Do you own your things or do they own you?

[Briguy]

Yes to all of the questions on this topic. I hope I can change a tire at least, it is required to take it off to change the wheel hub, tie rods and ball joint that I did a couple of months ago (saving to replace the entire front end, going to do it all with quality parts not Autozone, and rather than 2 or 3 thousand for a shop with cheap stuff, I will spend the money and get all of the good parts and do it myself.)

And my dad said all you need to keep the guns clean, oiled and the powder dry.

[Baenlynn]

When my parents divorced my father left all of his old books (a few boxes worth) when he moved out. I quickly snagged up the readers digest DIY manual (1967) edition. This baby shows you how to build a house from scratch, including wiring, because back then, even if it wasn't legal to wire your own house, people still did it and they may as well do it properly. Back in the 10th grade that book got me the highest mark in shop class that year. Thanks to my father (he's an industrial electronics sales/installer), I also know how to do all the basics on your average car (oil, filters, fluids, spark plugs, brakes, change a tyre, wire a tow trailer, etc.) I'd consider it a personal failing if I DIDN'T know how to do these things as they are so D4 simple when it comes down to it. Doubly so with the internet.

I grew up watching and helping my old man repair stuff around the house when it broke, so when things to bung nowadays my first instinct is to reach for a screwdriver and not a phone. I don't know how to do everything, but I at least know well enough to spot what is wrong and figure out if I can fix it on my ownsome.

[Kalyrn]

If you got a flat tire, could you change it on the roadside? - No, in fact I have never ever even filled up my windshield washer fluid in my car, and I've has it for five years.

If your ceiling fan broke, could you determine if it was the ballast, a seized motor, or an bad wire connection? I never had the opportunity but I think I could figure it out.

Can you diagnose a dead power supply vs RAM, hard drive, or motherboard? - Yep, build several computers so no problem.

Can you fix a running toilet? - yes, but I live in an apartment so I have to call the landlord to have it fixed.

But other than car stuff I am moderately handy, and I like to build ikea funiture.

[67alecto]

If you got a flat tire, could you change it on the roadside?

I hadn't checked this thread in awhile, and this question I asked made me laugh due to my recent history.

I'm constantly getting it reinforced that stuff tends to break in the worst possible conditions. With my last car, I had two blowouts that were on the road in relatively decent spots. One was on a highway, but it had a nice wide and flat shoulder. Another was ona very hilly farm road, but I was able to pull onto some streets that were flat.

Since I've been offroading this year, I've had to change a tire in a muddy stream bed in a ravine where the walls were so close you couldn't open the doors all the way (which in turn made it harder to get the tires on/off). Two weekends ago, I lost a tire climbing a rock shelf and ended up on the side of a ridge going parallel to the top (with the bad tire on the downward side). This most recent one was with my bigger tires (~80lbs each) - and I found out that my usual stock tire wrench sucks because the tires are 2" wider than stock and the angle of the wrench isn't big enough to clear the tire. Previously, I had rotated these tires using my nice 4-way tire spanner and a floor jack - a breeze, relatively speaking.

[67alecto]

Single-handedly saved my infant son's childhood last night (in my wife's view).

 

My wife was upsent because the crib toy that was the favorite of our first two had had the batteries left in it.  it's a discontinued crib-attaching star-shaped thing that lights up and plays music when the kid rolls the cylinder.

 

Closest replacement I could find was $40, so instead I took it apart, removed all of the corroded pieces in the battery compartment, and cleaned them with white vinegar and sandpaper.  I dried it out, used some WD-40 to displace any hiding water, and put it all back together.

 

It's now working and ready for action.