5 Reasons to Learn How to Turn a Wrench

Stealthycat93's 1993 3000GT VR-4 (link)

It is time for an alignment and new tie-rod ends on your 1993 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4.  Before you take the car down to your local Tire Barn, please continue reading - these are the top 5 reasons to not take your car to the shop a.k.a. '5 Reasons to Learn How to Turn a Wrench.'

Is this tie rod end $40 or $18.29?

5. It will save you money
Established chain-style shops charge a going rate of $80/hour for labor before the cost of parts.  Dealerships start at around $110/hour for labor, with even higher priced parts.  A personal experience shows that a task as simple as swapping out tie-rod ends will result in a $120 bill.  The breakdown on that bill, compared to doing it yourself is shown below.

Tie Rod Ends - They shouldn't be that expensive

A quick trip to Rock Auto showed that the identical part number MOOG tie rod ends are $18.29 each, with shipping coming in at around $5.  Not only was the shop charging half an hour of labor to change out tie rod ends, but they marked up the parts by over 100%.  This simple task if performed in the garage (or driveway) saves you, the car owner, $78.42.  This price difference only grows with the bigger ticket tasks, such as timing belt changes.

4. Bragging rights
Okay, okay so you aren't exactly going to be getting props from your friends for installing tie rod ends.  Bear with me and think about it - today you are swapping out tie rod ends, tomorrow you're replacing axles and next month you're confident enough to pull a motor.  It all started with having the courage to take off the wheel and turn a wrench.  Don't believe me?  Ask any car guy, the humble beginnings of crawling under the car to change the oil turns into bigger things.

Tie rod ends to engine swaps, that escalated quickly

3. It is a good way to meet people
Inevitably, while working on a car you come to work the next day and have something to talk about when asked "What'd you do last night?"  It is times like these when you learn that your seemingly innocuous coworker has a full machine shop in his basement.  Sweet!  No more paying for flywheel resurfacing.  The next thing you know your wrench turning has turned into a full blown addiction and you're attending specialty car events, such as the 3000GT/Stealth National Gathering.

2011 3000GT/Stealth National Gathering (Link)

2. It will teach you life skills
"Life Skills!? You have got to be kidding me," is what you're saying right now, but read closely.  It is one thing to learn in an engineering class how a brake works, but you never really 'get it' until you're rebuilding a caliper.  The fact is that the real learning happens from hands on experience.

Purdue's School of Mechanical Engineering - Very little wrench turning here.

"How is this a life skill," you ask?  From personal experience working in the automotive industry, having this kind of hands on car knowledge is priceless.  The best engineers in the industry are the ones who understand how components in a system work together, it gives them a perspective and appreciation that most other people don't have.    

1. Only you have an incentive to care
This is number one on the list because it is the most important to the author.  Granted, there are good mechanics out there, but the fact is that your car is just one of twenty coming into the shop that day.  There isn't time for torque specs for a twenty-one year old mechanic when the boss has 19 other customers in the waiting room.

You are the only one with an incentive to care about your car

Learning to do basic maintenance gets you closer to the inner workings of your car and instills you with a passion to take better care of it.  The car goes from being a lifeless machine to something which you have now devoted time and energy into, something that you can love.  This gives you an incentive to care about torque specs and scheduled maintenance intervals, and it's why you can not only do the same work a mechanic can do - you can do the same work, better.

Until next time, gentlemen - turn your wrenches.

- Axle