It always happens..

[G-man]

So i decide i need to change my.front brakes on my truck... of course strip 2 slide bolt heads but got them on well enough to get to store and buy 2 new bolt. 

While changing front passenger side i see sway bar  link is snapped..  not big deal picked up new ones with slide bolts.   

Now i cant change them because i cant get front end of truck off the ground hig enough  in my barn .not big deal i need oil change as well so take to local shop and they will replace while doing oil change.   They have the hardest time to change them ..glad  i let them  do it.. 

Get home and truck is sitting funny... snapped rear main leaf spring end  off... sigh..  have to order  in so  have shop jerry rig with a chain so at least i can drive to airport sat... smh... wont get fixed  till i get back from bike week .but at least parts are all ordered and i can drive

[Splitear]

Outside of an occasional oil change, I don't think I've ever had what I thought would be a "simple" job be simple. I feel your pain...

[mowin]

I'd rather buy a new truck then work on vehicles.  Of course that's not a option, but it would make things so much easier, lol.

[Jeremy K]

Is this the truck you recently painted?

[Robhuntandfish]

I feel the same way about plumbing 

[G-man]

42 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

Is this the truck you recently painted?

Yep

[dbHunterNY]

i've always changed my oil, replaced entire brakes, etc. fast forward to today's world.... last time i changed my oil the ramps misaligned the hole with the drain plug. oil hit the skid plate and went all over the garage floor anywhere the skid plate took it. tried to do just rotors and pads on the wife's suv and got halfway through to realize you need shop software/pc to hook up to tell the e-brake solenoid to retract into maintenance mode. luckily i got the some of the new parts and old parts together to get it driveable so i could get it to a friend's shop and pay to have him do it.

automotive design and engineering has become high-tech greatness and entirely stupid at the same time.

[Jeremy K]

Before I had children there was not a chance in hell my vehicles would go to a shop for anytime of work. Now it would take me a year to fix anything because I'd have like 30 minutes a day to do anything.

[Jeremy K]

1 hour ago, dbHunterNY said:

i've always changed my oil, replaced entire brakes, etc. fast forward to today's world.... last time i changed my oil the ramps misaligned the hole with the drain plug. oil hit the skid plate and went all over the garage floor anywhere the skid plate took it. tried to do just rotors and pads on the wife's suv and got halfway through to realize you need shop software/pc to hook up to tell the e-brake solenoid to retract into maintenance mode. luckily i got the some of the new parts and old parts together to get it driveable so i could get it to a friend's shop and pay to have him do it.

automotive design and engineering has become high-tech greatness and entirely stupid at the same time.

Is it a Lincoln? If it is there is a sequence to go in to maintenance mode without any computers.

[dbHunterNY]

12 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

Is it a Lincoln? If it is there is a sequence to go in to maintenance mode without any computers.

Chevy. a plan B was to disconnect battery, ground out the solenoid, and all gentle like force the brake piston back enough to get the new pads in. it was a lease though, those calipers i was told were expensive, and you can damage the solenoid do that. easy enough to give my buddy $100 off the books to finish the job.

[Moho81]

1 hour ago, dbHunterNY said:

Chevy. a plan B was to disconnect battery, ground out the solenoid, and all gentle like force the brake piston back enough to get the new pads in. it was a lease though, those calipers i was told were expensive, and you can damage the solenoid do that. easy enough to give my buddy $100 off the books to finish the job.

Ford has a way to put it in maintenance mode without a computer. I would be surprised if Chevy didn’t have that. 
 

Doing work yourself use to be so easy. Now anytime I work on a vehicle I have to look at instruction/you tube videos just to make sure nothing weird has to be done like putting your truck in maintenance mode so you can do rear brakes and rotors. 

[Jeremy K]

I have to do brakes on the SHO this weekend. I traded in my ST for this car and it's used ,I haven't touched a single bolt on this car so I have no idea how this brake job will go. All the maintenance was done at the Ford dealership and those dealer mechanics wouldn't know grease or never seize if it walked up and kicked them in the butt.

[phade]

I like many prefer to do my own maintenance and custom work. I don’t get to do as much as I want. Time is rare so I do pay for most work now. Last time I worked on my 4Runner was about this time last year. Otherwise…shop.

I replaced a lower valance on my rear bumper. Had to take bumper cover off to access the bolts and snap pins. That proceeded to require the rear plastic wheel well liners and the most random pathway of and alignment of plastic push pins. I got down to one to go and it broke off. I spent an hour try to just get at it. Ended up removing a whole new path of pins to gain me access to the rear bumper cover. It remains broken but secure to this day.

What should have been a lovely few beers, 1-2 hour job…turned into 1 beer and frustration lasting past sunset and 4 hours of bitching until I got it done.

The worst is what Gman is going through, where it’s one thing after another right as you think you start to see the “end” of the tunnel. When my vehicles get like that, I go with the baseball rule. 3 strikes and you’re out. New ride time lol.