Over the years I've learned stuff from experience working on cars, trial & error, etc.
I'm gonna post some of them here. They can make your life easier working on your car.

Spark plugs. They are deep in the head. Get yourself a spark plug socket that has a swivel head. That way you can loop a tie strap through it. When you put the new plug in, you can then remove the socket without it getting stuck on the plug.

Claw grab tool. Get yourself one of these. They are cheap and are a life saver. They are long and have a claw hand that comes out when the handle is pushed down. The spring pulls it back. Can turn a dropped whatever from a hour long bitch session to a 1 minute job.

Magnetic pickup tool. Same rules apply here as above.

Air tools. If you have them, they can make life so easy. Air impact, ratchet, and air chisel are all good musts.

PB Blaster. This stuff puts WD-40 to shame. If you need to loosen rusty parts use this stuff.

Ratchet with swivel head. Get yourself one. You'll thank me later.

Extensions. Have various length extension on hand. Get ones that also the socket to swivel a little bit on the end. Sometimes a lot easier than using a universal joint extension, which is also good to have.

Use 6 point wrenches and sockets. You have a lot less chance of stripping bolt heads with 6 point. And in 99% of situations they work fine. There are very few situations where you need 12 point.

Nitrile gloves. Using them while working on cars ensures easier hand cleanup and no grit under finger nails. Latex will work, but nitrile is much more durable and stands up to gas and other solvents.

Oxygen sensor sockets. Get the kind that has an open top and bottom. They are much easier to work with our o2 sensors.

When removing vacuum hose from T-style plastic fittings, use a knife and cut the hose lengthwise along the fitting. The hose will come off a lot easier and then you won't risk breaking the fitting.

Coolant hose clamps. These spring type clamps are a PITA. Get a set of pliers designed specifically for them. Harbor freight has them. They lock in place and will hold the clamp. A lot easier than using pliers or channel locks.

Allen bolts. On older allen bolts or ones that have crud in them, pays to clean them out. Also put the socket in the bolt and use a hammer to tap it in to make sure it is fully seated. Less likely you will strip it then. Same goes for triple square bolts on CV joints as well.

Changing shocks on the A4. The shock body has 6mm allen on the top to keep the shaft from rotating. Use a deep well 18mm socket, grind 2 flat spots on it so you can put a wrench on it, then tighten the nut down while a long 6 mm allen wrench holds the shock body.

Tap and Die set. Very good to have, especially if cross thread happens, or something.

This is the most I can think of for now. Figured it might make someone elses life easier here.

 

too bad i've learned most of the same things on my own

off-topic:

who hosts your website? how do you like them?

 

Price is good, service seems good. I'm pleased.

 

your's seems very stable.

how do the files you have, i.e. the self study guides etc, affect your service?

do you find these get hit alot, etc?

 

I have about 600MB of stuff on the site. I think the busiest month so far has been about 18GBs of data transfer.

 

"Spark plugs. They are deep in the head. Get yourself a spark plug socket that has a swivel head.". Good, but prefer an extension with a locking end to grab a spark plug socket; easier to find a desireable length.

"Claw grab tool." No arguments; good one.

"Magnetic pickup tool." No arguments; good one.

"Air tools." Never had the need for one; didn't want to waste money or space on a compressor. Have used a variable speed HD cordless screwdriver to screw lug nuts/bolts on and off.

"PB Blaster." Never used the stuff, but sounds interesting.

"Ratchet with swivel head." No arguments; good one.

"Extensions." No arguments; good one.

"Use 6 point wrenches and sockets." DEFINITELY -No arguments; good one.

"Nitrile gloves." I use gloves at times; can't remember what they are (usually those throwaway thin plastic types - generally end up ripped.

"Oxygen sensor sockets." Have had need of one of these sockets very rarely, so will just agree with the voice of experience.

"When removing vacuum hose from T-style plastic fittings, use a knife and cut the hose lengthwise along the fitting." No arguments; good one.

"Coolant hose clamps." Good one, altho I usually replace them with screw-type clamps. hold the clamp.

"Allen bolts." No arguments; good one. problem is what do you do when you invariably strip one (and I've done it several times). Way I then remove them is to use a small pipe wrench (about 6" long), grab the bolt head with it, then hammer on the end of the wrench. The hammering acts like an impact wrench and will generally loosen the bolt. Once these Allen bolts are out, replace them with new ones. Even tho they look OK, you've bound to have dmaged the socket head somewhat so that you'll have problems the next time you want them out.

"Changing shocks on the A4." Haven't done this job, can't comment.

"Tap and Die set." No arguments; good one.

Another one; replacement of rear brake pads on Quattros. You have to hold a nut head on a rubber-covered extension between the caliper and caliper bracket while loosening/removing a 13mm bolt at the outside of the caliper bracket. I've found this 15mm nut to be too narrow to take a regular 15 mm open end wrench. I've had to use a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to partially cut away the wrench face to about half its original thickness.

 

cool...thanks for the info...ill check them out.

 

you'll find the air-driven impact wrench quite the time and effort saver when using the type of spring compressors that use the screw down method. That part of changing the suspension [I've done this three times now] is what finally caused me to invest in an air compressor and impact wrench with sockets.

 

hey, do they register your name too?

 

are you running just html or some cgi scriptin or anything?

i basically can do some html, but im not experienced with coding. do you have anything preventing hotlinking photos from random people?

thanks for your input. email me below if you dont want to get into specifics here...