Am I Special Needs? 🤟🤪🤙

[aldo98229]

Amen. Was literally dumbfounded when my RokBlokz mudflaps shipped with a single piece of paper.. with only a QR code to scan. Find my phone, open the store app, find a random QR app, scan the code.. to get the super-secret URL (that they could've just emailed or printed on the included paper) to get the single page PDF file that I had to email to myself so I could actually print it out with a computer on a f'cking piece of paper, cause I don't want be installing something with eventually dirty hands and drop my dang phone.

$100 plastic front flaps, free Smarties and a sticker, but they couldn't afford the extra ink for instructions. Super simple install, but still the dumbest jump through hoops bullshit I've ever seen.

How funny!

Meanwhile, the Mopar mud flaps came with installation instructions 15 pages long.

One page listed the parts and tools required; another had a diagram of the instrucfions.

The remaining thirteen pages were warnings not to eat the contents...in 13 different languages, including Canadian English

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[6th Floor Mule]

Paper instructions aren’t always what they were cracked up to be either, like the below . . .

 

[aldo98229]

Funny how the aftermarket mods undercut the time required, while the factory OEM service center engineers have determined it takes .5 hours of labor to check your tire air pressures, and another 1.2 to bring them back to specs.

And thirteen visits to replace the auxiliary battery...

 

[NULL POINTER]

I have been working on my latest Jeep mod and it is not going well.

This is the 3rd big aftermarket accessory I have bought and almost every time an installation is listed as taking only a couple of hours it winds up taking me like 2 days. I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know how to use tools, follow instructions, and do basic stuff.

I guess what I'm really asking is do other people have as hard of a time with these types of installs (drilling into frame, lining up bolt holes, mounting accessories, etc.) or is it just me?

Took me over 3 hours to figure out how to get the F#*!$%# fog light connector disconnected from the oem steel bumper a few weeks ago. One of the qualifications to get a job designing automotive electrical connectors is that you must be a sadomasochist. Lift the gray tab up, push the gray tab down, push the red tab in, pull the red tab out, do the hokey pokey, and curse all about.

 

[rkwfxd]

I have been working on my latest Jeep mod and it is not going well.

This is the 3rd big aftermarket accessory I have bought and almost every time an installation is listed as taking only a couple of hours it winds up taking me like 2 days. I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know how to use tools, follow instructions, and do basic stuff.

I guess what I'm really asking is do other people have as hard of a time with these types of installs (drilling into frame, lining up bolt holes, mounting accessories, etc.) or is it just me?

Clearly you are F’ing Retarded. I park my JL in the garage and throw parts at it from the street and they install themselves.

Sort of….

Three days to install lift on my TJ. Three days to install lift on my JL. SIX LONG FREAKING DAYS to install full TF lift on my neighbor’s JT. Three days to install ditch lights on my JL (Wiring was a giant knot when it arrived from KC).

You are not alone. Id rather take my time, follow instructions, use an actual torque wrench and make sure things are clean and correct.

 

[Heimkehr]

I've been maintaining my vehicles (maintenance + mild repairs + accessory installation) for 3+ decades now.

I'd say that, on net, such work now takes a little longer to perform than it used to.

As my experience and tool inventory grew, so too could I do the work faster than I would have in years past. Offsetting such efficiencies is the corresponding increase in complexity of modern vehicles, and a plainly observable decrease in the quality of instruction documents.

There it is.

What's particularly annoying are the vendors who refuse to provide said documents, despite the King's ransom price of whatever baubles they're selling. Such folks either include just a basic parts schematic or, more frequently and worse yet, punt the installer to YouTube.

"Worse" because YT has no vetting process for content, meaning there's any number of so-called instructional videos that can serve as an example of how not to install Item X. We've all seen them: clickbaity titles, selective edits to hide goofs and hacks, and way too much talking.

Other such videos are just OK. I've not yet found a Jeep-related installation video that gets close to the Gold Standard for presentation that I've pasted here, though. I don't expect that to occur, either. The brands' obsession with chasing clicks means we shouldn't hold our breath here.



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OP: You're probably not "special needs". Just take some time to figure out how much you can take on before taking it on.

 

[TheBirdie72]

I have yet to come across installation directions that factor in adequate beer and nap time between steps. So these things always take longer than expected.

 

[Barney392]

It helps to have the correct tools.

 

[JINO]

 

[calemasters]

1/3 of the time, the projects go well. 1/3 of the time, it just takes a little longer. And 1/3 of the time I regret my life decisions.

 

[Geronimo]

Paper instructions aren’t always what they were cracked up to be either, like the below . . .

Yea but at least it's in braile.

 

[Geronimo]

It helps to have the correct tools.

Careful you don't hit the up button.

 

[XyloSesame]

I'm good with tools, but have never worked on vehicles other than bicycles and PTWs and an occasional driveway oil change in my youth. No garage and the Jeep being my only vehicle makes everything a bit more complicated.

I thought, "hey, I can do bolt on mods without a problem." It took no time to get my factory bumper off ... but now I'm running a nice bumper with 7 of 8 button head bolts because I finally gave up on the last one after too many broken step bits and snapped bolts. It definitely makes me feel a bit of a failure and has me questioning what (if anything) I should try to tackle myself...

 

[roaniecowpony]

Yep.
And if they are that easily offended, that is another of their problems.

Indeed. It seems to be everywhere. It's good to see the OP has a sense of humor about himself and no one has taken offense to it.

I think everyone here shares his pain on how long most of these modifications take to accomplish well. The main point is to do them well regardless of how long it takes.

 

[2nd 392]

Then adding to the fact very few of us who actually do this extensive of work on our own don't have a lift to work standing up. We spend more time on our backs than a sportin gal in the far East. I just love weld splatter burns on my chest......

After you get to my age, have had multiple mishaps, the worst being my left hand (except thumb) being shattered when a “stuck” Muncie needing a mainshaft suddenly popped out landing on it (burst 50cal barrel later got the thumb) CJ5 and me down for months. Old, dysfunctional hands, can’t see sh!t, simple projects are no longer simple. I now drink beer and watch others do the work unless very simple.(did spare relocation)

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