Humor me, curiousity question of where you work on your 4runner

[Stick Figure]

So as some of you probably all ready know I'm going to be moving in the next couple weeks from southern cal to northern cal. Right now the house we are in has a 3 car garage, and with my cars, parts, and equipment it feels a bit cramped. I am toying with the idea of renting warehouse space for the 4 cars and "shop equipment" and just living in a small apartment since there are only two of us.

I thought about offering to rent part of the shop on an as needed basis for a reasonable price for people to be able to work on their own vehicles. I'm not going to provide you with all the tools, but larger equipment would be available (assuming you know how to use it) and I don't mind loaning a socket or specialty type tool if its needed once and a while. This wouldn't be a full time offer or business for me, I just thought it would be a way to possibly offset some of the cost of this (making it more affordable for me) while also helping some people out.

Whats everyone think?

and since everyone loves pics .. here's a few reasons why I want more space!

 

[White 4x4runner]

I work on mine wherever that I can. Depending on where in the bay area your movin.... If it's somewhat close to me I would defiantly come work on it in your shop!

 

[theizzardking]

yeah you big girl, you only have a 3 car filled with tools and cars, haha i have a single car garage hand built in the 20's that's not even wide enough for a single car i own, the roof isn;t a roof but rather plastic sheeting laying on top of some 2x4's, it gets hornets nests every summer i have to clear out, my tools and good parts rust if i don't bring them into the laundry room within a day or two of working on something, my drive way is gravel and up hill, so i'm always laying on cold,wet,pokey, rocks ....losing nuts and bolts is very easy as well......

that said though, i can always drive to work 45 mins away and have access to a 100 million dollar machine shop and tool crib which is pretty sweet, but it means i have to get it done in a day if i go out there, can#t be stranded or leave it in the middle of the shop floor..

that said, i'm joking with you here, i'm really just jealous of you and only wish till the day comes that i can afford to knock down my shed/garage thing and build something that i can really work in, lol

 

[JohnsD90]

I am fasicinated that you have that many tools to take up so much space, Your organization of these tools is why you are feeling cramped, i have seen shops with as many what looks like a similar amount of tools and they keep them in more confined amount of space but still very usable. I am against the idea of renting, as you are paying someone else's mortgage, whether it be apartment or warehouse, especially the warehouse as i have a feeling you dont make your primary income with the tools so having them in a warehouse will cost you extra money. What i would do is buy a place with a 2 car garage, and get all your tools to fit in there then leave enough room for 1 car to park in there and get worked on, and have a parking area for the remaining vehicles.

At my house we have 5-6 parking there on a daily basis and only 2 garages, so 3-4 cars park outside, and my garages are packed with 150-200 bags of wood pellets, shelves the length of the garage lined with tools, paint, supplies, boxes, a Steel Rack system which holds more of the same, and then we have a tool shed for the big tools and lawn equipment, and the only thing at my dad's buddies shop is his 6ft tall 2ft wide tool box, but we have plenty of tools at home to do any job.

I can almost garuntee you if you were able to organize your tools better, and maybe find different boxes that would allow you to condense your tools in 1 or 2 big boxes instead of scattered around into many other boxes you could definetley make it work in a smaller space.

And i do minor work that doesnt require a lift at my house, if i need a lift, to weld or its a 2 day job, i run down to my dad's buddies shop and work on it like "white people" do.

 

[theizzardking]

I am fasicinated that you have that many tools to take up so much space, Your organization of these tools is why you are feeling cramped, i have seen shops with as many what looks like a similar amount of tools and they keep them in more confined amount of space but still very usable. I am against the idea of renting, as you are paying someone else's mortgage, whether it be apartment or warehouse, especially the warehouse as i have a feeling you dont make your primary income with the tools so having them in a warehouse will cost you extra money. What i would do is buy a place with a 2 car garage, and get all your tools to fit in there then leave enough room for 1 car to park in there and get worked on, and have a parking area for the remaining vehicles.

At my house we have 5-6 parking there on a daily basis and only 2 garages, so 3-4 cars park outside, and my garages are packed with 150-200 bags of wood pellets, shelves the length of the garage lined with tools, paint, supplies, boxes, a Steel Rack system which holds more of the same, and then we have a tool shed for the big tools and lawn equipment, and the only thing at my dad's buddies shop is his 6ft tall 2ft wide tool box, but we have plenty of tools at home to do any job.

I can almost garuntee you if you were able to organize your tools better, and maybe find different boxes that would allow you to condense your tools in 1 or 2 big boxes instead of scattered around into many other boxes you could definetley make it work in a smaller space.

And i do minor work that doesnt require a lift at my house, if i need a lift, to weld or its a 2 day job, i run down to my dad's buddies shop and work on it like "white people" do.

haha, what's with all of the pallets, i know free fire wood, but is it really worth the space, that;s like another 1.5 cars you could fit in there, lol, i've seen the pics

 

[LittleCaesar]

Is that a parts cleaner in one of those pics? If I had half the tools and half that space, I'd consider myself the second coming of Donald Trump.

Usually in the dirt on a tarp in the side yard so no one can see me. A friend down the street has a two car garage and nice driveway if things really call for it.

 

[JohnsD90]

haha, what's with all of the pallets, i know free fire wood, but is it really worth the space, that;s like another 1.5 cars you could fit in there, lol, i've seen the pics

Wood Pellets not pallets, they take up 2 feet of the room but spaning the entire legnth of the and height of the wall, we park 2 cars in the garages, it only fits 2 cars... They are our only source of heat, and they are not free.

 

[theizzardking]

Wood Pellets not pallets, they take up 2 feet of the room but spaning the entire legnth of the and height of the wall, we park 2 cars in the garages, it only fits 2 cars... They are our only source of heat, and they are not free.

haha sorry didn't mean to offend, sheesh, you take your wood seriously.....:hatsoff:

 

[Kung]

I've got my choice of 2 places:

1) My car port. I've got a 25'x28' attached carport on our house - and I don't mean a flimsy POS. I mean a car port with a fully trussed roof (shingles and all), sitting on a 14" thick concrete slab, that would handle an addition later on.

2) Fort Leonard Wood's auto hobby shop. They have EVERY tool one could ever need - and if you get in a jam, 99% of the time they'll just start helping. If you have a BIG job coming, you can actually pay $10/hour to sort of 'rent' one of the garage techs to help you. LOL

 

[theizzardking]

I've got my choice of 2 places:

.

2) Fort Leonard Wood's auto hobby shop. They have EVERY tool one could ever need - and if you get in a jam, 99% of the time they'll just start helping. If you have a BIG job coming, you can actually pay $10/hour to sort of 'rent' one of the garage techs to help you. LOL

^ this is sweet, they used to do that around here to until some sissy little ***** hurt himself in the shop and sued the place, since then i've never seen another place where you can rent garage space with a lift!!!

 

[Nunyabiz]

Thats disgusting.

3 car garage? I haven't even had a garage of any size, not even a car port since I left Southern California 18 years ago.
For some ignorant reason it seems that about 60% of the houses here in Raleigh NC, especially if you are in a Town Home its probably more like 95% of Town homes don't have garages at all.

It is completely insane.

Next place we move which is most likely going to be Oregon, I am going to buy a GARAGE with a house attached to it.
Fortunately in Oregon from what I have seen it is exactly the opposite of here.

They usually have a 2 car garage and then most times also have a workshop with a wood stove that is bigger than the garage and would have that even if they were living in a single wide trailer.

I flatly refuse to live in another house without a garage.

I don't work on my truck, no place at all to do anything except lift the hood to check oil level.

 

[4-Ripcord]

Good gosh I want that garage, nice setup.

Im usually in my 2-car garage with hand tools and floor jacks, its gotten me through everything I've done so far.

 

[Stick Figure]

John,

One of the reason for the multiple boxes is that the Blue Snap on, and 70's era Craftsman were my work boxes, and those boxes are going straight to the new shop until I figure out what I actually need there on a regular basis. I do also have separate boxes for the Lathe tooling, the g/fs lawn care crap, wood working and one actually has unsold extras in it. My tools are fairly well organized I just do have a LOT more than the average person would ever need. I originally bought a lot of stuff when I had my own shop so it was okay to take up a bit of room.

The other thing that is currently taking up a lot of room is spare parts that while we are in the process of selling a lot there is a lot more to go. the 3rd bedroom of the house is full top to bottom as is the wall behind the supra and the one in front of middle spot where you see the Scion in one pic and Racerunners 4runner in the other.

I agree about renting vs owning, but I don't plan to live the rest of my life in CA, and space here is ridiculously expensive to buy or rent, but if I rent, it is far easier to move when needed. When I excepted the new job offer i knew we were on a month to month lease at the house we are in now, so it was only a matter of giving a 30 day notice, and not the hassle of having to sell a house etc. I like that option for now.

I could technically cram everything into the 2 car garage, but then i risk theft problems with the cars outside. Between the g/f and I we have 5 cars right now. I would also like the room to build a real welding table again, and have my wood working area at least a decent distance from the rest of the stuff. I know I probably sound spoiled but I always think back to how much easier it was when I had a proper shop with room to work. This also makes side work a much easier proposition.

So for the rest of you, if I offered you a spot for a few $'s a day when you needed to work on your car or truck, is that something you would take advantage of, or no? Just trying to gauge if I could help offset the cost of rent this way, or if everyone would have the attitude of "were internet bros, why should I chip in for renting space" type of thing.

 

[Yoterman87]

This is where me and clownmeat work on our T4R's

my office

I love mk3 supra's stick figure, what year? 7MGTE?

 

[Stick Figure]

See you understand what its like to have some room and tools to work with! I miss that. Supra is an 89 and had a 7MGTE back in the day (had the thing for like 15 years now) Right now it is a shell again and will be going 2JZ whenever i get around to working on it again.

Heres where the 7M ended up Most Designs Gallery | Cressida

I guess I don't have any pics of the Supra in its previous glory, I'll have to find some and throw them up on the website.

 

[Yoterman87]

Thats sick, cressida's are the altimate sleeper!!!! Here are some pics of my 87 i built and recently sold so i could get my 98 runner

 

[fightman80]

Here's my shop. It's not much....but it's a multi-purpose space....ha ha! Aside from the normal shop tools...(which are mostly stored in 2 Tool chests and the storage cabinets) I've got a Heavy bag, Double End ball, Speedbag, 300lbs in Cast Iron Weights, a chinup bar, some dumbell bars, a barbell bar, and an EZ-Curl bar. I've also got a pretty vaste collection of 16oz Boxing Gloves, hand wraps, and sparring gear.

Pic of me using my double end ball:

Some shots of the shop and storage:

Again, it's not much.....but it allows me to work on my rig indoors, and also gives me a good space to kick and punch some stuff!

 

[Stick Figure]

Thats sick, cressida's are the altimate sleeper!!!! Here are some pics of my 87 i built and recently sold so i could get my 98 runner

That is the same color as the last one i did for a customer. Not a huge fan of the 7M, but still love the body lines of the MA70 chassis.

Fightman you look like you have a nice little space set up there.

That does remind me the gym portion was one of the added benefits of apartment life. In other words the g/f can have gym access with out wanting me to buy expensive equipment. lol

 

[Kung]

^ this is sweet, they used to do that around here to until some sissy little ***** hurt himself in the shop and sued the place, since then i've never seen another place where you can rent garage space with a lift!!!

They're fairly smart, the way they do it here. To use it you *HAVE* to register using your CAC card...so they know off the bat that there's a 99% chance you have either a gov't job (as I do) or are in the military (I'm Army Reserves as well). This also means that you're almost always covered.

Then you have to go through some training, and THEN you sign a big long form essentially saying if you kill yourself, it's on you. LOL

 

[Whackmaster]

This is where I work..With a little cleaning and organization I would have a lot more room.............