Info on Advantage steering racks

As I am having to do a head gasket on my 93 4.0, I am going to have the rack rebuilt as the boots are torn and I have a minor leak.
My Question is has anyone done any business with Advantage Steering (web - advantage steering.com). They have a rack,a choice of two for my model year, one at $945 and $995. $400 of which is core charge, making them $545 and 595 respectively. Just looking for some input about them.

Just hit your link, domain name is for sale. Be careful.

Never heard of them. The only aftermarket source i would trust, at least on Ebay, is vendor Detroit Axle. Problem is the rebuilt units they currently have for sale are all for the V-12s, and none for the 4.0s. :frowning_face:

1 Like

Right there are 2 very good reasons I use the forums for information. Its always pretty relevant and provides excellent answers and/or a nudge in a better direction. There are many on here who’s opinions I receive and see on threads and this is 2 of them… Thank You, Paul and Jim for the quick response. New it was too good to be true but had to ask.

Couple of things:

  1. The link in Dennis’ original post is incomplete. It points to steering.com which is indeed for sale. advantagesteering.com appears to be a real website and a real company. I don’t know anything about them but they seem to have a good reputation on the web and a pretty comprehensive website.

  2. I bought my first rack from Autohaus AZ. They no longer seem to have them. It lasted 13 years before the tower seal started to leak. I bought the replacement from Moss. It was expensive but works flawlessly so far, and the core process was relatively painless.

Regards
Bob

Thanks for the info. My bad, I had a space where there shouldn’t have been one in web address.

ADCO in Houston. In business 37 years. 713-681-1446. Friend took his leaking rack from his 1990 XJ40 to them.

He said it was over a year ago and it is a daily driver . So far so good. He thinks it was $225 labor. He brought his own seals etc. in with the rack.

Wow - a place that will let the customer BYOP … Seems those are almost non-existant anymore … :open_mouth: btw, I never did understand why shops charge MORE for parts they use than what they paid for them. You’d think they’d pass their “shop discount” on such parts along to the customer, but no. :angry: I know I have posted about this subject on here before, and the usual response is that “well, it takes the shop $ TIME to order the parts, stock them, unwrap them, etc.”. :roll_eyes:

I remember as a youth there was a local gas station in my small town that also had a full-time mechanic on duty. He had this funny pre-printed up sign, complete with illustration art, posted in the front of the shop, something along the lines of “you don’t take eggs to your diner and ask them to cook your breakfast – don’t bring your own parts here and ask me to put them on” … :smiley_cat:

1 Like

btw, I noticed in The Book and other literature by our members that the consensus seems to be to NOT try to rebuild an XJS rack on your own, as you usually end up having to do it at least twice … :angry: In the long run better to just bite the bullet and pay the $$$ price for a rebuilt (or even new) unit … :money_with_wings:

1 Like

I am in the service business. I buy parts wholesale and sell them at retail. Supply chain issues have had me scrambling to locate and pickup parts. All this has to be paid for.

Although my service order contains the standard verbage “parts warranty through manufacturer” I make allowances.

Most manufacturers do not cover labor to replace their bad parts. I will eat the labor on parts I have made money on. This also encourages me to buy robust parts that do not fail under warranty.

I assume additional risk on parts I make money on. A customer can assume some risk on parts he saves money on .

1 Like

I wonder how many law firms bill out their paralegal hours to clients at the rate they are paid by the law firm.

2 Likes

My friend who sent his rack out has an auto mechanic shop. He does most of his own work. He says specialization of labor is a wonderful thing. It allows tasks to be repeated to a high level of speed and workmanship keeping quality high and prices low.

He says rebuilding steering racks, turning brake rotors, fabricating driveshafts, radiator repair, etc. are best left to specialists.

And not all parts are equal. A person who is in the business quickly develops a “trust” for where to buy parts he is putting on cars…versus us weekenders looking for the cheapest or quickest available

3 Likes

As far as I know, they all do … There is a billable amount for paralegal time, and a (higher) one for attorney time (even higher if “in court”) … There would be an ethical issue/question if they were not honest in so doing … I don’t see the analogy though - apples and oranges … :confused:

Let me give an example (from real life work done by a shop on my XJS many years ago) … I had gotten an estimate from one of those big national service “chain” shops to do a front brake job on Superblue. When I looked at their estimate, they were clearly “digging” me … showing a charge for rotors @ like 3x what I could get them for on Ebay (and we’re talking a good quality brand, like Brembo) … The pads were estimated at 2x+ a typical amount to purchase the same brand, retail … :open_mouth: Sorry, but I just don’t see the justification there other than to take advantage of a customer who can and is willing to dish out that extra $$ w/o blinking (or even asking questions) … smh … :frowning_face:

Oh, and their shop labor rate was like $160 hr… :angry: I pointed out that’s about the same as the local Jag dealership … And here these type of shops are - as I also pointed out to them - supposed to be the “dealer alternative” to expensive repairs (i.e. significantly cheaper) … :roll_eyes:

Gee Paul. Good thing we are free to choose which shops we use. The one I use is a small indy, great reputation, and will only use parts the owner has approved based on his years of working in this field. Provides confidence the car will not be back in two months with a failed part. His labor rate is whatever he wants to charge and stay in business. There us no expectation of cheap labor…you are paying for his expertise. I wouldn’t take my car in for an oil change cause his level of experience is not needed for that.

The analogy might be better that a client brings his own paralegal to a lawyer he wants to use. Lawyer knows nothing about the paralegal competence but is expected to use her/him, win the case, and only charge a little

3 Likes