This is why I work on my own car.

 

Heres another pic.

 

dude probably didn't know the rear end moved first time hes ever worked on a rear wheel drive car
but man you should take the sway bar and shove it up the guys *** so far it tickles his brain then if he wont pay to have it fixed somewhere else sue him! cuz he effed up royal, forgot a bushing and put it on upside down. but what amazes me is the fact that it went on upside down (likely forced into place) and a whole shop full of mechanics didn't realize it

 

I went through the whole service manual and they never actually clearly show the rear sway fully attached. But, you have pictures so you get the idea.

That guy better start kissing your ***.

You NEED to demand a complete rear end job at a different job at his expense. The integrity of yours has already been compromised due to possible damage to the gear set and bearings. This can potentially pose a serious safety issue. If he doesn't go along take him to small claims, play your cards right, and you have it in the bag. I wouldn't recommend linking him to the thread or using the thread directly to support your case though.

 

aww dude that sucks hard! i agree with everyone here its upside down, im trying to figure out while he was tightening everything down did he hear the metal crunch as he was shoving the sway bar into your diff or not, is he deaf, i agree with the last couple of posts print this out especially the correct installation pictures provided and yours and take it to him say this is what you done, this is correct installation or grab a haynes manual or chilton and show it to him say next time install the crap by the book and he'll be alright, nows the time to get a good gear put in your rearend if its toast.

 

Thanks for all your posts guys... I cant wait to see his face monday when i tell him he better pay for a new rear end or i will see him in court.

 

The funny part is he worked on another 3rd gen right before mine... now i realize why the other one was back every couple of weeks.

 

Subscribe.I gotta see how this turns out let us know what he says when you show him pics.That is crazy.

 

no he put it on right, when you put it upside down like that it enhances performance. lol if you put the sway bar on like that it increases throttle response and power

 

dam man i feel for ya. that does suck but you should never take your car to just anyone. almost everything you done ive pretty much done with my own hands and tools and for 7k man i woulda tore his *** up if he did something stupid like this. ive taken my 3rd gen ONCE to one mechanic and all they will touch are domestic's nothin but ford's and chevy's one step in that place and you know they do high end work hell my 3rd gen is prolly the cheapest thing in there although its my sentimental treasure. the mechanic shop even has theyre own forum so it was very legit. basically do your homework before you just take it to a mechanic who puts his hands on anything and doesnt give a f--k to just get paid. get some legal action on his A$$ what he did was very unsafe and very very un professional.

 

Advice: Take the best picture you have and bring it with you when you talk to this guy. You had $7000 worth of work done and until the rear sway bar incident I'm assuming you were O.K. with the work he did. Be calm, point out that the rear sway bar was obviously installed wrong. Keep your cool, don't start demanding justice. Explain that the damage speaks for itself, that no way did a properly installed Sway Bar do what it did. Give him a chance to make restitution. Be reasonable about the damages. Telling him that he better buy you a new rear end won't fly. Get a real estimate about the damage and show it to him. About court...Forgetaboutit..... Would you win? Probably, but winning in small claims court and collecting damages are two different animals, and possibly years apart from each other. I said you'ed "probably" win in court but there could be potential problems, If you don't give him the opportunity to fix his mistake he could potentially tell the judge; " Your Honor, I did make a mistake and I admit I'm at fault, but Mr. Camaroz2892 never returned with the car for me to do an adequate inspection so that I could resolve this situation." My suggestion is to work with him and get what you can, either fixed or monies. And remember, if you accept any money from him, or parts or any type of restitution, no matter how slight that is a De Facto civil agreement and you will not be able to proceed with a civil small claims suit. I know, everybody says to "Sue the hell out of him, he owes you a new rearend" etc. etc... But unfortunately it's never that easy. Good Luck.

 

What I can't get over is how hard it must have been to put it in wrong ... and how easy it would have been to do it right!

Work smarter not harder!

 

obviously it was very hard to connect the end links with it like that, so hard that he had to leave bushings out just to get it to work..

 

So i need a little more help. I bring the pictures to the mechanic and he tries telling me that he has specifications from GM that the sway bar is supposed to be installed this way and me having 3 people in the back seat was what did it. Obviously this is bullshit, but i need some more solid proof that he did install it upside down like a diagram from GM or something of the sort... Im gonna try emailing the company i brought it from but in the mean time if anyone has anything please let me know.

 

Did he show you "his specs"?

How about the specs of "the sway bar is slamming into the pumpkin", had it been installed the other way, it would of rolled around it not hitting anything...

I'll check and see if my GM Firebird 91 service manual has a pic... what excuse is next...???

Raf

 

This guys sounds like the guy who put in my new engine, a complete tool. If you ask him to show you his "diagram", all the mechanics i have been to have had no problem explaining and showing me how they will work on my car. The service manual will definatly have a picture for you, and the pictures from other cars should be more than enough proof, Look at the bushings!! lol. Id call the BBB and take him to small claims court.

 

Thats the next step.. I'm trying to have this resolved as quickly and with as little work as possible. However, i think its going to come to taking him to small claims court.

 

Does he have a computer with internet at his shop??? Log on to this site and show him the hundreds of cars with the sway bar installed right.

 

Post his phone number. I'm sure he'd get an education.

I had a shop I took my car too to get an alignment break my lower control arm bolts on my talon.

Long story short they installed the new control arms upside down, and it hit the frame on every bump.
I took them in a service book diagram even showing the correct way and made them put the car on the rack again.
The guy stood there and told me 3 of his best mechanics had just looked at it and it was impossible to installed them the other way.
I told him he's full of it and take them off and try it.
Sure enough, they flipped over and installed the right way.
Sounds like you have the same mechanic I did.

Show him this thead. 99% of 'mechanics' out there know less about these cars then we do.
Give him one last chance to fix it.
Call spohn since it's his sway bar and show him the pics. Let him say if it's upside down. Then ask him if he can talk to your mechanic.
Either have spohn call him or call spohn right there from your mechanics shop.

I'm an *** and I'd have my cell phone recording the conversation so I had him on tape saying no and that it can't be installed the other way. But that's just me.
If for some reason that doesn't work and he still says no. Tell him you'll be calling a lawyer, using your cell phone recording and a signedd affidavit from sphon saying the sway bar is upside down.

Contact the BBB also.

 

It would be nice if everyone of us could drive to his shop and show him that everyone of ours is installed going under the diff.You could drive bigfoot over the backseats and it wouldnt knock the bushings off and make it do what yours is doing.That would have pi$$ed me off so bad for him to look me in the face and lie like that.Why would someone do that? That even makes me mad and it happened to you

 

Print my pic and bring it to your "mechanic". This is the factory setup, a aftermarket looks the same.

 

I showed him your picture and still denys it was installed wrong. Right now im waiting on an email back from spohn... i sent them pictures of my sway bar. I will then print out there email saying it was installed improperly them present it too him.

 

is he ****ing retarded?

 

Go to a local dealership with the car (if it's still installed this way) or with pictures of his installation and see what they say. Well, we know what they'll say, but at least you'll have proof this guy does not need to be working on anything other than little red wagons.

 

man if he works on a little red wagon he will be putting some poor kids life on the lines when he rides in the back of it and all of a sudden the axle just falls off and the wagon goes spinning off in circles and bursts into flames

i agree Spohn should help you to get it through his head that he is a retard, and if all else fails small claims and the BBB

 

How could this guy still be in business, sway bars aren't complicated, imagine him repairing something that took a little thought. You say you're not too much of a mechanic, well you may also need to have a qualified mechanic check out all the other work this guy did, just to be safe. Later

 

are you freakin kidding me!!!?? since when does having too many people in the back seat cause a sway bar to flip over slam into the diff cover and destroy polyurethane bushings? this guy is unbelievable

 

do you want a picture of my sway bar too? mine is stock and I just replaced the end links (one old one broke so I replaced both). my car now slides around like stock and get this. the bend in the sway bar goes below the pumpkin. I doubt the sway bar has ever been taken off. did you point out that the sway bar has that specific shape for the pumpkin clearance?

 

Give us his number and we'll all call him and tell him he is a f-ing moron!!!!!! I just had the whole back of my car ripped out to do a fuel pump and while I was putting it all back in my 13 year old nephew was helping me and he did a better job.

Sorry man, that sucks. Another reason why i work on all my own and my family members cars. Your basic mechanic is just a ham and egger!!!!!!

 

Except that recording telephone calls without the permission of the other party is a felony.

 

I don't think its a felony but i t may depend on the state(knida like video vouyerism), but it's not a felony here in Illinois. It can be used in civil suits but is inaddmisable as evidence in a criminal trials.
Our law states anyways to record a conversation between party's at least two people in the conversation must know before hand of the recording meaning if there is only 2 people both must know, if 3 or more as long as 2 know.
I found this out at a job i had when a boss got canned for some questionable practices and recordings were used in the civil matters.
But i would be staight up and tell him( record when you tell him) that you are recording it.

 

If he's in Illinois he can now record his conversation:

Illinois
Illinois is, by statute, a two-party state. However, case law from both the IL Supreme Court and various Illinois appellate courts have declared Illinois a one-party state in the case of private citizens (businesses and plain folks - NOT law enforcement). The reigning consensus is that one-party consensual recording is merely "enhanced note-taking" and since some folks have total recall without recording, how can the other party have any expectation of privacy to a conversation held with another person.

Illinois requires prior consent of all participants to monitor or record a phone conversation. Ill. Rev. Stat. Ch. 38, Sec. 14-2. There is no specific business telephone exception, but in general courts have found extension telephones do not constitute eavesdropping devices. Criminal penalties for unlawful eavesdropping include up to three years' imprisonment or $10,000 in fines and the civil remedy provides for recovery of actual and punitive damages.

In the state of Illinois it is illegal to monitor cordless phones.

 

Wholly shitt bro. I would seriously be afraid of what other shitt he installed incorrectly. Let us know what else he did and send us pics.
For $7k, the car better be perfect.
It amazes me that he still thinks he is right. He is going to feel like a big tool once he gets schooled. I hope you get your money back atleast for the rearend.

Tommy

 

LOL!! WOW!! Sorry, I'm having a hard time stopping laughing!!

I agree, the differential cover should be removed and the ring gear / carrier should be inspected for damage.

I really didn't think it was possible to install upside down - I stand corrected LOL!! Camaroz2892 I feel for you, your mechanic needs a few more lessons...

 

that trick your lacky pulled reminds me of this one a few weeks back
http://www.zxforums.com/forums/zx-6r...need-help.html

 

F**ktard= a 30+ year experianced mechanic that puts a sway bar on upside down. it doesnt take a head casheir at wal mart to put a sway bar on. especialy when it is shaped like the contour of the diff.

 

Dood..that is effing classic! Wholly ish...what a stupid mistake!

 

i agree with aaron. post his info up, let a few of us call him. we could seriously tear his head up.

 

For all those interested we have resolved everything with minimal stress. I brought my friend, a licensed mechanic, with me to the shop to inspect that car. I had my mechanic take apart the rear end in front of us to inspect it. Everything turned out alright... the seals were leaking however from normal wear but he replaced them for free (normally a 300 or 400$ job depending on where you go my buddy informed me). He then also paid for a new pumpkin cover, sway bar, and links which i installed myself. Hopefully ill have some new pics up soon but it runs like a pro!

Thank you everyone for all your help!

 

THAT IS GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Glad to hear everything is resolved.

 

who paid the shop owner or your friend? Hard to tell from the way you said it. Glad to hear it worked out for ya! Doubt that old swaybar was damaged at all. They're very strong and are made to flex.

 

Glad to hear everything was resovled with minimal hassle. Good job working things out!

 

Shop owner paid.

 

Did he finally admit he was a moron and couldn't figure out how to install a swaybar? I can see how it can be confusing considering its shaped to follow the contour of the diff...

 

No one wants to admit they`re an idiot but when you call yourself a mechanic thats more than a simple mistake.Atleast you didnt end up getting shafted.BTW.What did yall do with the old sway bar.

 

Glad to hear all resolved. Now a suggestion: Find another shop to take your car to. You should have never had to have this trouble.

 

He kept the old sway bar and pumpkin cover.
----------
Yeah i agree full heartedly

 

Hey Badman is your track bar brace still in the car? I see the track bar (panhard bar) but not the brace. I can't tell from the pic. Thanx

 

Glad to hear everything was resolved! If you ever wanted to start learning about your car and how to work on it on your own, I suggest finding a used dealership service manual. Its night and day compared to a chilton's or hayne's manual.

 

Yes, it's there but behind and above muffler where you can't see it. Why do you ask?