What are some clever little shade tree mechanic tricks you use when wrenching? I think it's cool when people make the most out of what they have.

 

Tricks for what? Maybe you should start it out and give people an idea of what you're talking about.

 

cheap beer and cigarettes help me get everything done.

but seriously, such a generic question. ( my ansewer is legit though )

 

throwing things never helps. More of a tip, but anyway, like the other guys said: be more specific. It's kind of hard to think of everything at once. Recreating a specific procedure will help me think and remember.

 

As far as anything! Here is an example: I was at school performing a CLT so of course we had to pull the plugs out. I watched him loosen the spark plug but he couldn't get it out of the hole. I grabbed the plug wire and shoved it down the tube till I felt the plug click into the boot and pulled it right out. He had never seen that been done before but I thought it was pretty common. Throwing things does actually help sometimes! You ever get a bolt stuck in your socket? Drop it and it will fall right out.

 

what is CLT?

 

Cylinder Leakage Test.

 

jack up to rotor and stick a breaker bar underneath the knuckle.

release jack.

LBJ comes out.

ten minute axle swaps.

ya.

 

I use my brain!

 

Thats effen sweet!! I'm deff gonna use that one tonight I got to fix a torn boot. Sure beats using one of them fork things tearing the hell out of the LBJ.

 

well this might not be cleaver but it works i ussually have 1',2', and 4' 1" diameter pipe to help me break those stubborn bolts loose by sliding it over the ratchet or breaker bar to get more leaverage

 

If you're ever forced to use a box wrench and need more leverage, you can put two of them together..

 

Anyone else use an axle to pull wheel bearing seals on trucks?

 

Use about a 1-foot length of narrow plastic (1/2") plumbing tubing from the hardware store and work it through the firewall grommets. Find one with a fitting on the end that will be comfortable in your hand as you push it through. Now you can fish wiring through the original grommet hole from the cabin to the engine compartment.

 

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

 

Using a car antenna to find true TDC

 

or ruler

 

i made this to adjust my valve lash on my gsr head. it a 5/8 craftsman closed wrench with a bunch of speaker wire and a nail wedged in to the 10mm craftsman deep socket. at first i was using needle nose vice grips to hold the socket but that failed. this setup helped me out of a jam

 

we use a 4-5 foot steel pole that shaved about 45* at the end to break the LBJ. helps soo much at the track!

 

Using a 23mm socket I believe to pop out the drivers side axle on a B series (LHD of course). Put it between the axle and half shaft and smack it with a hammer, pops right out. I figured that out after recently doing an axle change and the drivers side refused to come out of the half shaft no matter what I did until the socket trick. Also instead of using a pickle fork for ball joint separator you can smack the knuckle with a hammer and it usually pops it out. Redneck engine hoist is to find a tree branch sturdy and hanging out far enough to park you car under it and use the tree branch as a pulley lmao. To pop tires off the bead lay the tire/wheel down then use a 2x4 and lay it on the tire then drive over it with another vehicle, doesn't seem practical to me but I have seen it done. Carb cleaner and a wire brush clean up fouled plugs pretty good rather than buying new plugs (this is done quite often with 2 strokes lol).

 

lowes sell this tool kit where you can actually pass threaded rod thru the head of the ratchet/socket similar to this but alot more adaptable imma take a picture of it when i get to my work van to give you a better idea

 

[QUOTE=FlewByU352;45782924]Using a 23mm socket I believe to pop out the drivers side axle on a B series (LHD of course).

do you have a pic to show this im having a hard time understanding how to apply this cause i usually take out the entire drive shaft because its a pita to remove it from the halfshaft without a lift-a long crowbar-and space to use the crowbar

or do you mean a 23mm wrench inbetween the axle and halfshaft

 

I was bleeding my coolant sytem and that bleeder valve just snapped off threads and all. I had no choice but to take my car to the junkyard, got one for $1.50. In order to get it there though I had to seal that broken piece. Here is what I came up with. *Don't do this, I am sure it probably isn't good for your car*

 

Were you making BHO by chance?

Work with gloves. Its so easy to not make a complete mess when you are working on cars, unlike some of my friends.

 

Use a 23mm socket, best if it is a deep/long socket so there is more area to not miss it lol. Anyways you simple put it between the space where the half shaft bearing area is and the CV joint. Like lay it horizontal, it shouldn't fit all the way in but it should have some curved area to go so it presses it out. Then just smack it with a hammer and the axle will pop out of the half shaft.