sandt38

God I hope not, some of my best and most dedicated mechanics came from that field. The reason they come to fq is our local dealerships don't pay as much. Dealerships can't pay me enough. I make a shit ton more now than I did as a dealership foreman, and even a typical strong A tech (non-foreman tech) should make more in a small independent than a dealership. Honestly, the dealership foreman tech was the lowest paying job I have had since the late 80s... and that was just a couple years ago. I needed to slow down a bit, and wanted the experiance of a dealer foreman on these newer cars though, so I took the job...

Oh yeah, big time. Most people think we are stupid and/or crooks. Granted, easily 50% of the guys out there are one or both... But very few people consider what it takes to be a top tech.

A tablet...

Thank you kind sir. You are now in my will... If I could magically afford to fly Adrian, Neal, Dylan, Ryan1, NickM etc. and my car up to Seth for a bonkers have at it..... I would. There would likely be too much alcohol involved for any real work to get done. It sure would be fun though. Indeed, sir!

A free Tempupedic sounds like a worthy deal. It is a spectacular bourbon.

Thank you kind sir. You are now in my will... If I could magically afford to fly Adrian, Neal, Dylan, Ryan1, NickM etc. and my car up to Seth for a bonkers have at it..... I would. There would likely be too much alcohol involved for any real work to get done.

Billy Joel lost Christey Brinkley, so his opinion matters naught.

Officer Wilson is innocent of any crime, according to the grand jury.

Thank you kind sir. You are now in my will... Dude, with all the shit going on around you, don't be talking about death. LOL... I'm ready, dude... seriously. While I fought my ass off to stay here when I had cancer, and I realize how precious life and time is, I have made my peace and I am ready... But God has a sense of humor, and only the good die young, so I think I'm OK.

I don't know... the iHop may have too many tools

Thank you kind sir. You are now in my will...

It's hard to keep organized. That black Macsimizer is an old box. I bought it new about 22 or 23 years ago. It is a 2 bay box, one row of drawers is 36X24, the other row is 12X24 The box is 5 feet wide, and 4.5 feet tall. It has 6 various height drawers on the 36" side, and 4 on the 12" side. The top drawer covers the entire width and depth of the box and is a massive 4.5'X2' with stunning capacity. It is jammed full with sockets, ratchets, extensions, air tools (3 impact guns, 3 air ratchets, 2 air hammers, 1 mini reciprocating saw, 3 90 degree die grinders, 1 straight die grinder, 2 air drills, 1 air sander... I know I am forgetting stuff) accessories for the tools (air hammer bits, various arbors for the grinders and drills, rotary files, etc), there are 5 torque wrenches in it, and a 4 foot breaker bar. I'd post it, but there is so much shit in it that it looks chaotic and I don't want people thinking I am a slob, I just don't have any room, but I know where everything is. You saw a few of the drawers on the left. Those are the only drawers I have that are not jam packed. I have a 36X24 drawer full of vise grips, pipe wrenches, chain wrenches, c-clamps, and other such oddities. Below that is a drawer full of bolt extraction and thread repair tools, from extractors, drill bits, taps, dies, thread chasers, hurricane sockets, stud removers, and other related equipment. The bottom drawer is chock full of engine tools, from ring expanders, ring cleaners, ring files, ridge reamers, straight edges, valve spring tools, head stands, bearing drivers, calipers, micrometers, dial indicators, various cam/crank/balance shaft retention tools, oil pump drive primers, etc. On the right side I have just a small personal drawer on top, below that is a drawer full of hammers, punches, chisels, drifts, bearing and seal drivers, and just about anything that you can think of hitting with a hammer. Below that I have a drawer full of brake specialty tools, tubing tools, steering column repair tools, etc. The bottom drawer on that side is super deep and stuffed with manuals and training literature. I also have 3 carts slam full of tools (one is a big ass roller with 4 drawers and a large open top section that I keep most of my electronic tools, scanners, and all other equipment required for electrical or drivability diagnosis work), and my old Snap On box I have stuffed with doubles, extras, rarely used tools. Finally I have 2 benches with bottom shelves slam full of specialty "in the pretty box" tools. It's pitiful that one must acquire so much shit just to fix cars... and people look down on this profession. I have more money in tools than many people have in their homes.

Just for a goof, since I have 3 fairly clean drawers right now... Each drawer is 36X24... This is my main box. I have a second smaller, older box with more of my typically unused stuff. Main screwdriver/scraper drawer. I lose drivers all the time, hence the mismatching 30 sets in the drawer I usually leave the set of micros over my storks like you see in the bottom pic, but I took the top so you got a better idea of my pliers. This is nearly all of them, I just have a few sets of electrical specialty pliers (clippers, strippers, cutters, crimpers) and this does not include my Vise-Grips. Main wrench drawer. I have 2 more drawers of wrenches in my other box.. mostly oddball stuff in those drawers... These are my most typically used wrenches.

Yeah, they're not bad. But the flooring and electrical is stout. Floors must be a minimum 9 inch or a recommended 12 inch thick concrete for a 9000 pound asymmetrical.

Rotary Asymmetrical lifts... That's the beauty of doing this for a living. We use Hein Werner. Low profile, fast lift, high capacity. Low capacity jacks are Lincolns.

Here are both guns (I figured you'd get a kick out of the 3/8 with the adapter and the 36mm socket on it) and the ratchet...

For 3/8 hand ratchet I have given you my list before... but my absolute go to, must have is my 14" flex head SnapOn Dual 80 (fhlf80 ). I breal a shit ton of tools, as I am not afraid to use them to the extent of, and beyond their suggested capabilities... and as a manual tradesman for over 30 years I have some "retard strength" (to quote my co-workers). but this fucker takes most everything I throw at it. I suggest grabbing a 3/8 impact set. You will lose fairly significant torque through the adapter. With that said, I do have to adapt it up for axle nut sockets (they can range from 29mm to 36mm sockets) and I am successful with this set up 90% of the time... with a 10 year old gun, no less. Again, be aware that this gun is super fucking fast. If you are not careful you will lose control of lug nuts and scratch your wheels.

I use a Mac AR1776. It is the big bodied version of their pawl style air ratchet. I got tired of replacing my SO FAR7000 every 2 years. Rebuilds on air ratchets rarely yeild good power, so I just bought new ones. I grabbed the Mac because I was pissed that another SO failed, and have used it for ~10-12 years now. FWIW, though, I rarely use air ratchets. I prefer hand tools.

I still use a 231 that I bought 25 years ago. I had to replace the anvil because it got torn off removing a crank bolt from a Honda. While it is listed with modest torque, my 25 year old hoss out muscles every 213x I have seen for tough removal or even starting crush sleeves on differential rebuilds. I do understand the newer 231s are not as strong, but I have nothing bad to say about the performance of my unit.... Negs? Loud as fuck and quite heavy for a 1/2" I do have a Mac branded 2115 (3/8) that I use for most chores, including wheel removal, axle nuts, crank bolts, etc. With ~300 lbft of muscle, it does most of what I need. It is super light, and quiet. Negs? Sometimes it is too fast, I have torn the anvil off the thing 5 times in the 10 years I have owned it, and it is far more expensive than the 231. For me, being that it is in use a lot, the light weight is worth the money as it reduces fatigue.

Expectations that shined through the doubt That soon would turn into the price, of what a word will be worth When tomorrow comes to be and we are left Standing on our own and seeing what is real

Newsflash! Nobody cares. The rep thing is gay. This is not high school. Negged.

Ironically I found out about my buddy Mike who I talked about a couple weeks ago from the dude who's dad just passed.

Just found out a good friend of mine lost his dad Friday. He was digging out of that snow in Buffalo and had a massive heart attack. Fucking awful.

WIN!

Can't seem to stop listening to this band...