Originally Posted by livdrty

I have very recently been shopping around, after months of research, and collecting quotes from various shops in Canada and the U.S. My buddy is getting a 2.5 AEV lift with his 33's and I'm getting the 3.5 AEV with 35's (plus a ton of other stuff, ie. drive shaft, cab cover, etc.). When asking for quotes I quickly got annoyed with the way some of these places do business. National 4x4/4wd (oakville) literally took weeeeeks to get back to me, despite me calling a number of times, having previously bought my front and rear bumpers from them, and emailing them a number of times. It was ridiculous that it was that hard for me to spend my money there. When they finally sent me a quote it was not complete and had numerous mistakes as if my phone calls and emails were ignored and they just threw something together in 5 minutes. Just Jeeps got back to me quickly, HOWEVER, their quote was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Try to hold your laughter in until the end :S On their quote they included, I kid you not, . . . . Half hour labour ($40) to install my CLIP IN Mopar/Jeep fuel door that I want! TWO, I REPEAT 2, hours labour ($160) to install my new cargo net!!!!!!! (SERIOUSLY???? Albeit I'm a newbie to the Jeep world, but my buddy has a cargo net that takes him 20 minutes on a bad day to put on or take off). It's a dirty dog netting, which just straps on (i don't believe there's any welding involved lol :S). I could keep going, but this is getting long lol. Just wanted to let anyone, especially new guys, know that those places will NEVER get any business from me and I would never let anyone I know go there. Plus, they are WAYYYYYY overpriced. I think I've found the place we are going to go with. I will definitely let everyone know how it goes, but as it stands I will be saving thousands on the exact same list of things I was quoted on by these other places. Plus, from what I can tell these people are straight forward and honest about everything (I always double and triple check info) and actually know what they're doing (ex. national 4x4 told me to do a Y pipe to bypass the exhaust because my jeep is a 2012 JKU, but never mentioned to me about replacing the drive shaft and the fact that eventually the Y pipe would have been a waste of money and that I'd need a new driveshaft anyways. Eventually through research and talking to other shops I determined this.). Wow, sorry that was so long!!! lol

Originally Posted by livdrty

I have very recently been shopping around, after months of research, and collecting quotes from various shops in Canada and the U.S. My buddy is getting a 2.5 AEV lift with his 33's and I'm getting the 3.5 AEV with 35's (plus a ton of other stuff, ie. drive shaft, cab cover, etc.). When asking for quotes I quickly got annoyed with the way some of these places do business. National 4x4/4wd (oakville) literally took weeeeeks to get back to me, despite me calling a number of times, having previously bought my front and rear bumpers from them, and emailing them a number of times. It was ridiculous that it was that hard for me to spend my money there. When they finally sent me a quote it was not complete and had numerous mistakes as if my phone calls and emails were ignored and they just threw something together in 5 minutes. Just Jeeps got back to me quickly, HOWEVER, their quote was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Try to hold your laughter in until the end :S On their quote they included, I kid you not, . . . . Half hour labour ($40) to install my CLIP IN Mopar/Jeep fuel door that I want! TWO, I REPEAT 2, hours labour ($160) to install my new cargo net!!!!!!! (SERIOUSLY???? Albeit I'm a newbie to the Jeep world, but my buddy has a cargo net that takes him 20 minutes on a bad day to put on or take off). It's a dirty dog netting, which just straps on (i don't believe there's any welding involved lol :S). I could keep going, but this is getting long lol. Just wanted to let anyone, especially new guys, know that those places will NEVER get any business from me and I would never let anyone I know go there. Plus, they are WAYYYYYY overpriced. I think I've found the place we are going to go with. I will definitely let everyone know how it goes, but as it stands I will be saving thousands on the exact same list of things I was quoted on by these other places. Plus, from what I can tell these people are straight forward and honest about everything (I always double and triple check info) and actually know what they're doing (ex. national 4x4 told me to do a Y pipe to bypass the exhaust because my jeep is a 2012 JKU, but never mentioned to me about replacing the drive shaft and the fact that eventually the Y pipe would have been a waste of money and that I'd need a new driveshaft anyways. Eventually through research and talking to other shops I determined this.). Wow, sorry that was so long!!! lol

Originally Posted by livdrty

1. DO NOT go to a dealer - HUGE rip off. You will spend way more than you would to get the work done somewhere else by better mechanics.

2. DO NOT go to Just Jeeps - They do know what they're doing, but they are WAY overpriced! Not to mention from my experience just getting quotes they will literally try to rip you off. Depending how informed you are and how much time you put into researching/asking questions (forums, calling around, etc.), you might not get sucked in by such rip offs, however some people don't have time for that and trust them because they're a larger company and pretty well known.

EXAMPLE: On the quote they sent me they wanted to charge me 2 hours labour ($160) to "install" (poor use of the word considering you simply strap them on around the roll bar in various places) the cargo net (Dirty Dog) I wanted to order. My buddy has one and it takes him 20-25 minutes to put on himself.

Originally Posted by JTPhoto JK

In Canada Northridge4x4 will be the best bet. However, if you can, ordering from the US, having it delivered to a border depot where you can pick it up yourself and bring across the border is by far the cheapest route. Tires and wheels are 1/2 the price.
Learning to build your Jeep is priceless and I suggest any serious wheeler do their own work so when something breaks on the trail you'll have an idea what to do. I understand not everyone has a place to do it but the same tools you use to put in a lift should be in your Jeep on the trail. Many shops have Rent A Bays for you to do your own work.. JUST MY .02 or is that a nickle now.. LOL

I know, I know, shop local. But I am getting tired of getting HOSED by local shops for the same exact parts and then hosed again if you ask them to install. I usually give locals the opportunity to match the price or at least come close but when it costs me over $1500 more for at set of tires and then they want to charge an extra 250--300$ to install and balance, forget that BS..

Originally Posted by NathanM

Amen to that man, I've twisted every wrench on my jeep and know it from end to end. As far as I'm concerned Wranglers are fairly primitive and an excellent rig for someone to learn the ropes on.