Kids and wrenching

[xspeedy]

So I have a couple of boys and I’m trying to get them into wrenching. I tried when they were much younger and it wasn’t much of a succes - but I think I’m finally getting them to turn the corner. My father was a mechanical engineer and he was quite cheap. So he kept his car of the time (a 1972 Dodge Dart Swinger) forever and did most things himself. I would hang out with him and somehow learned the basics and was able to do oil, plugs, carburetor swaps and whatnot. But what I see these days is that adults of my generation don’t do anything themselves and so their kids aren’t going to do anything either. I have a neighbor that I don’t think knows how to adjust his hot water heater temperature without calling a plumber, whereas I swapped the thermocouple on mine when the pilot wouldn’t stay lit. And with YouTube, it is so easy to look up how to do something.

I just find it depressing that this is a dying thing outside of a few enthusiasts. I want my boys to at least have some mechanical sense so they aren’t calling someone to do the silliest things and get ripped off like an old lady.

 

[LazyDog]

Good luck, I finally gave up on my son, he is not incline for any mechanical stuff. On the other hand, he is very good at the things I am horrible.

He is about to married later this year and is doing fine after law school.

 

[Lubener]

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who are basically helpless and often seen standing out in the rain, looking up with their mouths open.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

The best suggestion I can make to encourage your sons learning behaviours for all things mechanical is to get them "a project". For me it was a go cart that I my Dad bought when I was in 3rd grade. It had a B and S engine that needed rings, and centrifical clutch. I then progressed to a mini-bike that I bought new from $$$$ earned lawn cutting, and then a used Yamaha 100 Enduro dirt bike. When I turned 15, I started working in a Texaco station and that allowed me to accrue enough dollars to buy my first car.

 

[John105]

There really is a element that getting one's hands greasy is very bad, like as if it's a sign of not making it.

I literally heard 40+ coworkers speaking about something which was Greek to me. I kept waiting for some keyword that I was going to be able to google, rather than ask them wth they were talking about. It was World of Warcraft, Dragonflight. I'm talking about professional 40+ y.o. guys.

Like many here, I get true satisfaction when I can do a job. YouTube helps, no longer seem to need factory manuals.

Maybe I am too extreme--I helped the salvage yard driver (I did the work) swap two wheels on my junk car they were removing. He had a wrecker with a wheel lift and the rear right was flat, wasn't going to be able to leave. got out the impact wrench and jack.

I just don't plan on teaching my son to pour antifreeze down the storm drain, like my dad did

my son likes waxing the cars not sure about fixing them, he's now 9

 

[wpod]

I visited with my neighbor teen and he is rebuilding a 125Honda dirt bike. Some like mechanic work some don't

 

[racer12306]

Times are different, cars are different.

I'm doing less and less on my cars, I'm 38. These things are getting too complicated, too many specialty tools, too many unique quirks plus the risk of 100% disabling your car on Sunday and have trouble getting to work on Monday.

Embrace your child for what they enjoy, if cars aren't it, let it go. Maybe it's baseball, maybe it's not. Maybe it's Barbie's, maybe it's not.

We encourage our kids to try something, if they don't like it after a solid effort, it's over. Don't know until you try, but you're creating a bad relationship if you try to force it.

 

[oldcodger]

It is even worse if you happen to be blessed with girls. I have done my best to get them to do basic things like CHECK THE OIL. Every time they visit I can count on their car being 1 to 2 qts. low. I keep some quart bottles of oil just for their visits.

 

[John105]

This thread is why I'm uncomfortable dropping my car off with just anyone, as it's a manual. I don't think the average joe would object to figuring it out on my friction material, because it's my fault that it's a manual, not theirs

 

[John105]

Times are different, cars are different.

I'm doing less and less on my cars, I'm 38. These things are getting too complicated, too many specialty tools, too many unique quirks plus the risk of 100% disabling your car on Sunday and have trouble getting to work on Monday.

Embrace your child for what they enjoy, if cars aren't it, let it go. Maybe it's baseball, maybe it's not. Maybe it's Barbie's, maybe it's not.

We encourage our kids to try something, if they don't like it after a solid effort, it's over. Don't know until you try, but you're creating a bad relationship if you try to force it.

I question why I had my kid on skates at 18 months. When I look back at the videos, he clearly didn't enjoy it...

 

[Lapham3]

Yes, there was plenty of snobbery going on as moms wanted to talk up their kids liberal arts grad successes, and trades were a 'too bad' thing. That is changing as the liberal arts students now can run up large debt and may struggle to find a job. The greater need is in nursing/medical/dental and the trades. Those programs are mostly full these days for a year or two of less expensive education and plenty of job offers upon graduation.

 

[repairman54]

In our computerized vehicle world the scan tool might be a good introduction to vehicle maintenance to stimulate some interest in diagnosis / repair.

 

[UncleDave]

The best suggestion I can make to encourage your sons learning behaviours for all things mechanical is to get them "a project". For me it was a go cart that I my Dad bought when I was in 3rd grade. It had a B and S engine that needed rings, and centrifical clutch. I then progressed to a mini-bike that I bought new from $$$$ earned lawn cutting, and then a used Yamaha 100 Enduro dirt bike. When I turned 15, I started working in a Texaco station and that allowed me to accrue enough dollars to buy my first car.

similar .....

An easily finished project like a mini bike or go cart can jump start the kids in wrenching.

For me it was easy - the cool guys were always working on something and the coolest guy was always the best at fixing and engineering.

I was " incentivized" to learn the easier tasks with little bit of money, fixing or maintaining lawn gear, cars, then I got into dirt bikes and soon my own cars.

 

[Kira]

^^Possibly not as a scan tool reads out numbers which pertain to systems which are hard to grasp in words alone. In other words, any kid would need to know the physical / mechanical basics before he could relate to the scanner's data.

An elder scrap metal dealer on Paterson Plank Road told me he was selling out (corner lot with two old buildings) because, "Nobody does anything anymore". By that he meant there were no local light to medium industries feeding into his stream.

 

[Hall]

So I have a couple of boys and I’m trying to get them into wrenching.

Do they want to learn this or know how ? If they don't, you're wasting your time.

 

[BMW Dom]

I’ve always liked taking things apart, finding why they don’t work, and fixing. I like getting dirty and working with my hands.

I remember being in 5th grade helping my dad with the bathroom remodel and projects all the time.

I started mowing my lawn in first grade, and eventually got a few customers.

Maybe I just don’t fit the Gen Z stereotype

 

[racer12306]

I question why I had my kid on skates at 18 months. When I look back at the videos, he clearly didn't enjoy it...

It's a tough thing to do. I struggle with it and drag racing. I'm all about it, my kids not so much. I could go every weekend, they could go a couple times a year.

My entire childhood was every Saturday at the drag strip, Dad would get home from work, we'd load up with tuna sandwiches and wouldn't get home until nearly midnight.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I recall I leaned to wrench in my early teens out of necessity and the desire to be out driving in a car.
First car was a 9 year old hand me down but it was a beauty, a 1965 Buick C-Body convertible with a 401 Nailhead V8.

Learned to do AC-Delco points without blowing the 0.21 mfd condenser after I toasted the first one . Later it was brakeshoes, then U-Joints, then Belts, waterpump, then shocks, coolant changes, then putting a cherry bomb muffler on ...

All this lead to my first, second and third job as a Attendant/ light Mechanic, then Mechanic, then Manager/Master Mechanic at different garages. Then I went for a M.E. degree and slipped into a white collar career.

- Ken, a.k.a: Al - the mechanic

 

[Passport1]

If you want this,



delete this

 

[ekrampitzjr]

We encourage our kids to try something, if they don't like it after a solid effort, it's over. Don't know until you try, but you're creating a bad relationship if you try to force it.

This. At least in the past, a lot of parents forced their kids into playing sports, playing a musical instrument, babysitting, etc. Don't force them to try to learn wrenching, especially if they don't have the aptitude or sense. Expose them to it and encourage them, yes. Try to make them do it, no.