Shifting Gears Archives

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What are the first mods repair professionals make to a vehicle? (VIDEO)

Description When you purchase a new vehicle, what are the first changes and modifications you do to make it your own? Dorman technicians reveal their favorite vehicle modifications for comfort, performance, and practicality. Their recommendations cover just about any...

Preston Tucker: Visionary or Villain?

It’s possible you have already heard of Preston Tucker. He was the subject of “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” a 1988 Francis Ford Coppola movie starring Jeff Bridges. More recently, he was the subject of the biographical book “Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build...

Average U.S. vehicle age reaches new record high, again

Does it feel like the cars and trucks in your repair shop keep getting older and older? Well, that’s because they are. The average U.S. vehicle age is now up to 12.5 years, according to a recent analysis by S&P Global Mobility (formerly IHS Markit). That’s a new...

Witness marks: your reassembly guide when the service manual isn’t enough

I believe we’re all familiar with the trope of the shadetree mechanic who has hardware left over, right? While I’m sure you’re not sending vehicles out the door missing their hardware, I think it is safe to say we’ve all been slowed down by a pile of fasteners. A long...

The aggressive question you can ask that instantly calms a customer down

If you write service or sell parts, angry customers on the other side of the counter are an occasional part of the job. Maybe it’s someone picking up a car who is facing a bill that’s vastly different than the estimate. Or maybe in the parts store it’s a customer with...

The most entertaining social media accounts to follow for car enthusiasts in 2023

Everyone likes informative, interesting, or funny social media accounts. Here are a few entertaining ones about cars and the people who drive them. And don't forget to follow us, too, at the following accounts:Obscure Cars...

Catalytic converters are the coolest car parts that get no respect

The air in Detroit during the 1960s was so polluted that mothers were scared for their children to play outside. In certain places, you couldn’t see the sun at noon, and buildings had to be cleaned or repainted every six months. Some people wrote letters to...

Car designer Brooks Stevens: the man behind the first Jeep Wagoneer, planned obsolescence, an iconic Harley-Davidson, and more

Previously, I wrote about Raymond Loewy, an automotive, industrial, and graphic designer who I thought should be better known due to his contributions to the look of early- to mid-20th century America. After we posted that piece, a former colleague of mine, Todd,...

Book Review: “Car: A Drama of the American Workplace”

by Lemmy | Sep 29, 2022

We’ve all taken a step back from a vehicle, groaned, and asked why-oh-why did they do it like this. Car: A Drama of the American Workplace helps answer that question. Mary Walton, the author, was embedded within Ford with what appears to me to have been excellent...

Spoiler alert: Manual transmissions are not ‘100% useless’ as claimed

by Lemmy | Sep 22, 2022

In the course of creating automotive content, one also must consume some amount of car content, and an article that was published recently made me rub my temples. If you’re curious, this piece is the one that’s got me in a snit. So you don’t have to...

What it’s like being a new tech in 2022 (VIDEO)

by Shop Press Staff | Sep 13, 2022

What it’s like being a new tech in 2022 (VIDEO) Description Torque specs. Electronics diagnostics. Foreign automobiles. 12V electrical systems. TPMS sensors. Disc brakes. 0W16 oil. All of the aforementioned technologies were changes that occurred in the...

It’s time to stop salting the roads

by Lemmy | Sep 8, 2022

I was just thinking today that my “fun vehicle” window is closing soon; this is the period of the year where I’ll drive or ride anything I own. Old vehicles don’t stand a chance in the salt belt. Anyone I know who has anything nice keeps it far away from...

Hacker plays “Doom” on farm tractor to raise awareness of right to repair

by Jonathan Roth | Sep 6, 2022

For those who are unaware, hacking technology to run the legendary ‘90s first-person shooter video game “Doom” has been a trend for a while now. Since technology has advanced so much in the last three decades, the size of the original 1993 “Doom” is so small in...

Nine notable “cars” that aren’t cars

by Jonathan Roth | Aug 30, 2022

Recently, I’ve been seeing a lot of Polaris Slingshots on the road. OK, not a ton of them, but I do take notice of them when I see them. Usually it makes me think, “What is the deal with those things? Are they cars or not?” When I looked into it, I discovered there...