jimmy12345678
Well-known member
I put lots of thought into bettering my craft as an auto mechanic and have come up with my own “ten commandments” of sorts to both help myself and the other guys in the field.
1. NEVER LIE OR BE DISHONEST WITH CUSTOMERS. There’s too much legitimate work on vehicles out there to EVER lie to a customer or feed them a line of BS. This is the biggest plague on the automotive industry. Guy’s will call a leaking oil pan and clean up the leak with brake cleaner, or only change one bank when doing a tune up because “the back ones are a PITA” If that’s your attitude, GTFO of this business.
2. Always make things easier for the next guy. Whether that’s spraying down tie rods and cam bolts to free them up before doing an alignment, putting anti seize (I’m starting to like Fluid Film for this application better) on hubs to prevent brake rotors from rusting on, or inside knuckles before replacing hub assemblies,etc. For instance, if I replace an outer tie rod, I will wire wheel the threads of the inner tie rod, run the jam nut back and forth to free it up for when an alignment is done. No sense in fighting with rusty, crusty stuff. Anti-seize goes on bolts that are known to either seize and snap off, such as Jeep Wrangler rear shock bolts, or seize in place, such as Chevy truck upper control arm cam bolts or Ram 1500 lower strut bolts.
3. Use the right tool for the job. Your hands are not hammers, don’t use your hands or legs to break things loose (kicking stick on wheels, hitting the ratchet/wrench/prybar with your hand to break a bolt loose,etc.). Your ratchet, wrench, impact, etc. are also not hammers. Don’t use SAE sockets on metric because it’s “close enough” (there are exceptions to this, such as 5/16 and 8mm). Don’t use a 1/2 impact and 2 reducers on a 7mm bolt. I’m so lazy I’ve gotten to the point to where I’ll rarely use an actual hammer, I prefer using the air hammer with a flat chisel bit to remove rotors, a pointed tip to get hub assemblies to spin in the knuckle and come right out. Saves wear and tear on your body too.
4. Torque wrenches exist for a reason, use them! With most things, once you get an experienced “feel” for how tight things should be, you can get pretty close with your hands or air/electric tools, but I still break out the the torque wrench for EVERY wheel I put on. Too many guys go gung-ho with the impact and make things WAY too tight. Even things as simple as oil filters. Bottom it out and give it 3/4 to 1 turn. I should NOT need a 1/2 breaker bar with a cheater pipe to take out an oil drain plug or oil filter, but I’ve been there.
5. Take care of your body. I wear safety glasses whenever I’m working on a vehicle, can’t risk screwing up my eyes, which seem to be magnets for dirt and oil/coolant/brake cleaner/brake fluid/transmission fluid. Been there, done that, no thanks. Won’t see me kneeling directly on concrete unless I downright have to. I have thick pieces of foam I’ve cut down and made a kneeling pad for when I’m racking up a vehicle on the lift. Didn’t for the first several years of doing mechanic work and my knees are already paying for it. Same with wearing gloves. I know the old timers will make fun of you and say you’re wearing “***** mittens”, but I don’t know how they’ve done it all these years after seeing what their hands look like. Didn’t wear gloves either for the first few years but I quickly learned the advantage they provide.
6. Always be learning, never be content. Always be looking for the faster/easier way of doing something. Never do things the “hard” way if you can help it. Won’t see me breaking out an old school combination wrench or ratchet if I can help it. It’s all cordless/pneumatic whenever possible. Same goes for things like wire brush vs wire wheel. Once I wire brushed something a few times I’m like “**** this” and break out the die grinder with a wire wheel.
7. Stay organized. Digging through a drawer full of sockets/wrenches/pliers or whatever is a waste of time. Keep your toolbox organized with everything in a designated spot. Socket rails and other organizers like that greatly aid in finding tools easily.
8. Don’t be a parts changer. Test, don’t guess. When you tell a customer that their car needs x part or x repair, let that be because you’ve gone through the steps to verify not only the problem, but have gone through all the diagnostic process needed to verify the actual cause of the problem. Too many guys just get a trouble code, look up the most common part replaced for that code and shotgun a part at the car. And yes that’ll work roughly 75% of the time. It’s that other 25 that gets you.
9. Take pride in your work. This goes with anything, but if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. Do it right or don’t do it at all. Too many guys out there, when doing a brake job, don’t replace rattle clips, don’t lube caliper slides, don’t clean hubs before installing new rotors, etc. Putting “whatever” oil you have close by instead of the proper grade because “It doesn’t matter”. There’s many other examples of poor workmanship I can cite.
10. Have the right attitude towards your work. If you’re one of the guys in this field that whines and complains when you have to do something out of your comfort zone, or you find yourself saying “X is stupid, why do you need that” or any such sentiment, GET OUT OF THIS BUSINESS. If you’re not prepared to learn and grow your skills each and every day, as well as keep up with the tools needed to do proper work, you’re in the wrong business. Figuring out new things and new systems I’ve never worked on before gives me the “warm fuzzies” like nothing else in life can, and I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead, even though I might get frustrated while working on it. If you’re a guy that only aspires to do low level work or never venture outside your comfort zone, you’ll likely get frustrated with the business due to “low pay” or “**** work”. When really if that’s all you aspire to, that’s all you’re going to get. Too many guys are happy to put out mediocre work and almost take pride in their ignorance of not being able to understand this “new ****”. It takes lots of effort to learn ad keep growing as a tech, and few of them are willing to do it.
This are just some of the observations I’ve had in my 6 or so years of working as a professional auto tech.
What others can you guys think of?
1. NEVER LIE OR BE DISHONEST WITH CUSTOMERS. There’s too much legitimate work on vehicles out there to EVER lie to a customer or feed them a line of BS. This is the biggest plague on the automotive industry. Guy’s will call a leaking oil pan and clean up the leak with brake cleaner, or only change one bank when doing a tune up because “the back ones are a PITA” If that’s your attitude, GTFO of this business.
2. Always make things easier for the next guy. Whether that’s spraying down tie rods and cam bolts to free them up before doing an alignment, putting anti seize (I’m starting to like Fluid Film for this application better) on hubs to prevent brake rotors from rusting on, or inside knuckles before replacing hub assemblies,etc. For instance, if I replace an outer tie rod, I will wire wheel the threads of the inner tie rod, run the jam nut back and forth to free it up for when an alignment is done. No sense in fighting with rusty, crusty stuff. Anti-seize goes on bolts that are known to either seize and snap off, such as Jeep Wrangler rear shock bolts, or seize in place, such as Chevy truck upper control arm cam bolts or Ram 1500 lower strut bolts.
3. Use the right tool for the job. Your hands are not hammers, don’t use your hands or legs to break things loose (kicking stick on wheels, hitting the ratchet/wrench/prybar with your hand to break a bolt loose,etc.). Your ratchet, wrench, impact, etc. are also not hammers. Don’t use SAE sockets on metric because it’s “close enough” (there are exceptions to this, such as 5/16 and 8mm). Don’t use a 1/2 impact and 2 reducers on a 7mm bolt. I’m so lazy I’ve gotten to the point to where I’ll rarely use an actual hammer, I prefer using the air hammer with a flat chisel bit to remove rotors, a pointed tip to get hub assemblies to spin in the knuckle and come right out. Saves wear and tear on your body too.
4. Torque wrenches exist for a reason, use them! With most things, once you get an experienced “feel” for how tight things should be, you can get pretty close with your hands or air/electric tools, but I still break out the the torque wrench for EVERY wheel I put on. Too many guys go gung-ho with the impact and make things WAY too tight. Even things as simple as oil filters. Bottom it out and give it 3/4 to 1 turn. I should NOT need a 1/2 breaker bar with a cheater pipe to take out an oil drain plug or oil filter, but I’ve been there.
5. Take care of your body. I wear safety glasses whenever I’m working on a vehicle, can’t risk screwing up my eyes, which seem to be magnets for dirt and oil/coolant/brake cleaner/brake fluid/transmission fluid. Been there, done that, no thanks. Won’t see me kneeling directly on concrete unless I downright have to. I have thick pieces of foam I’ve cut down and made a kneeling pad for when I’m racking up a vehicle on the lift. Didn’t for the first several years of doing mechanic work and my knees are already paying for it. Same with wearing gloves. I know the old timers will make fun of you and say you’re wearing “***** mittens”, but I don’t know how they’ve done it all these years after seeing what their hands look like. Didn’t wear gloves either for the first few years but I quickly learned the advantage they provide.
6. Always be learning, never be content. Always be looking for the faster/easier way of doing something. Never do things the “hard” way if you can help it. Won’t see me breaking out an old school combination wrench or ratchet if I can help it. It’s all cordless/pneumatic whenever possible. Same goes for things like wire brush vs wire wheel. Once I wire brushed something a few times I’m like “**** this” and break out the die grinder with a wire wheel.
7. Stay organized. Digging through a drawer full of sockets/wrenches/pliers or whatever is a waste of time. Keep your toolbox organized with everything in a designated spot. Socket rails and other organizers like that greatly aid in finding tools easily.
8. Don’t be a parts changer. Test, don’t guess. When you tell a customer that their car needs x part or x repair, let that be because you’ve gone through the steps to verify not only the problem, but have gone through all the diagnostic process needed to verify the actual cause of the problem. Too many guys just get a trouble code, look up the most common part replaced for that code and shotgun a part at the car. And yes that’ll work roughly 75% of the time. It’s that other 25 that gets you.
9. Take pride in your work. This goes with anything, but if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. Do it right or don’t do it at all. Too many guys out there, when doing a brake job, don’t replace rattle clips, don’t lube caliper slides, don’t clean hubs before installing new rotors, etc. Putting “whatever” oil you have close by instead of the proper grade because “It doesn’t matter”. There’s many other examples of poor workmanship I can cite.
10. Have the right attitude towards your work. If you’re one of the guys in this field that whines and complains when you have to do something out of your comfort zone, or you find yourself saying “X is stupid, why do you need that” or any such sentiment, GET OUT OF THIS BUSINESS. If you’re not prepared to learn and grow your skills each and every day, as well as keep up with the tools needed to do proper work, you’re in the wrong business. Figuring out new things and new systems I’ve never worked on before gives me the “warm fuzzies” like nothing else in life can, and I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead, even though I might get frustrated while working on it. If you’re a guy that only aspires to do low level work or never venture outside your comfort zone, you’ll likely get frustrated with the business due to “low pay” or “**** work”. When really if that’s all you aspire to, that’s all you’re going to get. Too many guys are happy to put out mediocre work and almost take pride in their ignorance of not being able to understand this “new ****”. It takes lots of effort to learn ad keep growing as a tech, and few of them are willing to do it.
This are just some of the observations I’ve had in my 6 or so years of working as a professional auto tech.
What others can you guys think of?
