Repair/mechanic tricks and or tips?

[Chuck K.]

When changing oil filter particulary on large oil filters punch a hole in the bottom of it with an awl or pick and let it drain while greasing etc. beats the heck out dropping a full hot oil filter into the drain pan making a royal mess, dont ask me how I know..


Glow plug relay quit at deer lease on my Power Stroke one cold moring, I did not have time to wait on the block heater, had no starting fluid. Happen that the wife was with me so I used her hand held hair drier blew it into the intake for a few seconds while cranking it and it fired right up.

When doing electrical work in tight spaces and you do'nt have an almost empty roll of electrical tape.. Put a shallow 9/16" or so 3/8 drive socket on your air ratchet start the full roll of tape then hit the trigger on the air ratchet you can load up as much tape as you need on to the socket for the job.

When trying to get tie rod end off with no pickle fork some folks start the castle nut and hit down on it only to mess up the castle nut or threads on the TRE... Instead smack the side of steering knuckle (the part with the hole in where the TRE passes through) 90 degrees from the TRE shaft. You will be amazed how easily it pops out. Same for some ball joints....

Axle shaft stuck, dont have a slide hamer? Take the brake drum put it back on backwards ( area where the shoes ride towards you) screw on a few lug nuts about 1/4 thread and use the brake drum as a make shift slide hammer.

Alway keep a full roll of duct tape around....

 

[patrick_g]

There must be a million ways to get frozen nuts and bolts off. Here is another. I had a rounded off nut way down deep somewhere. Heated it red and pounded the next size smaller socket down on it with an extention on the socket. Forged the nut to the next smaller size.

sunset, I didn't have heat so I ground two opposite sides to fit a smaller end wrench.

I have been places in Mexico where a hammer and sometimes a hammer and chisel are frequently substituted for a wrench (that isn't available.) The mech pounds on what is left of large nuts along a tangent to the outer shape of the blob and low and behold it turns. When there isn't anything left to take a good hit to get rotary motion then a chisel struck by a hammer is used. Not exactly NASCAR pit stop or Dave Leno's garage procedure but better than nothing.

Pat

 

[Bird]

Why in Mexico? I've not only seen that done, I've done it, right here in the good old USA. One place is the nut on the front end of the crankshaft of an engine. You can't get your impact wrench in there, and if you try to use a hand wrench, you have a problem with turning crankshaft and all, so a long chisel or punch and a hammer will loosen it every time.

 

[patrick_g]

Well, sure, Bird that is an excellent example of when it is the right thing to do but how about for lug nuts and other applications where anyone with a wrench would use it?

Axle nuts are another application.


To answer your question, "Why in Mexico?"

Because often times there are folks who are trying to do jobs for which they don't have the proper tools. When you get off the beaten path in Mexico you are in the "3rd world" and will see many primitive workarounds that are amusing to those of us who see lots of "proper tools" in use. I credit their ingenuity for some of the clever things I have seen done with no proper tools.

One time a friend broke a main leaf and had to get his Willys Overland going again. He managed to get to a small town (large village) that had a blacksmith. The smithy eyeballed his vehicle, went to a junked truck and took off a leaf spring, heated it with his make shift forge then cut it off and pounded a loop in the end and made it into a replacement THAT FIT and worked fine.

These are folks that are trying to do what they can with what they have as best they can. Not because they don't know better but because they don't have better.

Say Bird, do you always use a wrench on the big axle nuts or have you used a chisel?

Pat

 

[Bird]

Yep, Pat, IF I can get a wrench on a nut or bolt and IF I have a wrench of the right size, I use the wrench.

As for the big axle nut, the only time I had to do that at home instead of a properly equipped shop (on my 1977 3/4 ton Dodge), my local auto parts store had a sale on some Thorsen-Allied 16" channel locks they wanted to get rid of. I had to grind down the nose a bit with my bench grinder to get it into the axle to reach the nut, but it worked, and I still have those channel locks.

 

[BTDT]

Saw this in another thread, thought it would fit here. Nice idea for sharpening blades.

Slippy,
If you have a trailer that you haul your tractor on, load it on but leave the bush hog extended just a little bit past the end of the trailer. That will give you a enough to get to one side of the blade, and you just rotate the stumpjumper to get to the other one. You can sit on the ground and work under the end of the bush hog with no fear of it falling. Might put a jackstand under the rear of the trailer if there is any chance that it is rear heavy.(safety first!)
David from jax

 

[patrick_g]

I just did that a couple days ago. I friend couldn't remove his old blades (1/2 inch drive socket set) so I went over with 3/4 inch drive socket set and removed his old blades (with 2 ft cheater) with brush hog mounted to tractor and the rig on the trailer with b'hog overhanging the rear of the trailer. The new Woods brand blades were out of balance and had to be removed and balanced. I improvised a set of scales with PVC pipe as spring and compared the two blades. The owner ground some metal off the back side of the sharpened end and I reweighed. Ground again and reweighed. Ground again as much as first two times and reweighed. Reinstalled and they were silky smooth.

Pat

 

[Bedlam]

this is not ingenious, but works great for me.

When I want to reuse a paint brush, (usually oil based) I use a small can or whatever for the thinner or gas, but use a latex rubber glove to cover the top of the container with. The handle fits up into the fingers of the glove.Sure beats foil etc.

 

[vrman]

...use a latex rubber glove to cover the top of the container with. The handle fits up into the fingers of the glove.Sure beats foil etc.

LOL! I can just imagine which finger you use.

 

[patrick_g]

this is not ingenious, but works great for me.

When I want to reuse a paint brush, (usually oil based) I use a small can or whatever for the thinner or gas, but use a latex rubber glove to cover the top of the container with. The handle fits up into the fingers of the glove.Sure beats foil etc.

Actually wrapping the brush in foil and placing it in the freezer works better than thinner for some finishes. Things like Deft and similar.The cold temps put chemical changes on hold. You can take the brush out of the freezer and stick it in the same material and pick up where you left off the day before. I have left brushes in the freezer like that for a week or two with no problems just picking up where I left off. (Results can vary depending on the type of coating.)

Pat