my wife says I'm nuts

[texcl]

I broke my crappy chinese vise last week and had to take my drive shaft to a friends shop to get the darn u joints out. So today I decided to look for a new american vise. There were no vises on craigslist and I rarely see them at sales here so decided to look at new ones. To make a long story short I bought an 8" yost reversible mechanics vise (70#'s)for $400 shipped. My wife was fussing at me saying I bought a $400 vise to work on a $1600 truck. tried to explain they usually go for $600 but shw just couldnt understand the economics of it all.

 

[hce]

What would it cost to have a truck that did not need a $600 dollar vice?

 

[texcl]

The last on cost about $700 a month for five years.

 

[hce]

And at some point you would still need a vice.

 

[riotwarrior]

Show her a price of a nice Wilton and maybe she may settle down. And a 400 dollar vise will outlast a 1600 buck truck and then some....if treated with respect.

 

[wildman7798]

It's a serious problem when a man loses his vice. The mind does not seem to rest until a new one is bolted to the bench. Just went through the same thing about 6 months ago. Should be the last one you will ever have to buy.

 

[fordf350man]

this is related to your ujoint repair, buy this, you wont need a vice, i have the same kit and it turns a u joint job into minutes, i did all three of my u joints on the rear driveshaft on my truck in about a half hour, its well worth the money, it does both ball joints and u joints

http://www.handandpowertoolshop.com...gclid=CPPsxc_fi7kCFchDMgod3wgASA&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[texcl]

Cool tool, it is related but I use the vise almost daily here on our farm on everything from repairing broken tractor parts to building AR-15's. Wildman is right I couldn't stop thinking about getting a new one till it was replaced, . It's humiliating having to take your parts to a friends garage. It's like admitting he's better than you .

 

[firehawk]

A vice is nice, but if you have to work on something like a driveshaft, there are other ways to do it. I keep 4x4 pieces of wood around. A couple of those and a several tie down straps will work wonders.

 

[rlb245]

For those of use on a fixed income. It's not the best but I've had mine for 4 years now and it still works great.
http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle/steering/ball-joint-service-kit-for-2wd-and-4wd-vehicles-60827.html

 

[Dieselcrawler]

Rarely use vice for ujoints. Like stated, 4x4 and a bfh always got the job done.

 

[79jasper]

I can attest to the ball joint/u-joint press making things 10x faster. Imagine what a real shop press could do. Lol

I did my front and rear u-joints on my 94 f350 in no time.
The 04 dodge 3500 work truck dropped the carrier bearing one day about an hour away from the shop. So what does he do, drives it back like that.
It took us nearly 4 hours doing the center and rear u-joints, and carrier bearing.
That was with the bfh method.
I tell ya, every time I work on a dodge, it takes 10x as long.
Don't get me started on dodge ball joints......

 

[texcl]

Yeah, a shop press is on my short list, never see them at sales up here though. Used to have one at my old house but stupidly left it behind. I'm excited I think I'll replace all my other u joints next week if we get our new green house put up in time.

 

[fordf350man]

i got my shop press at harbor freight, its a 12 ton press, it works great, have had it for about 5 years now no issues with anything