We all know mechanics have a ton of cool tools and equipment to help do the job right, but what else do we use? Sometimes home-grown and supermarket solutions work as well or better than a mainstream product. Here are a few of the (perhaps unusual) items a mechanic might use to repair a vehicle. Nail … Continue reading Bag O’ Tricks
In this video I walk you through the replacement of spark plugs and an air filter (basically, a "tune up" in a modern vehicle) in a 2005 Jeep Liberty Sport with a 3.7 V6. If you're careful and take your time, you should be able to conquer this task in just about an hour or … Continue reading Jeep 3.7 Spark Plug Replacement
Brakes are among the most common repairs for professional shops and DIYers alike for good reason; every car has brakes and they're one of the most important systems on the vehicle. If you live in an area where the long arm of the law hasn't yet instituted a mandatory vehicle emission/safety inspection you can live … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Diagnosing Brake Pad Noise
Removing small vacuum and coolant hoses and without damaging anything seemed like a nearly impossible task until I discovered these little gems. These pliers grip more of the hose and put less pressure on the (usually plastic) nipple than regular flat pliers allowing you to remove the hose with a much lower probability of damaging … Continue reading Tool Review: Hose Grip Pliers
Installing brake hardware isn't really that difficult, but if it's not done properly it can cause many problems, the most common being brake noise. Usually, improper brake hardware installation leads to brake pad chatter or squeaking, but on this Ford F250, the $4 hardware got twisted and actually ruined the $70 rotor! Ordinarily a small … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Installing Brake Hardware
Among the zillion different brands, types, and sizes of tires there are three styles: symmetrical, asymmetrical, and directional. Symmetrical tires are the most common and have the same tread pattern from one side to the other; it doesn't matter which side is mounted out. Asymmetrical tires are designed to have one side mounted toward the … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Asymmetric Tires
I love gassers. They're hardcore, old school, bare bones drag racers and I can't get enough of them. The Southeast Gassers Association is very strict regarding vehicle specs to give an authentic 60s feel to their races and ensure a crowd pleasing show. My wife and I won free tickets on Facebook, and we were stoked to … Continue reading Southeast Gassers!
I'm not a certified welder by any stretch, but I don't remember my first welds looking anything close to this bad! Most of these look like they were done without any shielding gas, cleaning, metal prep, or even a modicum of pride. I know we all started somewhere, but my goodness! This was on an … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Don’t Weld Like Alex
First thing's first - what's an orifice tube? An orifice tube is a device placed in a high side line of a mobile A/C system that creates a calibrated restriction, dividing the high side from the low side. As you can see from the picture below, it also acts as a filter to catch any … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Replace your orifice tube with an A/C repair
Sometimes it's hard to get your hands where they need to be to start a bolt by hand, but if you put the bolt in a socket it falls out before you can reach the hole. What to do? Tape it! You can use a little bit of electrical or duct tape to hold the … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: How to Keep a Bolt From Falling Out of a Socket
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