I recently started a job as a lube tech, I’m using shop loaner tools for now but it doesn’t have quite everything I need, and I’m going to need to get my own eventually.
What specific things do you recommend a lube tech at a GM dealership making 12.50 an hour full time gets as their first tools? Specific links for specific brand/models would be greatly appreciated!
My first priority is shoes, (Currently rocking some old tennis shoes) My second priority is a power drill, (Currently the other lube tech is sharing his with me) My 3rd priority is a air-chuck, (Currently the other lube tech is sharing his with me, ) My 4th priority is an impact wrench (being affordable is important, but I’m currently borrowing one that is good enough, and I’d rather not go deaf so if I have to spend a little bit more to get something quieter I will)
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Forgive me if this sounds elitist, but at 12.50 shouldn’t the shop provide the tools?
I could see a Bentley tech or something having their own snap on setup or something, but providing your own tools seems like a big ask.
This was my thought. I made $10/hr at entry level in 2004, and I didn’t need to provide any tools. I bought my first tools on 2006, not sure how relavent my experience on that is now. Didn’t have a harbor freight.
They did provide a shop toolbox, but the implications seemed to be that these are what I can use until I get my own, not something I should expect to use forever.
Biggest piece of advice I could give is to STAY OFF THE TOOL TRUCKS!!! Snap-On, Matco, MAC, ect… The tools from those trucks really are high quality but the amount you pay is a shit load more than what you would pay for tools at Napa, Lowes, Home Depot. Those tool trucks always get the new guys by saying, “it’s only $150 a week.” It’s also pretty hard to ask to defer paying when the tool guy comes to you every week.
When I started buying tools, I went a bit crazy racking up a debt and paying it off was a nightmare for my first few years. You really don’t need the $7000 Snap-On toolbox, no matter how cool it looks. Look for used boxes and tools. Pay up front for as much as you can. Buy Husky/Kobalt/Craftsman/ect…
Still, tool quality is important, especially when it comes to measured tools such as a good torque wrench.
I took advantage of a Harbor Freight sale where they had a certain model torque wrench for like $10 plus tax. Hoping for the best of ‘close enough’, I went ahead and bought it.
I’m glad I tested it that evening though. I tested it on my bicycle, and something was seriously wrong with that torque wrench. Not like it was just simply out of calibration either, it actually felt like they packed the thing with sand instead of grease/oil!
I got a refund on that thing real quick the next day!
TL;DR - always test your new tools before tackling any important projects.
Rule #1 when I was a lube tech, is absolutely no electric tools! All power tools were powered by an air compressor and air tank in the break room.
Yes annoying, but too much risk of fire using electric tools, especially in the pit when changing oil and other fluids.
Wild. I was going to say buy an electric drill. I used a black and decker from menards for a few years as a lube tech to remove all the screws from the skid plates. The tool truck drills were garbage. My black and decker is still going strong on the original batteries and it’s been over a decade at least.
Battery powered tools weren’t as much of a thing in 2005, but still any and all electric tools pose a potential additional risk of fire, especially near potentially combustible fluids like oil.
I learned this as one of my first jobs working a Texaco oil change shop.
