Spunkmeyer

Meh, I don't have a garage. That will limit my ability to do some things to my Jeep, especially this time of year.

Going to a mechanic doesn't necessarily mean you don't understand how your car works; it can also mean you don't have the space or tools to do a particular job correctly. I'm comfortable enough with my manhood to accept that some things would take me 8 hours to do that my auto shop can perform in an hour with a lift and the right tools.

As a self-employed person, my time is money. Sometimes it's better to have somebody else do the job and spend my time making the money to pay for it all...

Spunkmeyer

Yeah, there's no excuse for that sort of thing. Every person should know at a minimum how to change their own tire... Jeeps or any other vehicle.

KTMrider

I dont feel right when my jeep is in the shop. Since i can't mount and balance new tires or change the antifreeze (that was a PIA so i gave up and took it in.) I end up watching the machanics like a hawk.
Since all the work on my jeep has been myself or with the aid of a friend i get nervous when my jeep goes to the shop.

Long Island XJ

I am do it myself Jeep owner, until this past summer. I set out on rebuilding my rear suspension and after a couple snags in the road and two weeks later I went for a test drive. 1/4 down the road my brakes go, turned out a section of rear brake line rusted through.

not having the proper tools and the fact that it pissed me off is the only time I have taken my Jeep to my shop other then inspections.

its nice to have a local shop who lives in your town and is someone you wheel with. trust factor is very high!

98jeepsrt6

Well im here with all the Do it yourself guys, I cant fathem having anyone else playing with my jeep. I have come to learn about every nok and crany that is in that thing. I know every tick, hise, ding, bang, basically any noise that arises i should be more than familiar with.

I dont have a garage, nor do i have a house with available space to do work. But im still in the parking lot of my complex tearing **** apart, sometimes making a mesh. I watch people walk by and stare me down for what, Cuz im fixing my jeep. I don't care, i walk through the lobby covered in balck crap from reaching undo the hood. my clothes covered in dirt and leaves, and guess what i get more questions of how it coming more than stank eyes, its pride and knowing you did the job. Plus saving some green for more green..

Example: only time ive taken the jeep to a shop is for my exhaust, and thats cuz i dont have the space or money to buy a mandrel bending maching, same witha welder. But a lift is not always required.. That whats jacks and jack stands are for. Get down and dirty.. I was actually helping the guys out since i dont want them doing what they want, im paying for them to do what i want. I even got charged for being in the shop and helping. SHop rules and regs.. But w.e i know its getting done the way i want. I still wanna tear it back out and do it properly. The welds are ehhh, but they work.

As for those that dont have time or knowledge to do it yourself, thats cool i understand. I had to help a friend at midnight with a blown out spark plug, which if no one has done its a real PITFA. But im a gear head i guess, and plus hes a friend that ill take a bullet for. Anyways not all are mechanically inclined. They want to learn but may not understand really what to do and why (my friend).

This is what jeeps to do us, they turn us into gear headed ******** who bash on those that are not as "worthy as them". I know this because when i first joined this form i had oddball questions on what to do with my jeep, and goals that are outside the box. and what happens? Well im sure you already know. Still happens but never stops me from being me.

Just because some may think differently than those more inclined doesn't change the fact that we are jeepers not matter if we do it ourselves or pay someone to do it. We love what these monsters can do and wanna keep them roaring for as long as possible.

xjmuddigger

x2 thats horrible,and if someone dont know atlest help as much as thet can untill they learn

TonyB

I'm glad I had a local guy thats "been there done that" before help me when I first got into off roading. It made my learning curve alot more steep. Going from not knowing how to center the steering wheel, to installing a lift, replacing axles(8.8) and installing lockers......it's been great!

If I had to pay somebody to do all that, I would've "totaled" out the purchase price of the Jeep.

ih8cornnuts

This was something that blew my mind on the mini(my dd) forums. These guys are out racing 1-2x a month doing autocross and what not and a lot of them dont know how to take care of basic maintenance. This place and over there are so different. A lot of guys here build their own parts and the majority of the work is done in your driveway. I've made some small sheet metal parts for the mini and it seems a lot of those guys seem snobish about it.

That being said I do agree with having a shop do fluid work (oil, coolant, misc fluids) since it can be a pain to dispose of that stuff. A lot of us also live in subdivisions/complexes that dont allow us to work on our cars in our drvieways. I've been scolded by the 80 yr old woman on this multiple times. All in all that hasnt stopped me from changing my oil in front of the house, I've got it down to about 10 minutes or less.

TonyB

This is why i've kinda steered away from "car stuff" to the off road community. My Mustang is setup for autocross/open track and I run into those "snobish" people you're talking about at track events. The people I run into seem more my type. They're more interested in what they can BUILD/MODIFY.........not what they can BUY.

OttawaXJ

Friend of mine is into AutoX and hanging out with his friends I realized how snobby those guys are. They asked where I bought stuff and when I said I built it they couldnt understand. it was a lot of "Aren't you worried *this* could happen?" and me always responding "Then I did it wrong, unlikely, but possible and at that point I'd simply fix it"

TonyB

Correct. If you don't use .00034mm shims on your shocks or use Grade 10 bolts on your exhaust hangers you are basically advertising that you are going to kill everyone within a 100ft radius.

OttawaXJ

lol basically.

little do they know the kid at the shop putting on their 150$ a piece rims is just reaming on the lug nuts with his shiny new 250 ft. lbs impact gun.

Or taking chunks out of their 250$ a piece tires when they mount them on their 150$ a piece rims. lol

ih8cornnuts

This is kind of a greater social trend as well. Less and less people have the knowledge/tools to be DIYer's. Whether is installing a chandelier, building a desk, changing a cars oil. Its amazing too with the vast knowledge online now that wasn't there 10+ years ago. I guess I was fortunate enough to be born into a family that values creativity and craft.

At least when my mini gets worked on its by a guy that supports the mini community, he also happens to be a 3 time US Mini racing champ, former BMW tech, etc. He pretty much only works on Minis and really knows his craft unlike some dip that basically caused the "Presents from PO" thread.

N20jeep

Love it when people bring there stuff to the shop, good for business...lol

MVDCXJ

I take mine to the shop for just about everything, but I do the work myself when its there. I have a friend with a shop so he lets me use the lifts when one is available. The only thing I pay his guys to do is alignments since I dont know how to do them and I dont want to even attempt to use his expensive alignment rack.