SpencerT

The first time Ive worked on another car besides my 95 ls400.
I did a lower ball joint on a 96 dodge dakota for a buddy.
5 hours of frustation later, I confirmed to myself that I will only drive a lexus for the rest of my life.

Lexus might not be the easiest to work on but it seems like everything on my car was designed using common sense.

The Dodge appears to have been built by a group of alcoholics who didnt expect the truck to last long enough for the suspension parts to need replacement.

FrankReynoldsCPA

Ball joints on anything suck.

My Lexus is a real pain to work on. My 89 Pontiac Firebird was definitely easier to fix(not to mention half the price for parts). I will give Lexus credit for being consistent with bolt sizes. It seemed like every bolt on my Firebird was a different size.

I haven't worked on any Dodges to my memory though. If their layout is as good as their quality, I can see why you would be frustrated. Our easiest car that I've worked on, aside from my dad's 67 Pontiac Firebird, is our 92 F350.

Also, not everything on this car was designed with common sense. The alternator is underneath the damn power steering pump, which is terrible about leaking.

SpencerT

I forgot about that one.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Then add they put the starter under the intake. To remove the rear shock assembly, you have to yank the rear seats out to access them. Fortunately, the main cars I've worked on have been Toyota or Nissan. Some time with Dads old Fairlane.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

the rear seats come out with like 4 bolts total (just for the back, the bottom pops out)! and I can (and have) torn down the entire front-half of my motor with nothing but the 2 wrenches that come in the OEM tool kit

all you need is a 10, 12, 14, and 17mm wrench/socket set and you can take down like 80-90% of these cars, 19+20/21mm if you're doing suspension work.

SpencerT

Thats what Im talking about.
Even with the backseat for the rear shocks they are still very easy.

On the dodge, I dont even know how many wrenches I needed.
And half of them were metric sizes. What kind of stupid manufacturer uses sae and metric bolts on a car.