Tag: Episodes

Work anxiety is something that most people face, but folks, a car that isn’t repaired correctly is one of the least dangerous pieces of machinery on the planet (unlike an airplane that isn’t fixed correctly as Uncle Jimmy recounts). Sure, if you don’t put a wheel on right it could fly off and if you don’t put in a drain plug after an oil change it could blow up the engine- but at the end of the day it all culminates to things that you have seen before. Also we talk the “Push Button Timing Challenge” and drumming on oil pans to remember if you put the drain plug back in. When you remember that every car on the planet has/will/is broken, you get a bit more perspective and don’t bring the stresses of work home with you. Finally, we talk about what happens if you have too much anxiety about fixing stuff wrong, but still love working on cars.

GTW is a weekly podcast for mechanics, technicians, and DIY’ers that can be heard every Thursday on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play. We are also on Stitcher and the Tune In app, as well as Patreon for bonus content, swag, and all sorts of other goodies from our sponsors.

In this weeks Grease The Wheels: Uncle Jimmy gets nostalgic about how common, relatively cheap and fairly easy it used to be to make cars go faster. Also we talk the politics of when your friends ask you to help them make their cars go faster (short answer: do it, it’s a shitload of fun) even when faced with the certainty of turning piston no.8 into chiclets. Finally, we etch another commandment into the petrolhead credo- thou probably should not fuck with thy daily driver.

GTW is a weekly podcast for mechanics, technicians, and DIY’ers that can be heard every Thursday on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play. Please send us your thoughts and comments, leave us a review and share with your friends!

As technicians we take a lot of unwarranted heat from popular culture and society at large when it comes to ripping people off. In reality, it is about 1% of techs who are scalping people for repairs that they don’t need, the rest is just bullshit. However, a lot of this image problem is solved when the part or service we told a customer they needed leaves them stranded on the side of the road.

GTW is a weekly podcast for mechanics, technicians, and DIY’ers that can be heard every Thursday on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Play. Leave us a review, follow us on Facebook and Twitter and let us know if you want to be on a live episode!

It’s a Black Friday here at GTW so we’re giving you a 2 for 1 special. This week Uncle Jimmy is live, unscripted and talking to other techs about what goes on in their shops, and our first interview is Pat, a Honda Tech from the great white north of Minnesota! In this first episode of GTW Live: we talk Gravy Suckers, “the Chosen One”, shop politics, and a hilarious run in with a mattress at highway speeds.

So kick back, kill what’s left of the Pecan Pie, and check out our first attempt at GTW live. If you want to call in for a segment on a live show, hit us up!

Fixed ops managers like to go on tv and talk about why there is a shortage of techs. They blame everything from shop classes not being taught in school anymore, to millennials and gen z not wanting to get their hands dirty. While they’re not totally wrong they are ignoring the big problem- what they are doing to make the workplace harder on us. This week, we talk 100k/year promises, harder work, and shrinking pay by the same people who can’t figure out why no one wants to be a technician anymore!

Dr. Phil would say that, “communication is key to any relationship”, but that becomes really true when people are trying to describe what’s wrong with their car. Thankfully(heavy sarcasm) people are often less than forthcoming with the details of their problem for fear of admitting fault. Combine this with service writers who aren’t listening anyways and its like trying to solve a puzzle without half the pieces. Thankfully, sometimes we get to talk to the customers directly and we get what Paul Harvey would call, “the r-r-r-rest of the story!”

All men might be created equal, but as for shops- not so much! On this week’s GTW we ask the questions that should be asked when looking for a new shop to work in such as: does it have the right equipment? Will you have to push cars in by hand with some of the other heavy hitters in the shop? Is it built to the standards of a 3rd world country? Will you have to go off site to take a shit? You know, the important stuff!

On this episode of Grease the Wheels, we give out actual consumer advice about aftermarket warranties. We have found a bona fide way to get these companies to stop calling you, and we analyze the types of warranties – namely the ones that tell you what they DO cover, and the ones that tell you what they DON’T cover. Bottom line, they don’t want to pay out, but there are a few of these companies that are SHOCKINGLY good.

Some parts of our job are clearly defined by management, but your actual role in the shop often comes down to the intangibles. Weather you’re the shop Guru, DJ, Clown, or just the guy who fucks everything up, you have an important role in your shop. Own it, because every shop has one!

When working at a shop or dealership there are some situations that are completely unavoidable. From working on a dumpster and not having the right tools, to wrecking a customers car or having desperately needed work declined – some are your fault, but A LOT of them arn’t. In this episode we take a look at both types and walk through how best to deal with them.

GTW is a weekly podcast for mechanics, techs, and anyone who works on cars. Hit us up on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play for a new episode every Thursday morning!