Make absolutely sure this trusted mechanic does NOT intend to install Wagner Thermo"quiet" brakes
One of my repair manuals says something like this:
If you must use an adjustable wrench, make sure the fixed jaw is facing the head.
I havenāt yet been able to figure out what that means??? Whoās āheadā is the instruction referring to? I set up my adjustable wrench on the bolt or nut so the wrenchās rotational direction is from the fixed-jaw to the adjustable-jaw, along the longest rotation direction. Iām mostly pulling on the fixed jaw in other words.
Ask the mechanic if it is ok if you watch them do it. Thatās the best way to learn. Note that they may not allow this. They have their reasons. If so, suggest to offer no complaints.
I put less than a 1% chance of āyesā.
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Donāt forget about flushing the brake fluid.
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Heh heh. First insurance doesnāt allow customers in the bays anymore. Second anyone that has had someone watching over their shoulder knows itās a distraction. Third why would someone who had worked hard to gain the skills spend time so someone could do it themselves?
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Good question. The proās who frequent here on a daily basis might wish to reply. A car-owner diyāer-inclined just knowing how something is done by watching someone else do one time is not nearly the same as them actually having to get all the tools and other equipment in front of the car parked, out of the rain, on a level surface & doing the back- stressing hard work safely.
Heh heh. Little Timmy next door was a curious kid and liked to watch no matter what I was doing saying watcha doin board? I didnāt mind. Might grow up to be an engineer. But when he popped up when my wife was taking a shower and scared her half to death we decided maybe lock the door once in a while.
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Suit yourself. Iāve been using 2 floor jacks and 3 sets of stands from HF for decades with zero issues.
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I donāt see why the shop would allow this
Too many liabilities
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I also have a HF Daytona Low Profile 3 ton floor jack I bought back in 2020, it has been used many many times over, along with the HF 6 ton jack stands that I have had for even longerā¦
I have seen the Dayton floor jacks being used in a lot of high end custom vehicle shopsā¦ I love mine and will buy another one if needed, but right now I have 3 floor jacks and 12 jack stands, so I am good for a whileā¦ lol
Donāt think I havenāt used mine for a minute, I have pulled the transmission multiple times for many different reasons, many times, not to mention other vehicles and so onā¦
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I guess a few of us recall the issue with jackstands sold at HF up until 2020. Iām all for inexpensive alternatives where I can save a few bucks and shop there on occasion. When it comes to whatās holding tons of weight over my body, I get a bit more discerning. This issue was limited to certain models and Iām sure resolved since then but I have a memory like an elephant when it comes to stuff like this-
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Last year I bought the exact floor jack as Nevada, plus a pair of 3-ton jack stands to go along with the 6- ton stands that I have had for over 20 years. but when using any jack stands, I will also use the floor jack to hold up the vehicle as a backup.
How safe is safe enough?
No one is trying to scare you out of anything. People are saying that in you OP it just didnāt sound like you knew what you were in for.
You mentioned thinking you needed to buy a floor jack. But didnāt mention jack stands. Sorry, but thatās a red flag. You also donāt need a floor jack. You can use the jack that came with the car - which you mentioned, but you have to ask?
Anyway - working on a car in the air can be dangerous. And doing brakes wrong can be dangerous.
Thereās not āscareā involved. Itās more like āreality check.ā If you get all of your ducks in a row, then by all means go for it. Brake jobs are often right after oil changes in the DIY progression.
And finally, if you ask questions online and people GIVE their time FREELY to advise you, donāt get whiny if hear things that you donāt want to hear.
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Ituring has another thread where he says he had a shop do the brakes .
What surprised me is that Uber , Rideshare and other services like that allow 16 year old vehicles. It does not appear that they require an inspection .
We are also around millions of vehicles that have had safety recalls and that doesnāt seem to bother anyoneā¦ I have not heard of any other recalls on jack stands in recent years, so it seems that all is well now a days, or we would be hearing about itā¦
The only reason my Automotive Technology teacher was a teacher and still not doing transmissions at his trans shop was due to a pneumatic bumper jack safety latch that failed and the running vehicle fell on him and folded his arm in 1/2, his arm was all kinds of messed up from the break and burns from the exhaustā¦ Well needless to say, I have over the years had to use that type of jack while working on vehicles, including working on med duty trucksā¦
Yeah, every time I crawled under a vehicle I thought about his arm and how it almost took his lifeā¦ 2 post and 4 post lifts use the same type of latch that failed, so pretty much anytime I am under a vehicle that is up in the air, I think about it fallingā¦ Sucks when that is how you made your living for all those yearsā¦
I wouldnāt recommend anybody use THAT jack to do a brake job
Oy! Just enough to get it on a jack stand! I think that was obvious from what I said. Iāve used the āemergency jackā plenty to get the thing on a jack stand.
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