I saved $1,600 in 3 hours yesterday doing car repairs myself! AMA!
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
12:46. I order most of my stuff online, but around here, Olympus Auto parts has a good selection and most of the desk clerks are pretty friendly. |
Anonymous
12:46 here. I'd agree with the above. Even something as simple as a stuck rotor often requires some pretty heavy hammering with a dead blow mallet (please, don't use a sledge!). Not to mention the reaching at odd angles or producing power in confined spaces. |
Anonymous
12:46. My wife has no interest in helping, although she brings me cold drinks and checks in on me every few hours. It's a really dirty job that often results in scraped knuckles, etc. I'm hoping my daughter and son will get interested in helping some day (they're young). |
Anonymous
NP. We've actually gone straight to the dealership for parts for my VW. The dealership parts are better quality and not that much more expensive than the knock off parts, plus they're normally in stock. |
Anonymous
12:46, yeah, sometimes the prices are competitive, sometimes not. I can never tell rhyme nor reason. A lot of times Olympus will carry the OE (original equipment) part, which is usually made by companies like Meyle, Lemfoerder, Febi, Bosch, etc. Sometimes they actually have an upgrade over the original design (a good example is E46 BMW control arms, which were underspecc'd). You always have more options online, but have to plan ahead. I try to only buy from known European manufacturers (even if they produce some parts in Asia). |
Anonymous
12:46. I hate the "dirtiest" jobs the most, because you'll be covered in grease for a week, your clothes are trashed, and it takes forever to clean your tools and work area. Plus my kids can easily track grease into the house. I dislike working on fuel lines and getting hit in the face with gasoline (have that happen once and you'll learn to wear a face shield, even when properly draining the lines). I'm always nervous doing really intricate engine work where I can easily ruin an aluminum block, or can easily drop a small bolt somewhere it will ruin the whole car. You're also often operating in tight spaces. Suspension work is generally the worst for stuck parts, as they get exposed to the element the most. Here in the DC area, we get to deal with salt exposure, which is not as much of a problem inland. The BMW I do most of my work on is 16 years old, so a lot of original parts are very corroded. It still runs great, though. |
Anonymous
12:46. Agree. My wife's Audi Q5 needs a VAG cable and Rosstech program to retract the rear parking brakes. Older cars you can do that manually. My next car will be new, but a nice car with as few bells and whistles as possible. More stuff to break. I'll probably order it without a sunroof. |
Anonymous
12:46. Buying a house with a big garage was life-changing. I hated working in parking lots, and our old HOA would not let me work in our townhouse community's lot. I now have a massive 2.5 car garage with 18 foot high ceilings. I'm considering installing a lift. |
Anonymous
12:46. Brakes are where all the money savings are found. That and simple engine work like MAF sensors, belts, thermostats, alternators, etc. I don't even bother to change my own oil anymore, but I always do my brakes. |
Anonymous
Just a 32 mm 1/2 socket for the axle nut. Had everything else |
Anonymous
No, didn't need to. Just did the quick "push-pull" maneuver and they popped right out. Was expecting a huge fight to get them out but it was easy |
Anonymous
My DH has actually been researching this because he's so frustrated with the computer systems on our VW. It seems that Japanese cars are easy to work on. German cars are not because their mechanics unions are very strong there and they don't want people fixing their own cars. We're looking into a Honda or a Toyota. DH's Mazda is easy to work on too. I like all the bells and whistles and getting a car without those doesn't mean it still won't need engine work, brake work, spark plugs, etc. |
Anonymous
I used axles from RockAuto. I think they're Timken. They were billed as "heavy duty", and were about 3mm larger diameter shafts then the OEM shafts. They were new manufacture, not rebuilds. Car is a Subaru Crosstrek. 105,000 miles. I'm a little pissed the cv's are gone already, but judging by the talk on the web forums it's a common thing. Speculation is the higher ride height of the car compared to the Inprezza (which it's based on) is causing the axle joints to run at steeper angles and wear out faster. The boots never cracked and the axles never lost any lube, they just wore out and started clicking in turns while under load. |
Anonymous
The axle nut has a thin "ring" around it, on the side that faces out from the drive hub. There is a groove machined into the stub shaft that splines through the drive hub. The ring on the axle nut needs to be dimpled (staked) with a 1/8" flat chisel to keep the nut from loosening on the threads. You basically dent the ring on the nut to keep it from turning. I used to be OCD about torque specs until I started noticing all the specs seemed to be the same for similar bolt sizes. Then I relaxed a bit. |
Anonymous
^^^ BALLER!!!! ^^^^ |