Do you work on your own vehicles or do you spend much of your hard-earned dollars at mechanics and car dealerships when you have a problem? I would fall into the second group. But I was talking to a dad recently who said he is intentionally doing work on his own vehicles to help his sons learn how to do it…and to save money. I thought I’d take a shot at it too since that clunking at the front of the van has gone on long enough!
First I had my mechanic friend confirm what the problem was. It was a shock absorber that no longer absorbed shocks. With no shock absorption you get loud clunking. He didn’t have time to fix it but he said it’s only three bolts. How hard could it be? I asked the boys if they wanted to help fix it and they answered in the affirmative.
The next step was to scour YouTube for another dad who had done this job before. Found him! I was somewhat concerned as he pulled out a torch when one of the three bolts wouldn’t come loose. The torch didn’t solve the problem so he had to cut it off with a grinder. I wasn’t feeling any more confident. I am torchless. I do have a grinder, however, but there’s a lot of important-looking wires and tubes down there. I would probably do enough damage without torches and grinders.
In a pre-emptive strike against the torching and grinding I went to the local auto parts store and asked for their most super-duper rust-killing WD-40-type spray can. For a few days before we attempted the fix I gave those three bolts a lot of attention with that spray can. Early Saturday morning the boys and I were out by the garage with high hopes. Ideally, you would crawl around under a giant van on a nice, clean garage floor. Since the garage is full of important and valuable stuff we opted for a less ideal gravelly-grassy spot just outside the garage. We got the tire off the van and could see the bolts covered in a fine coating of rust-killer. This was the moment of truth. We grabbed a pile of wrenches because the first one you use doesn’t ever fit. Then you try the next one and so on until you get it.
I attempted to turn the rusty-looking nut and…BOOM! It spun like a top! A few minutes later it was off. Bolts two and three were even easier because we could fit an impact gun in there. The boys loved BRRRRAAATTTING the impact gun as they crawled under the van. Old shock absorber out. New shock absorber in. A few more BRRRAAAATTS and the three bolts were back in place. Tire was put back on and we were feeling good. It was still before 10am and we were cooking. Literally. It was a hot morning and remember we were out in the yard not in the garage.
Dad, maybe there’s a job you’ve been avoiding. Maybe there’s a job you’ve been fearing because you don’t have the foggiest clue what a shock absorber is. Well, YouTube is only a few clicks away and much instruction resides there. If you’re lucky one of your kids will be able to figure this stuff out and actually enjoy it! Maybe learn how to do it together. Time flies! Make every moment count! Even the greasy ones!
Jason Weening drives a giant van with his 10 kids and one patient wife.