Which is better?
This?
- What is the backspacing on my rim?
- Can someone please post the part numbers I need for a front axle service?
- Will these tires fit my truck?
- How can I fix the water in the door sound?
or this?
- I searched about backspacing on my rim, but I'm not sure I'm measuring it the correct way, can someone please help
- I searched and saw several posts with different part listings for the front axle service, do I really need part number xxxxx-xxxxx, and what about ......
- I read through some old posts and Christo's 35" tire article, but if I run 35's do I really have to replace the panhards?
- I searched and read some posts about pulling the plugs out for water to come out of my doors, but I can't find the plugs, can someone post a pic?
Perhaps my question is not quite fair, but hopefully it makes a point. Just 2 weeks ago I PMed a few of you folks asking the exact same question. The response was mixed. Some thought the forum went from one extreme to the other, and neither extreme is preferred.
Here's my view, not that anyone cares
By not searching or reading through any old posts and asking a question that has been asked 50 times before, the person is basically telling you and everyone on the forum that they don't care about your time, they just want their info. There are a lot of guys here that have spent countless hours writing up posts, collecting part numbers, scanning things, taking pics to document processes etc. By someone coming in and just posting, without first reading any old posts, can someone tell me how to overhaul my front axle and give me part numbers, they are basically spitting in the face of everyone that has dedicated time to the previous posts. Again, just my view, and we know how my views frequently get me

other places.
HOWEVER, I don't believe the forum has gone too far. For example, if someone posts a question that has only been covered once or twice before, or indicates they tried to search, or they read some posts and they just don't quite understand something, ... in these cases, I have not seen anyone post SEARCH you dumb monkey.
PERSONALLY, I would rather be able to direct someone to a FAQ with part numbers and a good tech write up with pics, but I can only assemble so many FAQs. I have been pushing folks now for awhile to please help. If we had 20 people take one more item and help create a solid FAQ for it, then that would go a long way. To this day, we have tons of great info in this forum on the front end service (one of the more frequently asked questions, and also the project that seems to serve as initiation into wrenchhood), yet no one has taken this information and consolidated it into a usefull collection for a good FAQ. That is a huge shame. Could I do it? I could. Problem is there are a few other things I've been doing around here too. I just asked Woody to find another moderator for the 100 section so I could devote more time to clean up and organize the FAQs for the 80's.
So what does this mean? Well

ya

, no just kidding. The forum is what YOU make of it. If everyone says search, then everyone will search and no one will post. If no one says search then you will answer the same question time and time again or get fed up and leave.

It's up to you!
