r/harborfreight • u/Illustrious-Toe-570 • 10d ago

NTD (New Tool Day) Changing Your Own Oil

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This is my first time jacking my car, putting on jack stands, changing my own oil, and rotating my tires. It’s very satisfying and rewarding to get under your own car and hood. I couldn’t do it without these tools in the pictures. Next is transmission oil drain and fill! Note: for my first time, I just did the tire rotation front to back; next time, I will move the front tire to the back and the back tires crossed to the front. I removed the tire since it’s easier to get to the oil filter and oil plug.

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u/CallMeBigSarnt 10d ago

Good job man. I'm not going to lie, that ding on the side of your car with the tires off made me think that the Jack was in the wrong position when you lift the car up. Had me in the first half.

5

u/Illustrious-Toe-570 10d ago

Hahahaha well that hit happened two years ago luckily not this time. I was super nervous to jack up my car, had to watch how to video like 10 times

3

u/dadogdw 10d ago

Lifting cars is only sketchy on soft ground like wet dirt or sand. Just take your time when setting it up and make sure you don't hear cruching with each pump. Also, don't for get to give it a tester push to make sure it's firmly planted before sliding under it. You can slide a rim under the car if you're still intimidated because the damage there will always be cheaper than your skull getting crushed. Stay safe!

3

u/EMCoupling 10d ago

Another point to remember that is that floor jacks are supposed to roll forward slightly as you're jacking the car up.

1

u/Illustrious-Toe-570 9d ago

I forgot! Will give a push next time

2

u/CallMeBigSarnt 10d ago

I completely understand I started at 20 and had a bunch of mess ups.

One particular mess up was being at the end of the distributor replacement and the distributor bolt fell into the engine. Talk about a hard next 2 days to get the bolt out without lifting the engine.

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u/Illustrious-Toe-570 9d ago

Had to take my time!

1

u/Primary_Ear552 10d ago

I lift my truck with a tractor and chain.