My ex bought our son a ‘23 Camry XSE (I’m paying half obvs). During the first ride I got with him, the telltale sign of a warped rotor brought us some bumpy braking.
Today, he replaced the front rotors and pads on his own. I was there to tell him how to do, and let him struggle a bit so that he can know the frustration that can come with automotive maintenance or repair. Drivers side took almost 2 hours. When we moved to the passenger side, I joked “Man, you’ll knock this out in 20 minutes!”
He did it in 30.
The braking is buttery smooth, he gets to now say “I know how to work on cars”, and I get to stand back in awe of what this young man is capable of.
I am so got dang proud of that man. Saying “man” still doesn’t feel right, but, he shows me each day that he is becoming the man I know he can be.
UPDATE:
I hardly ever go outside without a hoodie on. I’m basically a ghost. Well, today, I got hot while we were outside working on the car, so I took it off. I even remarked to myself “the sun is right above us, not a cloud in the sky; beautiful”. When we came inside, 4 hours later, my arms were feeling a bit tender. I’d worked a 12 hour shift last night, and still have not slept, so I thought I was just sore…until I looked in the mirror. I am now become lobster, the harbinger of discomfort. It’s bad. I am not a smart person. Still, it was worth it. Next time I’ll put on some sunblock 😓😅😓
That’s awesome! My parents weren’t very supportive when I wanted to do my own maintenance in high school. My first breakdown was a bad throw-out-bearing that grenaded and took out the clutch. With no experience, I was determined to do the job myself. I towed the car back to our house, jacked it up (with the one in the trunk), put it on cinder blocks (didn’t have jack stands)…and immediately gave up at the first rusty exhaust bolt.
I later did a bunch of car work in and after college while getting my mechanical engineering degree. This skill was super useful so that I could own older cars that were cheaper to buy but had some issues. I could fix them and save money.
There’s something meditative about being under a car. The whole world disappears and your only problem is this one stupid fastener. It’s immensely satisfying to finish a job and the car just works again.
Soon your kid will be noticing how a disturbing amount of parked cars are missing a lug nut. He’ll be the one to inform his friend that weird noise in their car is easily fixed but could cause big problems if not addressed. The lube tech will no longer be able to upsell him on some bullshit that his car doesn’t need.
Btw how old is he?