What do you do for your own ‘vehicle wrenching’?

[taskswap]

Obvious basic maintenance, but also I always carry with me a set of upper and lower rad hoses, a serpentine belt, a bottle of oil, a bottle of Diesel 911 (emergency anti-gel) and one of those gimmicky (but who knows?) tire patch kits. I also have a Dewalt combo compressor/inflator and a generic brand lithium "jump pack". If going hunting or scouting, I carry a 5 gallon container of extra diesel as well.

I don't carry extra coolant because I always have several gallons of water with me no matter where I go. As long as you don't let it freeze, you can run plain water as coolant if you had a leak. (And fun trivia, plain water actually cools more effectively than glycol anyway.)

For tools I have what everyone probably does, no need to list it. I really like these tool rolls, and have one in each vehicle:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092C9DFCB

They're really cheap but durable and hold a lot in a small package without things clanking around.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Those tire plug kits have come in handy a bunch. Having a hammer handy makes it a lot easier btw

 

[5MilesBack]

I've never liked paying someone else to do work that I'm capable of and willing to do myself. So I'll do whatever I'm able to; fluids, filters, brakes, rotors, suspension, spark plugs, wheels bearings, etc. But the other caveat is whether I "want" to do it or not. The water pump on my old Toyota went out on me right before elk season three years ago. I just didn't feel like messing with it with everything else I had to get done, so had that done along with the timing belt, pulleys, etc. Had to replace the alternator in it just a couple months ago.

My 7.3L diesel is pretty easy to work on, but haven't had much to do on it except general maintenance since I bought it used 17 years ago. Replaced the Ford exhaust up-pipes with the IH bellowed pipes, water pump, installed the AIC air intake system, brakes/rotors, shocks, ball joints, and fluids/filters.

 

[PathFinder]

Everything, with very few exceptions. Mounting & balancing tires, and some ATF changes are the only things we pay a shop for.

• All normal maintenance
• Suspension fabrication, design, install, shock rebuilds, etc.
• Engine maintenance (sensors, S/C rebuilds, injectors, timing system, valve adjustments, seals, etc)
• Coating & rust repair as needed
• Bearings
• Brakes
• Bumper/slider design & fabrication
• Diagnostics
• Lights, etc

Just like tinkering and setting up new bows and rifles, it gets old. But the hassle is worth the better results, having the ability to avoid dependance on someone else, and thousands saved on labor costs.