See, that's my thing. At my old place, I had room enough to do the ball joint, but that was it. Little driveway for a duplex and my full size truck was no fun to get in and out of that crevice. Now, oh man, now there is a PERFECT garage/shed, with a room on the side that's all warm. but lo and behold, I kindly asked before I came up here to leave it open so I could stay in it and work on my truck; yet there's half a house worth of my cousin's belongings. Therefore the only place I have now, is a one way street and a sidewalk. Sorry, but I can't do the jobs I want too. But Neon

GET SOME TOOLS!!!!

When I worked for **** poor pay, I started my tool collection about 3 years ago. GREATEST INVESTMENT. I always grew up around tools though, so I'll be kind enough to give you an idea of what you want;

[ul][*]Stanley/Black and Decker 100 or 150 piece set - anywhere between 40-80 bucks at your local wal mart.[/ul][ul][*]battery powered screwdriver - mine is a black and decker - about 12 bucks. (not necessary, but makes taking off that damn air box a snap, along with interior screws)[/ul][ul][*]Craftsman ratchet - kind of pricey at sears, but you want top notch quality for a socket wrench - between 20-50 dollars; depending on the size as well; I also happen to get a deal on a better quality Stanley ratchet that has a unique head for 10 dollars, it was regularly 40; best ratchet i've used to date.
[/ul][ul][*]Jack Stand and Jack - Got a deal at wal mart for GM Goodwrench stands for 20 bucks; held up my truck for over 3 weeks and didn't budge. The Jack is a hydraulic bottle? i guess, cost about 15 dollars but I do reccomend a racing jack, about 80 bucks for a good one, they're just not mobile at all.[/ul][ul][*]Some type of electrical connections set - 20 bucks at wal mart. doesn't help for ball joints obviously; but trust me those connections, tape, crimpers, all of that comes in VERY handy.[/ul][ul][*]Torque wrench - I got a decent generic one at Pepboys for 20, but I reccomend a better quality, like Powerbuild for 30-40 dollars.[/ul][ul][*]Powerbuilt/Craftsman - socket set. Get some laser etched ones, make sure they're made in the USA. about 20-30 bucks.[/ul][ul][*]Random tools from Freight Harbor (if you have one, if not, flea market/pawn shop) - Big **ckin Hammer. I got a 10 lb mini sledge, great little "bludger". Ball peen hammer. Mine has come in handy so I just reccomend one if you find one cheap. Screwdriver set. As long as it has a point, it'll work.[/ul][ul][*]Others may say a welder. If you do have the work area, I would definitely learn to get decent with one. I personally never have used one, but would love doing my own exhaust. Not much influence from me on that one.
[/ul]And get yourself a quality toolbox and a few tool pouches. And like others have said, at flea markets, garage sales, secondhand stores, pick up ANY and ALL tools you can afford and think you can have a legitimate use for. Don't worry about your tools being shiny, in fact if they are shiny, then you wasted your money because your not using it. Only time mine are shiny are when they are new. In contrast, remember to clean off all the grime, sludge, and WATER off. You don't want your tools rusting or leaving residue on your hands making wrist torque null.

Don't invest in certain "kits" like the balljoint kit, because those are pretty much only worth renting when your just a garage mechanic. No use in spending 150 bucks on something you might use 3 or 4 times in your life time. Again, that also may be a personal thing. I wouldn't mind getting a kit when my buddy and I room together, because replacing ball joints can be a profitable$$ project that can be exchanged for electric bill money.

Taking off a throttle body is very simple. Just looking at it on top of the engine is the scariest thing; once that air box is off, and you have the right socket over those bolts, re-post and let us know how far you have come, LOL.

Again I'm not knocking you at all, I just wish someone had my back the way so many on here have yours.

P.S.> I do agree not touching the Auto tranny. Unless a miracle comes along, I'd never drop an automatic tranny. Sticks are much easier to work with and might be more interested in working with one of those, but auto's have all that hydraulic or electrical what nots, just not interested to fiddle with that. And it's for that exact reason, auto trannies are a mechanics gold mine. Oh well, glad I can help stimulate the economy.

 

Sears had a good 263 set of sockets,open end, and allen wrenches for 169.99 just last week. They may have extended the sale a bit. That's a good starting set.

 

aim, was that a craftsman set?

 

thanks, but this isnt psychiatrists forum. Go take yourself to a shop.

get on that learnin thing its helpful.

 

I'll do my part as long as you do your part when it comes time for me to ask you some questions[8D]

 

yes it was. They had the same set for the same price at Christmas time. They might have overbought.

 

Yeah, Neon didn't buy, so the savings are on to us. Haha.

 

when havent I? I cant think of a single person or instance where I havent helped, granted it may have been followed by critizism, but I have always helped.

 

I was only being facetious

 

Get a good 3 ton jack or 12 ton bottle jack and blocks of wood. I've recently heard of someone getting crushed because their cheap jack gave up on em... Not very fun I would imagine. And come to think of it, it wasn't very fun when my cheap jack almost caused me to lose my thumb under my bumper or at least crush the hell out of it.

Quality before quantity, all day every day. Jackstands are good, but I have met a couple people who don't trust em 100% just like I don't trust them 100%. Blocks of wood are very good though, and who knows, maybe if your family or a friend has a chainsaw you can make some for free out of some downed trees.

Oversized tire stops are a must. Again, wood is a very good choice.

And tools... First and foremost; Look for the lifetime warranty. If you tried to get the best warranty for your tranny, do the same for tools.

I got that 263 piece set from sears a while back for like 150-175 and it's been the best money I've ever spent. I can pretty much do it all with that set. Besides that, a complete high quality lifetime warranty screwdriver set, various pliers, vice grips, a good torque wrench is a must, at least one 12" adjustable crescent wrench, at least a 5lbs. sledge, a strong good size steel pipe for additional leverage, possibly some 1/2" drive SAE and Metric deep impact sockets from the local Harbor Tools or harborfreight.com and eventually when you get into the other stuff besides routine maintenance and simple upgrades, you'll need more later of coarse but that craftsman set from sears is a great place to start. Best thing about it is you can buy it regular price, wait till there is a sale, bring in your receipt and they'll give you the difference between what you paid and the sale price as many times as it goes down in price, plus there's the lifetime guarentee craftsman has and a great return policy. When it comes to Harbor tools, be careful not to get too comfortable with their stuff. If it has the lifetime warranty, nothing to worry about there, but if not, keep that reciept and be sure that if it does break, you break it before the 30 days is up seeing as how tools are not for decoration but for using and abusing for life.