OZ ATV :: The Australian ATV Forum

[maddog]

I have a Can-Am Outlander and recently tore a CV boot on a ride. Took it in to the bike shop I bought it from and they've had it for a little over 2.5 weeks, which I don't have much of an issue with.

But what I am somewhat concerned about is the price of the repair. I've had a phone call this afternoon from them saying it's done and the cost is $550! This seems somewhat excessive to change a CV boot.

The service manager is telling me it's taken one of his mechanics 7 hours to do the job.

I've got a lot of experience building and repairing offroad cars for competition and it's never taken me anywhere near 7 hours to do a CV boot.

What are your opinions?
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Mantis Motorsports

http://maddog.zook.org

[Predatory]

If it is anything like the Polaris Outlaw inner CV boot, I can quite well believe it. On the Polaris getting the boot on and off is not the problem, it is the clip that holds it in place on the hub side that is a real Bastard. Some days it will go on like a dream and others you can literally sit there the whole day. If the ring gets any form of slight kink or bend in it, you can forget it.
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Its not if you win or lose but how you enjoyed the ride!

[maddog]

Yeah if that's the case I'm gonna have to start doing the work on it myself. I can't afford to pay $500 every time I take the bike in for something, which seems to have been the case the few times I've had to take it in for things in the past 8 months or so.

Going on an organised Can-Am ride in a few weeks so it'll be good to see other people's experiences there.
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Mantis Motorsports

http://maddog.zook.org

[Random]

it took me an a few mates around 5 hours to replace everything but the clip that holds the boot in on my outlaw....
took em like 15mins $40 for the shop to put on... but they have replaced a few for me and it's around $150 labour each time..... which is just over 2 hours at $80 an hour...

the boot themself is around $200 for the outlaw's inner CV boot...

so around $350 each time....

[maddog]

Thanks for the feedback.. I've been doing research all morning on what's involved and it looks fairly simple. I'd have done the job myself, but I had to take it there to replace a faulty button on the dash under warranty and I assumed it'd only be a $150-200 job so wasn't worth the time to do it myself.

I also called a Melbourne Seadoo/Can-Am dealer who said it's a 2 hour job.

I've asked them to fax me the invoice and they have charged me $85 for the boot kit, a couple of misc bits and 4 x hours labor at $80/hr ($400 in labor!)

Have phoned the store owner and left a message for him to call me to discuss, but I think this is a bit ridiculous.
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Mantis Motorsports

http://maddog.zook.org

[maddog]

Interesting update.. I just spoke to the owner of the store and he defends his service guy's 5 hours to change the boot.. He's really not offered any solution and said he'll put it in writing if I want that I can go in there and do the same job on the bike and if it takes me LESS than 6 hours, he'll pay me $400 but if it takes me MORE than 6 hours I pay him $5000.

Firstly I find this extremely unprofessional and asked him why I should have to make a bet against him to get value for money on work done there.

Secondly I'm seriously considering doing it. I'm 90% sure I can do it in about 2-3 hours. I might pull apart my mate's Outlander 600 tonight that's sitting in my garage and see how long it takes me.
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Mantis Motorsports

http://maddog.zook.org

[doorslammer]

maddog wrote:

Interesting update.. I just spoke to the owner of the store and he defends his service guy's 5 hours to change the boot.. He's really not offered any solution and said he'll put it in writing if I want that I can go in there and do the same job on the bike and if it takes me LESS than 6 hours, he'll pay me $400 but if it takes me MORE than 6 hours I pay him $5000. Firstly I find this extremely unprofessional and asked him why I should have to make a bet against him to get value for money on work done there. Secondly I'm seriously considering doing it. I'm 90% sure I can do it in about 2-3 hours. I might pull apart my mate's Outlander 600 tonight that's sitting in my garage and see how long it takes me.

tell him to even the odds, if he wants you to pay 5k then if you can do it in under 6 hours he lets it go for free plus 3k of a/m gear!

anyways, i agree, that is extremly unprofessional, but if you have a bike to see what its like to do i say go for it and use power tools where you can!
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01 Banshee
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway

[bigjon]

maddog wrote:

said he'll put it in writing if I want that I can go in there and do the same job on the bike and if it takes me LESS than 6 hours, he'll pay me $400 but if it takes me MORE than 6 hours I pay him $5000. Firstly I find this extremely unprofessional and asked him why I should have to make a bet against him to get value for money on work done there.

I wouldn't have a clue on how long or how much it would/should cost, but with that attitude I would never deal with that dealer again.
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Don't close your eyes during the crash, you'll miss the best part

[yogie]

So where is this punter located (no pun intended)
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2005 KFX700
With a few bells and whistles
and the twin yoshi's
American Star A-arms, tie rods
elka stickers
Shorty Shifter
I have a Waco
rossco gave me a flexx sticker
honda thumb
Great at climbing trees
durablue stickers

[maddog]

Hey guys, I picked up the bike this morning and sorted it out.

I told the dealer I'd take up his challenge and re-do it myself, but I didn't want money when I did it under 6 hours. I told him I wanted a letter on a company letterhead, signed by him, advising that he has overcharged me either through incompetence of his mechanical staff or just for the sake of overcharging me. I also told him I'd pulled apart an Outlander 600 the previous night in my garage (which I did) and was sure it would take me less than 3 hours, let alone 5. I went into the detail asking him exactly what he'd done and why it took so long and he ended up saying forget the previous invoice and only charged me 2 hours labor.

It's a win in the end, but I wasted a lot of time avoiding being ripped off. Will certainly be doing all the services and repairs myself at home and only taking it there for warranty.
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Mantis Motorsports

http://maddog.zook.org

[maddog]

yogie wrote:

So where is this punter located (no pun intended)

Sydney. I won't name him because I'm not out to stir trouble, but mostly wanted other people's experience on how long it would take to carry out the job.
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Mantis Motorsports

http://maddog.zook.org

[Huskygoat]

I think your Fellow can am riders would like to know where not to take their quad.
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Truth and Honor and Trust ... never under estimate Them.

[donster57]

I've just replaced the CV boot on my 2005 Yamaha Grizzly. It was a bit of a pain as I had to disassemble the inner CV joint to access the damaged outer CV boot. As I was doing this myself I was in no hurry. If your ATV was in the dealers workshop I would have expected around about half the time you quoted. At 3.5 to 4 hours should be ample time to carry out this task. Admittedly I always spray my undercarriage with INOX after I high pressure clean (after every outing .. mostly beach runs)so i don't have frozen studs to contend with. I also have access to oxy gear, hydraulic press and much more. A I said ... now I've done one CV boot I could complete the next one in around 3.5 hours. The task is actually quite involved but one would expect a dealer workshop to be pretty sharp with such a common task.
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The sun on my face, the wind in my hair & the freedom in my heart.

[thebigdog]

Huskygoat wrote:

I think your Fellow can am riders would like to know where not to take their quad.

I like maddogs approach to the situation by not naming the store. What people need to keep in mind when getting repairs on anything, is to get written quotes. If you're happy with the quoted price, you go ahead. If when you go to pick it up and they try to charge you more, and haven't got intouch with you and notified you of extra costs, the law courts are on your side to recoup that money if it gets that far. Does say a lot about doing the job yourself if possible.
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"WHEN THE STAKES ARE HIGH, GET SERIOUS, GET KTM"

[Barney]

Possibly a further option would be to contact another well known or respected dealer and ask roughly how long to do the required task, i have replaced cv boots on both my 05 grizzly and 03 bombardier in around 2.5 hours each , the front one on a bomba takes about 1.5 hours . Another possiblity is if you have a genuine workshop manual it also explains each step , so as you might be able to roughly estimate, mechanics have suggested service times for most jobs on cars .

A manual can be downloaded on other links to other forums , i have not long downloaded a full yamaha workshop manual for my new grizzly , it then cost me 45 bucks to have it printed and made into a full book.

Hope this helps
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2012 Can am Outlander Xt 1000cc
Can Am Full set of Armour ,Grip and thumb warmer
Fox Podium Shocks and springs front and back
GME Tx 4600 UHF with Helmet Mic
Hema Gps

[Tassie Quad Adventures]

Hi Guys,

A sure way of protecting those presious CV boots is to protect them with a set of after market CV boot protectors for about $185 per set.
If you would like a brochure send me an email and i will send 1 to you.
isaac.lawrence@tassiequadadventures.com.au

[Spaztk8]

gday mate.. wondering if you can send me a photo of where the cv boot protector locats on bike etc?? waht they made of? might have to invest in a set... or a brochure... cheers
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If it ain't orange it a lemon!! KTM= can am recovery vehicle!!!

[Mr Extreme]

The C\V savers were originally designed for Can-am's.
I'm a can-am dealer and a mechanic so I can see both sides of your case. was the C\V boot a rear? If so I can understand, The trailing arm bearing is locktited in from the factory, This is only part of the problem. The locktited bearing is held in place by a locktited castlelated nut which requires a special service tool and a good 1\2 inch or 3\4 rattle gun to undo. once you have the nut off, thats generally when you need a 3 leg puller to remove the trailing arm. Once this is done you can remove the driveshaft and replace the boot, After wageing war with the driveshaft circlip. I must admit the first one I did took about 4 hrs. If it was a front, 2 hrs max, they are a peice of cake. Now you can see why I came up with CV savers! $200 for a full set is cheap insurance. If you needed to replace the driveshaft $750 for the shaft alone!!!
Give me a call 07 40911740 or 0427911835. We make C/V savers to suit all makes and models.

[Earthmover]

the way every one goes on about CV joints and boots you could be forgiven for thinking it was a hard thing to fix $ 37.50 and a tub of grease problem was sovled in one hrs. work too ezy.
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[Earthmover]

Did another CV boot yesty took 1hr. & 2min. second time I've done it.
new record


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If its got wheels I'll drive it!

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[frankc]

WELL WELL WELL.

CV BOOTS ON CAN AMS!!!! I BOUGHT 8 BOOTS FROM THE USA OFF EBAY FOR $150 DELIVERED HERE. I HAVE HIS DETAILS.

BOOTS ARE GREAT QUALITY AND NO DRAMAS SO FAR. I ALSO GOT TO THE STAGE WHERE I AM SICK OF NOT HAVING A DEALERSHIP IN MELB AREA TO HELP ME SO I BOUGHT THE TOOLING FOR THE REAR BEARING BOLT/SHAFT AND GOT A MATE TO DO IT FOR ME. TOOK HIM 3 HRS. I PLAN ON KEEPING YM OUTLANDER 800CC SO WHY NOT BUY THE TOOLING???

I AM ALSO INTERESTED IN THOSE CV SAVERS SO IF THE PERSON WHO CAN MAKE THEM PLEASE CALL ME

FRANK
0418 334 395

[Scooter]

Have a look at http://www.cvsavers.com.
Colin gets these CV savers made and they work really well.
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[montykingfisher]

Maddog, I went through this issue two weeks ago. I ride a Can Am Outlander as well. I had a tear on the front right outer CV boot which I replaced and decided to replace the other side as well. I am no expert at all but after some search on the net I decided to do it myself. I had a bit of a problem removing the CV but after a few strikes on the outer CV joint with a soft hammer it came off. The CV are held in with a "C" retaining clip. I broke one in the process. I went to my local dealer who informed me that they do not sell the "C" retaining clip as it is part of the CV kit. In other words I would of have had to buy the complete CV joint kit again I decided to check out a local CV joint specialist who had plenty of "C" retaining clips in different sizes. The two clips cost me around $2. The CV Boots were purchased on Ebay. It took me about 6hrs with home tools.

[Earthmover]

three hrs. each I've just done my 3rd. 2nd. this year i put it down to my lift kit . The CV savers are a must . see what happens then
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If its got wheels I'll drive it!

http://www.youtube.com/user/MrEarthmover