I became a car owner for the first time three years ago, which has been a learning curve after enjoying the bike/bus/walk lifestyle for years up until that point. Needless to say, there's a lot to learn and know about cars, but I found a good mom-and-pop mechanic shop through a personal recommendation, and they've been good to me and to all my rookie questions.
Early on I decided to stretch myself and save money by swapping my own seasonal tires. In my part of the world this is a thing you have to do twice a year, otherwise you take your chances skidding on snow all winter. Mechanics are typically booked solid with tire appointments every November and April (or thereabouts) and so doing it myself also saved the scheduling hassle.
I learned from a young lady on the farm I worked for at the time how to do this in my own driveway with a simple scissor jack and a cross wrench, which I keep in my trunk with the spare tire so that I can do it in an emergency flat situation as well. When I haul the alternate set of tires out of the basement I make sure to put them in the trunk and take them to the nearest gas station to confirm they're all adequately pressurized *before* installing them on the car.
I will echo the original poster that it is important to approach these 'stretch goals' with lots of time to think it through and pay attention to what you're doing in an unhurried, unstressed way. This week while putting on the snow tires I mistakenly applied the jack to the wrong part of the car's underside and then panicked when I saw the resulting dent, thinking I had damaged the gas tank or something. I asked my friendly and knowledgeable neighbour, who came over and confirmed that all I had done was create a bump in the floor near the back left seat, which in my immense relief I found kind of funny.
Live and learn! One day I may work up toward doing my own oil changes too.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
Re: Have the guts to try things that intimidate you
Date: 2024-11-24 12:38 am (UTC)I became a car owner for the first time three years ago, which has been a learning curve after enjoying the bike/bus/walk lifestyle for years up until that point. Needless to say, there's a lot to learn and know about cars, but I found a good mom-and-pop mechanic shop through a personal recommendation, and they've been good to me and to all my rookie questions.
Early on I decided to stretch myself and save money by swapping my own seasonal tires. In my part of the world this is a thing you have to do twice a year, otherwise you take your chances skidding on snow all winter. Mechanics are typically booked solid with tire appointments every November and April (or thereabouts) and so doing it myself also saved the scheduling hassle.
I learned from a young lady on the farm I worked for at the time how to do this in my own driveway with a simple scissor jack and a cross wrench, which I keep in my trunk with the spare tire so that I can do it in an emergency flat situation as well. When I haul the alternate set of tires out of the basement I make sure to put them in the trunk and take them to the nearest gas station to confirm they're all adequately pressurized *before* installing them on the car.
I will echo the original poster that it is important to approach these 'stretch goals' with lots of time to think it through and pay attention to what you're doing in an unhurried, unstressed way. This week while putting on the snow tires I mistakenly applied the jack to the wrong part of the car's underside and then panicked when I saw the resulting dent, thinking I had damaged the gas tank or something. I asked my friendly and knowledgeable neighbour, who came over and confirmed that all I had done was create a bump in the floor near the back left seat, which in my immense relief I found kind of funny.
Live and learn! One day I may work up toward doing my own oil changes too.
Dylan