How many times have you taken your car to the shop, only to hear things like,” You need a new CV axle, tie rod ends, motor mounts, etc. Of course let’s not forget the price tag attached to those words. My daughter was fortunate enough as a teenager to do some babysitting full time over a couple of summers. Much to her delight, one of her clients loved her so much, they gave her a 1988 MitsubishiPrecis. They felt the services she was providing and her rates were so good, she deserved more than what they payed her. What more can a teenager want?
She drove that car and loved it. It got great gas mileage, 30+ mpg and she was one of the only kids in her little clique of friends to have a car of her own. Then came inspection time and those familiar words, “Ginger, this is the garage, your car failed inspection.” Those words are enough to drive even the bravest person, into paralyzing fear.
Tie rod ends and CV boots were the culprits; very intimidating and very expensive. The garage wanted a hefty $800 to do the work and at that time financially, it wasn’t happening. To someone unfamiliar with cars, that is a very scary prospect; especially when you don’t even know what those things are. So we ended up donating that wonderful little car to charity and the “Hey, can I borrow the car?” saga began.
Now let’s skip down the road a few years to the purchase of the Sunturd. It just so happens, tie rod ends come up again, along with that familiar gut wrenching fear. After a little research, I actually know what a tie rod end is and low and behold, it is not nearly as intimidating as it sounds. Not only are service manuals a great asset but so is the internet. The internet will often have those little tricks to make a job easier, as opposed to the service manual. I have also used the “pay for your answer” web sites. Case and point; years ago during a project the service manual said that you put a tie rod end puller on the tie rod end and turn the puller bottom until the tie rod pops off; we followed the instructions to the tee and for the life of us, neither Marve or myself could get that thing to pop. Upon closer inspection we noticed a cotter pin and a castle nut; neither happened to be mentioned in the service manual. We removed the cotter pin and the nut and low and behold, out popped the tie rod end. Now to my point, don’t get tunnel vision so you forget to look at the problem from another perspective; use the manual as a reference, in conjunction with the internet. I only use those guys on the “pay for your answer” sites as a last resort but they do have years of experience and a lot of little tricks.
CV boots were the same; manual and internet research, project done. Now please don’t assume that these jobs were quickly done. As a beginner bumbling through on my own, these projects were often done in a period of several days along with a variety of bumps and bruises. My confidence took a lot of hits, but in the end I was the victor. I often beat myself up because I let the name intimidate me with my daughter’s car. Just because the name of the project sounds intimidating with just as intimidating price tag, don’t let that keep you from trying. It’s not as bad as it sounds; don’t let the name fool you.
Ginger Harwell (c) 2011
She drove that car and loved it. It got great gas mileage, 30+ mpg and she was one of the only kids in her little clique of friends to have a car of her own. Then came inspection time and those familiar words, “Ginger, this is the garage, your car failed inspection.” Those words are enough to drive even the bravest person, into paralyzing fear.
Tie rod ends and CV boots were the culprits; very intimidating and very expensive. The garage wanted a hefty $800 to do the work and at that time financially, it wasn’t happening. To someone unfamiliar with cars, that is a very scary prospect; especially when you don’t even know what those things are. So we ended up donating that wonderful little car to charity and the “Hey, can I borrow the car?” saga began.
Now let’s skip down the road a few years to the purchase of the Sunturd. It just so happens, tie rod ends come up again, along with that familiar gut wrenching fear. After a little research, I actually know what a tie rod end is and low and behold, it is not nearly as intimidating as it sounds. Not only are service manuals a great asset but so is the internet. The internet will often have those little tricks to make a job easier, as opposed to the service manual. I have also used the “pay for your answer” web sites. Case and point; years ago during a project the service manual said that you put a tie rod end puller on the tie rod end and turn the puller bottom until the tie rod pops off; we followed the instructions to the tee and for the life of us, neither Marve or myself could get that thing to pop. Upon closer inspection we noticed a cotter pin and a castle nut; neither happened to be mentioned in the service manual. We removed the cotter pin and the nut and low and behold, out popped the tie rod end. Now to my point, don’t get tunnel vision so you forget to look at the problem from another perspective; use the manual as a reference, in conjunction with the internet. I only use those guys on the “pay for your answer” sites as a last resort but they do have years of experience and a lot of little tricks.
CV boots were the same; manual and internet research, project done. Now please don’t assume that these jobs were quickly done. As a beginner bumbling through on my own, these projects were often done in a period of several days along with a variety of bumps and bruises. My confidence took a lot of hits, but in the end I was the victor. I often beat myself up because I let the name intimidate me with my daughter’s car. Just because the name of the project sounds intimidating with just as intimidating price tag, don’t let that keep you from trying. It’s not as bad as it sounds; don’t let the name fool you.
Ginger Harwell (c) 2011
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