billulsund

Really what it all comes down to for many of us is how much is your time worth to you? I like to fix stuff and if possible will do my own work on my wheeling Jeep. I am not good at welding so I have friends who help me with that. If I have the time I will always to the work myself, but sometimes work and life gets in the way. If I can't find the time to fix my Jeep, but want to go wheeling I have some very mechanically inclined friends who I can pay to do it for me. Much cheaper than taking it to a shop, I help out a friend who needs money, and I get my Jeep fixed in time for the weekend so I can go break it again. When it comes to my daily driver Jeep it usually comes down to needing it to be done ASAP so I can continue to work and make money. Often I would rather pay my trusted local mechanic to do the work because he can get it done much faster than i can. If I waste too much of my time trying to fix it, it can end up costing me more in the end because I end up loosing time where I could have been earning money.

BLACKSPORT

I will say that i have never worked on/ wanted to work on a vehicle so much in my life. Part of it is this forum and the other is that it is a jeep. I love it. Some things i know i cant do, but there are so many that i would have never even thought about trying if it weren't for the great advice and attitudes from my fellow jeepers on the forum!!!

TonyB

I'm waiting for someone to say something bad about Bin Laden so you can defend him, too.

Tural

what's that supposed to mean?

wildspear

I agree with the general theme. Many that dont work on their rig just dont have the time. I was never a car guy, never wanted to work on them, had no intrest. I bought my jeep, joined the forum, and I've done all my own repairs on the jeep.

Now my flex plate is haveing issues, so I might as well change the oil, replace a oil pump, replace rear main seal, oil filter and rings, and change the engine mount..........hmmmm, since I live in western MI on the shore of lake Michigan, one of you guys live close by with a heated work area and plenty of knowlege to help me. I'll spring for food a drinks..... pm me ( i still got to buy the parts)

SteelBlue99

The last time i took any vehicles into the shop, they screwed up. They did something to my oil pressure sensor, and i had to replace it. Never again. It was a simple oil change too. The only reason i took it in, is because i decided last minute i was going to go to the lake, and was already overdue for an oil change. I take pride in maintaining / fixing my vehicles. Putting the lift on by myself took a long time, but it was fun and i definitely learned a lot from it. Now i look at it and think "damn...i can't believe i did that by myself". My old WJ needed a steering gear box. I was quoted $1300 to change it out. Bought the part for $200 (if i remember correctly) and did everything myself.

xjmuddigger

x2,if it wasnt for this forum,my jeep would look the same as the day i got it,im glad i joined in AUG.

TonyB

The other thread about poser 4x4 guys you seemed to love to defend the minority while the majority on here pretty much understood the whole concept of the thread.

You just seem like "that guy" that likes to argue/defend something for the hell of it.

RkyMtnH

That's funny.
The only shop my Jeep's see is the one that is attached to my house. Unless there needs to be some serious welding done. Like building a cage. That will be done at a local Pro Jeep Shop in Westminster ,Md.

Paintballa0788

I tend to have to agree here. I mean seeing as mine is a dd, if I can pay a buddy if mine who is a HIGHLY skilled JEEP mechanic to do it for me in 1/5 of the time it'd take me to do it then im going to. Especially since he charges me on average 1/4 of the cost of taking it to a shop. I help him out with finances and he helps me out with keeping me on the road. ANd Mine as well sees a shop 2 get an oil change, since the shop he works full time at does 9.99 oil changes. I mean s&$T, you show me where I can buy all the materials needed for an oil change(filter, oil, top off all other fluids and so on) for that price, and you bet your A$$ id be doing it myself especially since Its one of the easiest things ever.
Now, Not that I dont do any of the work on mine, as Im putting most of the new lift parts on, put the warn bumpers on, and a few other things, but if its down, then Im down, and if Im down I have no way to make money.
So Yea, I take mine it for certain things, but do most small easy stuff myself. I mean I as well love the forum for the fact that If I think of something I wanna do, or something fairly easy needs done, then I just pop it in search and bam, most times someone has done it.
Also love getting to help fellow xj ers out with stuff ive already experienced/dealt with.
But anyways, Thats all just IMO.

Happy jeepin~Paul

Tural

gotcha. thanks for a relevant input.

freegdr

its the new generation there mostly lazy hell i remember when you actually had to dial a phone the old rotary ones time were much better back then . Working on your own vechicle gives you the pc of mind nowing every bolt is tight and you did it

phillyxj570

I have never really been a gearhead before I got my jeep. But once I got it everything changed. I have done all the work on it myself. It has been in the shop twice. 1st time I was about 80 miles from home and I had no tools with me and there were no auto stores around,and the second time was for inspection.

TonyB

I just prefer to be able to take care of myself back on the trail. I hate to be "that guy that broke"....then everyone else hast come bail you out. That happened to me once and I never felt so useless and pathetic.

If you daily driver your Jeep/vehicle and don't go hitting trails that actually REQUIRE lockers, I can see not really wanting to work on it. However, if YOU are gonna put it through some serious stuff, you SHOULD know what you're doing and how to resolve a problem if it arises.

I personally don't like to work on stuff, but I generally can't justify paying someone/a shop to do it for me so I suck it up and do it myself.

Case in point, my old 01 Explorer. I needed to put a body lift on it to fit the tires I needed. I called around and they wanted 500+$ to install a 200$ body lift kit. I read the directions a buncha times, search the Explorer forums and other random sites and said............."it's really just 10 bolts, what's the big deal?!" Three hours after I put the first socket on a bolt I was DONE.

Jeep95

I only take my jeep in for them to tell me what sensor is bad. Or do compression or leak down test. That's it. I do all the work and I fix what needs to be fixed. Also I had some install my tires on rims bc it was free and I bought them online. And I'm 18.