I don't know how it is on newer cars, but I grew up on 90's era gmc/chevy 4x4 trucks and its very apparent when the vehicle is engaged in 4wd. I would think this falls more on the driver/owners' responsibility to know what his or her own vehicle does or sounds like its doing.

The mechanic engaging the 4wd does nothing to damage the vehicle. You driving an entire month on it, whether you were ignorant to it or not, and then wanting to pass responsibility to the mechanic seems silly to me.

It's a 2006 chevy trailblazer with 160k miles on it.

It really does drive the exact same, only difference was it was slightly noisier than normal which I had attributed to the transmission rebuild

I believe OP is asking if he has any repurchasing to do.

Answer: yes, suspension.

LOL, even though I feel dirty because of it.

repurcussions: the pillows a cat sits on when he wants to purr again

Damage was also done to ball joints, tie rods as well as the suspension which is why the price tag is 2.5k

Maybe I don't understand 4WD that well, but what kind of driving were you doing? My understanding is its just more an adjustment to the gears when its engaged and less about the suspension being affected. Your suspension is still your suspension whether you're in 4wd mode or not?

I would think people that live in mountainous areas with long snowy seasons are always driving at 4wd for extended periods, and I wouldn't expect them to have to replace everything once a month.

I have a 2017 Chevy Colorado and one of my big complaints is that there is no indicator anywhere on the display when you're in 4WD (or 2WD or AWD). You get a popup when the shift is being made, and 5 seconds later it's gone. The knob is on the lower left and can't be easily seen from normal driving position.

There is a large difference between a 4wd vehicle and an awd vehicle, FYI. You don't want to be driving a vehicle in 4wd for extended periods - its more of a get you out of a tricky spot sort of thing.

You have zero chance at having your suspension repairs done for free. But, we may be able to help determine if you are being ripped off. The fact that you had your vehicle in 4wd for a month without noticing is a predictor that you are likely prone to getting ripped off by a mechanic.

Almost exclusively city driving. I called up the transmission place and they said they didn't even get close to the suspension and he made it very clear that if I brought it in to him i would be completely wasting my time. He also said the other guy was full of **** and that even if the truck was in 4WD it would not cause this damage. I don't know nearly enough about cars to know who to believe

I kind of side with the original mechanic and don't see a direct correlation between their transmission work and your suspension being f****d off. It's ****ty if they left it engaged and it somehow adversely affected things, but ultimately its not their responsibility to remind you how your own vehicle operates.

There is a lot of things that can cause a suspension to go bad and quickly, with all of the connecting parts and what not. One part being worn and not repaired can expedite other connecting parts getting worn and it all quickly snowballs and goes to ****.

Unless you have someone else knowledgable that you can trust to look at it and give an opinion, you're stuck with the word of the ones you've already went to. I can say with 100000% certainty you're never getting the original mechanic to compensate you or repair anything on their time and dime. You either gotta file an insurance claim or pay another person to fix it.

I don’t understand how you didn’t realize it was in 4wd during the first turn you made on asphalt. You had to have felt it. What did you think was going on?

Yes, it was dumb of the shop to leave it in 4wd drive. But I don’t see how you can make them responsible for any damage after all that time.

http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/def_turnpart.html

If you are driving on snow, gravel, or dirt 4WD is fine. But because of the locking differentials, on hard pavement everything gets dorked.

Be honest with us op, how much do you smoke on a scale of Jeff Sessions to Willie Nelson?

Are you saying he has...

For that much money it sounds like the transfer case may be messed up too.

Pics of car perpendicular to the curb or it didn't happen.

Not to mention that if he's getting his transmission rebuilt he probably has a million miles on his car.

Kind of sounds like when grandma blames you for her 10 year old pc breaking because you installed skype on it 3 months ago.

These repairs are more than the vehicle is worth

The repercussions are that you have a broken suspension.

no way to prove it, if I was the tranny shop id never pay for this.

Sucks, but its kind of on you.

Heh, heh, Alobar said tranny shop, hehehheheh.