Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room
Interested in doing my own car maintenance.. Advice?
MilesAhead:
And if you can't get something wrong in that lot you ought to be doing your own maintenance
--- End quote ---
i estimate the likelyhood of me breaking something during each procedure at 5%.
unfortunately that puts me at about a 45% likelyhood of needing to have my car towed to a mechanic before i'm through.
-mouser (April 22, 2015, 08:15 PM)
--- End quote ---
Try to opt for the broken object not being a knuckle. Beware of ratchets. The "always pull a wrench, never push it" is a good rule of thumb until you develop some feel. Then you can get away with it.. usually. :)
Stoic Joker:
Then you can get away with it.. usually.-MilesAhead (April 23, 2015, 05:43 AM)
--- End quote ---
LOL ...Usually.. :Thmbsup:
Keeping you hand open so the ratchet hits first helps a bit on those odd occasions too. Alternatively I'm a huge fan of breaker bars as they nicely limit the amount of force that needs to be controlled.
MilesAhead:
Then you can get away with it.. usually.-MilesAhead (April 23, 2015, 05:43 AM)
--- End quote ---
LOL ...Usually.. :Thmbsup:
Keeping you hand open so the ratchet hits first helps a bit on those odd occasions too. Alternatively I'm a huge fan of breaker bars as they nicely limit the amount of force that needs to be controlled.
-Stoic Joker (April 23, 2015, 06:27 AM)
--- End quote ---
With a cheater bar over the breaker bar. ;)
But part of the fun is setting your reflexes to react when the fastener starts to give. You pull back just before knuckle contact. At least I could do that when I was young. Now all that touch is gone. I'd rather type clumsily on the keyboard. :)
mouser:
Don't forget hand-cleaner.
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the reminder.
May I suggest Harbor Freight Tools.. You may have a store near you.
--- End quote ---
There is one quite near me -- I bought my floor jack there (consensus seems to be that their floor jacks are good). :up:
I presume you have an alternate form of transportation?
--- End quote ---
Yep, i'll have someone with me to help in case of problems.
always pull a wrench, never push it
--- End quote ---
yep, i have heard that -- i will try to remember it; i have a good breaker bar.
Stoic Joker:
With a cheater bar over the breaker bar.-MilesAhead (April 23, 2015, 06:52 AM)
--- End quote ---
If by cheater bar you mean a piece of pipe then yes, I've done both. Actually motorcycle front fork tubes work wonderfully for that. (Speaking of which...) Did you know that the lug nuts on the passenger side of a 64 Dodge polara are left hand thread?? I didn't ... And I snapped 2 Craftsman 1/2" ratchets and split 3 sockets before I figured it out.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version