Now that i'm living in an apartment away from home, going to college, i find it hard to work on my truck. Not alot of tools, no garage, working on stuff out in the parking lot. What are some ideas at getting around this. (if there are any people here from MN going to MSU mankato check out the MN forum) I was thinking about getting 4 guys and paying 10$ per person per month for a heated storage unit so we could work on stuff during the winter or keep parts/tools there and work in someones garage. I still cant figure it out all the way though! any ideas?

 

i changed a clutch in a dorm parking lot. i change my oil in my alley. you do what you have got to do. I brought some tools from home and then i took them back when i didnt need them

Matt

 

I do what I need to in the parking lot. However, I'm lucky in that my aunt lives only a couple hours away and has a nice, slightly heated garage that I can use. So I try to get down there if I can.

I also have a good, cheap mechanic nearby that I trust, and probably would take the truck there sooner than I might if I had a better place to work on it.

 

i change my oil in the dorm parking lot, but i only live an hr away, so if anything goes south, dad and a deckover are only a call away. but that said, i go home everyweekend, the engine has 4k on it, and haven't had any troubles. i have a toolbox on the truck, with all the good tools in it, and a bottle jack and chains. so i can pull the engine under a tree with the come-along if i have to.

at home i have a full 4 car garage facility haha.

but bein a farm kid, i have gotten accustomed to fixing htings in the field. it still takes getting used to, whats wrong with that old ford from the guy that drives daddys car, when i am just changing the oil haha. i just say, i call this maintence.

DT

 

hey dt466 what kind of mileage you get with that 300? I just got an 88 with the 300 in it, and that is a nice engine. Mine has the manual transmission with granny gear. Feels like it could pull a house. Also, you have to remember this is mn, right now its not that bad, but in a couple of months it will be nice and cold and snowy. I remember changing xmission fluid when its cold. Its hard to put the pan bolts back on when your fingers are numb.

 

before i rebuilt the engine on April 29th, 13 or so, now i get 15-17 crusing at around 50-55. anything past that it drops off to around 14.

not bad for a slightly lifted 4x4 with 4.10's and no overdrive. figure if i took the swamps off (33's) and put some 31's i could get a tad better because they weren't so wide.

but i just pumped my tires up 10lbs so i'll see how it goes.

 

I usually don't have to work on anything unless I am at home, but I did install the electric fan conversion in a front row parking spot in the dorm parking lot. At night too. lol

 

I do what I can in my driveway, but the new one is going in sometime this week and I'm banned from using it except for when the engine goes it. . .so I'm back to a sheet of plywood on dirt But thats at home.

For you guys in parking lots, talk with the super and see if you can put a single car covered carport (portable) to work in/under. At least around here you can't work on vehicles becuase they are, according to VB, and eyesore. The covered port is a good loophole if you can get the super to fall for it

 

in college, shoot i'm lucky to get a spot next to my dorm, i don't think a carport is gonna go haha.

but like Franken i do all my work at home in the garage on the weekend except for maintence, which i do front row of my dorm with the music blaring and parked halfway on the sidewalk, easier to get under..........well i can slide a 5 gal bucket under the oil pan without the sidewalk, but thats no fun people don't have to walk around you.

 

I brought more tools with me to college than I kept at home (had cordless circ saw even) I've changed oil, starters, and tires in the dorm and apt parking lot. I became freinds with the old guy Who ran a repair shop / storage unit / uhaul dealer, and would usec his shop sometimes after hours

 

I just pulled it into the shop and take it up on the lift

 

I have a lift now but for years I made do laying underneath. Get yourself a set of Rhino ramps, a backpackers pad to lay on, a pair of mechanics gloves(nothings worse than sub-freezing tools on hands) and maybe a portable propane heater if your careful. If you have a buddy have him help you. A little company makes it feel much better. Renting a garage is also a great idea if you can find some other enthusiast.

 

i usally just pull stuff into the gradge at home, in the 82 i keep a sheet of old carpet [maybe 3 foot wide by about 6 foot long] folded in half and shoved under the seat.

if i need under the truck i lay the carpet on the ground and crawl under the truck, the carpet can also be thrown over the front of the truck when the hood is up, so i can jump up and lay across the rad support and the motor when im working on it. and if i have to i just crawl in the engine bay and sit on the inner fender.

most of the time when working on my sisters mercury sable i back up the car onto the oilchange ramps so the nose is sloped down, i then sit in a folding deck chair and have at it. it kills my back if i stand up and lean over a low sitting car for to long.

i have seen in a hunch my uncle threw a tarp over a tree branch with the car parked under it, kindof like a tent when it was raining.

 

My garage:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...azy/Garage.jpg

 

I changed a rear seal on my cherokee 2 times in my parking lot in college