Ahh, from my point of view it’s not about easy or tiresome, it’s about fast. Having a car on a lift to do brakes makes it faster, and that’s the whole point. At the end of the day it’s about how many cars we fixed. I don’t care if it’s easier. If having lifts somehow made it harder but faster we would still use them. It’s not about easy or fun, it’s about getting it done.
Being physically able to do a timing chain job spending 4 hours bent over the front end of a pickup or doing brakes at knee-level is a requirement of employment, much as working in a tight crawlspace would be for a plumber or sitting at a desk for hours on end would be for a programmer.
Earning a living repairing automobiles will likely result in quite a few afflictions of joints and muscles. I am thankful that I was able to hang up my creeper and call it quits when I did.
We have plenty of guys 50lbs overweight in our fleet
We also have a few that MIGHT be 100lbs overweight
But I’ve never personally met any 200lbs overweight mechanics
I know 3 places within 10 miles of where I live that have a couple of mechanics that are probably 200+ lbs overweight. But weather it’s 50, or 100, or 200…the point is…that a mechanic is NOT that physically demanding. If it were then you wouldn’t have mechanics who are 50 or 100lbs over weight.
Having a car on a lift to do brakes makes it faster, and that's the whole point.
This whole discussion has been about how easy it is for the do-it-yourself-er to do a job compared to a full time mechanic. As a do-it-yourself-er…doing a brake job FAST is NEVER EVER considered. My only concern is doing it right. Why would I even want to do it fast?
Modern air filters can be a real pain to change as I found out last night. Maybe the only benefit to the old round ones.
Really depends on the vehicle. The air filter on my 4runner is as easy as it gets. Takes me less then 30 seconds to change it out. I’ll have the filter on my 4runner completed before you can remove the wing-nut on the older round filters.
My wifes Lexus is more difficult…mainly because I have to remove the plastic covering it’s buried under.
The brake rotors on a Honda Accord are usually not too difficult to replace but an exception is the trapped front brake rotors on the1990-97 Accord. Instead of the brake rotor slipping off the lug studs after the wheel is removed, the whole hub assembly has to be removed and unbolted from the rotor. Because of the design and rust issues, the hub assembly is not so easy to separate from the steering knuckle without damaging the wheel bearing. If you have experience with this job and the right tools and techniques, it’s not so bad but it’s still a lot of extra work. For first timers it can be a real pain.
I know there are other cars with trapped rotors but since Hondas are so common this surprises many unwary DIYers.
I started working in a full service gas station in the 1950s when that was the path to becoming a mechanic. At the same time I started working nights as a dock worker at a trucking company.
After a while I had to make a choice between being a mechanic or a truck driver.
I decider it was easier to break em than to fix em and never looked back. However in those early days we were expected to fix our own lights and change our own flats. I worked for one company in the 60s and 70s that carried the spare tire (1100 x 22) up on the back of the cab above the fuel tanks. Getting that wheel and tire back up there was the hardest part of changing the tire.
The brake rotors on a Honda Accord are usually not too difficult to replace but an exception is the trapped front brake rotors on the1990-97 Accord
My wife had a 96 4-cylinder Accord…and the brake rotors were not part of the hub assembly. Maybe the other versions had the brakes with the Hub Assembly.
@Texases … re your comment about changing air filters on modern cars … yes, I have to agree it is a much more pleasant task to change the air filter on my 70’s truck than my 90’s Corolla. But if I timed the two jobs, I imagine they’d take about the same amount of time. Not much, maybe 10 minutes. But time is relative. A frustrating 10 minutes is a lot less pleasant than a straightforward 10 minutes.
The job on the Corolla involves undoing four spring loaded clips, two close to impossible to see, loosen the top of the air filter box, and somehow removing the filter even though there isn’t enough room to actually remove it and have your fingers in there too to hold up the lid, well, it seems like it was purposely made to be frustrating as possible and whenever possible, to pinch my fingers … then to make matters worse, you have to put the new one back in, and it always seem to sit proud the first two or three attempts, preventing the lid from closing … lol … Truly though,I don’t look forward to doing that job on my Corolla. Contrast that with changing the oil and filter, which takes longer, and involves cleaning up minor oil spills sometimes, but overall is a far more pleasant task.
“Battery and alternator is not easy to change in 01 Sebring, I know that much.”
I wonder who came up with that design. Jack up car, remove wheel, remove fender liner, remove brackets to replace battery. The same era Chrysler 300 requires removal of the grille and front bumper cover to replace a headlamp bulb.
Coincidentally, I just installed a new headlight bulb in my Corolla yesterday. $10.99 for the bulb, took 3 minutes. Tools: One LED flashlight, one medium bladed screwdriver, and a pair of gloves.
I like oil filters that thread on in a vertical position. This way, you don’t’ have a ton of oil leak out when you take the filter off and you can prefill the new filter so it gets oil to the engine a little sooner on the first startup after an oil change. My 2000 S-10 with the 4.3L is about as good as it gets on this one. All my others are at an angle or sideways which I don’t like.
My wife had a 96 4-cylinder Accord...and the brake rotors were not part of the hub assembly. Maybe the other versions had the brakes with the Hub Assembly.
Not to argue but even the 1996 4 cylinder had trapped rotors I believe. I can't reconcile your comment with the listings at Rockauto. Their front rotors shown for the 4 cylinder 1996 Accord are the trapped rotor type.
Perhaps yours were converted. Honda enthusiast forums have described a procedure for converting trapped type rotors to conventional types.
Chrysler frequently used either open or trapped rotors on the same car depending on whether they were standard or heavy duty brakes. It is only 2 extra bolts per wheel to take off the fixture for the trapped rotor though they are in pretty tight and if memory serves me, need a 16 mm socket.
