10 Tricks & Tips You Need to Know

We all look for shortcuts, tricks and tips to make our lives easier. While we may not have the best advice on topics like politics, cooking or sewing; we have come across plenty of educational tidbits and tips throughout the years to help you when you’re working on your truck.

1. Buy a Tap and Die Set

Besides regular hand tools the most important tool that everyone should have is a tap and die set. Trucks are held together with fasteners, and the threads in fasteners can wear out or become damaged. A good tap and die set will pay off in the long run, not just for replacing old nuts and bolts, but for safety and peace of mind.

2. Spray Lubricants, Anti-Seize and Thread Locker

These three items are often overlooked by most do-it-yourselfers who forget to use them until it’s too late. Spray lubricants not only solve squeaks and squeals, they help break loose fasteners that haven’t been removed for decades, plus they protect cutting tools, such as drill bits and cutting blades, which extends the lifecycle of your tools. Spray lubes also are great cleaners. They remove rust and other tough grime from tools and metal surfaces.

Adopting the use of anti-seize during assembly is a great way to ensure that the fastener has the proper lubricant to extend its life. Plus, if you’re using it on stainless or other hardened material, anti-seize and similar formulas will protect the threads from galling or cross threading. Some fastener manufacturers call for the use of a paste form of anti-seize to reach proper torque specs.

Finally, thread lockers can ensure that the fastener will stay tight. Formulated in many different grips, using thread locker on fasteners where cotter pins or other locking devices can’t be used ensures the fastener stays tight.

3. Reduce the Stick in Masking Tape

Sometimes masking tape can be too sticky and leave behind residue, or its adhesion properties might be too strong, peeling back the surface material you’re trying to protect when you remove it. To neutralize adhesion, rub the sticky side across your pant leg before laying the tape on the surface. Rubbing it over your clothes breaks the adhesion barrier down by attracting lint. The best time to do this is when you know that the tape will be on a vehicle exposed to the sun for a long period of time.

4. Use Wooden Door Shims and Dowels for Perfect Door and Fender Gaps

People often wonder how a truck fits together so well. The answer is simple: with wooden door shims or dowel pins. Sold at home improvement stores, door shims and dowels are used to align household doors, but they work great to align truck doors and other sheet metal parts. They’re very useful for gapping everything perfectly because they’re sold in different sizes. Because they’re made from wood, they can be used on all painted surfaces. You can also use paint stir sticks.

5. Organization Is Key

When most do-it-yourselfers hear the term “organization” they tend to think of tools, because there are countless methods for keeping your tools in order. But what about fasteners, clips or other small parts? Plastic bags and a Sharpie can be your best friend. You’ll be very happy when you go back to assemble whatever you’ve labeled and bagged because all of the fasteners will be in one place. Modern technology has made its way into the garage as well. Using your cell phone’s camera to take photos before you disassemble a complicated part will save you a ton of time during reassembly.

6. Safety Safety

Safety should always be your first priority when working in your garage. Metal shaving, sparks, dust, even noise can cause permanent damage to you or a friend. Remember, when welding at home, think about others, such as young people or even pets who might be fixated by the bright light. Be smart and think safety first, because stupid hurts.

7. Proper Electrical Ground Procedures

A bad or weak ground is usually the culprit in most electrical problems. When building a custom chassis, a lot of builders opt to have the entire frame powder coated for a long-lasting, tough-as-nails finish, but what most forget is that the powder coating seals the entire frame, preventing electronics from being properly grounded. Using a grinding wheel, sand off the powder coat to bare metal so that the ground wire contacts can be properly grounded. Also, remember that ground wires work in series. Ground the engine to the chassis, and the chassis to the body.

8. Use a Tool Battery to Test Power Accessories

A quick and easy way to operate a power accessory during installation is to use a cordless tool battery like the one that powers a drill. Tap the wires to the terminals on the battery to operate windows in one direction. If you want to change directions, simply switch the wires to the opposite terminals, which reverses the polarity and operates the window in the opposite direction.

9. Use a Piece of Tape as a Guide to Drill into a Tight Spot

Have you ever had to drill a shallow hole where you could possibly damage another part or wire? Measure the distance first to allow for enough clearance. Then measure the distance and transfer a mark onto your drill bit. Using a brightly colored masking tape, wrap the bit where the mark is. When you drill the hole and it reaches the tapeline, you’ll know to stop drilling.

10. Use Compressed Air to Help Dry Off Your Freshly Washed Vehicle

I know this is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it’s one of the best. It’s next to impossible to get water out from behind door handles, mirrors and headlights. A short burst of compressed air makes life simple as it pushes all of the water out from the nooks and crannies so that you can easily wipe it away with a chamois or microfiber cloth.

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