How much money you figure you saved doing the work yourself?

[80stepsideguy]

Hi all,
i just did a ball joint job on the control arms on my 80.I went by the instructions followed by a fellow member that did it to his truck in pic illustrations.Well i had the ball joints removed from the arms and i had removed the bushings and then reinstalled the new polyurethane bushings but not the ball joints.Well the bushing removal/reinstall and the ball joint removal costed me 320.00.So i went out today and rented a ball joint press and did the job myself.I lubed the ball joints up w/ grease and then used my impact gun and WALA there installed.So i gotta return the tool and get my money back.Question is how much money you figure you save doing the work yourself if you got the proper tools?I just figured i saved 80.00 right there(labor rate a hour).I do do some home mehanics stuff and dont ever have a problem but i never rebuilt a front suspension to any vehicle and it seems like its a piece of cake if you take your time.Sorry bout the ranting i am just happy to realize how easy it really is to do this kinda stuff.

thanks
pat

[zieg85]

Tens of Thousands of dollars saved here.  It has gotten a lot easier since I got a computer and if you hunt long enough, belong or join forums, and ask questions, the answer and a lot of friendly folks out there willing to give guidance.  Down the road as finances allow I plan to build a shop and have a lift and in the corner a home-made spray booth.  I turned wrenches,(self taught) over 20 years ago but still kept my tools.  E-bay is great for getting the specialty tools I have always wanted to make the job easier, usually at $.10 on the dollar if you wait long enough.  I used to be the family mechanic until my sister-in-law married a mechanic so some of the tools/testing equipment I don't have, he does.  Even Autozone with their loan a tool has helped out greatly.  I still shy away from tackling some jobs mainly due to not having a place to work and on my job I travel for sometimes a week at a time.  I even purchased a used tire machine.  Next is a spin balancer, but the 24x24 garage is getting full with the 2 engines on stands and all the transmission laying around.  Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Fordeatinz71]

if i had all the money i saved today...i'd be a very wealthy man...

[Lt.Del]

Hey, talkin' bout my website?
www.delbridge.net/balljoints

I had this done when the guy quoted me $500 to get the job done....I said, "no way" and had my little digital camera handy when I tore it all apart.

[80stepsideguy]

Andy,
Yes i was referring to your information.It worked prefectly to a T on everything, i am gonna be putting the front end back together this weekend hopefully, i just need to figure out how many shime to put on each side of the upper control arms before tighening them down.I knw the front end shop will need to adjust them when its getting done but just to make it a roller for now.
thanks
pat

[Lt.Del]

I'm glad I could be of help.

[okuma]

you sure save tons and tons of money olong the way!  I have never paid a mechanic (tittle might be the only difference) to do a job for me of any kind...... well only two transmissions which I know jack about.

[jonkmbll89]

I do it to save $$$$$$$. If you know what you are doing it makes the job easy. Also after the job is done you can say that you saved money but to me it is that I done it myself.

[80stepsideguy]

So far i done alot of the work on the truck myself, disassembly ,painting,reassembly, i cant imagine what a shop wouldve charged me up to this far in the project.I`m just bout ready to install the coils n spindles tomorrow perhaps.

thanks
pat

[Lt.Del]

I started doing that many years ago....even before I was driving.  I had a 68 stang and it smoked really badly.  Working for minimum wage at a theme park, there was no way I could afford a new engine.  I took an old ford engine and tore it apart myself.  Took the block and head to get them bored and redone.  I took an old haynes manual and after ordering the new pistons, bearing, cam, crank, timing chain, etc..all less than $300.  I put that old horse together myself one Friday night.  That old engine lasted me all through high school, college and more.   

After that confidence buidler, next was interior work, body work, paint, you name it.  Not much I ain't done on these older vehicles.

[Hank Hill]

Even if it takes me twice as long as a shop to fix something im still making $50 an hour pulling my own wrenches.
I live a long ways from town and getting parts is a hassel. Takes time, but we have a third vehicle now so if it takes me a while to get something fixed it doesnt matter so much.
Before I used to send stuff to town to get fixed if I didnt have the tools to do it. Now I just buy whatever tools I need.
Sgt. Dell
Great web site! Put it in my favorites. Websites like these sure help!

[VileZambonie]

I only paid for one repair in my life when I was 17 in my 1980 C10 when my header burned through my + battery cable in a snow storm...had to have it towed in 18in of snow. Cost me a $100 bucks  Prior to owning my truck I never worked on a vehicle in my life

[mike357]

I know I have saved myself a fortune over the years, but I have spent a bunch in re-buying parts. I won't jury rig a part I've broken trying to install it, I'll just re-buy it. My bro-in-law on the other hand will. There has been times where we tore his car apart on Friday night and he had to drive it to work on Monday. Fortunately I've never put myself in that situation, but I have always done my own work.

[Redneckchevy]

Just this week  i saved over 120bucks on rebuilding my own carb..
And im sure i saved hounder's on doing my own welding...like welding my tailgate hangers...Installing my sound system amp and sub...And thats just for this month

[Lt.Del]

we tore his car apart on Friday night and he had to drive it to work on Monday

Back in the day, while I used to show my Mustangs at car shows, I'd have all the interior out, carpert out, metal dash all stripped, and seats down to their springs on a Thursday and have it all back together, new interior, paint, and carpet in it by a Sunday morning car show.  Boy, those were the days. 

On this one occasion, I took home a 2nd place in a 65 stang concours correct car in Wash, D.C.  I still have that trophy---and the pics of the inside all stripped out 72 hours prior to the show. 

There was time on my 68 stang while in college, I drove it home on a Friday eve.  I took the cylinder heads off and put new one on it and went out Friday night to another college nearby and partied hard.  That thing ran like a champ. A friend of mine couldn't believe I had that thing back together like that in that time.  Piece of cake.