Chrono

Hey guys, the lower support on my 97 SE is rusted bad and I have been advised to get it replaced before issues arise. I went to a body shop and they gave me the estimate below to replace the entire radiator assembly, not just the lower support. This price seems high to me. I asked him about just changing out the lower support and he advised it would be good to change the whole thing so there is "good metal too weld to"...though he didn't put the car on a lift to see the the state of the rest of the assembly..so I don't know whether replacing the entire assembly is actually necessary.

The estimate he gave me below seems high...I only want to spend around 500 tops. Are these guys ripping me off? Please advise if I would be ok to just replace the lower support and what a good price for that would be. Estimate below is for the whole assembly...I'm thinking it would be much cheaper to just replace the lower support. How much have you guys paid to get this replaced? Would be grateful for your thoughts/feedback. Thanks.

max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

that's ridiculous for the rad support replacement. the parts are cheap and the labor is what there killing you on. find a shop thats willing to do the lower rad support only.

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

They shouldn't have R&I's on the fenders, that's 2.4 off
No paint required on the support, that's 1.5 off on paint.
Negotiate the rate down to 45 and your under a grand for the whole job.

Slamrod

iTrader: (11)

Thats absolutely a rip off.

500 would be a more appropiate estimate, and yes you shouldnt be replacing the entire rad support unless its all rusted.

tigersharkdude

iTrader: (20)

OEM NISSAN or BUST on the parts. The cheap crap (which is likely what they quoted you) will break in mere days ... look at the radiator core support thread in my sig

Chrono

Hey guys, quick update. I called back the shop that gave the original quotation for 1500 and told them I only wanted the lower support done...he said it would still be a 1000. People here are saying they got it done for 500? Should I just shop around more? Please advise...

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

yes shop around. And go OEM as Tigershark mentioned above. Maney shops will install customer-supplied parts...buy the support from Nissan and have the shop install it

Slamrod

iTrader: (11)

Anything above 500 would be steep.

From what i understand its not a terribly difficult job, you just need to know how to do some spot welding; majority of people dont, thus the price.

Not to hijack the thread but i remember reading a long while back of people bolting in the new rad support but not welding - will that work? The logic was that the welds are not really holding any of the weight and its the bolts that matter. I think what people determined was that there are spot welds because they were needed to hold things in place on the assembly line before the bolts were installed because other parts also had to be installed before those bolts were put in.

Does anyone have a definitive answer as to if going bolts only works? I know people will shake their heads but im yet to find an example of this being done and it NOT working - it seems bolt only might actually be satisfactory and would make this job a DIY.

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

I paid $700 painted with OEM part in hand at a local body shop.

They claimed they needed to remove the compressor to cut welds..so that price included a/c work too.

Don't just halfa$$ it..when you have it done/do it yourself, weld the spots back up.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

I was charged a few hundred to have mine redone. The shop who rebuilt the tranny sent it out while the tranny was being overhauled to a metal fab shop.

max ride 41

iTrader: (4)

what the heck is a maney shop??

Chrono

This is an interesting idea and would likely be much cheaper...I will ask the body shops I speak to about it and see what they say. Main thing for me is safety and maintaining structural integrity...I don't want to have issues in future with it..

Also, I had O2 sensors replaced yesterday ($60 they were the original nissan sensors at 140,000 miles, thought it was cool...I put in Denso's) and asked the mechanic to check out the core support...he said lower support needs replacement but the side supports are spotless so confirms only lower support needs replacement.

cashoit

11 hrs for a shop to do this work is ridiculous. It shouldnt take a mechanic with air tools more than 5 hrs.

Find somebody else.

And get OEM. I had gotten the cheapo ebay radiator support (well my mech got the part but damn sure it wasnt OEM). One year later it started ripping apart at the seams. He had to weld on additional steel L bracket to make the lower support more secure.

99maxwell

iTrader: (1)

I paid $465 for mine, with OEM part, under 500 bucks..that shop is trying to steal a grand from you. I definitely wouldn't go there if I were you, fukc that. some people just try and screw you over, that shop seems to be doing it to the extreme though.