I've come to a realization.

[PRattenbury]

If you don't have the skillz to do most of the work on your squarebody yourself, it really doesn't make financial sense to bother buying and owning one. Man, I took a serious screwing at a front end shop because I got too lazy to replace my tie rods and idler arms myself. I bought the idler arm and the inner and outer tie rod ends, plus the sleeves. That cost $150. This 'service center' removed and replaced them for me. They charged $80 a side for the tie rods, and another $80 for the idler arm. I paid $240 labor for being too lazy to spend 2 hours to do what they did. But my God, $400 to do just part of the front end? Not to mention, they did the alignment, (more $$), but didn't drive the truck after. So I got in it to head home to find there's still serious play in the front end! Got home, shook things around some more, and saw the pitman arm has play,too! But needless to say, I didn't bring it back to those jokers. I'll do it myself, like I should have to begin with.

[spudz]

thats the trade off of driving an old vehicle... You need to either have a fat wallet or the ability to spin the wrenches yourself...

[Seven9er]

I cant really see why you would own one without being able to turn a wrench.

[BigBlocksRule]

Originally Posted by Seven9er

I cant really see why you would own one without being able to turn a wrench.

Kinda like a Harley...if you own one, you need to know how to work on it yourself...

[LONGHAIR]

Everybody knows that "HD" stands for Hundered Dollars

[Seven9er]

Originally Posted by BigBlocksRule

Kinda like a Harley...if you own one, you need to know how to work on it yourself...

Haha yup. And like a boat, if you own one expect to throw money in a hole in the water.

[PRattenbury]

B-O-A-T= Break-Out-Another-Thousand.

[LONGHAIR]

The 2 best days of a boat owner's life?

The day he buys it....

and the day he sells it.

[Patriot]

Originally Posted by BigBlocksRule

Kinda like a Harley...if you own one, you need to know how to work on it yourself...

FTW!!!!

[camshaftgsxr]

E30's are worse by far and the shops that work on chevys are MUCH cheaper than the ones that work on BMW's

But yes turning your own wrenches will keep you from losing your a$$ every time you turn around

[Buick455]

This goes for everything that you will need done in life so you do the things you can and if you can't do them due to time or ability you just have to determine if it is worth hiring it out. Personally I have learned over the years how to do everything I need done by reading and doing which has saved allot of money and now I have the tools needed and expertise to do what I need done but I am still learning which keeps it interesting. Do not get discouraged.

[BigBlocksRule]

Nothing I hate worse than cutting a check to pay someone else to do something for me. Parts is parts and they cost, there's not really any getting around that, but paying for labor just pi$$es me off.

[Patriot]

Originally Posted by BigBlocksRule

Nothing I hate worse than cutting a check to pay someone else to do something for me. Parts is parts and they cost, there's not really any getting around that, but paying for labor just pi$$es me off.

Same here brother.

[tucsonjwt]

Even doing your own repairs is expensive when you consider that an old truck will need a lot of repairs (parts.) Some are lucky and have old trucks that need few repairs - I have never been that lucky. From an economic point of view in the long run, it is much cheaper to buy a new truck and take care of it. The only reason I own an old truck is because I don't want to beat up a new vehicle for the use trucks are made for. I buy a new vehicle frequently and trade them back in to the dealer - costs less than keeping an old vehicle, sometimes costs nothing but gas and insurance (or less). I just keep the old beater for trips to the dump, Home Depot, etc., < 1200 miles per year.

[mooseknuckles]

These trucks are so simple and easy to work on that there should be no excuse not to do the work yourself! If you can't find out how to, with the information on this site your pretty much useless. lol.

[PRattenbury]

Even as simple as these trucks are, there's still a lot to know. Some (maybe even most) people just don't have the tools or knowledge to do repairs on them themselves. I guess that's why they have repair centers, and make so many new cars per year. Manufacturers engineer these machines to wear out about 3 hours after the last check for the car loan clears the bank. Anyway, I was just saying it doesn't make good sense for a person to keep an old vehicle around especially for daily use if they have to pay someone else to keep it up. I do have the tools and knowledge. I just got lazy, and crunched for time. And I paid. My mistake, for sure. No excuse for me.

[Redcap]

Originally Posted by mooseknuckles

These trucks are so simple and easy to work on that there should be no excuse not to do the work yourself! If you can't find out how to, with the information on this site your pretty much useless. lol.

Agreed!

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by tucsonjwt

Even doing your own repairs is expensive when you consider that an old truck will need a lot of repairs (parts.) Some are lucky and have old trucks that need few repairs - I have never been that lucky. From an economic point of view in the long run, it is much cheaper to buy a new truck and take care of it. The only reason I own an old truck is because I don't want to beat up a new vehicle for the use trucks are made for. I buy a new vehicle frequently and trade them back in to the dealer - costs less than keeping an old vehicle, sometimes costs nothing but gas and insurance (or less). I just keep the old beater for trips to the dump, Home Depot, etc., < 1200 miles per year.

I don't agree. The cost of a new vehicle is substantial in lost value and especially if you trade it in. Don't forget all the cash you lay out in payments every month. In seven years my 03 Tahoe has lost over $20,000 in value. It lost half of that in the first three years. Trade in value is much worse.

If you took the money you spend on a new truck payment and put it into a square body every month instead it would be very nice and reliable in a relatively short time period and go up in value rather than down.

Square bodies are about as cheap as they will ever get and are a great investment. As long as the work done is done well and nothing is too off the wall custom wise the money you invest in it will give you a better return than what you would lose on buying a new car and giving it away every few years for trade in value before the warranty runs out.

[CaliDude76]

wow.. I just thank God for my pops for having the know-how and the ability to turn wrenches on every car and truck he's ever owned.

He had me right there by him the entire time while he was doing it... "There's no excuse to have someone else do something you can do yourself".. he says

I probably saved thousands through the years of turning wrenches on my vehicles...

and I absolutely LOVE working on my square!!

... the even cooler part of owning a square.. is the local junk-yard becomes your best parts store!..lol (besides some electrical stuff.. of course, but even then you get good stuff)

[Hubscrub]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

I don't agree. The cost of a new vehicle is substantial in lost value and especially if you trade it in. Don't forget all the cash you lay out in payments every month. In seven years my 03 Tahoe has lost over $20,000 in value. It lost half of that in the first three years. Trade in value is much worse.

If you took the money you spend on a new truck payment and put it into a square body every month instead it would be very nice and reliable in a relatively short time period and go up in value rather than down.

Square bodies are about as cheap as they will ever get and are a great investment. As long as the work done is done well and nothing is too off the wall custom wise the money you invest in it will give you a better return than what you would lose on buying a new car and giving it away every few years for trade in value before the warranty runs out.

YOU ARE CORRECT MY FRIEND! owning a older truck is no way more $$$ than going to a car lot and buying a new truck that loses value the second you pull off the lot and all the electronic junk on these new ones is a joke and can cost you when it starts going out. they are great when they run right don't get me wrong but at the end of the day i will alway pick my old american iron they can be just as reliable as anything else if YOU want it to be my father was a mechanic for 30+ year and believe me he will tell you the same thing

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by BigBlocksRule

Nothing I hate worse than cutting a check to pay someone else to do something for me. Parts is parts and they cost, there's not really any getting around that, but paying for labor just pi$$es me off.

Most of the time the shop mechanics won't install parts you bring them because they can't warrant the parts. They don't want to have to redo the job because the part you gave them was no good or fails. They usually mark the price of the parts up substantially too. You can save some money by buying the parts yourself and finding a mechanic friend to do the work if you don't have the time or skill to do the job. I know quite a few professional mechanics that do side jobs at home for a little extra cash. See if you can find one in your area that does that.

I didn't have the time to fix the front end of my old Bravada when I had two very young children and got an estimate on the complete front end rebuild. $1400. After seeing that price I made the time to do it myself and spent less than $500 on parts and an alignment and had it done in a few hours.

[spudz]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

Most of the time the shop mechanics won't install parts you bring them because they can't warrant the parts. They don't want to have to redo the job because the part you gave them was no good or fails. They usually mark the price of the parts up substantially too. You can save some money by buying the parts yourself and finding a mechanic friend to do the work if you don't have the time or skill to do the job. I know quite a few professional mechanics that do side jobs at home for a little extra cash. See if you can find one in your area that does that.

I didn't have the time to fix the front end of my old Bravada when I had two very young children and got an estimate on the complete front end rebuild. $1400. After seeing that price I made the time to do it myself and spent less than $500 on parts and an alignment and had it done in a few hours.

Agreed, I am a tech at a chevy dealership... I can usually do the job on the side for less then half the price of the dealership... And I can pick and choose my work too.

[Seven9er]

When I ran a frontend, steering and alignment shop we made a killing on parts. We had a 20% markup and that's low. Our labor rate was $45 an hour an that was low too but it paid the bills. I had a guy from Texas come in with his ford superduty and he wanted just alignment, $1800 later he left with a whole new front end. They make a lot on upsells. Growing up I remember my parents always having to bring their vehicles in because my dad was a steel worker not a mechanic, that's when I told myself that um gonna be a mechanic. Now 15 years later and 90% of all ASEs later I'm still learning. I've always been a ford guy and these Chevys are different to me but yet still easy. I'm just still learning the aftermarket for em.

[OleBlue79]

I rebuilt my engine myself and did every other thing that needed to be done so far on my 79 C-20 except rebuild the front end. New tie rod ends, upper and lower ball joints, idler arm and pitman arm. Cost me around $1200.00

[GmtGmt]

owning a vehicle is expensive no matter what age, brand, type it is. a new vehicle requires maintenance just like our trucks does. some of us turn wrenches for living like myself. we can fix them ourself so thats why they are cheap to fix up for some of us.
if you cant turn a wrench, take it to a dealer, shop or whatever place the has a mechanic shop or learn to turn a wrench.