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Shop Press is the news and idea hub for everything related to working on cars and trucks, focusing on repair, technology, and wrenching lifestyle.

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March Automotive Horoscopes

Aries: The rhythm in your current workflow gives stability and predictability. Don’t lose it! Your service writer will have plenty of work for you soon. Lean on your focus to plow through your list of tasks, and use any down time to organize your personal space. You...

TECHNICIAN CHALLENGE: The Mystery Box

Description So much in the repair world relies upon feel—but it's not so often you don't have sight to aid you in your work. Watch as a few Dormanites attempt to identify auto parts using just the sense of touch and see who comes out on top.

Your customers are using their HVAC systems wrong

“Hey, you. Yeah, you driving with your windows all fogged up on the inside. I’ll betcha 10 bucks there’s one setting on your ventilation system—you know what, let’s make that two—that you’re using completely wrong for the conditions you’re driving in.” You probably...

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...

There really are a ton of automotive door styles

The Shop Press team was sitting around jawing the other day about the history of the term “suicide doors.” I read a number of explanations, but none were very satisfactory. During my cursory research, however, I did start noting the rather large number of door styles...

Is your shop ready for the 4-day work week?

You’re probably already familiar with a growing movement to shorten the typical work week to just four days. Business journals, TV news, and social media outlets have covered the subject exhaustively in the last year or so, often in the same breath as “COVID-19” and...

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...

How do you handle billing shop supplies?

You ARE accounting for them, right?

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SHOP STUFF

Auto care news and advice you can use.

ABOUT SHOP PRESS

Shop Press is the news and idea hub for everything related to working on cars and trucks, focusing on repair, technology, and wrenching lifestyle. With interesting stories from around the world, features on creative people and solutions, and all kinds of other stuff that’ll make you use your mind and your hands.

SHOP STUFF

Auto care news and advice you can use.

Using a spaghetti trick to keep zip ties organized (VIDEO)

Using a spaghetti trick to keep zip ties organized (VIDEO)

Chefs know a helpful hack to keep spaghetti from falling out of an opened bag, and the same idea happens to work perfectly for zip ties. Give it a try next time you have a pack of zip ties that doesn’t have a resealable closure.

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