I managed to get the back wheel bearing on courtesy and thanks to Mendel's link of someone using bolts to "shove" it off the hub. But I have been like this for while ie don't get a feeling of self worth (or whatever it would be called) of doing something like that yourself. If I paid someone I would be saying that's good that's it fixed, I know it was a few £ (uk) but at least I didn't need to struggle with it. I don't know if it is me but is anyone else like that.
Some people DIY because it saves money, whether they're good at it or not. Some people DIY because it's almost like a hobby. Some people DIY because they have no other choice. Some DIY because they enjoy learning and doing new things. Some do it for all of the above. Some people have no desire to DIY at all and just prefer to pay someone else to do things. This is true in all aspects of life. Everyone is different. It doesn't make anyone better or worse, just different. I've been up to my eyeballs in projects this spring. My house 50 gallon water heater failed Wednesday night and was spraying water out the bottom and top. 17 years old, and I was pretty poor about doing maintenance on it, so I guess it had a good life. I replaced it Thursday. Friday after work, I felled, limbed and bucked 4 medium sized trees in my front yard, trunk sizes 8-14 inches, 30-60' tall. 6 more to go, some of which will be today. Then I need to split the logs and woodchip the limbs. I've been working on replacing a 400' deep well for the last 2 weeks. Got held up for a week waiting on parts. Just about finished it yesterday but forgot to get one specific fitting. Saved probably $5k+ on those 2 jobs combined, + about $500 a tree or more on average, but it's not just the money, it's also the adventure. Not everyone wants or desires the adventure. Heading to Lowes in about 15 min to get that fitting and some other supplies for today's adventure!!
I’ve always done what I can myself to save money, and mostly enjoyed it. When you run across a frustrating job, it can take all the fun out of it. As I’ve gotten older, more and more jobs are becoming too difficult, and I have to hire them out. I wouldn’t mind so much, but the workmanship is often substandard, and costs are exorbitant
Asked and answered. There is nothing wrong with employing someone else to do something that you're not able to do yourself of that you don't enjoy, provided that you're financially capable. Some things, I can do BETTER myself.
It isn't so much financially capable it is more physical. Plus where I am I feel I am frowned on and makes me self conscious.
I'm somewhat manic/depressive about DIY: when it goes well I'm pleased as punch, and when it goes pear-shaped I'm kicking myself. Researching and preparing helps, preliminary forays as well, if possible.
And that list doesn't even include one of the important reasons: having had jobs effed up one too many times by other people paid to do them. Around the time I transitioned from a teenager DIYing to save money into a young adult with a salary, the idea of paying others to do the work appealed to me. Part of it was genuinely about having less spare time and more money, and part of it was liking how it felt to think "I'm too busy to do that and I can afford to hire it out." But a few episodes of having work come back badly done can take a lot of the shine off that idea, whether it comes back done only badly enough that I have to DIY redo it anyway (after already deciding I didn't have time for it and already spending the money) or comes back done irreparably badly and I have to deal with replacement. I suppose the real "I've got no time and plenty of money" answer to that is to sue whoever did the work. But that takes time and money too, and doesn't by itself get the botched work fixed. Usually I'd rather just spend my time fixing the problem, and remember not to use so-and-so again. If you have identified a mechanic or a shop you know you can pay for the work and have it done well, you are fortunate. In my experience, I'm sad to report, none of that is guaranteed, and even reading reviews won't always be as helpful as you might hope.
i had to bleed the brakes on a '72 valiant back in the day. middle of winter, pregnant wife pumping the brakes for me, i just couldn't get the air out. wound up having to take it to a shop, even though we were barely making enough to survive. it was our only car, and i had to get to work.
Lacking a vacuum or pressure bleeder, I gave up on a brake bleeding job on a Bronco II once, drove it partially bled down to the Ford dealer and asked them to finish it. The brake pedal felt much firmer when they were done with it. Also, the truck couldn't get out of its own way on the easy 2½ mile drive home, and when I got out, just walking beside the truck I could feel through my pant legs the heat off the shimmering-hot wheels. Turned out the dealer had not only sort-of bled my brakes (the only thing I asked for), they had also lengthened my master cylinder pushrod a few turns past the correct adjustment. Another thing that makes the pedal feel firmer! If you don't mind having the brakes partly on all the time. And after fixing that, it still felt like it maybe had air in the lines. When I drove it back to have words with them about that, they started off by trying to tell me that Bronco II brakes should always be shimmering hot like that. I took it next to an independent shop across the street that had good reviews. I told them the whole story and asked them to please just bleed the brakes. I watched from outside their "insurance says our customers have to stand here" line, and while they bled the lines I saw the obvious spurts of air the Ford dealer had not gotten out. But even these guys, even while I was watching, when they were done bleeding, reached up and messed with the rear brake adjusters to make the pedal seem firmer. At least that only left two wheels dragging instead of four like what the Ford dealer did. I just drove home and re-did the rear brake adjustment and the brakes were fine after that.
i did successfully install a replacement mailbox last fall. that's about the extent of my diy abilities these days.
I disagree with a few of the posters above... I think if you can understand, diagnose, and repair your own vehicle it's a good thing. Are you "better" than those who can't/won't? In one sense, yes; in another, no. More on topic, I find most car repairs to be rewarding. Only exception is if you bungle something up. When I do home improvement projects, I waste huge amounts of time trying to figure out what my next move is. When I work with my brothers-in-law (construction pros) they don't waste time; they are always doing. And once in a while they make a mistake or mess something up, and then they just fix it. I think part of being efficient is not being paralyzed by fear that you might make a mistake.
Depends what you’re doing too. I’m making picture frames, and it’s easy to mess up, not that easy to recover. A couple of pics of my latest (attached), a four-in-one frame, and the copes are getting pretty involved. Just done the rabbets so far, taking a second look.
Some people just are not inclined to try...they are not interested. They are fine with paying someone to do even simple things they could easily learn to do. Nothing wrong with that I suppose. I have a friend that drives an older Mercedes, he loves that car. I was behind him one day and one brake light was out. He said, OH I was wondering why my turn signal didn't work on that side. Mind you, he is 68 years old and his profession is in literature and education. So he took it to the Mercedes dealership and had it replaced....without asking how much it would cost. Ended up being $115 to replace a light bulb. I was willing to do it for him, but not knowing mechanics, he was afraid there may be a "magic trick" or something I didn't know about a Mercedes so he said thank but no thanks. He's happy...so why shouldn't I be too?
