replaced, first one was great, second one was a diaster. They gave him an infection, had to take out the replacement, put in a antibiotic spacer, then put in another replacement. He still says it's not right. He also says he lost range of motion, can't bend down as good, or climb anything as well anymore! But he dosent have the Dayly pain of his bad knees.

Just had a knee replace on 11-12-2012. In on Monday and out of hospital on wednesday afternoon. Had home health care three days a week and starting monday i go to physical therapy. Knee is doing find. Able to bend to 110 degrees.

The biggest deal is getting the nuts on top to brake loose. Usally takes a pretty good piece of pipe.

Ex MIL had both her knees replaced a year ago this past July. She's doing great and glad she had them done.

Depuy has been taking some hits for older "metal on metal" knee replacement parts that some people need to have replaced with newer design. Other manufacturers made parts of that same design too.

Depuy is as good as any and better than most. Many people have quite a bit of fairly long term pain with knee replacements, but it gets a little better everyday. Definitely better than the alternative of yesteryear and just go lame. More worth it the longer you live, so do what it takes to live longer. Hope it works out well for ya.

I've had shops turn down good paying but hard jobs too. Buncha goodfornothins.

You talkin about the knee or the King pins?

kind of reminds me of a sign my mechanic [ a real one] has in his shop, the "difference between a mechanic and a service tech... a mechanic has experience and will actually fix whats wrong with your car, a service tech is a computer nerd and will switch out parts until the engine starts then call the job done, and the car will be back in soon for exactly the same problem"

Roy i have done them many times over the years and yea some IDIOT thought PLASTIC was the way to go, NOT . They wore out fast enough when ya did nt plow snow but add that PLOW to the ft. and by the time spring came ya had a Pidgon TOED truck . I kept the spring and cone on hand at all times and greased them each and everyweek . One to two sets a year. If you like that set up you will love the new one with the press in BALL JOINTS , i'll take the cone and spring anyday over the ball joints.

You guys may find it hard to believe but a kid going to school today to be a mechanic for cars and lite trucks will not learn ANYTHING about a craburator and get very little about repairing an alternator or starter. Reason being is cost and come backs. Some carbs have as much as 8 hours according to the flat rate. So take the cost of a kit, so 50 bucks and add that too 8Xshop rate. They get 1 hour to R&I a reman that sells for 250. There is more to a carb than just putting a kit in it. You should check and repair as needed the shafts which require new bushings and those bushing reamed to fit and so on. Most shops don't even have the equipment anymore. Same thing with alternators and starters. Do repair (rebuild) the entire thing, repacing rectifiers and bearing/bushings plus run in is just too many hours. Plus that process has to be repaeted if the mechanic is having a bad day and it fails. With a reman they pull it and repace it if they get a bad one.

Rick

DePuy is located in Warsaw, IN. The sign at the edge of town used to claim "the orthopedic capital of the world". Lots of implant activity there with BioMet and Zimmer as well as DePuy.

I used to sell them all titanium implant castings back in the mid-80's. Depuy is owned by Johnson & Johnson and that is a pretty conservative company. My guess would be that their market offerings are highly ranked today.

The real expert in this is your orthopedic surgeon. A frank conversation with him about why he prefers Depuy implants over the long list of others should be enlightening.

All of the orthopedic manufacturers used to sell exclusively through commissioned reps. The going rate was 25% of the hospital's cost and those guys were driving better cars than the doctors. One thing that they would do is to give the surgeon his own personalized set of instruments. Each manufacturer has a unique instrument set for proper installation so if the surgeon uses Depuy implants it's likely that it's his only brand.

Talk to your surgeon. Ask about the materials used and what track history the company has on recalls and equally as important "revision surgeries". Ask him how many revisions he has done. Also ask about the hospital's track record.

They lop the ends of the femur and tibia off with a total knee surgery. There's no going back so you need to be comfortable going in.

Had my knee done 3 years ago. No idea what brand they put in. It sure works better than my original model was doing. The exercises after are the key to success. I can pretty much do anything I want at this point. Although I wouldn"t call it perfect, it"s a major improvement over what was going on with the old knee.

They may well have been just honest with themselves, knowing it would take them way longer than it should due to not having any experience with that job. At today's shop rates it could have cost you way more than it would be worth to you. I am an old mechanic, bad knees also. Would I have done it. Most likely not and I only charge 20 bucks an hour and if I feel it takes me too long I adjust that. If these guys were working for someone else, it does not matter how long it takes you get shop rate per hour regardless.

(quoted from post at 19:24:37 12/01/12) There not mechanics today, there "techs". [b:4c4abc6812]If they can't hook a box up to it, that tells them a code of what's wrong, there lost[/b:4c4abc6812]. My fil had his knees replaced, first one was great, second one was a diaster. They gave him an infection, had to take out the replacement, put in a antibiotic spacer, then put in another replacement. He still says it's not right. He also says he lost range of motion, can't bend down as good, or climb anything as well anymore! But he dosent have the Dayly pain of his bad knees.

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Nowadays cars and trucks have so much electronics on them that are so complicated that one needs a code reader and/or scanner to point to or find out what electrical component is giving trouble. Without it the only recourse is to trow parts $$$$$ at it till the problem goes away.
And every model is a little different than the next.
Blame the Engineers and the gov-ment,..not the mechanics,but you are right..fixing is a thing of the past,..component replacement is in.