Help me, school project, question 5

**MotoZ** · 03-12-08, 07:18 AM

vtd.

Before I got wrapped up in the business of middle-age I used to do all of my own auto work. Engine rebuilding and replacements, differential swaps, wheel alignments with a tape measure, lift kits, custom driveshafts, etc. Performing auto repair is a rewarding experience and teaches a lot. It's important to know what you are doing or have a good mentor, however. Here is my only disaster story:

Back in high school I had a 1980 Dodge Colt. The front, right CV joint wore out and I was too poor to have it repaired. I bought a replacement unit for $300 from the dealer and set out to replace the CV joint in my parent's driveway. Everything went fine until it came time to torque down the retaining nut for the main wheel bearing. I didn't have a torque spec and sure as shit didn't have a "feel" for it. It torqued it down until it was tight but I could still rotate the wheel hub by hand. Then I put the wheel back on and set out for a test drive. I was driving back to my buddies house to return his 3/4" drive ratchet and massive metric socket that I had borrowed for tightenting the bearing nut. I was driving about 50 MPH on a curvy country road lined with trees when the wheel bearing welded itself tight and caught fire. My right front wheel locked up and pulled me off the road, narrowly missing a tree. A cop was following me and pulled over behind me. He yelled at me, asking what the fuck I was doing. Then he saw the smoke, walked around, adn saw a little flame coming from the wheel hub. He apologized, snuffed out the flame, and gave me a lift to my friends house. We put my car on his flatbead and drove it to his house. Then I got to fix my car AGAIN, this time in his driveway. I didn't save jack doing that myself, but I learned a lot.

**AKA_Lump6** · 03-12-08, 12:44 PM

I grew up working on cars with my Dad in his shop after he retired from the Army. I am now in the Army myself and will probably dabble with cars after I retire because then I will have more time.

**BlueMaxox** · 03-12-08, 03:50 PM

Voted and you have a lot of "What ifs"...ROFL

**dustyCALIBER** · 03-12-08, 06:23 PM

Yep.. I like to keep my money in my pocket..

**texdirect6** · 03-12-08, 08:45 PM

I would definetly reconsider the first two quetions and do it my self

**jmw_man** · 03-13-08, 05:46 PM

I think laziness would be the only thing that could permanently prevent me from performing my own maintenance. But, good thing I'm not that lazy, but then again, I am lazy enough to try and learn how to do certain jobs through reading books. The second main issue that causes problems is the lack of a location of which to work on a car. Many people who live in apartments are not allowed to work on their car. Many people don't even have garages and don't want to leave an open cavity on the engine compartment exposed to the weather.
P00P

**Bueller** · 03-13-08, 10:22 PM

Of course I would do it myself. When I was in the military you could rent a bay at the auto hobby shop for a dollar an hour and have full access to your very own huge snap on tools chest, hydraulic lift, oil disposal and all of that stuff. I had to work on my own stuff because I had American cars and lived in Europe. Finding a place that could do the work would have cost a fortune and they would have screwed it up. Just a phone call to Pops, told him what part I needed, he would ship it to my APO and I would take one of my days off to take the car to base and swap out whatever part was hosed. It was livable. But then again, I was younger then. Now, I default back to answer #1. I am lazy.

**Rob.J3917** · 03-14-08, 06:39 PM

N/A As already stated.

Henuersjene · 03-04-11, 07:27 PM

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