Mechanic?

[FastEddie313]

I fix things, everything.. Can a mechanic make money on the road? 
I have passed state motorcycle certification, can likely pass a few ASEs, weld/fab a bit, build custom stuff...
I'm from a poorer area of Northern Michigan so I am pretty well acquainted with making the most of what you have to work with.. I am a mostly self employed, odd/personal jobs kind of guy for the most part, but for "real jobs" I prefer sprints of heavy overtime work, I have had a few of these "real jobs" in construction and concrete work so I have a bit of experience there too.. 

What I'm thinking is getting a bit more education in me on RV specific type maintenance and repairs and kindof touring the RV hotspots/routs taking on small jobs on peoples RVs as I go along, maybe advertise on the side of my rig to do lighter duty work on peoples rigs with my #..

What do you think? 
Do you think one could make enough money on the road to sustain this way? Assuming my rig will get 5-8MPG, not small..

 

[WriterMs]

Hi Eddie,
Others will comment better on the amount of that kind of work out there, but I wanted to point out a couple of other things. If you like working hard for a "sprint" and then having time off, then work on something like the beet harvests in the fall and other similar seasonal jobs may be for you. Look in the "money" section of the forum threads and you can see lots of detailed info.

Also, as Bob points out often, the way to minimize the amount of gas you burn is to locate somewhere that you can change climate without having to drive a lot. For instance, in Arizona, you can go to higher elevations as the weather becomes hot so you have no need for AC. When it begins to get t0o cold, you drive not that many miles down to lower elevations and then to southernmost AZ for the winter.

Sounds like you have lots of skills that could allow you to work off and on and still travel.
Welcome aboard.

 

[FastEddie313]

I am very interested in Arizona, I'd just like to have a plan to make enough money so I could take quite a bit of time prospecting but assuming I find nothing in terms of returns from it to be on the safe side..
And the fact that their is a lot of federal land there I could park almost anywhere for free and prospect right?

I think it would be a great first place to go because it could be cheap to stay and learn a lot about RVing at the conventions I hear about there and have backup employment opportunities there at that time also..

 

[Txjaybird]

 Hello and Welcome.  I've only travelled back and forth across AZ, however it seems to me that with your work skills you should be able to earn enough to take time off to prospect. I think there are 1 or 2 who prospect here on the forums.

Good Luck

Jewellann

 

[blars]

Being legal to camp and being legal to prospect are different things. Some places BLM owns surface but not mineral rights. Much of the rest has existing mining claims.

 

[highdesertranger]

good mechanics are in demand everywhere. highdesertranger

 

[FastEddie313]

I'm thinking more along the lines of a mobile freelance operation rather than trying to find temporary "employment" wherever I am..

Do you think their are RVers that would be interested in a mobile mechanic that could come to their site to do non-major work?
Could kindof use social media and forums to advertise my services where I'm at and accumulate customer reviews of my services.. Maybe little signs I could put around where I'm at or whatever..
At quite a bit less than dealer costs BTW, something like $20-$25 an hour plus job cost such as parts, materials, and whatever it takes me to get to and from their rig with my tow vehicle, likely a subaru.. So I could set up my home base somewhere and do work within 50-100 miles of wherever I'm at..

Do you think such a scheme would be somewhat plausible?

I could do lighter repairs and maint such as breaks, oil changes, tune ups, coach leak repairs, work on these absorption refrigerators, ACs, LP systems, plumbing, general RV diagnostics and fix things that are not major tear downs and can be done on site..

I could also do aftermarket audio and electronics installs of stuff like inverters/converters, solar, diagnose battery bank systems, maybe work on slideouts..
Their are plenty of things to work on on Rvs, but could a person get independent jobs?

I'm not super experienced working on RVs in specific or really any realistic specialty for that matter but I don't tend to run across anything that I can't fix with a bit of research if it's something I have not encountered before..
For me it's not about knowing everything, it is about being able to find answers to and figure out everything, find, understand, and implement service documentation..

I don't think you guys here would be target customers because you are the frugal DIY type like me but I figure you guys here may know a thing or two about most RVers in their big fancy expensive machines, that I expect many really don't know much about them and are used to just writing a check to fix this or fix that..

I want customers to call me and say "Hey, I heard about your service here xxx and I have this xxx system and it seems to not be doing xxx but rather xxx could you take a look at it?"
Then I could say "Sure, I'll come see it today, tomorrow, or the next day whatever", then prepare and review an arsenal of information on whatever xxx system in question and go see if I can't figure out what's wrong with it and what to do to correct the matter..

 

[highdesertranger]

anywhere RV's congregate there are mobile mechanics. anywhere there is agriculture there are mobile mechanics. etc, etc. not trying to discourage you, you could do it but there is competition. most people on this forum do not do their own mechanic work. highdesertranger

 

[29chico]

I'm concerned that with such low labor rates you would be hard pressed to make a proper go of it.  Something like $35-45 per hour with possibly a somewhat reduced rate for getting parts and driving to the work site and back to your home base.  Mileage charges should be considered as well. 

Any prospective client who balks at paying for your time and expenses is trying to get something for nothing.  If you agree to do anything for nothing, a certain percentage of clients will expect much more in free services.  It is a very slippery slope...

There is no money to be made trying to work for someone who is too cheap or too poor.

Once you start putting up signs/flyers and posting adverts on the web you are considered to be "holding yourself out in public" and then the issues of a business license, taxes and possibly insurance issues come into play.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Candidly, I think you might have a problem with the perception that you might be hard to find if something you fixed stops working again.  How are you going to handle warrantying your work when you might be two states away when they try to find you?

 

[bullfrog]

How good of a salesman are you? You would probably do better buying, fixing and selling with your skills. Make yourself an expert on a few types of popular vans, figure which ones you can buy cheap, fix cheaply, build out and sell for a small profit as is. Trade a good one for a bad one and cash maybe. Good mechanics make money by reputation and word of mouth by being in one location and easily contacted. Being mobile is difficult due to the amount of tools, parts and supplies you need to have with you. As others have said a seasonal job at an RV dealership or National Park Concessionaire will be more profitable and easy to get.