JeniLynn
New Member
- Joined
- February 27, 2016
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Michigan
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2001 ford explorer sport
So.. I have a 2 1/2 ton trolley pump up jack thing (that is, indeed, the technical description on the case), two 3 ton jack stands, and an explorer under body so rusted I cant quite determine where to put anything that isn't going to make the entire SUV disintegrate into a pile of rust in my driveway.
Really. I've read posts. Then I've went out and tried. It scared the daylights out of me. I came in and watched videos. Tried again. That scared me too. Rinse and repeat for most of my completely unproductive day. So much for changing the wheel bearing hub assembly and tie rods, I haven't even gotten so far as conclusively determining they both need replaced. My Saturday is gone, and I haven't even managed to jack up the the stupid thing.
It is quite possible that part of the problem is that, quite frankly, I have no idea what a cross member is, what torsion bars look like, or how to know how much what corrosion is going to impact what parts of the body and their ability to hold while I'm working on the car. Which kinda sucks. And I haven't been able to find labeled pictures or schematics anywhere online that match my car. All of those little spots, by the way, where the factory jack would go if I was just changing a flat - well, put a jack on those and watch it fold. Like my SUV is trying to turn into a transformer. A slow, loud, socially inept transformer.
So here's what I'm hoping one of you wonderful mechanical people can tell me, and I'm going to just throw in all of my questions to (hopefully) avoid cluttering your very useful forum with multiple rounds of my near-nervous-breakdown-rambling. Because my boss really seems to expect me to be on time to work Monday. And Uber sucks at on time.
1) Where (preferably in small words, hopefully with pictures) do I jack up this car in a way that its not going to fall? Or fall apart?
- Just one side (the front passenger) while verifying what needs done
- And the entire front end (I believe that's required for this work) after I get the parts
2) I'm using ramps behind the back wheels to keep the car from rolling... is that good enough to keep me from getting dead?
3) Once this is done, Ill be putting the car on said ramps to replace the muffler and tail pipe, which are kinda sorta still attached to the Explorer, but not really each other, per-say. They're totally rusted apart - like the rest of my delightful car. Are there any cheap tricks I can use to make this functional, like pipes from home depot
? Or do I need to go full on new muffler / extension pipe / resonator assembly?
4) If, hypothetically, I may have noticed a week or so before my wheel decided it didn't want to be straight anymore, (a negative camber, google calls it) that when I put gas in my car... some of it leaks out while I'm pumping it... what should I do about that - keeping in mind that I will be doing it. Not a mechanic. Me.
5) Are there any fun little facts I should know while doing the wheel bearing hub assembly and tie rods tomorrow? Things that you guys know from experience but google wouldn't think to tell me, perhaps?
6) Anybody wanna trade cars? ;-)
If you're feeling kind enough to help - before you do, I do need to add this disclaimer: I know some of you will read this post and be very - very - tempted to tell me not to do this myself. I'm very well aware there's not too much that can make a job unsafe quicker than a person feeling nervous and insecure doing it, but I promise, if I could afford any other option in the whole wide world at this point, I would be doing it. Nonetheless, I couldn't change brakes and rotors right up until I bought a car that had to have them at right that very moment. There's a lot of things I couldn't do until I had to do them, and when this is done, I'll get to add 'make pile of rust resemble a functioning vehicle' to the list... because a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.
So your help would be greatly, insanely, incredibly appreciated.
-JeniLynn.
Really. I've read posts. Then I've went out and tried. It scared the daylights out of me. I came in and watched videos. Tried again. That scared me too. Rinse and repeat for most of my completely unproductive day. So much for changing the wheel bearing hub assembly and tie rods, I haven't even gotten so far as conclusively determining they both need replaced. My Saturday is gone, and I haven't even managed to jack up the the stupid thing.
It is quite possible that part of the problem is that, quite frankly, I have no idea what a cross member is, what torsion bars look like, or how to know how much what corrosion is going to impact what parts of the body and their ability to hold while I'm working on the car. Which kinda sucks. And I haven't been able to find labeled pictures or schematics anywhere online that match my car. All of those little spots, by the way, where the factory jack would go if I was just changing a flat - well, put a jack on those and watch it fold. Like my SUV is trying to turn into a transformer. A slow, loud, socially inept transformer.
So here's what I'm hoping one of you wonderful mechanical people can tell me, and I'm going to just throw in all of my questions to (hopefully) avoid cluttering your very useful forum with multiple rounds of my near-nervous-breakdown-rambling. Because my boss really seems to expect me to be on time to work Monday. And Uber sucks at on time.
1) Where (preferably in small words, hopefully with pictures) do I jack up this car in a way that its not going to fall? Or fall apart?
- Just one side (the front passenger) while verifying what needs done
- And the entire front end (I believe that's required for this work) after I get the parts
2) I'm using ramps behind the back wheels to keep the car from rolling... is that good enough to keep me from getting dead?
3) Once this is done, Ill be putting the car on said ramps to replace the muffler and tail pipe, which are kinda sorta still attached to the Explorer, but not really each other, per-say. They're totally rusted apart - like the rest of my delightful car. Are there any cheap tricks I can use to make this functional, like pipes from home depot
? Or do I need to go full on new muffler / extension pipe / resonator assembly?4) If, hypothetically, I may have noticed a week or so before my wheel decided it didn't want to be straight anymore, (a negative camber, google calls it) that when I put gas in my car... some of it leaks out while I'm pumping it... what should I do about that - keeping in mind that I will be doing it. Not a mechanic. Me.
5) Are there any fun little facts I should know while doing the wheel bearing hub assembly and tie rods tomorrow? Things that you guys know from experience but google wouldn't think to tell me, perhaps?
6) Anybody wanna trade cars? ;-)
If you're feeling kind enough to help - before you do, I do need to add this disclaimer: I know some of you will read this post and be very - very - tempted to tell me not to do this myself. I'm very well aware there's not too much that can make a job unsafe quicker than a person feeling nervous and insecure doing it, but I promise, if I could afford any other option in the whole wide world at this point, I would be doing it. Nonetheless, I couldn't change brakes and rotors right up until I bought a car that had to have them at right that very moment. There's a lot of things I couldn't do until I had to do them, and when this is done, I'll get to add 'make pile of rust resemble a functioning vehicle' to the list... because a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.
So your help would be greatly, insanely, incredibly appreciated.
-JeniLynn.
