guys over 50 doing maintenance

[D60]

Says you. My body says 50 is the new 70. At least for a few days after a major car project.

I swapped our toilet and was limping around for the next two days. Prolonged crouching -- even with my legs bent and/or on my knees -- is hard on me.

Another reason I'm such a proponent of a lift. Working on your feet makes things 400% easier (and faster)

 

[50yr Street Mech]

Wish I had the ceiling height, and the $$$$ for the lift. That's not happening. But, yeah, a lift makes things a lot easier. I work out of a 2 car garage on the ground floor of my house. BUT,,,,I do have a mini split to provide heat and A/C. And the entire garage is insulated and sheetrocked. My arthritis loves that part......but still rollin around under jack stands, bangin my head off of stuff. I did put outdoor carpeting under the cars. That helps with cold concrete. Just gotta steam clean it every now and again.

 

[Number_35]

I changed the front rotors on Jr's van (2009 Kia Sedona, 225,000 km) this afternoon. They looked fine, but the pedal was pulsating badly. (I wonder if I installed some real cheapies last time.)

The pads had lots of meat left on them, so I reinstalled them.

Cleaned up the pins and applied new lube, of course.

I had the driver's-side rotor off in May to change the hub, so it came off fine today.

The passenger side was a real bear - solidly rusted on even though I had used anti-seize last time (albeit not on all the contact surfaces - lesson learned). I had to resort to the trick with bolts (acting as presses) through the caliper-bracket mounting holes.

Anyway, I was pretty beat by the end. Nap time for this old guy.

Tomorrow the stabilizer-bar end links should be here, so more fun and games await.

(I bought the rotors locally, because the shipping costs wipe out any savings. The local price on the end links was outrageous though, thus the two orders.)

 

[50yr Street Mech]

I have Amazon Prime ( free shipping), Walmart is free shipping over $ 35 bucks, E-Bay is normally free shipping.....but it all depends on timing of the job. If you can't wait, then it's the auto parts store. I try to time my jobs out and pre-order stuff. You're a good father. When I started driving at 16, I had to buy my own car, insure it myself, maintain it myself, put gas in it myself too. No help from Dad at all, except to use the asphalt parking spot in front of the house, when available. And to use a small section of his garage for my tools. Cars whizzin by me at 35mph on a city street in the Bronx. He did not want his 2 concrete parking spaces off the street to get dirty from grease and oil. Wish you were my dad . Good luck with the rest of you're job. Take it slow. Don't over due it.

 

[Wolfshead]

Consumer Reports lists the Jeep brand near the bottom of the barrel for reliability. That probably covers the last 5 years or so of all Jeep models.

I take C/R with a Very Large Grain of Salt.

 

[svtrit]

Since posting on this earlier, I started lifting weights and have a huge change in my ability to work on cars and not be messed up afterwards.

It’s amazing what weight lifting can do!

 

[demarpaint]

Re-reading this thread, 50 was a walk in the park. I'd give anything to be 50 again, I did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Granted a little slower than my prime, but a heck of a lot better than my 60's. In any event I still do a lot, and will continue to do so until it becomes impossible. The key is to stay active and in shape.

 

[John105]

I changed the front rotors on Jr's van (2009 Kia Sedona, 225,000 km) this afternoon. They looked fine, but the pedal was pulsating badly. (I wonder if I installed some real cheapies last time.)

The pads had lots of meat left on them, so I reinstalled them.

Cleaned up the pins and applied new lube, of course.

I had the driver's-side rotor off in May to change the hub, so it came off fine today.

The passenger side was a real bear - solidly rusted on even though I had used anti-seize last time (albeit not on all the contact surfaces - lesson learned). I had to resort to the trick with bolts (acting as presses) through the caliper-bracket mounting holes.

Anyway, I was pretty beat by the end. Nap time for this old guy.

Tomorrow the stabilizer-bar end links should be here, so more fun and games await.

(I bought the rotors locally, because the shipping costs wipe out any savings. The local price on the end links was outrageous though, thus the two orders.)

View attachment 296361

Interesting on the anti seize. I was curious about a 2018 brake job on the Buick Enclave where I slathered it on (if it were in a shop the foreman would consider it wasteful). Would they easily come off? Cuz in 2018 it took a big sledgehammer to get them off. Also, just after the job, grinding noise like years ago and dealer couldn’t find. This time solved—rock behind rotor hat bouncing around. Car is a loss and we don’t have it anymore so I’ll never know. On the Lexus the rotors have nothing holding them except the calipers so they come off easily.

I personally feel a bit sore after putting on 4 snow tires, which involves jacking all 4 and rolling tires/rims back and forth to shed.

 

[Donald]

I take C/R with a Very Large Grain of Salt.

Well the reliability section is C/R subscribers filling in an annual survey.

 

[repairman54]

2x on 50 being no problem. 20 yrs. later its 3 ibuprofen first before heading out the the garage.

 

[John105]

Well the reliability section is C/R subscribers filling in an annual survey.

I just won't let them live it down. "There is NOTHING sporty about the 2015 GTI." Then, 2016, it's a recommended pick. Same car. They're just willy nilly about everything. My own personal car. 2007 BMW on the most unreliable and avoid lists, then 2010, recommended. No brainer getting an extended warranty, right? I did, and had zero claims. It's now 2025 and the car was daily driven until a week ago when we got a 3rd car again.

 

[John105]

2x on 50 being no problem. 20 yrs. later its 3 ibuprofen first before heading out the the garage.

I do know this much...at age 40, I was bench pressing 225 free weights, and doing 65 push ups just like that. Today, it'd be laughable to even attempt

 

[Aichiguy]

65 here. I still do all the maintenance on our vehicles but don't need to do much else to them. The kids have moved out so I'm (mostly) done with their cars. I used to love those days when I knew I'd be busy all day with car stuff, and I didn't even have a garage at that time. I'm 2 months from retirement in a house with a garage. Maybe I'll get a project. I feel it the next day but that's OK. I get a sense of satisfaction when I fix a car. I'm sure I've saved thousands in the last 45 years, especially when I was driving beaters to work.

 

[50yr Street Mech]

I agree. Staying in shape helps a lot. Even if it's just walking a few miles a day. Weights are a plus, but be careful on the amount of weight. Don't want to tear a muscle, just build it up a bit. Muscles are the 1st thing to go, ( well, in my case it was the discs in my back from arthritis...2 surgeries so far to replace discs. Can't do anything about arthritis. No weights will fix that ) Anyway, muscles are the 1st thing to go, and the hardest to get back. Working on cars requires upper body muscles. Gonna buy some cheapo dumb bell weights to work on my arms, and keep walking to stretch quads and whatnot. Be 59 in 5 months. Gotta recover from # 2 back surgery first. Don't be scared to get work done on you're back if needed. Just pick the CORRECT hospital for the job. I chose HSS in Manhattan, NY. #1 in back work in the country. They have places in Florida and Connecticut now.

 

[wavinwayne]

Re-reading this thread, 50 was a walk in the park. I'd give anything to be 50 again...

I read something recently (don't remember where), the gist of which was: If you live to be 100, and had the chance to go back to the age you are right now, you'd take it in a heartbeat.

 

[demarpaint]

I read something recently (don't remember where), the gist of which was: If you live to be 100, and had the chance to go back to the age you are right now, you'd take it in a heartbeat.

For sure, but if I could really pick an age, 30 would work just fine.

 

[Astro14]

For sure, but if I could really pick an age, 30 would work just fine.

30 sounds great - unless I have to go back to living with my ex wife, too…

 

[John105]

For sure, but if I could really pick an age, 30 would work just fine.

My dad said that. I asked him when I was in my 20's, what is his favorite age? Because he was always telling me you peak at 19 athletically, but that is not to say you play your best at 19, you tend to mature etc. and think better when a little older. But he was likely about 57 at the time, and he said 30. Reason was, you're still young, have everything ahead, and are just starting to make some money career-wise...

 

[John105]

30 sounds great - unless I have to go back to living with my ex wife, too…

You don't have to. You can go back to 30, and also know at 30, what you know now.

 

[demarpaint]

My dad said that. I asked him when I was in my 20's, what is his favorite age? Because he was always telling me you peak at 19 athletically, but that is not to say you play your best at 19, you tend to mature etc. and think better when a little older. But he was likely about 57 at the time, and he said 30. Reason was, you're still young, have everything ahead, and are just starting to make some money career-wise...

Bingo!! All good points. I see it as 19 being too young. For me 25 would be better physically, but I'd be willing to give a little of that up to have the maturity and smarts that came with being 30. We were talking about this recently, it was written I forget who wrote it but it struck a cord. It goes something like this: As we age we give up a little every year, until we ultimately give up our life.