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

[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.

 

[zrodwyo]

With YouTube and Harbor Freight there isn’t much you can’t do at home. I draw the line at cracking open an automatic transmission and opening up a block.

 

[OldGrayWolf]

Wife’s new car has warranty. Off to the dealer for everything. My little car and pickup I do most everything if I have time. The 97 Cherokee, I do it all. Lower end rebuild last year, need to do valve guides soon. Mouse got at the wiring this year, had to rewire the electric fans, a couple of fuel injectors, and still have to track down and fix the high idle issue from it when I get time.

 

[cal30_sniper]

Everything except complex machining.

Drivetrain swaps, paint and body, welding (body, frame, exhaust, and fab) any bolt-on imaginable, ECM tuning, engine/trans/diff rebuilds, wiring harness fabrication, front end rebuilds and alignments, and a thousand other things.

The newest thing I own and mess with is a 2011 that I’ve been totally through mechanically. Everything else is much older 70s and 80s stuff. There’s hardly a bolt on any of my cars that I haven’t touched, and I’ll take any of them anywhere at any time.

Cars are a passion of mine, haha.

 

[wyosam]

Transmission flushes/rebuilds, alignments, and tire mounting I farm out. Everything else that comes up I pretty much do myself. Haven’t rebuilt an engine in a while, but I might pull and rebuild the Yanmar diesel in my boat next winter. Don’t do as much as I used to, since I pretty much leave my vehicles stock now, but used to do differential work, non-stock engine swaps (Chevy V8 in Toyota pickup, that sort of thing). I did recently revolt against new(er) truck prices and by a 23 year old truck, so I’ll probably do a little more work on it than I’ve done lately.


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[wyosam]

When I was a teenager I had a Toyota pickup. The rear end went out on it so I had my uncle help me swap in a junkyard axle. I had just had rear brakes put on so we swapped them from the bad axle to the good one. Upon doing so, we realized the shop had put the self adjusters on the wrong sides. From that point on, I decided to do as much as I possibly could on a vehicle and just about every time I've decided to break that rule for convenience, I've regretted it.

So pretty much anything that needs to be fixed on one of my vehicles, I'm doing it myself. Its only Japanese vehicles in my driveway so that keeps the work to a minimum but I'm still handy with a scan tool and a test light.

Same, the handful of times in my life I’ve paid someone to work on my vehicles (or my house for that matter), I’ve been disappointed or outright screwed. It’s getting harder as I get older, but I pretty much just do everything myself.


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[COJoe]

I have fixed vehicles with my dad since I was really young but lately, at age 54, I have come to value my time more than anything so my I would rather not have to do the work. I don't work on my wife's Forrester but I do all my own work on my Sierra and 4 runner. I had to change the oil pump on my 2009 Sierra last year and that about broke my will to be a home mechanic as it involved way more work, such as removing the differential to drop the oil pan, than I wanted to do but it drives very well now and still has fairly low mileage. I'm trying to sell my 2007 4 runner with higher mileage because I know it will be needing repairs soon and I would like to get a newer lower mileage one next year. But I'm taking it hunting with me next week... We don't put many miles on our vehicles each year so our maintenance is minimal for the most part. It's difficult to find and trust a good mechanic.

 

[JREG19]

I have a lot more time than money right now so I do everything on my cars. Right now I have my pickup torn apart, I'm replacing thw injectors. I thought it would be harder than it is and I'm glad I'm doing it.

Youtube is a game changer