Posted by David Sherman on Friday, October 14, 2005 at 8:52PM :
In Reply to: Re: hey guys - Think before you post posted by COTM Mike Stone (Idaho, USA) on Friday, October 14, 2005 at 6:33PM :
Your point is a good one, but we have all kinds of discussions about doing potentially dangerous things ourselves -- using winches for recovery and lifting, jacking up vehicles and getting under them, driving old vehicles on steep narrow roads, building homemade A-frames and other jerry-rigged hoists, etc. In most of those situations you can make a good case that they should only be done by certified professionals, or designed by licensed engineers, or done using modern tested and inspected equipment. Some people think brake jobs should only be done by professionals. Others think unlicensed people ought not to do their own wiring. I would never encourage somebody to do something they're not comfortable with, but I also don't see why assembling split-rim wheels oneself is so uniquely dangerous that out of all the tasks and skills related to maintaining and operating old trucks, it's the one thing that must absolutely be left to professionals. Of course there are stupid ways to inflate a tire that might likely get one killed, just like there are stupid ways to operate a winch, table saw, jack, gun, or even a truck itself, but that doesn't mean one needs some kind of official certification to do any of those things safely. But that's just my opinion, and it's fine with me if everyone else's is different.