Grease the Wheels Podcast

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are talking about some of the untapped potential that lies with the video multi point inspection. Some shops have them, some don’t, but we feel like more shops are going to have it sooner rather than later. This is really a good thing for us, we just wish we would get paid for doing them. First off, Uncle Jimmy goes over his various scripts for situations that come up in MPI’s when he does them, and offers a ton of practical advice that will help you find your groove if you are struggling with them. Another option is to possibly team up with another technician in your shop who is good at selling the work through the Video MPI. Either way, it is a lot easier to sell repairs when you can show the customer what is wrong with the car. Which brings us conveniently to our next point- a kiosk that completely automates the service advisor role and expands the concept of the video MPI, to make it a lot easier on shops that are having issues with their service advisors. Finally, we put it all together in the form of the UJ-2000, we want to know what else it should be able to do!

Also, Uncle Jimmy mixes up the voting age and the age of consent in regard to an air filter that was installed in the Bush Administration.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are talking a little bit of science fiction by specing out our ideal robot toolbox. There is a good shot that this is where we as an are going, so we thought we would throw it out into the universe and see if anyone wanted to build the thing. Give it a shape like R2D2, magnetic bolt trays with voice integration, a jump box, and the voice of H. Jon Benjamin and you have pretty much the perfect assistant. Build it like a tank, give it sensors to read OBDII, and Bluetooth integration for your Curien N2 and it could pay for itself. We just hope the eventual Harbor Freight version of it understands english well enough because we don’t know a lot of techs who are fluent in Mandarin. Either way, a lot of the technologies proposed in this episode already exist, we just have to put them all together with a powerful A.I.- what could go wrong!

Also Uncle Jimmy goes over his Jimmy John’s order and names his robot toolbox!

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are taking a look at the industry-wide scourge of a lot of people talking, but not a lot of people listening or doing. Mechanics are really pretty good at listening to other mechanics on a whole, but when it comes to the potentially vast reserve of experience and practical problem solving experience found in the back of the shop, management will try to reinvent the wheel when someone else in the building might already have the answer. Additionally, there is a huge value in having people from all sorts of different backgrounds when it comes to problems that are more regional in nature like rust. We also talk about one of the other unspoken shop rules: “There is a way of doing things that is good, there is a way of doing things that is bad, and there is the way that things actually get done.” Additionally we go over some “dealership math” of how to cram 700 cars into 500 parking spaces (some of this is actually pretty helpful) and Uncle Jimmy gets subliminal on his sales manager. Finally, we want to listen to you: what types of episodes do you want to hear coming up, any topics that you would like us to cover- let us know!”

Also Uncle Jimmy describes one of the elements of his quadrophenia when it comes to the shop being “orderly”, but we all know that the only guarantee when you ask someone not to make a mess is that they will make a bigger one next time.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are taking aim at the idea that “high schools cutting shop class” is the biggest pull factor for why adolescents are avoiding the trades in general and the automotive industry in particular. If this were the truth, why not start informing kids about the trades even younger? With this in mind, Uncle Jimmy creatively co-ops some of the all time great children’s programming to be about being an automotive technician. For instance, it is always a lovely day in Mr. Rogers Dyno-Room or with Clifford, the big red ¾ race cam. Just to sample some of the insanity we have in store, we have: Inspector Gadget as a racetrack tech inspector, reworking The Jetsons to be about jetting carburetors or nitrous set-ups, and the first Ed, Edd, and Eddy reference in a solid decade. This sheer lunacy combined with intelligent conversation about building small-block chevy’s is what you have come to love about GTW!

Also, Uncle Jimmy recommends Schoolhouse Rock! to several congresspeople and then rewrites it to be “Suck, Squeeze, Bang, Blow”.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we have been informed by our good buddy Travis that in a recent episode we said the word “F***!” 58 times. That might seem like a lot, but those are some rookie numbers for Uncle Jimmy- so we gotta pump those numbers up. Firstly, “F***!” is used to describe thousands of situations that we as humans collectively and technicians specifically experience every day. Sometimes it is entirely internal, existing only in our inner monologue- yet oftentimes it makes itself known to the material world in especially frustrating situations. Sometimes “F***!” is coming into work and seeing a comeback that was parked by a tow truck driver terribly and it wont start. Regardless, this single syllable expression of all of your frustrations perfectly fits in so many facets of what we do for a living. This is only compounded when the word “intermittent” is on a repair order, a bolt snaps, or a part breaks. So this week, we are going to get into linguistics by painting a picture of why we need that word and why “F***!” needs to be so universally loved and hated at the same time.

Also Uncle Jimmy talks about being a DJ once upon a time in the 90s, his scary accurate internal clock, and all of the things that make him say “F***!”

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we are getting back to our roots. This podcast was created to rail against people who do not take what we do seriously, and therefore do not pay us seriously. In this episode we take a look at what Uncle Jimmy has been doing in the grip of “corona-madness” by reading articles about the state of the industry. While guidance counselors are pushing kids out of the trades and into 4-year degrees at a blistering pace (DO NOT get the producer started on this) and schools are cutting trades programs, this does not account for the sheer lack of supply coming into the automotive technician market. Because of this dancing around the real issue, there is a serious problem between optics and real market factors. The problem is, has been, and will most likely remain: THE MONEY! However, in his studies Uncle Jimmy did find one guy who went way out on a limb and argued for technicians to make on the order of $60-70/Hour. He probably got laughed out of the country club for that one but we certainly appreciate it as a benchmark. Also we talk about how we all got started fixing cars and some of the practical lessons that come with it- all in the pursuit of getting the hell off of the farm. This episode description could seriously be four pages, so just listen to it and comment with your favorite line from it!

Finally, Uncle Jimmy effortlessly combines H.P. Lovecraft, Adam Smith, and this entire episode in the line: “through the madness a few might just see that the solution is the almighty dollar[…]but most straight-up refuse to see it”

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!

On this week’s episode we are tackling the issue of waiters. Firstly, we suggest talking to the other technicians and foreman in your shop and coming up with a list of jobs that customers really can’t wait for. After that we suggest talking to the service manager and service advisors because this will make everyone’s job easier. However, not all waiters are created equal, as there are the “no other options” waiters, the “patient up to a point” waiters, and the “people who think they are going to be waiters when they need new connecting rods”. Also we talk about some of the anxiety that comes from having customers waiting and they all over you to get it done. Most importantly, we go over some of the jobs that customers can wait for and really can’t wait for. However, when all else fails the idea that “the customer is always right” is consistently smashed by a chorus coming from the back: “WAITERS GONNA WAIT!”

Also Uncle Jimmy talks about the point of aggravation, the ethical and legal ramifications of assault and battery, and pre air conditioning Texans.

This episode is distributed by The Wrenching Network. Whether you’re a technician, a mechanic, or someone who just loves the car scene, The Wrenching Network is a place that you have to check out. They have all sorts of great content, gear, and snacks to keep you turning wrenches in whatever capacity you do it. Also if you see us over there, make sure you say hi and leave a comment with what you think about the episode!