08JKWrangler

Looks like I am going to finally pull the trigger soon on a 5:13 gear install. Talked to both a local shop and a local 4 Wheel parts.

Anyone have any positive/negative feedback to share regarding 4wheel parts?

Thanks

wayoflife

every 4 wheel parts shop is different. some are good at what they do and some aren't. out here in socal, they sub out the work to a mobil unit that makes it rounds to all the shops. i have used them before and they did okay work. the first set of gears they installed they blew but, replaced them for me without any question.

spinlock

I fully agree with WOL, the shops are very different from each other even here in SoCal where there are 4-5 of them.

I have had a large disparity in customer and shop service in the different stores over the years.

Their shop rates are a bit above average for lifts and gears if you shop around.

Have you priced another 4x4 shop or a generic gear shop?

wayoflife

have you ever considered going up to screaming lizard? they are a sponsor here and i'm sure they would take care of you.

nthinuf

Have you checked with Jeep Masters or Atomic? Personally, I go to either of them before that particular 4wheelparts. If you feel like a road trip, take Wol's advice and head up to SLC in Dallas - and have them throw on some gussets while it's there...

kabookie10

From hearing horror stories about 4 Wheel Parts, i would only let them install a simple bolt on at most. For gears, lift, bumpers, winch, tires...ect. I would take it to a respectable 4wd shop that knows what they are doing. I would rather spend my money with a privately owned shop, they take pride in their work and if something goes wrong you know who to contact and who to talk to. Just my .02 cents.

08JKWrangler

Atomic is the local shop I talked to. Their price was not much different from 4wheelparts so it's not a price issue that concerns me. It's just that they are a small shop and I worry about them being around to stand behind their work. The one thing you can say for sure about 4 Wheelparts is that they have the deep pockets to fix their mistakes.

Have you used either Jeep Masters or Atomic?

Havent scratched SLC off the list either..

wayoflife

well, i certainly can understand your concerns. installing gears isn't easy and if you have a rubicon, i have seen where time and time again, a shop didn't know how to work with the locker and after all was said and done, they weren't able to put things back together again correctly.

08JKWrangler

Yep.. Spoke to a general auto shop yesterday and it took them 35 minutes just to figure out how to quote me labor time and the owner filled me in that the last time he swapped gears was 2 years ago - BIG RED FLAG ME THINKS

Anyways, WOL, is there a link on this forum for SLC? Know if any specials they are running? I'll ping them - who knows, maybe the 2 hour drive will be worth it..

Joe Lightfoot

I think the two hour drive to SLC would be well worth your time. If it was a simple bolt on I wouldn't worry about it but when it comes to something like gears, I would drive twice that far to know I was getting the job done right, just my . Good luck