odd question

superj · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:57 pm

not wanting to be rude though so don't take my question the wrong way, its just i have not got a lot of wrench time on this truck so i am new here.

is this engine terribly hard to work on? i read a thread a bit ago and everyone told the guy jsut to get his headgasket changed because it was cheaper then a new liberty and figured it to be about 2-3k (roughly). then i read where another person took his struts to a shop for assemby. are they horribly hard to work on?

i come from racing bmws in the scca and not having alot of money leads one to do alot of their own work and headgaskets and struts are somethings one does everyonce in a while. even when one does not race these are items you have to change every once in a while. i have looked at the engine and at the suspension and the parts don't look like they are any different from any other manufacturer's set ups. can we not do this work ourselves or is it just alot of folks on here are not that far advanced in their tinkering or don't have a garage to work in so they take their stuff to get it done?

just asking, not trying to be rude. i have always been broke my whole life so taking a vehicle to a mechanic has never been an option until now but since i have always done it and am kind of stingy about having people work on my cars/trucks i do it myself. it is just weird to see so many people on a forum telling people to take their vehicle to a shop to get work done instead of telling them to do the work themselves.

giev me your thoughts on this please because this is a new ideaology to me, telling folks to take their stuff somewhere. it is quite strange to read

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:18 pm

I do all of my own work as well, stingy and don't like others to mess with anything I own :roll:

but say like installing new OME Heavy Duty springs I take them to a local shop they compress them swap out everything for me, lots easier to do for me.
Over the weekend we did everything from lifts to CVs here at my place on 3 different KJs, so lots of people do a lot to their own junk but a lot do not have the tools, a garage etc to do that type of work so they farm it out to a shop somewhere

Maximum Carnage · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:32 pm

I like working on my own vehicles. I figure if I know how to do and I have the time might as well do it. It also helps in the event that I was to break down on the road.
The only thing I’ve had done to my Jeep by someone else other than recalls was the front differential seal. Well I have had Jiffy Lube do some of my oil changes but that’s because they were free. Knock on wood but I haven’t had any real mechanical work needed.

oddball · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 5:30 pm

Well like any forum, most members are easy to figure out. Now as tommudd mentioned, many get together here to wrench on their Liberty's. Some obviously do not. Those I would think (don't hold me to this) are not exactly mechanically inclined. I mean if I asked how much will the dealer charge me to do 'whatever', what does that tell you?

As for me, yes I will do most repairs myself.

Anyway, you'll be fine working on your KJ. Enjoy it!

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 6:12 pm

I farm out most of my repairs and custom work. I only do the basic maintenance (oil changes, transmission fluid changes, rotating tires, differential fluid changes, etc). I have a few mechanically inclined friends who I depend on and I certainly don’t mind paying them to do the work. I’d much rather give my money to a buddy who is skilled to do the work versus some random person at the dealership who could careless about me or my vehicles. For example, my wife will only let tjkj2002 touch her KJ, so that takes care of 100% of those problems.

oddball · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:09 pm

dieselenthusiast wrote:

my wife will only let tjkj2002 touch her KJ, so that takes care of 100% of those problems.

Should I go there?! :-)r

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 7:12 pm

if you don't go there, ThunderbirdJunkie will :lol:

Guest · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:35 pm

JeepinJarhead03 wrote:

if you don't go there, ThunderbirdJunkie will :lol:

That one is far too easy for ThunderbirdJunkie.

Much like your mom!

:lol:

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:42 pm

ThunderbirdJunkie likes his women like he likes his cheeze :lol:

Chunky and Aged

edit:

ya know, since this is a odd thread anyway

Funny ya brought up my mom since this is a jeep forum, my mom was an interstate & western auto callender girl in the late 60s/70s

:lol:

she can also rebuild one hell of a 4 barrell carb

LIV42DY · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 9:57 pm

If you have the tools, the knowhow and the place to do it , then yes by all means do it yourself, and still you may have to send some of the work out since you may not have ALL the equipment needed to complete the project. Myself I do it all my self have presses , engine hoists, and even a lathe and a milling machine, welders ect. I just dont like to re iunvent the wheel, so fabricating is not my cup of tea, since I had engineers in the family. But you need to realize that some individuals may have the knowhow, but not the tools, others may have the knowhow but not the place, and others may be limited on their ability to do it. All these variables come into play when working on your ride so this is when farming out he work comes into play. And by the way I know what its like to not be able to have someone else to work on your ride due to financial strugle and having to do it all yourself. Good way to learn is in it?

Guest · **Posted:** Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:14 pm

JeepinJarhead03 wrote:

ThunderbirdJunkie likes his women like he likes his cheeze :lol:

Chunky and Aged

Mmmmmmmmmm...fupa...

superj · **Posted:** Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:20 am

yup, being broke makes you mechanical, whether you are born that way or not.

i figured there would be some people who were not mechanically inclined and some who were but i have also figured out why i have read the comment more here then on any other forums i am part of. these trucks are fairly new versus my older bmws being e30s and stuff of that era (ended that chassis code in 92). so of course everyone in those cars are going to be working on them themselves, they are all younger, mostly broke, guys and girls, like i always was. most of the time new vehicle owners aren't going to do work on the vehicle themselves for various reasons and one of the main reasons is they are not mechanically inclined (not always the reason though) so they purchase a new vehicle in hopes of having something more dependable.

luckily, there are vehicle enthusiasts in every group to lend a hand to the new guys because another thing that i see is becoming a common trend is parents who make good money don't work on vehicles anymore and therefore their children don't learn to work on vehicles either. when i was really young i remember my dad (and my step dad) working on the family vehicle whenever it had a problem. once my parents became more financially stable they were able to farm that work out to someone else. this lead to neither of my younger brothers being able to work on their own vehicles because they never watched dad fix the car or the lawnmower, you know. i remember leaning on the fender and watching dad putting hte engine back together as an enjoyable time in childhood and then when my bike would get a flat my dad showed me how to change the tube and everything kind of went from there. fixing bicycles, fixing lawnmowers, fixing dirt bikes and motorcycles, then getting my own car (76 buick regal) and fixing that and just going on from there.

i wish some jeep guys lived closer to me, i love working on vehicles. i actually have a bmw engine and tranny sitting in the driveway we pulled out friday to drop into a buddies four cylinder bmw and am yanking a 16v scirroco motor fo0r another friend when the bmw guys isn't there. my wife and i used to buy bmws that were sitting in people's yards for 1 or 2 hundred bucks and fix them just for hte heck of it and then sell them for a little more because they were so plentiful here.

if anyone takes a trip to mustang island, port aransas, or corpus christi and has any trouble, i am in range for those areas. we are heading up north to san antonio to go camping this summer so maybe i can get to some kind of get together then to meet some folks

ihatemybike · **Posted:** Tue Mar 17, 2009 8:33 am

YelloCoyote and I have done most of the wrenching on Eugene. Mostly cause we want stuff done and would rather spend money on trips with the Jeep instead of fixing the Jeep. When we work on it, it sometimes gets called "Two Times Eugene", because we'll pull something apart we haven't done before, realize we don't have a tool, part, or knowledge then put it back together and try again later and actually get it done.

The struts aren't that bad on the Liberty, I used the Advance Auto loaner tool spring compressor kit and while it takes some time, it's doable, but most importantly cheap.

odd question

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