"PowderHound" (PowderHound)
04/01/2020 at 18:53 • Filed to: None
2
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"PowderHound" (PowderHound)
04/01/2020 at 18:53 • Filed to: None | 2
| 4 |
Replaced a front cv axle on the Subaru, which I have done before so it should be easy right? Well then why did this take me 3.5 hours instead of one? Let’s dive in
Removal hardships:
1. I thought my impact was going to fry while taking off the 32mm axle nut. Worked after a heck of a lot of ugga duggas
2. I’m an idiot and bashed a cotter pin out the wrong way on a castle nut. Not terrible, just took a while
3. Getting the spring pin to be in a halfway decent position to knock out. It’s AWD, do I need to have all wheels off the ground to spin this one axle? I don’t know! Better safe than sorry
4. Positioning a Pullman for the ball joint. Mine is simply a hair too small and has to be on juuust right or else it slips
On to the install hardships with heavy swearing and pacing/drinking while contemplating my entire existence
1. “The spring pin can only go in one side, rotate it if it’s too tough” everything seems the same! It looks half a tooth off! Oh shit! Let me reposition it 10 different times!
2. I didn’t get a new spring pin. Can I just hammer in the old? Going to have to do I guess. Cue hammering on my back at an odd angle under the car aaaand we smashed a finger with a deadblow, beautiful. Thanks for that me.
3. Let’s put the ball joint back in the control arm. Why... why aren’t you lining up at all. Let’s turn the wheel and see if that works. You’re half an inch off from the hole. GO IN YOUR HOLE! ARE YOU TOO GOOD FOR YOUR FUCKING HOME! I don’t even know how to fix this. Take out the ball joint? Undo the strut bolts? After way too long and contemplating taking it all off again to compare axle lengths it turns out that yet again I am an idiot. Turning the wheel does nothing if the ball joint isn’t in for the steering rack to press against! Some quick pushing and finagling and it slipped right in.
So it’s all back together, running great and I’m convinced I will never have a job go smoothly. Also, o ther than cleaning my car I’m kind of out of quarantine projects.
Just Jeepin'
> PowderHound
04/01/2020 at 19:48 |
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This is the kind of thing that makes me despair: I have no experience, no skills, few tools, no good working space, no friends nearby to help. Why in the world would I want to tackle my own repair/mod work?
Answer: I’m just gonna keep paying other people to do it, and grab a friend/family member once a year for a few things I think I might be able to handle.
BaconSandwich is tasty.
> Just Jeepin'
04/01/2020 at 19:50 |
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I feel your pain. :(
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PowderHound
> Just Jeepin'
04/01/2020 at 20:07 |
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I feel that, it’s pretty hard to jump in and commit to some of these things .
I’m pretty lucky in that I have rarely been in a spot where I have to have my car. I have either been able to bike, use someone else’s car or use public transit if things go wrong . I’ve somehow always had a garage that I could at least move things around and pull my car in to to work on.
Acquiring tools has always been a very slow case by case basis for me. When I started working on cars my dad had a lot of tools scattered around that worked. There are still some specialty tools that would be super nice but I make do with what I have.
I think it all was born out of being a cheap person and not wanting to spend money to have someone else fix things. I still take it to the shop for certain things but I get a huge sense of accomplishment knowing that I fixed something myself.
VincentMalamute-Kim
> Just Jeepin'
04/01/2020 at 20:39 |
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Paying professionals to do it is what got me started doing everything myself. As much as possible-i.e. I send out machine shop work and diagnosis if I can’t figure it out. I just had too many pros who didn’t care enough to do it correctly or try to rip me off or did rip me off.
It’s doubly annoying when you’ve paid someone to screw it up. Most recent: a friend’s 1974 GMC Motorhome lost it’s water pump in Indiana. He paid $650 for a new install. It was a litany of horrors (overheated on his way back to Milw since they didn’t bleed it correctly, didn’t torque bolts and lost one, etc etc.)
But yeah, no work space is an issue. Friends with
knowledge are indispensable.