Wrong differential

M

mr.c

New member
Jul 11, 1998
494
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I am willing to write a letter, and perhaps a copy to the district attorney
in NV as well. Let us know what we can do to help.
al

> -- [ From: Eugene Fisher * EMC.Ver #3.1a PRODIGY ] --
> Expanded recipient data:
> To: Emerystora \ America On-Line: (EMERYSTORA)
>
> maybe we all need to write him a letter. Or a letter to the shop.
>
> gene
>
> -------- REPLY, Original message follows --------
>
> Date: Tuesday, 17-Aug-99 07:58 PM
>
> From: Emerystora \ America On-Line: (EMERYSTORA)
> To: gmclist \ Internet: (gmcmotorhome
> .org)
>
> Attachment: mimemsg.doc Code: 03LHTOL \ Created: Unknown [4 Kb]
>
> Subject: GMC: Wrong differential
>
> When my tranny and differential had to be replaced in Las Vegas, NV, the
> shop had it ready on Friday night 8/6. I drove it past Hoover Dam and
> Lake Mead on hwy 99 to I-40. Once on I-40 I discovered that the
> speedometer and odometer was off. It would register 88.8 miles in 100
> miles of mile markers.
> I assumed that they had put in the wrong speedometer gear in spite of
> the fact that I had told the rebuilder to use the one from my
> transmission case. Since it was Sunday I couldn't call the tranny shop
> so I returned to Santa Fe. When I got to some of the mountain grades
> on I-40 it seemed to bog down more than it should. After returning
> home I looked at the casting stamp. It is supposed to be a "T" but it
> was not. I calculated 88.8/100* 3.07 = 2.73. This is a stock auto
> differential for some of the model years of Olds and Caddy front wheel
> drives.
>
> The shop is Best Auto Specialist, Inc., 1266 N. Nellis Blvd., Las Vegas,
> NV 89110
>
> I called one of the owners on Monday 8/9 and told him that they put in
> the wrong differential. He understood the problem and told me to call
> him back at noon. I called at noon and again at 2:30. I called
> Tuesday, Thurs, Fri and Sat. A total of 9 times. Each time an
> employee told me that they would give the message to Paul. I called
> Monday morning 8/16 and finally spoke to the other owner, Rick. He
> said that I really didn't have a problem because the higher gear ratio
> would give me better gas mileage. I told him it would give worse
> mileage because the engine would be lugging all the time and not rev up
> near the hp and torque curve. He said he would call me back this
> morning (Tuesday) but did not do so. When I called for him I was told
> he was not in.
>
> When I had the work done I told them I was considering putting in a 3:42
> but they said they would not put in someone's else's parts. So, we
> agree that they would put in the stock one, a 3.07. I should have
> checked it before paying and taking the GMC but it was down off the
> hoist and seemed to drive well in the city.
>
> I may be out $750 for the differential and $300 for the R&R. I am going
> to contact the NV attorney general office to file a complaint. I just
> want to warn you that if you break down in Nevada, don't let the tow
> truck operator recommend Best Auto Specialist.
>
> Emery Stora
> 77 Kingsley
> Santa Fe, NM
>
> -------- REPLY, End of original message --------
>
> Gene 76Palm Beach /Or/CA
>
> GMC Technical Information
> http://www.california.com/~eagle/
 
Emery,

While I agree that you should be able to get them to replace the 2.73 with
a 3.07, I was wondering how it drove with the 2.73. It seems like you had
to measure the miles to notice it. How was the mileage. I suspect that
the mechanic might be right that it will get better mileage with the 2.73.
We were considering trying a 2.73 we got from a junked Toro when we were
only towing our 1 race car enclosed trailer. With our engine mods we had
plenty of power and figured that the 2.73 would help the mileage. We ended
up, however, getting a second race car and bigger trailer to haul both, so
we never tried it. With the 2 car trailer we felt we needed a little more
power and got a 3.42. Part of our reasoning for this was that other GMCers
had noticed better mileage when making the switch. We figured since we
were towing we would see even more improvement. When we switched to the
3.42 from the 3.07, however, our mileage got slightly worse. It may have
helped the power slightly, but was not a very noticeable difference.

I suspect that the 2.73 in a non-towing/light towing situation might help
the mileage while making a not very noticeable reduction in power. With
the 2.73, you should be able to use 2nd gear up around 70mph, so I don't
think normal driving would suffer at all. 3rd gear could then act as a
sort of overdrive for the flatter sections. The only time the 2.73 would
be a disadvantage is low gear. If your GMC doesn't have enough power to
get moving to your satisfaction or finds a hill that it can't accelerate up
in low that is where the 3.07/3.42/3.5X final drive ratios would help.
This would be much more of a factor if you do a lot of stop and go
city/town driving. If you drive mostly highway mileage, I would consider
giving the 2.73 a shot to see how it works.

Please don't misunderstand this post as a lack of support for you getting
the 3.07 final drive you deserved. You should definitely be able to get
them to change it to a 3.07. From the sounds of it, a lawyer might be
required to convince them of that though. I am only suggesting that the
2.73 might not be a total disaster and might be worth at least a short term
try. If all else fails and you decide to upgrade to a 3.42, Cinnabar will
take (at least they did for us) a 2.73 for a core for the 3.42. It would
sure hurt to give them a final drive you just paid $700 for to get a couple
hundred dollar core charge though.

Just some thoughts,
Zak

>

>
> The shop is Best Auto Specialist, Inc., 1266 N. Nellis Blvd., Las
Vegas,
>NV
>> 89110
>
>Does this guy have an e-mail address? Maybe with 250 e-mails from this
>group, he would just love to take care of business. >>
>
>Scott -- Great idea. Except I don't think they have an E-mail address.
>Maybe a few letters from across the country would wake them up. Don't do
>this until I let this gel for a week or two more. I am in the process of
>writing a letter to the Consumer Protection Division of the Nevada Attorney
>General's office. I'll also write to the Better Business Bureau except they
>usually don't have much clout.
>
>Are you home from your New England vacation? When we were there in June we
>stopped at some of the places that you recommended. Had a very good time.
>Except on the way home with the engine. Lanier suggested that his "little
>black cloud" had somehow shifted to over my head. I'm beginning to believe
>him.
>
>Emery Stora
>77 Kingsley
>Santa Fe, NM
>
 
Emery,

Did you charge the repair? If so, call your credit card company and dispute the
charge. They will remove the charge from your bill and deduct the amount from
the Best Auto Specialists' account while the matter is in dispute. Now you have
the leverage and the owners of the shop will start returning your calls.

I always charge large purchases, especially when they are from out of town
companies. In the few problems I have had, American Express has done all the
work and I have always ended up 100%. (I'm sure the same holds true for Master
Charge, Visa, etc.)

Good Luck,

Lorry

> The shop is Best Auto Specialist, Inc., 1266 N. Nellis Blvd., Las Vegas, NV
> 89110
> I may be out $750 for the differential and $300 for the R&R. I am going to
> contact the NV attorney general office to file a complaint. I just want to
> warn you that if you break down in Nevada, don't let the tow truck operator
> recommend Best Auto Specialist.
 
emory did you pay with a credit card? If so immediately challenge the
charge and tell your credit card issuer to charge it back to them.you will
probably have to give them and immediate letter.

>When my tranny and differential had to be replaced in Las Vegas, NV, the shop
>had it ready on Friday night 8/6. I drove it past Hoover Dam and Lake Mead
>on hwy 99 to I-40. Once on I-40 I discovered that the speedometer and
>odometer was off. It would register 88.8 miles in 100 miles of mile markers.
> I assumed that they had put in the wrong speedometer gear in spite of the
>fact that I had told the rebuilder to use the one from my transmission case.
>Since it was Sunday I couldn't call the tranny shop so I returned to Santa
>Fe. When I got to some of the mountain grades on I-40 it seemed to bog down
>more than it should. After returning home I looked at the casting stamp. It
>is supposed to be a "T" but it was not. I calculated 88.8/100* 3.07 = 2.73.
>This is a stock auto differential for some of the model years of Olds and
>Caddy front wheel drives.
>
>The shop is Best Auto Specialist, Inc., 1266 N. Nellis Blvd., Las Vegas, NV
>89110
>
>I called one of the owners on Monday 8/9 and told him that they put in the
>wrong differential. He understood the problem and told me to call him back
>at noon. I called at noon and again at 2:30. I called Tuesday, Thurs, Fri
>and Sat. A total of 9 times. Each time an employee told me that they would
>give the message to Paul. I called Monday morning 8/16 and finally spoke to
>the other owner, Rick. He said that I really didn't have a problem because
>the higher gear ratio would give me better gas mileage. I told him it would
>give worse mileage because the engine would be lugging all the time and not
>rev up near the hp and torque curve. He said he would call me back this
>morning (Tuesday) but did not do so. When I called for him I was told he was
>not in.
>
>When I had the work done I told them I was considering putting in a 3:42 but
>they said they would not put in someone's else's parts. So, we agree that
>they would put in the stock one, a 3.07. I should have checked it before
>paying and taking the GMC but it was down off the hoist and seemed to drive
>well in the city.
>
>I may be out $750 for the differential and $300 for the R&R. I am going to
>contact the NV attorney general office to file a complaint. I just want to
>warn you that if you break down in Nevada, don't let the tow truck operator
>recommend Best Auto Specialist.
>
>Emery Stora
>77 Kingsley
>Santa Fe, NM
>
>
 
Hope that everyone that gets repairs done charges it on a credit card. you
have a lot of leverage from the bank to charge back the repairs.Normally you
have several weeks to do it after the bill is received

>Emery,
>
> While I agree that you should be able to get them to replace the 2.73 with
>a 3.07, I was wondering how it drove with the 2.73. It seems like you had
>to measure the miles to notice it. How was the mileage. I suspect that
>the mechanic might be right that it will get better mileage with the 2.73.
>We were considering trying a 2.73 we got from a junked Toro when we were
>only towing our 1 race car enclosed trailer. With our engine mods we had
>plenty of power and figured that the 2.73 would help the mileage. We ended
>up, however, getting a second race car and bigger trailer to haul both, so
>we never tried it. With the 2 car trailer we felt we needed a little more
>power and got a 3.42. Part of our reasoning for this was that other GMCers
>had noticed better mileage when making the switch. We figured since we
>were towing we would see even more improvement. When we switched to the
>3.42 from the 3.07, however, our mileage got slightly worse. It may have
>helped the power slightly, but was not a very noticeable difference.
>
>I suspect that the 2.73 in a non-towing/light towing situation might help
>the mileage while making a not very noticeable reduction in power. With
>the 2.73, you should be able to use 2nd gear up around 70mph, so I don't
>think normal driving would suffer at all. 3rd gear could then act as a
>sort of overdrive for the flatter sections. The only time the 2.73 would
>be a disadvantage is low gear. If your GMC doesn't have enough power to
>get moving to your satisfaction or finds a hill that it can't accelerate up
>in low that is where the 3.07/3.42/3.5X final drive ratios would help.
>This would be much more of a factor if you do a lot of stop and go
>city/town driving. If you drive mostly highway mileage, I would consider
>giving the 2.73 a shot to see how it works.
>
>Please don't misunderstand this post as a lack of support for you getting
>the 3.07 final drive you deserved. You should definitely be able to get
>them to change it to a 3.07. From the sounds of it, a lawyer might be
>required to convince them of that though. I am only suggesting that the
>2.73 might not be a total disaster and might be worth at least a short term
>try. If all else fails and you decide to upgrade to a 3.42, Cinnabar will
>take (at least they did for us) a 2.73 for a core for the 3.42. It would
>sure hurt to give them a final drive you just paid $700 for to get a couple
>hundred dollar core charge though.
>
>Just some thoughts,
>Zak
>
>
>

>>

>>
>> The shop is Best Auto Specialist, Inc., 1266 N. Nellis Blvd., Las
>Vegas,
>>NV
>>> 89110
>>
>>Does this guy have an e-mail address? Maybe with 250 e-mails from this
>>group, he would just love to take care of business. >>
>>
>>Scott -- Great idea. Except I don't think they have an E-mail address.
>>Maybe a few letters from across the country would wake them up. Don't do
>>this until I let this gel for a week or two more. I am in the process of
>>writing a letter to the Consumer Protection Division of the Nevada Attorney
>>General's office. I'll also write to the Better Business Bureau except they
>>usually don't have much clout.
>>
>>Are you home from your New England vacation? When we were there in June we
>>stopped at some of the places that you recommended. Had a very good time.
>>Except on the way home with the engine. Lanier suggested that his "little
>>black cloud" had somehow shifted to over my head. I'm beginning to believe
>>him.
>>
>>Emery Stora
>>77 Kingsley
>>Santa Fe, NM
>>
>
>
 
Emery, Man, if you weren't having BAD luck, you wouldn't be having any luck
at all!
Sounds like a BOLD FACE item for the REAL BLACK LIST!!!!!!!
Dick 75 PB in Atlanta

>When my tranny and differential had to be replaced in Las Vegas, NV, the shop
>had it ready on Friday night 8/6. I drove it past Hoover Dam and Lake Mead
>on hwy 99 to I-40. Once on I-40 I discovered that the speedometer and
>odometer was off. It would register 88.8 miles in 100 miles of mile markers.
> I assumed that they had put in the wrong speedometer gear in spite of the
>fact that I had told the rebuilder to use the one from my transmission case.
>Since it was Sunday I couldn't call the tranny shop so I returned to Santa
>Fe. When I got to some of the mountain grades on I-40 it seemed to bog down
>more than it should. After returning home I looked at the casting stamp. It
>is supposed to be a "T" but it was not. I calculated 88.8/100* 3.07 = 2.73.
>This is a stock auto differential for some of the model years of Olds and
>Caddy front wheel drives.
>
>The shop is Best Auto Specialist, Inc., 1266 N. Nellis Blvd., Las Vegas, NV
>89110
>
>I called one of the owners on Monday 8/9 and told him that they put in the
>wrong differential. He understood the problem and told me to call him back
>at noon. I called at noon and again at 2:30. I called Tuesday, Thurs, Fri
>and Sat. A total of 9 times. Each time an employee told me that they would
>give the message to Paul. I called Monday morning 8/16 and finally spoke to
>the other owner, Rick. He said that I really didn't have a problem because
>the higher gear ratio would give me better gas mileage. I told him it would
>give worse mileage because the engine would be lugging all the time and not
>rev up near the hp and torque curve. He said he would call me back this
>morning (Tuesday) but did not do so. When I called for him I was told he was
>not in.
>
>When I had the work done I told them I was considering putting in a 3:42 but
>they said they would not put in someone's else's parts. So, we agree that
>they would put in the stock one, a 3.07. I should have checked it before
>paying and taking the GMC but it was down off the hoist and seemed to drive
>well in the city.
>
>I may be out $750 for the differential and $300 for the R&R. I am going to
>contact the NV attorney general office to file a complaint. I just want to
>warn you that if you break down in Nevada, don't let the tow truck operator
>recommend Best Auto Specialist.
>
>Emery Stora
>77 Kingsley
>Santa Fe, NM
>
 
>
> Were these guys in a movie a few years back, where they flagged
> motorhomes down (because of billowing smoke) and then faked a huge amount
> of metal filings in perfectly good differentials?
>
> Did you or anyone else see that undercover-cam TV-piece a few years ago?

That was a 20/20 or 60 Minutes piece quite a few years back. Couple
guys in a pickup truck in cahoots with a small garage owner flagging
down elderly couples in motorhomes. They'd pull the diff, stuff it full
of metal filings and show it to the owner. After many phone
calls(probably to the Time and Temperature number), the shop owner would
"locate" a new diff and tell them how lucky they were that he was able
to find one. The other two would drive off to ostensibly pick up the
new diff, but they'd just clean up the old one while they were gone.
Once they returned, they install the new diff and present the owner with
a bill probably three times what the legitimate work would have cost all
the time telling the owners how "lucky" they were as it would have been
much worse if they hadn't flagged them down. IIRC, it was out west...

Patrick
- --
Patrick Flowers
Mailto:patrick

The GMC Motorhome Page
http://www.gmcmotorhome.com
 
>I am in the process of writing a letter to the Consumer Protection
>Division of the Nevada Attorney General's office. I'll also write to
>the Better Business Bureau except they usually don't have much clout.

You are handling it corectly Emery, and as I am sure you know, they only
take written complaints. I had to deal with both of those offices a few
years ago. You should be able to get verbal information from one or
both of those offices, as to whether there are any outstanding or
uncontested claims against the company. I would tell both offices, that
you will be filing a complaint, if it is not resolved by at least a
letter agreement, direct from an officer of the company in 2 weeks.

I told the highest official at 'my recalcitrant company' that I was
starting the formal complaint process, with both offices, even though
I would rather handle it with them. Tell them they have a week to think
about it, before you do what you have to do. I was pleasantly surprized
to hear a very different tune from 'my company' after about a week.
That particular BBB (maybe all of them to some degree) is more on the
company's side that the consumer's side, so I would not go into too many
of the details on the phone, but let them you are very serious.

I can't be sure if there was any communication between those parties,
but it was a night and day difference after a week, and I got my money
back after I returned the parts.

Was it a credit card purchase?

- --
Regards,
John 74 Glacier
 
Emery...

Sorry I added a question you already answered, about the credit card.
I'm sorry to learn by your experience, but it does jive with my
experience. (In todays markeplace, almost every time someone said 'cash
only' and I went ahead with the deal, I was in for a headache).

Were these guys in a movie a few years back, where they flagged
motorhomes down (because of billowing smoke) and then faked a huge amount
of metal filings in perfectly good differentials?

Did you or anyone else see that undercover-cam TV-piece a few years ago?

- --
Regards,
John 74 Glacier
 
> Did you or anyone else see that undercover-cam TV-piece a few years

>> Hi John! I saw that piece, it was disgusting.

Hi Scott and Patrick,

You're right guys... Chris Wallace or something like that
I have seen that so many times I think it is getting to be a classic...
I loved it when the investigative reporter said, 'we have video of you
ripping off that retired couple in the motorhome, take a look at this.'

The guys eyes got as big as tea cups, but they left town before the
sheriff could get out to the garage to arrest them. I was just wondering
if they took a cab to Vegas, and Emery discovered them? Emery should ask
them if they noticed his video security setup.

- --
Regards,
John 74 Glacier
 
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