Helping others work on their Jeeps

[ss427ci]

Gonna vent for a second...
I think if you are going to do something, do it right. I mean if you are gonna continually fight with your Jeep everytime you have to do something, because you have to spend the majority of the time un-f***ing what you did before, isn't it time to start thinking about doing things correctly?

Said friend also refuses to educate themselves, via the internet or forums, so I offer my time, experience and sometimes tools. But he refuses to listen to good advice backed by sound mechanical logic and common sense. And instead remains stubborn and will go about it the hardest way possible, all the while, breaking new parts, ruining threads, then getting frustrated and impatient and hacking it together to just get the job done.

Instead of just doing it correctly from the beginning!!

I just don't understand it at all, can someone please explain?
Should I just stop wasting my time, advice & gas (going back and forth to O'Reillys) to keep my sanity? Or how could I go about educating this know-it-all who knows nothing?

 

[ehall]

People like that usually end up selling their busted shit out of frustration, best to not get vested

 

[md21722]

You might think about why this person doesn't listen to your advice. Maybe this person doesn't want you to teach. Maybe this person prefers to learn without the help of others, by making their own mistakes, and just wants rides when their rig is down. If said friend is just using you for rides, you may want to revaluate your friendship.

 

[cracked-butt]

I've learned the hard way, then learned from others (mistakes)... And yet I still make mistakes. But I have grown enough to know to ask for help (and possibly advise?) when I either can't figure it out or know I can't do the job myself.

My best advice is to offer them verbal advice, no more mechanical (physical) help.

 

[Hypoid]

Two quotes come to mind:

I had a shop teacher tell me "You can teach all the theory you want. Sooner or later you have to give them hammers and let them bang..."

I think Will Rogers said it best:

 

[ss427ci]

People like that usually end up selling their busted shit out of frustration, best to not get vested

You are exactly right, I've even heard him say..."I might as well just sell it and find a stock TJ to start over with" and I'm like "Are you serious?" haha

 

[ss427ci]

You might think about why this person doesn't listen to your advice. Maybe this person doesn't want you to teach. Maybe this person prefers to learn without the help of others, by making their own mistakes, and just wants rides when their rig is down. If said friend is just using you for rides, you may want to revaluate your friendship.

He does take pride in his TJ and likes to boast of all the wheelin he has done in it so I think it's just his young pride getting in the way I suppose. But no, we are in the same Company in the Army, so there is more to our friendship than that, but I see what you're saying.

 

[ss427ci]

I've learned the hard way, then learned from others (mistakes)... And yet I still make mistakes. But I have grown enough to know to ask for help (and possibly advise?) when I either can't figure it out or know I can't do the job myself.

My best advice is to offer them verbal advice, no more mechanical (physical) help.

That's how I am, I'll admit I don't have all the answers and there are plenty on this forum and others, who have way more knowledge than I do and I listen to their advice. I help others where I can and if I don't know the answer, I'll find it on youtube, forums, FSMs or trial and error.

I'm ultimately just venting, I will more than likely be under his rig with him again come this weekend, lol. I'll just be there for moral support though.

 

[ss427ci]

Two quotes come to mind:

I had a shop teacher tell me "You can teach all the theory you want. Sooner or later you have to give them hammers and let them bang..."

I think Will Rogers said it best:

hahahaha, that is great! I've never heard that. Matter of fact, we couldn't get a complete cut through one of his stripped skid plate bolts, so he started banging the crap out of it with a mini sledge and it finally broke off. Very fitting quote!

 

[Lowrange2]

I have 2 friends like this. Neither of them have a clue about working on vehicles... but they try anyway. They end up screwing it up worse than it was before.

I end up fixing it for free.

Just say no.

 

[BRIANHO13]

I helped someone work on their rig one time, they were the same way. Now I quote jobs and if they want to "help" I will literally tell them its extra.

 

[xcm]

If they havent earned the support youve given them, cut them off.

Oh yeah? your jeep threw a code last night? hrmm. ::change subject::

 

[cracked-butt]

He does take pride in his TJ and likes to boast of all the wheelin he has done in it so I think it's just his young pride getting in the way I suppose. But no, we are in the same Company in the Army, so there is more to our friendship than that, but I see what you're saying.

Where are you stationed? I may know a few others in your area.... From another site... A military site for jeepers.

I see what's the conundrum is.... A well deserved smack in the head with a 2x4 vs. An article 15. Lol

 

[Hypoid]

I find it ironic that the teacher I quoted retired from the Army, and went on to teach industrial arts to snot-nosed high school kids.

 

[ss427ci]

Where are you stationed? I may know a few others in your area.... From another site... A military site for jeepers.

I see what's the conundrum is.... A well deserved smack in the head with a 2x4 vs. An article 15. Lol

Schofield Barracks, HI. I've met a few Jeepers out here from Oahu Jeeps and out at Kaena Point. Funny thing is, I should be getting my E5 next month, so if he gets lippy again, I'll just put him at parade rest, lol

...only kidding, I would never do that :twak:

 

[ss427ci]

I find it ironic that the teacher I quoted retired from the Army, and went on to teach industrial arts to snot-nosed high school kids.

Hahaha, sounds like Army humor.

 

[iwannadie]

I have the same issue with a friend of mine though he doesn't own a jeep.

About a year and a half ago a friend asked for my help working on his ford falcon or some such car. It was idling really bad and back firing through the intake or something. I am no expert so I start researching online and looking up stuff and seemed to find all signs pointing to timing being off. He argued that there's no way the timing could be off and that the engine was shot and needed rebuilt and had to come out that day.

I kept pushing to adjust the timing and even went back home to get my timing light. He swore up and down that the timing was fine and he didn't need a light to adjust the timing he can do it by ear etc etc. Eventually got the light hooked up and the timing was way off and while trying to adjust the timing he got frustrated and said my light wasn't accurate enough and proceeded again to tune by ear and never solved the issue. I kep suggesting we time it according to the spec and what the light says and see what happens but nooooo.

So, we began to pull the motor. As we unbolted things he casually tossed bolt after bolt into a large bucket. Now again, I am no expert but I tend to like to keep track of hardware and where it goes. On large projects I'll even break out the zip lock baggies and label stuff as I go. We eventually got the engine out and had a literal bucket of hardware to go with it.

A year and a half later the engine is still out of the car and it hasn't moved since. Some times people think that they know better than anyone else and like to dive head first into something that they have no business getting into. He spent a few grand having the engine rebuilt by a local shop only to try and bolt on a bunch of ebay knock off junk and eventually giving up. Last update I herd was something about the ebay water pump not fitting correctly and an ebay oil pan with baffles that trapped oil on the wrong side of the pan.

While it was all apart he's spent a fortune on parts to do a manual transmission swap while the engine was out. Combining two rather large projects when he has no business changing the oil was just a bad idea from the start I thought. It was supposed to be a weekend project. If you ask him about that car it is the greatest, fastest, most rare and awesome car in the world. Never mind the fact that it is in pieces, doesn't run, has more ebay than ford at this point and will likely never run again.

 

[cracked-butt]

Sounds like a friend I have... Went n got herself an xj.. Been nothing but problems for her. as I'm two hours drive away from her I can't just stop over n look at her jeep for her... So she has had several other people (supposedly mechanics) look at it for her. First the guy says its a valve that's tapping.... A week later it's a rod. And now has her scared to drive it.

 

[ss427ci]

...has more ebay than ford...

haha that was pretty good, sucks people are like that though.