Rear Axle Beam

[Irish]

While driving home to Pennsylvania, my wife heard a something so we pulled over and the driver-side rear wheel looked overcmabered. We got it towed and the dealership quoted us $3300 to replace the rear axle beam. Seems a bit high to us, it is that what this service goes for? Looking for a reasonableness check. We have an '07 sedan with 221k miles.

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[tmontague]

first of all how and what went wrong to the axle beam?

seems like a somewhat normal price to me assuming they install a brand new oem axle which I believe it about $1600 USD online.

An independent mechanic can probably find a used axle and swap it in cheaper but it obviously wont be brand new

[Irish]

first of all how and what went wrong to the axle beam?

seems like a somewhat normal price to me assuming they install a brand new oem axle which I believe it about $1600 USD online.

An independent mechanic can probably find a used axle and swap it in cheaper but it obviously wont be brand newThanks for reply. The beam cracked. Not sure if we hit a pothole driving in Boston. Or maybe just over time would too much weight in the car cause it? The car made it up and down Mt Washington just fine a few days earlier. It's been nice not having a car payment, but I'm not sure how much I want to sink into an older car.

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[Sirius-XM]

A rear axle beam would be a fairly easy part to find at a junk yard (or is the correct term now auto recycler). I would guess a local mechanic should be able to change it in four of five hours.

When my son got his first car, I suggested he get a popular model so that we could get parts from a junk yard. His millennial sensibilities were insensed at the thought of junk yard parts going onto his car. By the time that car finally died it was a Frankenstein car of used parts.

[NYC-SE]

Cracked axle beam? My God what did you hit? It would take quite a bit of force to crack an axle. I see you're in the snowbelt, how rusty was the axle.

[enviri]

i been to boston plenty of times and the roads are pretty damn bad, but to the point of cracking axles? what part of boston so i can avoid it!

[Irish]

Hi all - Thought I'd provide an update.

I live in PA, so rust can happen and the shop did confirm rust was the culprit. Just surmising, but I've probably also abused the Yaris with overloading through the years. I built a retaining wall for our front flower garden and brought all of the blocks over in the Yaris. I routinely do beer splits and load it down with beer (I had 10 cases in the car with all of our luggage at the time). I hit a deer one time and only had to replace the cracked grill insert. I replaced the water pump this year, but otherwise it's been routine maintenance (tires, brakes & oil).

I love this car and I don't want a car payment yet so, I ended up calling around after googling reviews online and found a shop that sourced a used part from Georgia and installed it for $1038. I found a one-way direct flight from Baltimore-Washington to Boston for $47.20. I flew up and drove back in one day. I did all of this just so I could put my "This car climbed Mt. Washington" sticker on it. :smile:

[dogsridewith]

"I found a one-way direct flight from Baltimore-Washington to Boston for $47.20. I flew up and drove back in one day. I did all of this just so I could put my "This car climbed Mt. Washington" sticker on it."

What does this have to do with the axle beam?

[06YarisRS]

Did Mount Washington a few times as a kid and then about three years ago with my father and son. I would not drive it again. It made me too nervous, especially the dirt section. About two days after the descent, one of my calipers in my Dodge Grand Caravan seized up in a flaming smoke ball. I did my best to use the gears to slow the van combined with as light braking as I could on the descent, but it wasn't enough. I heard somewhere that people have sat at the bottom at dusk and watched car after car with glowing rotors come off the mountain. The views are spectacular and it is a real experience, But, next time, we'll go via the Cog Railway.

I once blew the rear struts out of an older Daewoo Nubira station wagon I had carrying renovation supplies to a house we were renovating. After many trips loaded down, I found out that the hardware store offered flatbed service for $20.00, regardless of load. I will never overload my vehicles again. Or, I'll take the appropriate vehicle.

Nice to hear you got your axe fixed for a more reasonable price.