I know you guys get on 01DodgeRam360 about taking his vehicle to a shop when this is a "DIY" forum however I was wondering if anyone else is getting like me. I used to do a fair bit of work that I could and sometimes enjoyed it but recently I've just gotten to the point where I don't even really want to work on the vehicles and would rather just take them to a shop like your average person that knows nothing about vehicles would do. That way it gets fixed and I don't have to get greasy and spend my time trying to figure out how to do stuff. On one hand I feel this way but on the other hand I save a ton of money doing stuff myself and even though I have a shop I think is good if I do it myself I know it gets done right and I've had times from almost all shops I've used where stuff comes back that I don't think is done exactly right or not how I'd like it to be.

I'm just getting to the point though I don't care too much about working on them. Anyone else like this?

 

Occasionally I get that way, yes.

For example, I've been tracing down this damn evap leak for the last year and have all but given up on it. I'm just dealing with the light for now. Debating on whether to pull the bed and replace all the frickin lines or just take it to a shop.

 

I do most stuff myself but every once and a while I take it to my mechanic cause I get sick of chasing down problems.
I really like working on it when I'm installing go fast parts or upgrading.

 

Personally im the kind of guy that doesn't mind getting his hands dirty. But when it comes down too it, there are justifyable times when I feel taking it to the shop is better in some situation than attacking the task on my own. That said... I have done all of my work so far on my pickup since I got it a year ago. Check out my cardomain (link below) To name an example of a time I feel its ok to have a shop do would be like... when I bought a new set of tires for my old mustang. I had the tires shipped up to my house and then brought them to walmart, with my new outlaw II rims. Would I have saved a about $10 by putting the tires on my new rims myself, of course I would have. But..... is it worth it? In my thinking... it was 110% worth it to have walmart take 1 minute to put them each on a rim. I still would have had them balanced so I would have made the trip anyway. I still brought them home and put the rims on the car, torqued em down etc. On the other hand, there also is a sense of pride at the end of the day saying, "wow, i just did that." You can buy a pickup already moded (and save money lol), or your can make your pickup into that pickup you've been dreaming about and have a whole different sense of respect for others out there who have done work themselves. I think I kind of got off the topic a bit, but hope that answers your question.

 

I grew up on a farm/ranch where everything that was done on our tractors, trucks, implements, and vehicle we did ourselves, including mounting/balancing tires, engine swaps and engine overhauls, transmission swaps, you name it, we did it. I can only recall one instance where we took a vehicle to a shop, and that was because we were 200 miles from home when it broke down. Everything else, we did at home with lots of learning, lots of late nights, lots of elbow grease. It was how we kept the farm running. If we had to take everything to a shop first, and wait for them to do the work and pay their outrageous prices, the family farm would have been doomed. I learned to weld when I was young, and saw my dad fabricate parts left and right to make stuff work. I learned that you can do about anything if you really were in a situation that you had to.

Nowadays, I live a different type of life, and don't have the same tools, time, or shop space to do that sort of stuff anymore. So there's some things that I will pay someone else to do because it requires special tools or expertise that I just don't have (installing gears for example). Other things that are just simple jobs that make life easier i'll pay for too (mounting and balancing tires for example, or welding up a muffler), but for everything else, I pretty much do it myself for several reasons. First, I know I can. I have enough skill and expertise from my time working on vehicles on the farm that I know most jobs really aren't as tough as they appear. For stuff that doesn't fall in that category, I know i'm smart enough to figure them out. The other thing is that I don't trust the shop to take care of my truck the way I take care of it. Most shops will see tens of vehicles each month. Why should they give a crap about my truck or anyone else's. All they care about is getting you in and out and emptying your wallet. Lastly, the prices they charge are just outrageous for something you could easily do yourself. I have never regretted taking on a job on my own. The feeling of satisfaction when you are done, and you've accomplished something that most people pay for, and saved a bunch of money in the process just makes it worth it each time. I have regretted taking vehicles to a shop though, and losing my shirt or having problems like neon is having.

 

Repairing a 2nd gen ram is the last vehicle you should complain about working on. It is by far the easiest vehicle in every way that I have worked on. Chrysler didnt make things convoluted to get at, and once you go through parts of the truck a couple times you learn tricks that let you do it faster next time. I know I could replace my water pump in about 5-10 min now. If your always breaking **** yea it sucks to always have to be working on it, but...stop breaking things. Otherwise be happy your getting to fool arround with something your adding on.

 

my truck has been in the shop a whopping 3 times since ive owned it, once for dual exhaust, once for tires, and once for a 7 pin trailer plug and a brake controller. Otherwise I do all my work myself

Been to the body shop 3 times to I hate deer

 

I like working on my truck , tractor , lawn mower , house , car . welding , fab , its all fun . when you also have dirt track cars we race , drag cars , put i take every thing to the garage ..

 

My problem is I don't really have the space. Some younger guys like me are just starting out and live in an apartment, so yeah, we have the parking lot and yeah, we might have a small garage. Trick is, when you get done with all those tools, where can I put them? My small garage is 85%-90% taken up by my wife's Jeep.

Once my wife and I get a house someday, then I'll start a big collection of tools and doing as much work as I can myself. Until then, I just don't have a whole lot of space, and I need my truck almost every day, so I can't embark on long projects.

 

The fact remains that your still in south dakota, im sure that there's an empty flat field somewhere that you could work on it! LOL