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TECHNICIAN CHALLENGE: The Mystery Box, Part 2

Description The Proving Grounds crew takes on another round The Mystery Box Challenge with new parts and a few new faces. Could you guess these auto parts simply by the way they feel? It’s more difficult than it looks.

Don’t let your scanner go unprotected

This article is a quick reminder to buy (and use!) a surge protector on your (or your shop’s) scan tool(s). The modern vehicle scanner has WiFi, a screen, and touch input. It is, for all intents and purposes, a computer, and it doesn’t like “dirty” power. Protect it...

Give your customers extra grease

I’ve mentioned the easy business you can score by offering to perform trailer service for customers that pull. When doing a job not long ago, someone asked me why I was adding lubricant to the dust caps. It’s a fair question. When getting into bearings, I know I’m...

This tungsten scraper is my new favorite tool.

Disclaimer: I purchased this tool at full retail price at my own expense, with no compensation to write about the item. I was watching a video the other day of Eric O. at South Main Auto replacing a manifold on a Pentastar. We have a little experience with that here...

Polishing headlights vs. replacing them! (VIDEO)

Description Yellowed, hazy headlights aren’t just ugly; they can reduce a headlight’s effectiveness for your customers. Would you rather polish the old lenses, or simply install a Dorman replacement?Related Videos

A few tips for tow truck operators

A few tips for tow truck operators

At one point in my automotive career, I ran a rollback wrecker.  Those days are getting smaller in my rearview mirror and the game has changed over the years, but I learned a lot of things that I wish someone had just told me. My recovery work is limited to salvage...
Why you should add a spring hook to your toolbox

Why you should add a spring hook to your toolbox

As a young mechaniclet, I fought springs often. Specifically, helical tension springs gave me metaphorical headaches and literal skinned knuckles. I encountered them most often when performing brake jobs on vehicles with drum brakes. I went through a ton of tools,...
Should a customer bring parts?

Should a customer bring parts?

Three words no shop manager ever wants to hear are customer supplied parts. There are some really good reasons for that, and it’s understandable why many shops take a “just say no” position on the practice. But there are also plenty of perfectly reasonable arguments...
The rarely seen control arm-mounted trailer ball rears its head

The rarely seen control arm-mounted trailer ball rears its head

Well, this was a humdinger. Let me explain how I ended up here. I was popping ball joints free from the lower A-arms so I could swing the CV axles out and replace the hub assemblies on this car. The left side freed up with a few taps. This side? Well, this picture is...
Serviceability Hall of Shame: Ford Taurus Spring Shields

Serviceability Hall of Shame: Ford Taurus Spring Shields

The Serviceability Hall Of Shame was born from all the times we’ve looked at a vehicle and realized some usually simple task was going to be nightmarish. It is, ultimately, a response and explanation of the inevitable question, “Good Lord, why?!” Today’s entrant isn’t...
LOF PSA: Don’t forget the lube job

LOF PSA: Don’t forget the lube job

Please forgive me, because I’m about to be a dinosaur and proselytize for a few moments. Many moons ago, I would have customers request an oil change and a lube job. It was so prevalent that the acronym for this, LOF, is still in pretty common use. (That’s “lube, oil,...