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It’s All About the Process

Man, it feels like just yesterday you graduated with that Associate’s in Automotive Tech, but nope, it's been three months already, and you've landed a solid job at ABC Auto Repair back in your hometown. The boss has been taking it easy on you, dishing out a bunch of...

Rookie Tip: LOF? Leave the Dipstick Sticking Out and the Oil Cap on the Hood Latch

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Dealing with “System Lean” DTCs

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Back Away from the Wrenches

Today’s article is more of a philosophical one than a pragmatic one. You see, we’re in the business of buying and reselling auto parts, servicing automobiles, and getting paid for our efforts. But as automotive professionals, we merely delay the inevitable. The...

The Misunderstood Ford 6.0

My wife and I are RVers and started our RV adventure with a 23’ toy hauler. When we started, we pulled the trailer with a Ram 1500 equipped with the 5.7-liter Hemi engine, and for most outings, it handled the task just fine. It wasn’t until we took a trip to the North...

Side Business

If your shop is a typical one, you wouldn’t turn down easy, profitable work, right? Of course not. Maybe it’s time your foreman, techs, and service writers sat down and talked through the car that isn’t a car: side-by-side (SxS). Like other not-immediately-obvious...

Power and Ground Testing on an Electrical Circuit

I'll never forget this one day in the shop. One of the other techs was wrestling with an electrical gremlin and swung by my bay for some backup. "Pete, mind giving me a hand? I've got this GMC pickup with a blower motor that's running super slow. I checked the power...

ADAS Repairs: Why Calibration Is A Must

Modern vehicles equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are truly marvels of engineering. What started as high-end options found only on luxury cars can now appear as standard equipment on some econo-boxes (e.g., blind spot detection). That means it is...

In The Bay

Give your customers extra grease

by Lemmy | Jan 25, 2024

0 Comments

I’ve mentioned the easy business you can score by offering to perform trailer service for customers that pull. When doing a job not long ago, someone asked me why I was adding lubricant to the dust caps.

It’s a fair question. When getting into bearings, I know I’m gonna be in for a good time if I see a totally packed dust cap or a nail where a cotter pin should be. But I don’t pack the dust caps full, you see. A little dab’ll do me, as the jingle goes.

What I like to do is service the hubs normally, and then put a hefty dollop of new, clean grease into the caps. It has nothing to do with lubrication at the time. There’s obviously no need to pack the whole hub cavity and cap.

I do this in case the customer is on the road and needs to make a repair in the breakdown lane. It’s usually just one nut holding the hub to the spindle, so it’s not a major repair if the bearing hasn’t gotten toasted. Even if the seal is blown up in the process of roadside service, applying fresh, clean grease (that I left in the cap!) will get the trailer to the next exit, the auto parts store, or a service facility as long as the bearing isn’t totally smoked.

And of course I do this on my own old junk, RWD trucks and cars included. It’s saved me before. A dime’s worth of grease might save someone else, too.

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