guys over 50 doing maintenance
- Thread starter MaximaGuy
- Start date
I am just 72 and will be starting a new job in IT in a week or so. I just cannot hit the RETIRE button. I still do my own oil changes and brakes. And a lot of the work on my boat. Try to find someone to work on a I/O near the Delaware shore!!
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2020
- Messages
- 215
Actually would change this to “He who dies with the most tools is still dead!”
I still do oil changes, spark plugs at 72. Rest I send to a trusted Indy.
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I have never used a torque stick but you cannot connect a torque stick to am impact and just blast away. Or so I am told.
I hate laying on the ground. Gravel,sand, rocks whatever I hate it but it's what I have to do to work on my cars.
I see a car lift in my future...
I see a car lift in my future...
I'm more in the cardboard-class.
I use it for my wheel lug nuts. U could try it with a 100#.
77 YO here + i still do + enjoy the EZE stuff!! being in a small town aka lower cost i only live a few blocks from a reasonable priced HONEST pro that handles whats too much for me + of course our health aka strength varies which dictates what we can do. a little off topic BUT our hormones control a lot. many Docs fail to note that testosterone replacement can do a LOT good for the AGING male!!!
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2022
- Messages
- 127
I will be 61 in a couple of weeks and yes old age slows you down a lot. I decided to change my control arm bushings in my truck to save a few hundred bucks a while back. What should have been a weekend job changing four bushings has now taken 31 days. Half way through I lost interest because my back hurts and I cant tolerate the heat anymore and my truck is still jacked up sitting in the garage. Maybe I can get it done before winter lol
Just did motor stables on my CX30 and oilBabe's Rav4 this weekend. Oil changes (PP for my CX-30 and that stinky Valvoline R&P for her Rav4 with 186k miles. Both 5W30 as the Rav4 is getting a bit more noisy, so I'm going to run an OCI of 5W30 over the summer and see how things are.) Edited to add Mazda and Toyota filters respectively.
Also tire rotations.
Found a second nail in a month's time in my tires. We had a storm that came through on 14 March and I as well as all my neighbors are getting new roofs, siding, etc.
Anyway, being a first year GenX'er, I hit the Six-Oh last week and I'm still able to crawl around, jack up cars, rotate tires, et al.
Also tire rotations.
Found a second nail in a month's time in my tires. We had a storm that came through on 14 March and I as well as all my neighbors are getting new roofs, siding, etc.
Anyway, being a first year GenX'er, I hit the Six-Oh last week and I'm still able to crawl around, jack up cars, rotate tires, et al.
^^You're talking car prices, yes?
I've never torqued Subaru hitch bolts. They're just graded carriage bolts passing through sheetmetal. I take the Milwaukee mid-torque and get 'em gutentight without staying in it so long as to damage the fastener (they're 1/2-13 or 1/2-20 IIRC).
Never saw the point in wasting time torquing them. They just have to be "tight." If anything fails on a Subaru hitch, it won't be the bolts. Most likely the unibody.
Maybe this makes me a hack, I dunno. It's just a hitch, not head bolts. YMMV
What a bunch of young guys on here. I'm not the oldest, but one of the oldest. Turned 77 a few days ago.
Spent today touching up minor stone and careless door opening chips on the Tesla. That and chasing deer off our property. Tomorrow it's driving grand-kids.
Life is not as easy as when I was 50 or even 60. I have a brand new pacemaker to show for the past year.
But my wife (of 54 years) and I went on a 15 day river cruise in Europe. So life is not too bad.
Spent today touching up minor stone and careless door opening chips on the Tesla. That and chasing deer off our property. Tomorrow it's driving grand-kids.
Life is not as easy as when I was 50 or even 60. I have a brand new pacemaker to show for the past year.
But my wife (of 54 years) and I went on a 15 day river cruise in Europe. So life is not too bad.
My Birthday is July 1, Canada Day. That's sort of fitting don't you think?
I still do everything at age 63. Including tires. Hand cut and split all my firewood. Working on cars is still one of my most enjoyable pastimes. My secret: Have been doing yoga for 13 years now. Changed my diet 9 years ago.
Oh!
At 61.5 it’s my knees and back that let me know they’re not happy for a day or two after I’ve done an afternoon of under the hood car maintenance activities.
Still enjoyable and worthwhile for me though, hopefully I won’t have to give it up for for a long time.
Still enjoyable and worthwhile for me though, hopefully I won’t have to give it up for for a long time.
Two fun facts, oilBabe got a pacemaker about a decade ago as she has AV node block.
Second, the first pacemaker recipient outlived the inventor of the pacemaker and the doctor who implanted it.
https://www.hmpgloballearningnetwor...as successful and,more than one billion times.
I'm 65 and still do what I can. Oil changes, filters, coolant changes, plugs and coil packs, sensor changes, etc. I can still do. Anything that's not in a real tight spot. My hands and fingers cramp bad from arthritis in tight spots. In the not to distant past I changed my Camry's valve cover gasket. Only hard parts to that were manipulating all the wiring harnesses out of the way without breaking the 20 yr old brittle plastic and keeping the new gasket in place to tighten. I cheated and tacked it to the cover groove in a few spots with Permatex. I also replaced a front fender, headlight assembly, and bumper cover after I hit a deer. I like doing what I can but I'm definitely slowing down. I let my mechanic do the Camry rear struts recently. He's a good guy.
