Feeling like an old man!

[SciFiJim]

I did a brake job today on my Toyota Tundra. I've done numerous brake jobs on the family cars in the past. Replacing the pads on a Tundra is extremely easy if you are not having the discs turned. The problem is removing and then replacing the tires. Passenger cars tires are easy. The truck tires will make you feel like and old man or make you realize that you are old. I didn't realize just how heavy those things are. A new perspective was gained today.

[scattershot]

I feel like that sometimes, but then I AM old.

[CastingFool]

I did an oil change on my truck early last fall, and I think I am done with crawling around underneath a truck. I couldn't beliebe how sore I was when I got done!

[jlm223]

Yep, I have a Jeep with 33" tires on it, what a bear!

[Gewehr-Guy]

A trick I use to wrestle on a heavy wheel and tire, is to lay a long handle spade or sand shovel directly under the hub, and roll the tire into the shovel . Then you can lift on the long handle with one hand, and position the wheel onto the hub with your other hand. Usually you can lift the wheel up an inch or two, if you need more, s lide under a piece of 2x4 to get more leverage.

[sghart3578]

I helped my 31 year old son swap out an engine recently and I realized I am not the man I was 30 years ago. I hurt all over.

I told him that I used to hunt and camp in an old F250. One time I swapped out the C6 transmission in that thing by myself, no jack.

Those days are long gone.

My oldest brother summed it up for us. I was talking to him about his recent health problems and he said "Little brother, some days I wake up felling like I'm 19 years old. And some days when I wake up my body feels like a tow sack full of broken beer bottles and door knobs."

Hang in there,


Steve in N CA

[bob208]

oil change truck goes to jiffy lube. putting wheels back on takes much cussing and creative jack work. I am 70. never thought I would make this far.

[Elroy]

We have an old tractor ,and it has loaded tires,and you talk about heavy !!..My wife's back ached for a week after I made her rotate the two back tires on it. LOL

[jsizemore]

We have an old tractor ,and it has loaded tires,and you talk about heavy !!..My wife's back ached for a week after I made her rotate the two back tires on it. LOL

Dare you to show this thread to her. I got some coupons you can use for eatin'.

[buckwheatpaul]

I did a brake job today on my Toyota Tundra. I've done numerous brake jobs on the family cars in the past. Replacing the pads on a Tundra is extremely easy if you are not having the discs turned. The problem is removing and then replacing the tires. Passenger cars tires are easy. The truck tires will make you feel like and old man or make you realize that you are old. I didn't realize just how heavy those things are. A new perspective was gained today.

Jim, I know how you feel today I cut my fence and hung a gate and dug three holes, with a tractor post hole digger, then planted 3 eight inch posts and filled the 3' deep holes and tamped the wet mud clods into the holes; then re-stretched the 5 strand barbed wire; and then hung the 8 foot gate....what use to take about 1 hour took almost 3 hours....and boy was I wiped out.....getting older is not for sissy's!

[Winger Ed.]

Roll the tire up to the hub and time the hub out so a lug bolt is at 12 o'clock, and a bolt hole on the tire lines up with it.

Tilt the tire over onto it and start a lug nut.
Jack the car up a little and the tire will be pulled up and it'll fall onto the other lug bolts.

I learned this on 5' tall tractor tires.
Now days, I do it on everything bigger than the neighbor's golf cart.

[bedbugbilly]

I have a theory . . . . that's why they make young people . . . . like we used to be!

[RoyEllis]

I'd like to meet the jackbag that coined the phrase "the golden years".......and punch his lights out!

[Alstep]

I'm 78, and everything said above is all too familiar. A lifetime working in the trades, driving truck, and some farm work have worn out my bones. I'm still in fairly good shape, but even so, I just take my time doing stuff, and it gets done one way or another. Just have to work a little slower & a little smarter. I count my blessings every day & life's still good. I am fortunate indeed.

[samari46]

Totally in agreement with the jerk who coined the term "Golden Years" I'm 73 and used to work rotating shifts around the clock. Now I'm paying for it. So work a lot slower and a lot smarter when it gets done is when it gets done. Frank

[lightman]

Like all of the rest of you, I worked for a living. And I can't do the things that I once could. I plan ahead for the things that I still try to do knowing that it will take longer. And I pay others to do some of the things that I once did. Its hard to admit that you can't do the things that you once did. And sometimes its hard to find someone to do them for you and to do them right!

A while back I posted that my SIL's Cat died and that I buryed it for her. It took me about 3 hours to dig a decent hole and cover it back up. About 20 minutes worth of work for me 5 years ago or for any other young healthy person.

[rockrat]

Tractor seems to have gotten taller over the years. Harder to get on/off the thing. Dozen times on/off the thing and I head for the tylenol. Tripped in the barn the other day and hit the concrete. In my younger days, I would have just bounced off the floor and gone on with what I was doing, nowadays it just plain hurts

[jimlj]

My problem is getting down on a creeper, realizing I left the tool I need on the workbench. I lay there trying to figure a way of doing the task at hand without the tool because it's too hard to get back up.

[fixit]

I am "only" 58, but my philosophy is, I am not going to slow down until my body forces me to, even if it hurts! I'm scared to death of losing the ability to do the things that I do, so I continue doing them. Just this past fall, for example, I was up in a 50 to 60 foot tall walnut tree in my fence line, between my house and the neighbors, cutting it down limb by limb, piece by piece, so that there was no longer a risk to either house. I don't pay people to work on my car, in fact I have a small clientele of people that pay me to work on theirs. (That pays for my shooting habit). Yes, this is a brag, but it is what I do to keep my body moving for fear of not continuing to move.

[popper]

Was in St. Augustine last week, tried the water - nope, still OLD.
Recovering from spraying the yard for weeds today. Even passenger car tires are heavy anymore. I can usually use my foot to snag that last inch to the lug.