Authorized Dealer for Warranty Work Chicagoland area
- Thread starter 911hand
- Start date
fjpikul
GT Owner
All of the new GTs have to go to Heller Ford in El Paso, IL (down by Bloomington). I can give you two trusted dealerships in St Louis., but I don't know any in the Chicagoland area.
extrap
GT Owner
Looks like he's asking about an '06 GT ... If you can get your GT there, the safe bet is Rich Brooks of the GT Garage in south Detroit (734-658-9498 richgtguy@gmail.com) about 4 hours from Chicago: https://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/threads/gt-garage-expansion.38758/
fjpikul
GT Owner
I know what he's asking. The answer is there is no recent info on service for ANY GT in the Chicago area or the surrounding suburbs. Pretty much the old owners have moved out or moved on, or they use Rich.
extrap
GT Owner
fjpikul
GT Owner
Reliable transport out of Detroit. Call Mike Klawitter cell 7346645560. It seems like the Chicago owners do most of their own work. That does not include the airbag which has to be done by Ford for documentation. Rich has permission and proper paperwork to do the swap. Unless you do not want to put any miles on the car, the trip to Heller Ford in ElPaso is pretty good and both airbags can be done in about an hour. Heller is right on I-39.
twobjshelbys
GT Owner
There really is no rocket science to the air bag canister swaps.
First start by asking if they have a Ford GT trained tech. They're getting harder and harder to find (and getting older
).
Second, any tech that has had Mustang swaps is 90% there. Please note that the canister part numbers are the same for the GT as Mustangs.
There are two parts to the swap that require attention.
The steering wheel canister is ONLY A CANISTER SWAP. Some dealers will pull the Mustang kit which comes assembled with the center hub. DO NOT PERMIT THEM TO DO THE FULL SWAP as you'll end up with a Mustang snake in the center of the steering wheel instead of the GT logo. Just swap the canisters.
The passenger side requires the careful removal of the entire bottom half of the dash cover. It goes from the passenger side past the radio. The bottom part in the radio area is fairly "thin" or narrow, and thus somewhat fragile. You need to use plenty of blue tape over the center console and adjacent areas. And final removal of the assembly is best a two person job to prevent damage to the thin area. If they don't agree to that handling then find another dealer.
TAKE PICTURES OF THE ENTIRE STEERING WHEEL AND LOWER AND UPPER DASH AREA. A few people reported scratches and mars on the lower cover due to handling.
FORD WILL SEND A TECH TO YOUR LOCATION to do the swap. They will also transport the car to their location if you choose. If you are challenged on this call Ford's recall hotline. There is a tech alert number mentioned here that they charge against. Also, my dealer claimed transport only covered pickup, not return, but that was false.
Rich will be a preferred shop if you want to go that way.
First start by asking if they have a Ford GT trained tech. They're getting harder and harder to find (and getting older
).Second, any tech that has had Mustang swaps is 90% there. Please note that the canister part numbers are the same for the GT as Mustangs.
There are two parts to the swap that require attention.
The steering wheel canister is ONLY A CANISTER SWAP. Some dealers will pull the Mustang kit which comes assembled with the center hub. DO NOT PERMIT THEM TO DO THE FULL SWAP as you'll end up with a Mustang snake in the center of the steering wheel instead of the GT logo. Just swap the canisters.
The passenger side requires the careful removal of the entire bottom half of the dash cover. It goes from the passenger side past the radio. The bottom part in the radio area is fairly "thin" or narrow, and thus somewhat fragile. You need to use plenty of blue tape over the center console and adjacent areas. And final removal of the assembly is best a two person job to prevent damage to the thin area. If they don't agree to that handling then find another dealer.
TAKE PICTURES OF THE ENTIRE STEERING WHEEL AND LOWER AND UPPER DASH AREA. A few people reported scratches and mars on the lower cover due to handling.
FORD WILL SEND A TECH TO YOUR LOCATION to do the swap. They will also transport the car to their location if you choose. If you are challenged on this call Ford's recall hotline. There is a tech alert number mentioned here that they charge against. Also, my dealer claimed transport only covered pickup, not return, but that was false.
Rich will be a preferred shop if you want to go that way.
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