Safe driver... not a mechanic

Neither am I but you learn as you go, I had to do a simple fan belt change on my series 60 when it blew and overheated once, I felt dumb because the part that confused me was loosening the pulley tensioner, it was as simple as putting a ratchet in the square hole and turning it, the way my boss made it sound was the ratchet needed the 11mm extension on it... but you just need the ratchet alone...

You will learn as you go, some things you will look back on and laugh =/

 

You pick things up as you go. Best way to learn is to just do it. I started out by helping my dad out on the truck when I was about 12. Just basic stuff. About the only things he wouldn't touch were the internal workings of the engine, transmissions, diffs or welding. Everything else we did in the backyard.

@orcen You should have seen the 2 of us try and tighten the belts on the first C-15 my dad had. The 2 of us spent over an hour trying to pry the adjuster pulley and tighten down the lock bolt. Only after we were done did we notice the 1/2" square for the ratchet to fit into lol. In our defence, it was on the inside part of the bracket and mostly hidden by the pulley.

 

As a kid I used to like to tear apart some of my toys, to see how the wind-up mechanism worked. Then later using the lawn mower, you had to take off the air filter and cover the intake with your hand to get it to start. In high school I had customers that I cut grass and used snow blowers on. After a while you start to get handy with tools.
Then driving a pickup , changing starters , rads, water pumps. We couldn't afford to go to a mechanic so you just figured it out for yourself or asked someone that knew.
Owning a big rig is all the same, just the numbers and the weights are bigger. Don't be afraid. Stick to simple things that just bolt on and off, work your way up to more complicated things as your confidence grows. Somethings it is easier now, you can take a picture of how things fit together before you take them apart.
Somethings aren't worth the time to mess with. eg: air dryer cartridge; not worth changing just the cartridge ($75) on an AD9 as you have to take it all apart. Just replace the whole thing ($150 for a rebuilt one), way faster.

 

Mechanics weren't born with a coverall on. You learn look and figure things out. Honestly not many things on a truck are complicated unless your opening up motor trans or diffs

 

hahah, suddenly I dont feel so embarrassed anymore, boss wants to nickname me PULLEY and put it on my bug deflector... F THAT

 

even motors and diffs and trans- Read a Book, Then overhaul it.

its Not like you Need Micrometers and Shims and Precise laser equipment...If it looks like those Spider and Ring Gears Look righty..Its Good.

Or just trade in the core and Bolt up a new 1. Like I say Read a Book, Get Greasy...And you'll get it Done.

Like John Malkovich said in Conair... "LEARN"

 

Remember proactive maintenance beats reactive maintenance everytime. Meaning don't wait for failures keep an eye on things and change parts before they break. Then you have control somewhat of when and where to do maintenance. Example, Instead of jimbo bringing you a $50.00 belt tensioner at 2 am in the middle of BFE after service call part markup it cost you $500.00.
Every part has a life cycle learn them keep the old belts and tensioners,idler pullys ect in trk if still serviceable. At least to get you home. I keep extra fittings, air lines, spare alternator I rebuilt for $75.00, hose clamps, air to air boots and clamps, extra fuel filters, grease gun and grease.. little off topic but be proactive and have fun learning your piece of equipment. It's much cheaper as well. Good luck

 

I would say if you're going to be a full-blown mechanic you might as well be a mechanic.