What do you check during drum brake service?
Brake drum – ASE practice questions (VIDEO)
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Two reasons you should have a welder in your shop (and know how to use it)
I learned how to weld when I was about 17. I was not a good welder, but I could operate the machine well enough to get by, and like most of us who can weld, I improved with time and practice. As a young mechanic, I distinctly remember tackling a few projects with...
This guide to being a mechanic-saboteur could teach you to be a better tech
Almost 80 years ago, the United States Office of Strategic Services, which eventually became the CIA, created a pamphlet to help people living in Nazi-occupied countries discretely undermine the enemy. This Simple Sabotage Field Manual was published in 1944 and...
The easiest way to remove a cotter pin (VIDEO)
The easiest way to remove a cotter pin (VIDEO) Description For the longest time I used to remove cotter pins with either a hooked mechanic’s pick or a pair of needle-nose pliers. And when I say a long time, I mean, probably 15 years. Then my friend Zito showed me a...
How to fix a Ford cupholder for almost free
The in-dash cup holder on certain late ’90s to early 2000s F-150s, Expeditions and Navigators – which also holds an ash tray in some vehicles – has a tendency to break in service, leading to a cupholder that has to be pried into the open position in...
The other “Phillips” head screwdriver you might not know about
Not every Phillips head fastener is a Phillips head fastener. I believed this was common knowledge until today, when I was speaking with another tech who had no idea what I was talking about, and I relived a lesson from my salad days of wrenching. Many moons ago, when...