When I came home last night, I was like a kid on Christmas eve! My new 2" hitch for our Subaru Outback arrived right on schedule. I was sooo excited! This was an item I have been contemplating for a long time. Talk about going back and forth.
Things are never easy with me. My sister has always attested to that. My new dilemma. 1) Install it myself, or 2) Seek the skills of professionals.
Since I had ordered the hitch I had been researching on how easy it is to install. Lots of pictures, reviews, and advice on how to install it on the Subaru Outback forums. I can do this I said to myself. Plus if I install it myself tonight, I save money, I know exactly what was done to my car, and I can use it to mountain bike on Saturday. Perfect. All I need to do is go to the hardware store to pick up $28 in tools(about 1/3 the cost of having it professionally installed, but at least I would have these specialized tools for some other project down the road, yeah right)
So I said my farewells to my wife for an anticipated hour (based on online estimates that it should only take 30 min, yeah right I should know better) I was so excited that I didn't even eat dinner. All I wanted to do was get started right away.
So I got my gear together, lamp, cardboard floor, wrenches, screwdrivers, grease and all the hitch accessories.
Two hours later, my hitch was installed. And here were the lessons learned...
1) I anticipated keeping myself rather free from dirt and grime, with rubber gloves and a cardboard floor. What I didn't anticipate that once I started running into trouble removing bolts and rubber fasteners with grease, frustration turned into I don't care anymore, I just want to get this dang bolt off. Leaving me with a greased thumb from my rubber gloves breaking. (Hahaha, I didn't even notice)
2) There is no substitute for experience. This job took me twice as long as it should have. But I now know first hand the exact procedures you "should" take. There was all kinds of advice about not removing the muffler and navigating your hitch through the spaces. But after several attempts at this futile effort, I decided it would be much easier to remove the muffler. Then things started moving smoothly from there.
3) A torque wrench though rather expensive would have been a very handy tool to have. Not only for vehicle repairs but also for bike repairs. But I couldn't justify the $89 for it. A nice to have.
4) Tweaking some core muscle trying to unscrew a tightened bolt underneath a car is not very fun. Last night I really couldn't sleep because of the random shooting pain from my strained muscle. Although it is quite satisfying to know that my hitch is ready to serve. Unfortunately it has put the kibosh on my Saturday mountain biking plans. Oh well, sucks to be broken.
5) You can oftentimes read all you want about doing something, but until you do it, its never exactly the same as you anticipated.
Although Im a little worried about what else I tweaked down there in my "professional" installation job, Im pretty satisfied with my effort. Its a small accomplishment and sometimes it's not always about the cost. It's more about the experience. Im sure once I heal from my injuries, I'll feel more glad that I did it.
No comments:
Post a Comment