If the service manager offer a free service, do not take it.

 

I’m sure that hammering away at the axle nut did the under designed wheel bearings good.

My Dad had a term for service techs like that. He called them “ham fisted hammer jockeys.”

 

I just got off the phone with the service writer and, as I expected, he couldn't address my concern with a valid answer for why one of his technicians was using a hammer to tighten an axle nut, because there is no valid answer. Then, he said he's never seen that happen and goes on to insinuate that what I saw wasn't what I saw. From there, things went downhill pretty quickly. It doesn't really matter because my shadow will never darken their door again.

 

Hmm weird. Are you sure he wasn’t loosening it? I wouldn’t expect to see what you saw at the dealer but tightening that way is just stupidity at its best.

On my 4 wheeler I had to use a rubber mallet on a breaker bar because I couldn’t get the damn axle nut off and that’s all I had in my truck.

 

There`s enough of these stories on the forum to fill a book, non professionals telling stories of hack professional mechanics.
And as soon as one of these posts appear, everybody piles on...

OP, if you saw a guy torquing an axle nut with a sledgehammer, shame on you for not stepping up to the plate and saying something immediately.

In a well run shop, the practice of using a hammer to torque a critical fastener would not be tolerated, not by the management, or the other mechanics.

As a pro (aircraft mech) for over 45 years, I know that the guy looking into the shop often doesn`t see what is really going on in most cases.

Rant over...

I don`t advocate tightening the axle nut without a torque wrench, but In the past 50 years I have changed many a rear tire on the road and put my foot on the wrench to make sure it was tight...

The only way that could damage the bearing would be if the inner spacer was crushed by over torquing the nut.

 

Are you insinuating I didn't see what I saw! Ha! Ha! Just kidding!

Seriously, I was standing at the viewing window and I saw him put the tool on the axle nut. The exhaust was still on the bike. The tool was similar to the Pit Posse tool I've used on my '14 Limited because it allows you to get on the axle nut without having to remove the exhaust. The tool was positioned perpendicular to the bottom of the bags, which were still on the bike along with the exhaust, and he used his right hand to swing the hammer in a clockwise direction. The wrench moved two or three inches as he was pounding it. Then, he removed the tool and set it on his work table. Besides, I don't think loosening the axle nut is part of the 1K service.

In hindsight, I should have tapped on the window and got his attention, and then confronted him about what he was doing, but I didn't want to **** the guy off and make a scene right there in the maintenance department in front of his boss and other technicians. I figured I would just call the dealership, tell them what I saw, get their opinion/reaction and move on with my life. But, of course the service writer had to be a ******** about the whole thing, which is fine. That's why I'll never be back to that dealership again. If needed, there are plenty of other dealers in the greater Houston area.

 

As stated above, that's why I do my own work. It'll be sad day when I no longer can. I'll be the grumpy old guy in the waiting room bitching about how nobody can do it like I do. LOL.

 

I appreciate your insight. Thanks for posting.

 

Yeah, it'll be a sad day for me, too. Like I said it was a free 1K service, but I did have my reservations about letting the dealer work on the bike. It's hard to turn down free, especially when it's worth $400. I guess sometimes free isn't always a good thing. Oh, well, another lesson learned.

 

I don’t do my own work, I’m a busy professional. Just like the people that pay me to design things that just work, I expect a professionally trained mechanic to do the same. I don’t prescribe to the “that’s why I do it myself” mantra. Fact is there are some highly trained people out there that more than likely know more than you do.

As the OP said, he should have confronted the mechanic in this situation and that guy, if I owned the shop, would be on probation or fired on the spot.