Wrenching on their own rigs?

fstfrd00

fstfrd00

Rank IV

Pathfinder III

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Fort Worth
Spent sometime last week in Broken Bow, OK, exploring the Ouachita National Forest. Not on any camping / overlanding adventure/ just a vacation with the family. Seeing the 4x4s made me yearn for some wheeling.

Which got me thinking about maintenance and repairs, who does their own? Do you just take it to a shop?
 
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I take mine to a shop. Doesn't stop me 'tinkering' and sorting bits and pieces from time to time but I'm a long way from being a mechanic so like the reassurance that it's being looked at by the pros. Finding the right shop can be a challenge though.


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I stick to simple things like bolt-on gear, changing batteries, fluid maintenance, stuff like that. Serious work with the potential to cripple my daily driver, I trust to the pros. I might be more adventurous if I had a project vehicle and a garage, but for now, I play it safe.
 
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Me and my wife do most of our own maintenance stuff but we aren't afraid of taking to a shop for things we can't easily do

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Once I started wheeling a bit, it made sense to do my own. I am confident fixing almost everything not inside the engine or transmission. I had to take my wheel hub to a shop to get them to press out the old bearing and put in the new bearing. Cost me about $130 for the part and for the shop work, and another $80 for a wheel alignment after it was all back together. Toyota wanted almost $1000 for the same repair and said they might break the wheel sensor which would cost me another $800.
 
I'd say I'm at about a 70/30 ratio of DIY to local mechanic.

My General "rule" (if I have one) is that I do all my mods, and basic preventative maintenance. This makes having a European car a slightly more affordable proposition than it would be if I relied on others for all mods and maintenance. With all
Of the discount auto parts options available, I can get parts for the Volvo for just a few bucks more than my mechanic pays. Sucks for him but rad for me!

In the past two years I have done the following myself on both my vehicles:

2004 VOLVO XC70

- 2" Bad Swede spring lift
- solid strut mounts
- skidplates
- wired and mounted aux lights (since "removed"
By an accident [emoji24])
- front right wheel bearing
- fuel filler door hinge and lock
- ATF fluid drain and fill
- IPD HD spring seats
- 25mm & 15mm wheel spacers
- AEM dryflow cold air intake and heat shield

2015 VOLVO V60 R-Design

- KPAX GT6 performance cat-back exhaust system
- Powerflex Torque Mount Inserts
- IPD rear sway bar

Mechanic has done the following on XC70 (V60 is still covered under warranty):

- Steering Rack
- Fixed AC electrical fault
- tires & balance/alignment
- XC90 axle swap

So that's about how it stacks up. I have ZERO experience working on my own vehicles prior to this. It can be tricky, but it not NEARLY as difficult as I imagined with time, patience, and proper instruction from friends/the internet.

I have come to believe that at least basic DIY maintenance and repair work is a prerequisite for Overland adventuring. So I look forward to further expanding my capabilities in the years to come.




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I try to do as much as possible so I can learn about my Jeep but I am definitely not a mechanic. I completely changed out my suspension twice on my own since I've had it and never touched anything like that before I got it so I am comfortable with that mostly. Lots of research and YouTube help a lot! :) Major engine and transmission work I would take to a professional at this point though.
 
Mine is new, so all scheduled stuff goes to the dealer. Any modifications I do. Historically, I do all of my own maintenance, engine tear-down, etc, but when it comes to the innards of a transmission or specialty work (crank shaft grinding, engine re-bore, etc) I take the parts to the pros.
 
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Mine goes to the Toyota dealer for most things since I'm not super mechanically inclined.
 
I like to do darn near 100% of upkeep on my truck, its the same with my wifes car.
The car had to powersteering module go out, had to take it to a dealer but other than that, Ive pretty much done everything on it.
The truck has never spent any significant time at a shop. When I first bought it, it came with like 4 free oil changes though.
With that being said, if I owned a vehicle still under a "warranty" (generally I void them soon after) I would take it in a lot more as I dont want to deal with getting grease / dirt / mud all over the house.
 
I do as much as possible with the tools and space that I have available to me. I can go onto a military base and use their auto shop to work on our vehicles. It's nice to pay $5hr to use a lift and borrow tools for free. I am so thankful that this option is offered on military bases.
 
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I let Ford handle it for now on the truck, since they made me a helluva deal on maintenance for the first 70k miles. I can't buy oil and a filter cheaper then they do everything for the price I got.

I do all mods myself tho, and once this maintenance plan is up I'll do the maintenance as well, unless they offer me a similar deal in the future.
 
Highly depends on the task. I have a fair amount of tools but there are some jobs that I am not equipped for so I weigh the cost of tooling and the likely hood that I will need to use that rig again VS sending it to the pros. As some have mentioned we all have limits where it just makes better sense to bring it to a shop that has a lot of experience so you don't have a failure due to lack of knowledge at time of repair.

I like to do just about anything that would be a trail repair such as new U-joints, Shackles and other suspension modifications, fuel system, steering, etc... Less likely trail repair such as transmission work, lower end engine big welding items I tend to bring to someone with the experience.
 
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I've purchased most of my vehicles slightly used and by far most of the repairs/failures I've had to solve have been caused by previous owners mechanic/dealer. I don't mean to sound pessimistic it's just my experience. I do have mechanics work on vehicles when something is outside my scope of practice but they are usually specialists that have been recommended by a lot of people. The internet has been a great help with this. Being as self reliant as possible for maintenance and repair work for me is enjoyable, a way to save a lot money and a family tradition.

For those that working on your own vehicles is outside their skills or ambition, again the internet/forums/review sites can be a big help in finding the educated and skilled mechanics.

-Eric
 
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