Yeah, it was yours that finally got me itching to write this, but plenty of other people have said the same things before. My rant wasn't directed at you specifically.

I'll admit to feeling the same way back when I could say that I was involved with the installtion of every mod on my truck. But my perspective has changed, and now I just hate to see an otherwise awesome truck be put down because it wasn't built with it's owner's bare hands. It's still an awesome truck regardless.

 

i myself would love to do all my own work to my truck but i dont have a place where i could park the truck for a motor swap or whatever. i have a 2 car garage but with a t-bird and 2 motorcycles and another coming soon my truck just wont fit in there. so i have to pay other people to do the work for me but if i can i sit there and soak up whatever knowledge i can from the mechanics. the mechanic i use now even lets me in the shop so its easier to see whats going on. i've been around cars my whole life. my father used to work as a ford mechanic at a dealership then was a teacher at a tech school for mechanics. however all this electronics is still new to me since this is the first vehicle i wanted to mod like this. im all for learning new things

 

i knew nothing about these trucks before i came on this site. i knew some about gen1s but not about the gen 3s. learned some "book smarts" form this site and am just now getting to start on the hands-on experience . there are somethings that i will "sub" out because either i dont have the specialty tools for them or im not confident in doing them. gears, internal trans., paint and body, and shortblock internals, exhaust( if i had a welder i would), window tint, and spray in liner. but i dont think they have less of a truck if they paid to get a certain part installed but if they take it to a shop and say " i want 700rwhp" or " i want to run mid 11s" i have no respect for them because when they get it back, they have no idea what it has in it or what it took to get there. some people just dont have the time or space to do it in, though

example if some one has their cold air intake installed - no respect.
if they have a car intake manifold swap done at a shop - no problem

 

i just feel like if someone is a tool, they are still a tool whether or not they built there own stuff. someone who does it their self and brags about all the **** they can do is just as bad as the guy who knows nothing about what is really in their truck. i'd like to see what would really happen to all these people who "will only do it themselves" if they had an endless checkbook. i know what i would do.

 

i vote for built..i was born around race cars..i always helped my dad and grandpa build dirt track cars.. me and my grandpa built my first car when i was 16-17 and and in 2004 me and my grandpa started building another one and he died and so i was building the rest the car on my own and racing and setting up the car on my own..i started workin when i was 17 (03) as a mechanic and when i bought my truck in 2005 is when we got the dyno and started tuning..we basically used my truck as a guini pig...only thing i never did was the tranmission because thats too expension for me to have mistakes..at work i had all the tools to do everything to my truck..i have always liked doing stuff to my truck and race cars myself because i dont always trust what other people's work.. as workin at a performance shop ive seen both sides of this.. one guy has over $4-5 million worth of performance cars and just doesnt care what people do he just wants it done and done right at that monent..and gets pissed because other cars are makin more hp on a dynojet and tries to tell us what to do...then ive seen guys come in with some really wicked stuff that they have built theyre selves and we just do the tuning and and all they are doing is smileying and grinning the whole time because there car actuallys runs and drive and is fast...and weve had alot of people like danny that dont know much at first and are there the whole time peaking of your shoulder every minute and askin 1500 questions and now they are doing about everything themselves and enjoy it..since hes done most the work to his new truck, i can tell he enjoys it more than his old truck....but from seeing all this i can tell more people enjoy their cars more when they do the work themselves than have other people do it for them

 

ALL IN ALL GUYS.... BUILD WHAT YOU CAN.... PAY FOR WHAT YOU CANT

 

i can agree to a certain extent but thats kinda how you learn...alot of people on here didnt know how to do cam swaps, install nitrous and more but you just have to dig into and learn

 

I AGREE, AND MOST OF THOSE I WOULD GLADLY TRY IF I DIDNT ALREADY KNOW HOW.... BUT WHEN IT COMES TO SOME OF THE MODS, IT WOULD BE BETTER TO PAY A PROFESSIONAL THE "FIRST TIME" AND SEE IF YOU CAN BE A FLY ON THE WALL...... MOST COOL SHOPS WILL LET YOU LURK AROUND AND GET AN IDEA OF WHAT DOES WHAT AND WHY IT IS BEING DONE. THEN YOU CAN START TO LEARN.... BUT I DONT BELIEVE IN THE ATTITUDE OF SOME WHICH IS UNLESS YOU HAVE DONE EVERY SINGLE THING ON YOUR TRUCK, IT IS NOTHING..... ALL IN ALL ITS WHEATHER OR NOT IM HAPPY WITH MY TRUCK NOT WHAT OTHERS THINK....

 

OK my turn to stand on my soap box now .

You miss the whole thing, just did not get it.
You hear it but just don't understand.

When you buy someone's skill to build you a winner.
Their is no pride on the line, you got what you paid for.
A winner.
if it is losing then you feel like you wasted your money
And it's time to hit up someone else or go back
To the builder to make it faster.

When you build it your self, winning is a whole different matter.
You put your time, heart, and soul, in to it.
You take pride in something you built that is a winner.
if it loses then the hurt is deep, wondering where you went wrong,
How to fix it, what needs to be changed.

the next time you go to the track, watch the people
That lose when they park.
Some are real calm and others are a better show to watch.
they have fits of craziness, loud voice of swear words,
kicking and beating on ****, because their pride has
Just been stomped on hard and they cannot handle it.

 

i can vouch for this when i drive my dirt track car..when i have problems with my car and finish bad or get tore up..yes i get pissed more than any one has ever seen me..because i know ive worked my *** all week to get it to what i think is a better set up or puttin somethin new on i knew that should work but if it dont i get madder than hell..if i get torn up and its some one elses fault yes i get madder than hell because i got all this time and money in my car i really get frusterated..weve had all sorts of people drive for us over the years..if the car dont do what they want they say its crap if the car wins they feel great or they tear up the car they dont care and thats because they dont own it and dont work on it..its all about pride in doing it yourself..and thats how i feel..