A balancing act with tires
More years ago than I might care to admit – 44 years to tell the truth – I became aware of the independent repair shop near my home. As a sophomore in high school, the need for a future career lurked in my subconscious but being a mechanic was not in the embryonic plan. Nevertheless,
When lubricating truck hub bearings think like a Dippy Bird
Not long ago, someone asked how I come up with ideas for these articles. How exciting it would be if I could claim the topics rolled from my mind because of vast personal technical knowledge and experience. Granted, to a degree the article ideas are the result of some 40 years in the industry. Nevertheless,
Removing security locks can be frustrating. For example: Lunch time!
I grab the bread and begin to unwind the bag twist tie only to discover it grows tighter. Maybe the wire in the tie got knotted together? Or maybe someone thought twisting the tie 50 times would be funny. Am I tightening the tie instead of loosening it? Turning the tie counter-clockwise to the left
A hospitable approach to truck maintenance
As summer draws towards a close, many of us are anticipating those final, enjoyable outside gatherings before the weather changes. Preparing for these events will include a list of those who we hope invite. Getting ignored or left out from a party can leave some a bit miffed, which does not help for lasting relationships.
Keeping truck tires cool in the heat of summer
As a kid, you’ve probably experienced the adventure of crossing over the hot pavement during the summer months. Walking on one’s heals in a rapid penguin shuffle is a common approach to surviving the journey. In those desperate times, sitting on the ground with your feet temporarily lifted off the scorching ground provides a brief
A Common sense approach to prevent tool loss
Looking through engine service information recently, a caution statement to “remove all tools after work is completed” brought about a reflection of loss, namely the loss of hand-tools. No technician wants to lose any tools. Not only are tools expensive, the tech depends on them to get the job done. Nevertheless, when working on vehicles,
Truck service to smooth out a harsh truck ride
Those yellow rubber bumps on the curbside of a grocery store can be annoying, but they’re there to let the visually impaired know where the sidewalk ends and the roadway begins. These bumps can also serve as shoe scrapers, decorative talking points, or shopping cart speed bumps for shoppers in a rush. The bumps can
Getting back to the basics with truck maintenance data points
My wife, Janet, loves to count lines contained in road sign letters. This is a habit instituted by her grandmother during long road trips, no doubt to occupy the time of an energetic and bored young girl. How she determines what constitutes a line in each letter remains an analytical metric that continues to escape
Is Your Truck Cab Smelling Fishy? How to Stomp out the Stink
The sky is clearing. The sweet smell of blooming flowers fills the fresh Spring air. The warming air serves as a welcoming announcement that the cold closeness that winter demands is slowly fading into history for another year. As the days grow warmer, a strong fish smell, reminiscent of the fish drying racks in a
The fool’s gold of truck service
More decades ago than I care to remember, some movie or folklore led me to start panning for gold in the dirt road outside our home. Slushing a pan full of dirt around in a pan with water from the garden hose rather quickly revealed the road to be a mother-load of GOLD. The bright
Take the charge out of static electricity
Remember when you were a kid and first discovered that under certain conditions you’d get a little electric shock when you touched an object with your finger? This spark was rather exciting as well as somewhat painful—as the backs of tens of thousands of friends’ ears will attest. These sparks are the result of static
Do you hear the truck service problems I hear?
A phone call into the shop goes something like this: Driver: It makes a noise when I let the pedal up.Technician: What pedal? What kind of noise?Driver: The clutch. It makes a weird noise when I let the pedal up. Like a growl sound.Technician: When did it start?Driver: Not sure, I just noticed it. This
