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It seems absurdly difficult as someone who didn't have a wrenching father, to learn how to wrench. I learned how to change my oil, change a tire, and do ultra

It seems absurdly difficult as someone who didn't have a wrenching father, to learn how to wrench. I learned how to change my oil, change a tire, and do ultra basic shit like change the engine oil filter and head/tail lights on my wifes 2014 ford fiesta. Outside of this, I'm SOL. Sure, I can youtube some of this - but not all of it. I'd sometimes feel like I'd understand how cars work at some points after doing research and watching videos about my own car, and then I'll hear someone talk about a part I've never even heard of. I don't know where to even begin with learning the more fun parts of modding, or tuning. The fact that it's apperently impossible to get proper workshop manuals now makes it feel like this industry is as hostile to DIYers as it gets. I don't know all the institutional knowledge to even begin with purchasing tools. Apparently I want to avoid harper-freight jack-stands (as the common meme goes) because they are very likely to fail and crush people. I'm concerned that not knowing enough about automotive memes may get myself killed one day. I don't know what I don't know and it scares me. It's doubly bad because the automotive industry is especially full of frauds and cheats. They don't call them "stealerships" for nothing. Mechanics are extremely unsavory (even the "good" ones) and I do not feel comfortable letting other people do work on my vehicle. Anecdotal stories of work conditions within dealer repair shops give me further reasons to be uncomfortable.

HeyLaughingBoy 6y ago
There used to be a series of books called "How to keep your XXX alive" In my case the XXX was "Toyota Pickup." I don't know if there's something similar for newer cars, but that book basically assumed you knew NOTHING and taught it to you. Including stuff like "don't rely on hydraulics: use jackstands." I'd advise finding one, even if it's for the wrong car, since a lot of the basic stuff is the same. I started with that, a Haynes manual, and then found the complete Factory Service Manual for sale somewhere. BTW: I have a set of 25+ year-old Harbor Freight jackstands that are fine. The bad ones IIRC, are from a specific batch a few years ago. A long time ago I realized that the main difference between professional mechanics and myself is that they had the experience to (usually?) get something right the first time and the knowledge to do some things faster. But there's nothing they know that I can't learn; it'll just take me longer. The first time I needed to change a flat, I had to ask for help because I had absolutely no idea what to do. But I watched closely and learned.

HeyLaughingBoy 6y ago

There used to be a series of books called "How to keep your XXX alive" In my case the XXX was "Toyota Pickup." I don't know if there's something similar for newer cars, but that book basically assumed you knew NOTHING and taught it to you. Including stuff like "don't rely on hydraulics: use jackstands." I'd advise finding one, even if it's for the wrong car, since a lot of the basic stuff is the same. I started with that, a Haynes manual, and then found the complete Factory Service Manual for sale somewhere. BTW: I have a set of 25+ year-old Harbor Freight jackstands that are fine. The bad ones IIRC, are from a specific batch a few years ago. A long time ago I realized that the main difference between professional mechanics and myself is that they had the experience to (usually?) get something right the first time and the knowledge to do some things faster. But there's nothing they know that I can't learn; it'll just take me longer. The first time I needed to change a flat, I had to ask for help because I had absolutely no idea what to do. But I watched closely and learned.