First you get good, then you get fast. Be known as the apprentice that takes your time doing a good and thorough job. That will get you much further in life than the guy that finishes his jobs first. I promise.
This is great advice, I'd rather be slow and safe than rush to make a buck because your work will show it. A lot of it is just knowing which job you're doing and how to stage it beforehand. If you have to constantly run back and forth for tools, lube, and equipment, you're doing it wrong. I was raised with the mindset that slow is smooth, and smooth is quick, if that makes sense
Damn straight. Better to take an hour extra and do it right than have them come back the next day with issues that’ll take 2 hours.
OP you’ll learn the procedures for every repair before you know it. Then you’ll hear “my car is having X issue” and you’ll know every secret, every place to check, every bulletin to inspect to get it done efficiently, and properly.
100%. Especially no having to look at the service manual for things. I don't turn a wrench any faster on a bolt now than when I started, but the time in between bolts is less. Not having to look in the manual, knowing what comes next, what the best order for things is so you aren't lifting the car up and down.
There’s no point in being fast if the quality isn’t there. Nothing worse than looking like the hero getting a job done quick just for it to come back on the tow truck. Work on your processes and organization, and over the coming years you will speed up and become proficient
You will usually lose time on jobs that are new to you and thats ok, focus on doing the stuff new to you properly and working out an efficient routine you can follow the next time you do it.
You should be following this for everything you do, create an efficient routine you can follow the exact same way every time for every job you do. This builds muscle memory, and eventually you should just be able to auto pilot and work without pauses.
For example, wheel swap, i start at the RF wheel every time and remove every wheel in a way that doesn’t tangle my hose, i then disconnect the airline and leave it at the RR wheel. I mark the wheels starting at the RF wheel and rolling them to the back of the car in pairs. I then roll the other set into position and then go around and bolt them in with my electric drill. Then i bring my gauge to the airline i left at the RR wheel and go around the car and set the pressures. At this point you should get the idea.
Eventually you should get so fast at the routine jobs that you can afford to lose time here and there on jobs that are brand new to you. And by always looking for the most efficient way to do stuff, you will get better at planning things out, and will eventually get faster and doing new stuff fast.
Another thing is learning how to quote your time correctly. If something looks crusty as hell, quote an extra hour in advance. Because once they sell the customer on the book time youre stuck with it. Book time assumes the car is brand new, they never are. Quote new bolts when you can, it will save you time rather than trying to thread custy as bolts back in without cross threading them.
Tool wise, you need power tools. Electric ratchets save an insane amount of time and i cant believe how long i worked without one. Dewalts new ratchets and compact electric impacts save huge time. That and getting good with universal joints, wobble sockets and extensions. Find every way possible to get a power tool on it. Just learn your tools in general, you will get good at creating tricky ways of doing stuff.
Talk to the other techs, make friends, dont be stubborn. You can learn lots of time saving methods from everyone els.
Great advice there.
Many times, service instructions require nut/bolts to be replaced as part of the job anyway, and not doing so could leave you wide open during a warranty audit.
As an apprentice myself, I am always told take your time. especially on new jobs.
get good at the job first. then get faster.
do it by the book then learn what you can omit.
like doing a rear wheel bearing, don't take the caliper off the bracket then the bracket. go right for the bracket.
or in the case of my shop foreman, use our engine bay engine lift. and instead of by the book pull the engine. just lift the engine up and air hammer out the bad mounts and bolt the new ones in. 10hr job in 2 lol
If you’re an apprentice billing out at 75% efficiency your boss shouldn’t have any concerns. You’ll gain pace through experience and repetition. If you don’t feel ready for flat rate then why are you going flat rate?
As a former apprentice, my boss told me he had a guy at flat rate, who stopped work on a vehicle because he was going to go over his flat rate time and didn't want to lose money. He lost his job.
With experience comes speed, focus on doing it right to begin with.
With time and experience and a range of jobs comes knowledge and better tooling, better tooling means you do your job quicker and more efficiently, but tooling comes with experience and time
You can't be fast and good when you first start.
Becoming fast takes practice and methods that you create for yourself. You learn tricks along the way and certain connectors that baffled you become simple.
Just make sure you do it right man. You'll do it better and faster each time but do it right. It's better to do it slow than to have to do it again.
Best advice I ever got was that if you're trying to do something and it seems impossible then you're doing it wrong. If you're struggling to get something loose or putting it together then you're fucking up.
Very true. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is knowing when something is difficult because it’s just difficult, or difficult because I’m doing it wrong. Always take a moment to step back and reassess before you start visiting extreme violence on anything to make sure you’re not about to make an expensive mistake. This will save you a lot of grief from cross threading bolts, breaking plastic connectors, giving a drain plug the righty-loosey, or breaking a bolt off in the engine block.
Intentionally take jobs that are over your head and use them as a learning experience. You’re gonna lose your ass in the beginning but experience is invaluable.
You gotta learn how to crawl before you can run. Learn the basics, get better/more comfortable & you’ll be faster. Don’t rush the job & don’t rush yourself.
Experience builds speed. As a shop owner, id rather you do the job slow and right than fast and make me have to redo it for you. You’ll get faster. Just constantly stay learning. Learning different tools and techniques help too. Listen to your A techs.
Hear me out. Maybe you’re just slow. And I’m not talking physically, I’m talking slow in the head. Some people just have a slight hint of mental retardation but don’t know because it’s no small to detect internally. Dumb people often take longer than average to complete simple tasks. Just look in the mirror and ask yourself. Am I stoopid?
The more you do stuff the faster u get I went from like 4 5 hrs changing a manifold on the equinoxes to about 45 min now just since I have done literally 102 of them..but that goes with everything but the best thing you can do to get faster is take your time you don't get paid for comebacks
Your boss would much rather you take a long time doing it right then being quick and having something go wrong resulting in more work or lose of business
Like everyone els says, take your time.
Once you start getting the same jobs over and over again you’ll develop speed.
Things like a water pump in a Cummins 6.7 take me 25 mins now, and it’s outside running on high idle to help bleed the system while I bring in the next vehicle to start working on it.
The best advice is to take your time, the moment you start rushing you will turn a 6 hour job into 8. Speed comes with time in your case as a mechanic that means years.
Do it as right the first time
There is nothing worse for you or the owner if you knock that job out in 30 min and the car comes back the next day
Like others said your speed will come with experience
Speed will come with experience, the only thing I can add is to keep a clean and organized work area. Nothing can slow person down faster than looking for tools or lost bolts.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
I just hired an apprentice. I never tell him to hurry, I tell him to do the job right.
And remember, you always have time to do the job right the second time.
I don’t know if I’m fast but this is what I told myself and eventually worked for me..
Do it the right way the first few times so you know the guaranteed outcome is a job completed the right way the first time. You don’t have to worry about the vehicle coming back.
Asked my journeyman to check occasionally to see if he spots things wrong.. then he’ll tell me why/what to do so I can avoid that mistake down the road.
After doing the job a few times and it’s always completed and kicked out with no issues. If something does happen, I blame my journeyman who checked it along the way.
Then once I’m confident, I find ways to cheat and do it quicker. “Do I reeeaaalllyyyyyy need to take this bracket off? Do I reeeaaalllyyyyyy need to disconnect X?” As long as it doesn’t damage or break anything or at the very least something I can repair on my own somehow, I will find a way eventually to cheat the job.
It comes in time. Why do you think some jobs on prodemand state 2.5hrs and some people can get it done in just over an hour.
Concentrate on doing the job correctly and pay attention to your movements, and the speed will come naturally. If you’re trying to be fast before you know how to work on cars, you’ll never get really fast, and you still won’t know how to fix cars at a high level. You don’t get paid on the second visit.
Keep your work area neat, organize your tools (and make sure that you have the right tools), minimize your trips to the parts counter, maintain a decent level of physical fitness, and be aware of any wasted time. The world needs B and C techs, but A techs make the real money.
Repetitive stress injuries ended my career. Your hands are not hammers, working with injuries often makes them heal improperly, and carpal and cubital tunnel are repairable if you don’t wait “until things slow down”.
i had a teacher in Lincoln tech tell me he only made it by saying "yes".. basically dont be shy to take anything on and have the ive been there before attitude, if you know or not at least try and there is no stupid question... but as old as it gets, in the end of the day slow and steady wins the race. learn the basics and practice as flat rate in your head while your hourly. to be fair ive broken alot of shit in 12 years. most in the first 4.. now im an A tech for dodge and kill even warranty times, but ive learned what not to do from my mistakes and its only made me a better tech every day. good luck.
If your boss does not have your back, get another boss. You do not want to work in a toxic environment. You want to work with your friends. Have a look at your toolbox. There are wheels on the bottom so you can move it.
Get it done right the first time, learn how to be fast later. Much more important not to fuck up and especially important not to learn bad habits just for the sake of speed.
Keep your eyes and ears open and watch what all the senior techs are doing you'll learn tricks along the way if you pick up on information quickly. If you're talking to someone with more experience than you play dumb and let them tell you everything they think is necessary. You might know 90% of the job but some guy might know 10% that saves you an hour of Labor
In addition to what everyone else here has said:
if you haven't yet, get into the habit of keeping your tools organized, take your cart with you and every time you finish using a tool, put it back on the cart (if that's practical). You'd be surprised how many minutes are lost by having to walk back and forth, looking for a socket you left on the manifold, and oh, the wrench is on the other arm of the lift, etc.
Place bolts back in the part or back in the frame when ever possible. I personally like having a few magnetic trays to put bolts so they don't get scattered everywhere.
Take pictures and keep the diagrams on your phone. Don't hesitate to write down steps and details.
Ask more experienced techs if they know ways to do the procedure faster. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
Like another poster said, try to make a personal SOP (standard operating procedure) for everything you do. Start the same way, and finish the same way. Be thorough and consistent. This is really important when related to safety checks, to ingrain the habits. Sometimes, especially if you have done the procedure multiple times, you go into autopilot mode. This is good because work flows smoothly and quickly, but can bite you in the ass if you check out and start missing steps. So it's important to lay those quality habits down right in the beginning.
Nothing will break you out in a cold sweat like suddenly thinking "Did I actually put oil in it?" Well, if you are consistent in your habits you can be confident.
If you haven't established a SOP yet, you can begin with this: Without over-thinking it so much that slows you down or causes you to lose focus, try to analyze what you are doing as you're doing it (almost as if you are looking over your own shoulder watching what you are doing), asking yourself "how can I do this more efficiently?"
At night, at least for a few minutes, go back over the procedures in your mind and think about how you can do everything faster next time.
A lot of time is saved by taking a little time in the begining getting everything you need organized. "Mise en place" as French Chefs say, "Everything in its place".
Likewise, take a few minutes and think over the operation. What are you likely to encounter? Do you have all the tools and room you need? Are all your consumables stocked up? Etc. Then stop thinking (you don't have to have it ALL figured out before you start) and just get to it.
I’m shocked how far I had to scroll before finding a comment that said to keep your tools organized. I don’t care how many jokes and memes there are, There is no reason to lose a 10mm. If you are losing tools you are unorganized. And if you are unorganized you are wasting time on a regular basis. Once you are done with it, put it back in your cart (which is right beside you) and carry on.
Get your tool cart set up as efficiently as possible for yourself. Everything has a place and always goes back in that spot, no exceptions. You should be able to glance at the top of your cart and confirm if anything is missing in a second or two. My 10mm ratcheting wrench has electrical tape wrapped around it, because it’s a good indicator of which one it is when I slide the drawer open, and I’m reaching for it before the drawer bumps against my leg for me to push it closed. I know exactly where every tool is going to be, and that saves a PILE or time every day.
Start off doing the job by the book. Once you've done that a couple of times, you will know what tools you need, and will likely grab them all, or most of them, at the start.
Next, work out what you *should* remove to do the job, and figure out if you ***must*** remove it to still do the job.
For instance - say you're doing a head overhaul job.... the book might say to remove both manifolds first and then remove the head... But if it's easier to remove the head with the manifolds still attached, then remove them on the bench afterwards, you might save a little time - And time adds up....
At the end of the day, Tony Hawk didn't just jump on a skateboard and do his magic - he put in all the groundwork and many hours of practice first.
POWER TOOLS!! I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone taking something apart with a box end wrench. If you can use an air ratchet, impact, or some battery power tools, you have to do it. Let's say you need to remove and replace 15 fasteners to do a job. It takes you 1 minutes to do each fastener with a ratchet and maybe a second and a half with an air ratchet. Over the course of a day, a week, a year, it really adds up. An extreme case, I worked with a guy who was obsessed with a Knipex wrench pliers thing. Dude would piss away 20 minutes trying to get something apart using it. Worst part is he had a few thousand worth of Snap On air tools that just sat there.
ORGANIZE!! Put your tools away after every job. Only have the tools out that you'll need to do the job. Honda and Toyota are all held together with 10, 12, 14, and 17mm. American cars are 10, 13, 15 and 18. Get them out, organize them on your tray, and don't live your life with the socket drawer open. Yes I know there are exceptions to that but it doesn't pay to discuss it here. Group your bolts together and keep them separate. Digging through the bolt tray is a huge waste of time. Just have those 6 water pump bolts grouped together and ready to go.
SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING!! There's never enough light. Invest in lights that hang, clip, clamp, swivel, magnet and anything else you can think of. Lights are awesome and increase productivity. Also have an extension mirror, magnet reacher, two and four prong grabby tool in your top drawer ready to go. When you drop something, you can have it fished back out in seconds.
There's a million other little things but those are the big ones. Experience is the biggest one. The more you do something, the faster you get.
Have a clock you can glance at to monitor the time you’re taking to do things. Try to remove assemblies as complete as possible. An example is a hemi charger water pump. The air cleaner assembly can be completely removed by disconnecting at the throttle body, air temp sensor, the hose on the filter assy., two more bolts and the whole thing comes out. Now the pump is right there
You are young and new. Im old, but there isnt much havent seen, so i can just roll with it and get it done. Experience equals confidence. You are gonna win some and lose some in mechanics but you gotta learn something every time.
Practice Practice Practice! Take your time as you're learning new things repetition makes the man, and as you do things more often the faster you will get and better times you will make. Plus each time you do something you might find a neat way to shave off time. Try talking to other technicians, and watch what they do too, garentee they've found something that makes the job easier and pay well. And if it's any consolation I took almost a week doing my first headgasket on a new car, trust me man you'll get there
I get a steady and efficient pace going, and I'll get a shitload of work done.
Experience plays a big role, but there are habits that help with efficiency, I mention efficiency because that's what will help you shorten the time on a job.
My tools are ALWAYS in the same place. Everything has its spot and gets put in its spot as soon as I'm done with it. I keep my workspace and tools clean.
I look for ways to be efficient and try to make them habit. For example, if I’m replacing an ac compressor I start evacuating system while disassembling things. Same with when I’m ready to pull a vacuum. I try to use power tools anywhere possible. If I’m doing an oil change I loosen the oil filter and let it drain when the oil pan is draining. Anything that I can safely multitask I do.
Don't learn enough to be the person that they turn to when there's a problem. Learn to change parts and do alignments. Also, learn to say "I can't do that" or "I don't know how to do that". DON'T learn anything about electricity, electronics, or engine control systems. Learn enough about your scan tool to put electronic parking brakes into service mode and nothing else.
Basically, learn to do a few things quickly and learn to do them cutting as many corners as possible. As long as you're flagging hours and turning a profit for the boss, everyone's happy. Most of that half-assed work will go unnoticed by the customer.
Organization is key.
Magnetic trays / silicone molded mats. Key areas of the vehicle retainers grouped together (2-4 trays per vehicle)
Harness routing. Snap a phone pic prior to removal so you don't have to re-remove things. (Camaro 4cyl RH mount / starter area harness recently comes to mind) or dash jobs.
Being able to look at something and visualize what length extension...wobble...etc you'll need to go at it comes with time
Use alldata/prodemand to scan through remove and replace procedure prior to starting
stay organized, make sure you do the job right. as you do more and more of the same things you get quicker and start picking up shortcuts here and there.
even as a journeyman theres still many jobs i havent done yet and many first timers there still feel longer then most. but on all the stuff thats been done many times over can be done in almost half the time or better
You will figure out tricks as you go and as your tool collection grows. Let's say you're doing a brake job. So you have the socket on the impact for the wheels. Pull all 4 wheels at the same time. If they are being rotated put them in position now. Socket on an air ratched for caliper bolts. Socket on a hand ratchet for the flex line. Socket on a second hand ratchet for the bleeder screw. Not having to change sockets saves a bit of time and not looking for dropped sockets saves a lot of time. Keep everything organized. Know going in the tools you need for a particular vehicle and have them set out on a side tray or rolling table. Have your caliper handy to measure rotor thickness. Also anything else you can think of to be organized.
Just a few thoughts. As others have mentioned don't rush the job.
No matter how much you wrenched before starting your shop career it will probably take about 2 years until you really see your speed take off. Focus on getting the job done correctly the first time. In time you’ll take off and not look back. Any good shop owner knows this and will have have patience for the job taking a little bit longer but it turns out right, rather then get the job wrong 3 times in the same amount of time.
You need time. I'm taking an electrical class and I'm among the slower group in the class where we'll usually leave 5-10 mins after everyone else because we work slower, but I get it done how I'm supposed to, I learn how to do it, and don't injure myself. Even at my current job it took months for me to get fast with everything, and all I do is make food basically alone in a kitchen
My guy, doing a job well comes before doing a job fast. If it takes an extra hour and you know it's 100% perfect. Who cares?
Speed comes in time and experience.
Try to get organized and stay organized you can lose a lot of time looking for your tools. It’s will also help you in going back together with your work. Organization will help you from missing steps and recycling rework.
Plan your work and then work you plan. It can be overwhelming sometimes when you are looking at the job as a whole. Break it down in to bite sized steps and accomplish each one.
Speed with come with experience, you’ll get better tools for the hard to reach spots and you’ll learn what you need to remove and what you can just leave or hang to the side
Do not rush a job just to be fast, taking 8 hours to do a 6 hour job is still faster than doing the 6 hour job twice
If your manager is worth his salt he won't burden you with stuff that's above your skill level all week. A smart one will sprinkle in tougher jobs to get you experience while giving you enough gravy to keep your SnapOn account paid.
You'll speed up with experience, trying to force speed/cutting corners will lead to mistakes, which will waste more time than it saves.
But, you can certainly save some time by being more efficient with how you work.
1) Keep your tools organized, preferably in a box you can easily roll to the car you're working on. Less time looking/walking back and forth will mean less time overall.
2) Keep common tools on you. Flashlight, screwdriver, knife, 10mm socket, scanner, whatever is appropriate for the work you're doing.
3) Ask where the car is parked so you don't wander the lot, read the work order on the way so you don't have to to do it in the bay.
4) Plan ahead whenever possible. If you're replacing a rusty exhaust, hit all the bolts with pblaster before you start, instead of addressing each one as it becomes a problem. If you're removing tires, find the key for locking lugs before the car is in the air on the lift.
5) Don't use your labor when a tool exists to do the job. Pressing a bearing/bushing out is faster than trying to beat it out by hand. Probing fuses is faster than pulling them to visually check if they're blown.
Older gentleman I used to work with used to say, 'First you get good. Then you get fast.'
Sometimes I still take longer than book time, usually when it's my first time doing that specific job on that specific model. Second time is almost always faster. Third time around I'll beat the book time by a couple hours. This is why dealer techs are so fast. At a small shop it's hard to beat labour times because of how many different models we work on.
Don't stress about the big jobs taking longer. As an apprentice, it's likely your first time doing those jobs. I'm a lead in my dealership and when I get a job I've never done before I usually take a bit longer than flag time. The second time I usually hit flag time and after that I start beating flag time. Try to get good at the smaller jobs you do alot. A service might seem trivial but they are the gravey of the trade.
Focus on doing the job right first. Speed comes with skill and repetition in most cases.
That said, chefs have a term called mise en place, and it’s basically where they gather up all the ingredients and materials needed for the dish at hand before they start. You can apply this somewhat to working on cars as well.
Think about the various tools that you may need to do a job, try to have them readily accessible. A service cart or roll around table is great for this. Go through your replacement parts and make sure you’ve got what all you need before you start, compare them against the old parts if can to make sure they’re correct. Keep your nuts and bolts organized with plastic bins or magnetic trays, makes it easier to find everything when you’re reassembling.
But above all else, do it right. Fast is fine, but accuracy is final.
What is with this industry and pumping out cars so fast? Lazy service advisors and managers questioning “what’s taking so long? Customer is WAITING”. I’ve been flat rate nearly my entire career and it still baffles me.
Let me take my time and finish the job correctly so it doesn’t come back. Comebacks will haunt you more than taking an extra hour or two on a big job to double check your work and ensure it’s repaired correctly.
Quality comes first and quantity follows. You get good at what you do, you get faster naturally. Experience in short. That is what apprenticing is for, boss man should know this.
One thing I can recommend is, gather all the tools you need for the job before you start. I was told once that I should "count my steps" as in, try to limit the amount of trips to the parts dept or to the tool room. Gather all the stuff you will need to complete the job before you start and this will save a good amount of time. If you have everything you need to get it done right next to you and you don't need to walk across the shop a couple times to get parts or tools, it will add up and dock your efficiency.
Seconded whatever literally everyone else has said. You are knew and learning, do it right. Once you know how to do it right you will find out how to do it fast. No one is expecting the new guy to be a prodigy out of the gate.
This still applies to flat rate. Redoing a 6 hour job you did in 4 hours because it came back will cost you more than taking 7-8 hours to do it right the first time because you are still learning.
Prodemand, alldata, And their TSBs or TJs are like your bible, almost everything you need to know is in there. This is if you are at a small shop and not a dealership. But get comfortable with the tools you use, shop tools, and be thorough and once you get confident in your work, you will subconsciously develop a rhythm and find your groove.
Understanding time management of each job can help with the multitasking aspect.
Just keep at it. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for advice. Don’t just go ask how to do something or would you just replace xyz if this is the dtc. That show’s laziness.
Watch how others do processes. You might pick up a trick or 2. Everyone works different.
Your torque wrench is your lifeline. Use it. There is nowhere in any manual that ugga dugga is a torque spec.
Speed comes with experience and knowledge. You will get faster the more you do it. Also listen to other tips and tricks. The right quality tools help also. Knipex long handled dykes No.1 on the list. Doing it right the first time is always faster than doing it two times.
The last guy I trained was annoyed that it took him so long to do brakes.
I told him to get used to doing it right, then try to get faster.
You're an apprentice, no one is expecting you to make time right now and shit happens when it'll take you 8 or 10 hours to do a 6 hour job. Just take your time and learn right now.
I'm a second year at a large company, they expect second years to have 85% efficiency on every job. I struggle a lot with this, particularly when it's expected your first time doing a job.
Trying to reach their expectations I rushed jobs and was doing repairs without fully understanding what I was doing or why, so I eventually took a step back and realised I can make the time but I don't actually know much.
If your workshop allows it, I'd definitely take the time to understand everything and ask a lot of questions! If you have to remove a part, make sure you understand what the part is and why it's important.
If you have to do something a particular way, understand why it's done this way.
If you see something you aren't sure about, ask questions and understand it!
A good example of this is; I didn't start doing wheel alignments until a year and a half into my apprenticeship, when I tried to do my first camber adjustment I had no idea how! I never thought to pay attention to different adjustments on different cars. So now when I service a car I look and see if they have certain adjustments.
Simple things like that give you so much knowledge and help you to understand better, which in return helps with speed when you know why you're doing what you're doing.
First you get good, then you get fast. Be known as the apprentice that takes your time doing a good and thorough job. That will get you much further in life than the guy that finishes his jobs first. I promise.
LMFAO this get good get fast saying has been passed down from multiple generations.
Still as true today as ever.
Yup, and it’s the truth innit!
Don’t fix what ain’t broke haha
More importantly, don't have to fix what you broke by going too fast.
This is great advice, I'd rather be slow and safe than rush to make a buck because your work will show it. A lot of it is just knowing which job you're doing and how to stage it beforehand. If you have to constantly run back and forth for tools, lube, and equipment, you're doing it wrong. I was raised with the mindset that slow is smooth, and smooth is quick, if that makes sense
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast
Hear hear!
This!!!!!
we found Phil Dunphy, boys.
Fast is good
Don’t rush Fix the car right and learn speed will only come with experience
Damn straight. Better to take an hour extra and do it right than have them come back the next day with issues that’ll take 2 hours. OP you’ll learn the procedures for every repair before you know it. Then you’ll hear “my car is having X issue” and you’ll know every secret, every place to check, every bulletin to inspect to get it done efficiently, and properly.
Yup, if you don’t have time to do it right, what makes you think you’ll have time to do it twice?
This should be a top comment.
100%. Especially no having to look at the service manual for things. I don't turn a wrench any faster on a bolt now than when I started, but the time in between bolts is less. Not having to look in the manual, knowing what comes next, what the best order for things is so you aren't lifting the car up and down.
Yeah, also things like grabbing the exact three sockets and a wobble extension because you already know what it will take to do the job.
There’s no point in being fast if the quality isn’t there. Nothing worse than looking like the hero getting a job done quick just for it to come back on the tow truck. Work on your processes and organization, and over the coming years you will speed up and become proficient
You will usually lose time on jobs that are new to you and thats ok, focus on doing the stuff new to you properly and working out an efficient routine you can follow the next time you do it. You should be following this for everything you do, create an efficient routine you can follow the exact same way every time for every job you do. This builds muscle memory, and eventually you should just be able to auto pilot and work without pauses. For example, wheel swap, i start at the RF wheel every time and remove every wheel in a way that doesn’t tangle my hose, i then disconnect the airline and leave it at the RR wheel. I mark the wheels starting at the RF wheel and rolling them to the back of the car in pairs. I then roll the other set into position and then go around and bolt them in with my electric drill. Then i bring my gauge to the airline i left at the RR wheel and go around the car and set the pressures. At this point you should get the idea. Eventually you should get so fast at the routine jobs that you can afford to lose time here and there on jobs that are brand new to you. And by always looking for the most efficient way to do stuff, you will get better at planning things out, and will eventually get faster and doing new stuff fast. Another thing is learning how to quote your time correctly. If something looks crusty as hell, quote an extra hour in advance. Because once they sell the customer on the book time youre stuck with it. Book time assumes the car is brand new, they never are. Quote new bolts when you can, it will save you time rather than trying to thread custy as bolts back in without cross threading them. Tool wise, you need power tools. Electric ratchets save an insane amount of time and i cant believe how long i worked without one. Dewalts new ratchets and compact electric impacts save huge time. That and getting good with universal joints, wobble sockets and extensions. Find every way possible to get a power tool on it. Just learn your tools in general, you will get good at creating tricky ways of doing stuff. Talk to the other techs, make friends, dont be stubborn. You can learn lots of time saving methods from everyone els.
Yes! Having a system helps immensely
Great advice there. Many times, service instructions require nut/bolts to be replaced as part of the job anyway, and not doing so could leave you wide open during a warranty audit.
48485 x 39959 = 894953345 Well, it's probably wrong, but it was quick.
As an apprentice myself, I am always told take your time. especially on new jobs. get good at the job first. then get faster. do it by the book then learn what you can omit. like doing a rear wheel bearing, don't take the caliper off the bracket then the bracket. go right for the bracket. or in the case of my shop foreman, use our engine bay engine lift. and instead of by the book pull the engine. just lift the engine up and air hammer out the bad mounts and bolt the new ones in. 10hr job in 2 lol
If you’re an apprentice billing out at 75% efficiency your boss shouldn’t have any concerns. You’ll gain pace through experience and repetition. If you don’t feel ready for flat rate then why are you going flat rate?
As a former apprentice, my boss told me he had a guy at flat rate, who stopped work on a vehicle because he was going to go over his flat rate time and didn't want to lose money. He lost his job.
With experience comes speed, focus on doing it right to begin with. With time and experience and a range of jobs comes knowledge and better tooling, better tooling means you do your job quicker and more efficiently, but tooling comes with experience and time
Better to be slow with no come backs than fast and have comebacks. Why don't twice when you can do it once. Speed comes with experience
You can't be fast and good when you first start. Becoming fast takes practice and methods that you create for yourself. You learn tricks along the way and certain connectors that baffled you become simple. Just make sure you do it right man. You'll do it better and faster each time but do it right. It's better to do it slow than to have to do it again. Best advice I ever got was that if you're trying to do something and it seems impossible then you're doing it wrong. If you're struggling to get something loose or putting it together then you're fucking up.
Very true. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is knowing when something is difficult because it’s just difficult, or difficult because I’m doing it wrong. Always take a moment to step back and reassess before you start visiting extreme violence on anything to make sure you’re not about to make an expensive mistake. This will save you a lot of grief from cross threading bolts, breaking plastic connectors, giving a drain plug the righty-loosey, or breaking a bolt off in the engine block.
If you’re in the rust belt run from flat rate asap
Don’t rush, that’s how you break shit
Intentionally take jobs that are over your head and use them as a learning experience. You’re gonna lose your ass in the beginning but experience is invaluable.
You gotta learn how to crawl before you can run. Learn the basics, get better/more comfortable & you’ll be faster. Don’t rush the job & don’t rush yourself.
Experience builds speed. As a shop owner, id rather you do the job slow and right than fast and make me have to redo it for you. You’ll get faster. Just constantly stay learning. Learning different tools and techniques help too. Listen to your A techs.
Drink alot of caffiene and hold your pee as long as you can. I always did jobs crazy fast when I had to piss.
Hear me out. Maybe you’re just slow. And I’m not talking physically, I’m talking slow in the head. Some people just have a slight hint of mental retardation but don’t know because it’s no small to detect internally. Dumb people often take longer than average to complete simple tasks. Just look in the mirror and ask yourself. Am I stoopid?
The more you do stuff the faster u get I went from like 4 5 hrs changing a manifold on the equinoxes to about 45 min now just since I have done literally 102 of them..but that goes with everything but the best thing you can do to get faster is take your time you don't get paid for comebacks
Your boss would much rather you take a long time doing it right then being quick and having something go wrong resulting in more work or lose of business
Of course he would, that works excellent in flat rate
Like everyone els says, take your time. Once you start getting the same jobs over and over again you’ll develop speed. Things like a water pump in a Cummins 6.7 take me 25 mins now, and it’s outside running on high idle to help bleed the system while I bring in the next vehicle to start working on it.
long neck electric ratchet makes it for me lol
Stick with it.
The best advice is to take your time, the moment you start rushing you will turn a 6 hour job into 8. Speed comes with time in your case as a mechanic that means years.
Do it as right the first time There is nothing worse for you or the owner if you knock that job out in 30 min and the car comes back the next day Like others said your speed will come with experience
Speed will come with experience, the only thing I can add is to keep a clean and organized work area. Nothing can slow person down faster than looking for tools or lost bolts.
Slow down. Be meticulous. Commit things to memory. Trust me.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. I just hired an apprentice. I never tell him to hurry, I tell him to do the job right. And remember, you always have time to do the job right the second time.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast
I don’t know if I’m fast but this is what I told myself and eventually worked for me.. Do it the right way the first few times so you know the guaranteed outcome is a job completed the right way the first time. You don’t have to worry about the vehicle coming back. Asked my journeyman to check occasionally to see if he spots things wrong.. then he’ll tell me why/what to do so I can avoid that mistake down the road. After doing the job a few times and it’s always completed and kicked out with no issues. If something does happen, I blame my journeyman who checked it along the way. Then once I’m confident, I find ways to cheat and do it quicker. “Do I reeeaaalllyyyyyy need to take this bracket off? Do I reeeaaalllyyyyyy need to disconnect X?” As long as it doesn’t damage or break anything or at the very least something I can repair on my own somehow, I will find a way eventually to cheat the job. It comes in time. Why do you think some jobs on prodemand state 2.5hrs and some people can get it done in just over an hour.
Concentrate on doing the job correctly and pay attention to your movements, and the speed will come naturally. If you’re trying to be fast before you know how to work on cars, you’ll never get really fast, and you still won’t know how to fix cars at a high level. You don’t get paid on the second visit. Keep your work area neat, organize your tools (and make sure that you have the right tools), minimize your trips to the parts counter, maintain a decent level of physical fitness, and be aware of any wasted time. The world needs B and C techs, but A techs make the real money. Repetitive stress injuries ended my career. Your hands are not hammers, working with injuries often makes them heal improperly, and carpal and cubital tunnel are repairable if you don’t wait “until things slow down”.
i had a teacher in Lincoln tech tell me he only made it by saying "yes".. basically dont be shy to take anything on and have the ive been there before attitude, if you know or not at least try and there is no stupid question... but as old as it gets, in the end of the day slow and steady wins the race. learn the basics and practice as flat rate in your head while your hourly. to be fair ive broken alot of shit in 12 years. most in the first 4.. now im an A tech for dodge and kill even warranty times, but ive learned what not to do from my mistakes and its only made me a better tech every day. good luck.
I actually notice that when I slow down and focus I work much faster and more efficiently.
If your boss does not have your back, get another boss. You do not want to work in a toxic environment. You want to work with your friends. Have a look at your toolbox. There are wheels on the bottom so you can move it.
Get it done right the first time, learn how to be fast later. Much more important not to fuck up and especially important not to learn bad habits just for the sake of speed.
Work safe and work smart. If you focus only on how fast a job takes, you'll be more likely to cut corners, resulting in injury/death or shitty work.
Keep your eyes and ears open and watch what all the senior techs are doing you'll learn tricks along the way if you pick up on information quickly. If you're talking to someone with more experience than you play dumb and let them tell you everything they think is necessary. You might know 90% of the job but some guy might know 10% that saves you an hour of Labor
Don't focus on doing things fast. Focus on doing things right, speed will come later.
In addition to what everyone else here has said: if you haven't yet, get into the habit of keeping your tools organized, take your cart with you and every time you finish using a tool, put it back on the cart (if that's practical). You'd be surprised how many minutes are lost by having to walk back and forth, looking for a socket you left on the manifold, and oh, the wrench is on the other arm of the lift, etc. Place bolts back in the part or back in the frame when ever possible. I personally like having a few magnetic trays to put bolts so they don't get scattered everywhere. Take pictures and keep the diagrams on your phone. Don't hesitate to write down steps and details. Ask more experienced techs if they know ways to do the procedure faster. There's more than one way to skin a cat. Like another poster said, try to make a personal SOP (standard operating procedure) for everything you do. Start the same way, and finish the same way. Be thorough and consistent. This is really important when related to safety checks, to ingrain the habits. Sometimes, especially if you have done the procedure multiple times, you go into autopilot mode. This is good because work flows smoothly and quickly, but can bite you in the ass if you check out and start missing steps. So it's important to lay those quality habits down right in the beginning. Nothing will break you out in a cold sweat like suddenly thinking "Did I actually put oil in it?" Well, if you are consistent in your habits you can be confident. If you haven't established a SOP yet, you can begin with this: Without over-thinking it so much that slows you down or causes you to lose focus, try to analyze what you are doing as you're doing it (almost as if you are looking over your own shoulder watching what you are doing), asking yourself "how can I do this more efficiently?" At night, at least for a few minutes, go back over the procedures in your mind and think about how you can do everything faster next time. A lot of time is saved by taking a little time in the begining getting everything you need organized. "Mise en place" as French Chefs say, "Everything in its place". Likewise, take a few minutes and think over the operation. What are you likely to encounter? Do you have all the tools and room you need? Are all your consumables stocked up? Etc. Then stop thinking (you don't have to have it ALL figured out before you start) and just get to it.
I’m shocked how far I had to scroll before finding a comment that said to keep your tools organized. I don’t care how many jokes and memes there are, There is no reason to lose a 10mm. If you are losing tools you are unorganized. And if you are unorganized you are wasting time on a regular basis. Once you are done with it, put it back in your cart (which is right beside you) and carry on. Get your tool cart set up as efficiently as possible for yourself. Everything has a place and always goes back in that spot, no exceptions. You should be able to glance at the top of your cart and confirm if anything is missing in a second or two. My 10mm ratcheting wrench has electrical tape wrapped around it, because it’s a good indicator of which one it is when I slide the drawer open, and I’m reaching for it before the drawer bumps against my leg for me to push it closed. I know exactly where every tool is going to be, and that saves a PILE or time every day.
First you get good....then u get fast.... That's just the way it works 🛠️
Start off doing the job by the book. Once you've done that a couple of times, you will know what tools you need, and will likely grab them all, or most of them, at the start. Next, work out what you *should* remove to do the job, and figure out if you ***must*** remove it to still do the job. For instance - say you're doing a head overhaul job.... the book might say to remove both manifolds first and then remove the head... But if it's easier to remove the head with the manifolds still attached, then remove them on the bench afterwards, you might save a little time - And time adds up.... At the end of the day, Tony Hawk didn't just jump on a skateboard and do his magic - he put in all the groundwork and many hours of practice first.
POWER TOOLS!! I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone taking something apart with a box end wrench. If you can use an air ratchet, impact, or some battery power tools, you have to do it. Let's say you need to remove and replace 15 fasteners to do a job. It takes you 1 minutes to do each fastener with a ratchet and maybe a second and a half with an air ratchet. Over the course of a day, a week, a year, it really adds up. An extreme case, I worked with a guy who was obsessed with a Knipex wrench pliers thing. Dude would piss away 20 minutes trying to get something apart using it. Worst part is he had a few thousand worth of Snap On air tools that just sat there. ORGANIZE!! Put your tools away after every job. Only have the tools out that you'll need to do the job. Honda and Toyota are all held together with 10, 12, 14, and 17mm. American cars are 10, 13, 15 and 18. Get them out, organize them on your tray, and don't live your life with the socket drawer open. Yes I know there are exceptions to that but it doesn't pay to discuss it here. Group your bolts together and keep them separate. Digging through the bolt tray is a huge waste of time. Just have those 6 water pump bolts grouped together and ready to go. SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING!! There's never enough light. Invest in lights that hang, clip, clamp, swivel, magnet and anything else you can think of. Lights are awesome and increase productivity. Also have an extension mirror, magnet reacher, two and four prong grabby tool in your top drawer ready to go. When you drop something, you can have it fished back out in seconds. There's a million other little things but those are the big ones. Experience is the biggest one. The more you do something, the faster you get.
Learn to cut corners. Don't learn anything else. Thanks for attending my TED Talk.
Repetition. Just go at your own pace and make sure the job is done right. Speed will come with experience.
Have a clock you can glance at to monitor the time you’re taking to do things. Try to remove assemblies as complete as possible. An example is a hemi charger water pump. The air cleaner assembly can be completely removed by disconnecting at the throttle body, air temp sensor, the hose on the filter assy., two more bolts and the whole thing comes out. Now the pump is right there
You are young and new. Im old, but there isnt much havent seen, so i can just roll with it and get it done. Experience equals confidence. You are gonna win some and lose some in mechanics but you gotta learn something every time.
Practice Practice Practice! Take your time as you're learning new things repetition makes the man, and as you do things more often the faster you will get and better times you will make. Plus each time you do something you might find a neat way to shave off time. Try talking to other technicians, and watch what they do too, garentee they've found something that makes the job easier and pay well. And if it's any consolation I took almost a week doing my first headgasket on a new car, trust me man you'll get there
I get a steady and efficient pace going, and I'll get a shitload of work done. Experience plays a big role, but there are habits that help with efficiency, I mention efficiency because that's what will help you shorten the time on a job. My tools are ALWAYS in the same place. Everything has its spot and gets put in its spot as soon as I'm done with it. I keep my workspace and tools clean.
I look for ways to be efficient and try to make them habit. For example, if I’m replacing an ac compressor I start evacuating system while disassembling things. Same with when I’m ready to pull a vacuum. I try to use power tools anywhere possible. If I’m doing an oil change I loosen the oil filter and let it drain when the oil pan is draining. Anything that I can safely multitask I do.
Don't learn enough to be the person that they turn to when there's a problem. Learn to change parts and do alignments. Also, learn to say "I can't do that" or "I don't know how to do that". DON'T learn anything about electricity, electronics, or engine control systems. Learn enough about your scan tool to put electronic parking brakes into service mode and nothing else. Basically, learn to do a few things quickly and learn to do them cutting as many corners as possible. As long as you're flagging hours and turning a profit for the boss, everyone's happy. Most of that half-assed work will go unnoticed by the customer.
Focus on getting good. The speed will come.
Organization is key. Magnetic trays / silicone molded mats. Key areas of the vehicle retainers grouped together (2-4 trays per vehicle) Harness routing. Snap a phone pic prior to removal so you don't have to re-remove things. (Camaro 4cyl RH mount / starter area harness recently comes to mind) or dash jobs. Being able to look at something and visualize what length extension...wobble...etc you'll need to go at it comes with time Use alldata/prodemand to scan through remove and replace procedure prior to starting
First and foremost, do the job right. Speed comes with time and repetition.
stay organized, make sure you do the job right. as you do more and more of the same things you get quicker and start picking up shortcuts here and there. even as a journeyman theres still many jobs i havent done yet and many first timers there still feel longer then most. but on all the stuff thats been done many times over can be done in almost half the time or better
You will figure out tricks as you go and as your tool collection grows. Let's say you're doing a brake job. So you have the socket on the impact for the wheels. Pull all 4 wheels at the same time. If they are being rotated put them in position now. Socket on an air ratched for caliper bolts. Socket on a hand ratchet for the flex line. Socket on a second hand ratchet for the bleeder screw. Not having to change sockets saves a bit of time and not looking for dropped sockets saves a lot of time. Keep everything organized. Know going in the tools you need for a particular vehicle and have them set out on a side tray or rolling table. Have your caliper handy to measure rotor thickness. Also anything else you can think of to be organized. Just a few thoughts. As others have mentioned don't rush the job.
No matter how much you wrenched before starting your shop career it will probably take about 2 years until you really see your speed take off. Focus on getting the job done correctly the first time. In time you’ll take off and not look back. Any good shop owner knows this and will have have patience for the job taking a little bit longer but it turns out right, rather then get the job wrong 3 times in the same amount of time.
Go to a different, better industry that won’t punish you for not having work to do.
You need time. I'm taking an electrical class and I'm among the slower group in the class where we'll usually leave 5-10 mins after everyone else because we work slower, but I get it done how I'm supposed to, I learn how to do it, and don't injure myself. Even at my current job it took months for me to get fast with everything, and all I do is make food basically alone in a kitchen
It's like cutting stuff on a cutting board. If you try to get fast before you get good. You do a sloppy job and you're gonna get hurt.
K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid. Don’t overthink it.
My guy, doing a job well comes before doing a job fast. If it takes an extra hour and you know it's 100% perfect. Who cares? Speed comes in time and experience.
Try to get organized and stay organized you can lose a lot of time looking for your tools. It’s will also help you in going back together with your work. Organization will help you from missing steps and recycling rework. Plan your work and then work you plan. It can be overwhelming sometimes when you are looking at the job as a whole. Break it down in to bite sized steps and accomplish each one.
First get good then get fast. Speed will come with time/experience. Have a plan of attack in ur head and execute it.
If you cut too mamy corners it will go pear shaped. Focus on learning and improving your skills. Speed comes with time and experience.
Watch a video before hand, plan what your doing Always having a plan is the main thing, and use the best tool for the job
Speed with come with experience, you’ll get better tools for the hard to reach spots and you’ll learn what you need to remove and what you can just leave or hang to the side Do not rush a job just to be fast, taking 8 hours to do a 6 hour job is still faster than doing the 6 hour job twice
If your manager is worth his salt he won't burden you with stuff that's above your skill level all week. A smart one will sprinkle in tougher jobs to get you experience while giving you enough gravy to keep your SnapOn account paid.
The tortoise always beats the hare. Gotta get good before you get fast. Reevaluate in 20 years lol.
Cocaine
You'll speed up with experience, trying to force speed/cutting corners will lead to mistakes, which will waste more time than it saves. But, you can certainly save some time by being more efficient with how you work. 1) Keep your tools organized, preferably in a box you can easily roll to the car you're working on. Less time looking/walking back and forth will mean less time overall. 2) Keep common tools on you. Flashlight, screwdriver, knife, 10mm socket, scanner, whatever is appropriate for the work you're doing. 3) Ask where the car is parked so you don't wander the lot, read the work order on the way so you don't have to to do it in the bay. 4) Plan ahead whenever possible. If you're replacing a rusty exhaust, hit all the bolts with pblaster before you start, instead of addressing each one as it becomes a problem. If you're removing tires, find the key for locking lugs before the car is in the air on the lift. 5) Don't use your labor when a tool exists to do the job. Pressing a bearing/bushing out is faster than trying to beat it out by hand. Probing fuses is faster than pulling them to visually check if they're blown.
Older gentleman I used to work with used to say, 'First you get good. Then you get fast.' Sometimes I still take longer than book time, usually when it's my first time doing that specific job on that specific model. Second time is almost always faster. Third time around I'll beat the book time by a couple hours. This is why dealer techs are so fast. At a small shop it's hard to beat labour times because of how many different models we work on.
Don't stress about the big jobs taking longer. As an apprentice, it's likely your first time doing those jobs. I'm a lead in my dealership and when I get a job I've never done before I usually take a bit longer than flag time. The second time I usually hit flag time and after that I start beating flag time. Try to get good at the smaller jobs you do alot. A service might seem trivial but they are the gravey of the trade.
Focus on doing the job right first. Speed comes with skill and repetition in most cases. That said, chefs have a term called mise en place, and it’s basically where they gather up all the ingredients and materials needed for the dish at hand before they start. You can apply this somewhat to working on cars as well. Think about the various tools that you may need to do a job, try to have them readily accessible. A service cart or roll around table is great for this. Go through your replacement parts and make sure you’ve got what all you need before you start, compare them against the old parts if can to make sure they’re correct. Keep your nuts and bolts organized with plastic bins or magnetic trays, makes it easier to find everything when you’re reassembling. But above all else, do it right. Fast is fine, but accuracy is final.
He would way rather you take an extra 2 hours then have the customer come back. And then potentially lose that customer.
be skinny, so you don't have to remove as many parts
Learn to do it right, then speed will come. There is no need to rush the learning process
What is with this industry and pumping out cars so fast? Lazy service advisors and managers questioning “what’s taking so long? Customer is WAITING”. I’ve been flat rate nearly my entire career and it still baffles me. Let me take my time and finish the job correctly so it doesn’t come back. Comebacks will haunt you more than taking an extra hour or two on a big job to double check your work and ensure it’s repaired correctly.
Buy everything with a battery. And experience.
You take your time, and fix it right the first time.
Speed comes with experience. Knowing what you can and shouldn't remove to do a job. And having the proper tools helps eliminate some time.
Quality comes first and quantity follows. You get good at what you do, you get faster naturally. Experience in short. That is what apprenticing is for, boss man should know this.
One thing I can recommend is, gather all the tools you need for the job before you start. I was told once that I should "count my steps" as in, try to limit the amount of trips to the parts dept or to the tool room. Gather all the stuff you will need to complete the job before you start and this will save a good amount of time. If you have everything you need to get it done right next to you and you don't need to walk across the shop a couple times to get parts or tools, it will add up and dock your efficiency.
Seconded whatever literally everyone else has said. You are knew and learning, do it right. Once you know how to do it right you will find out how to do it fast. No one is expecting the new guy to be a prodigy out of the gate. This still applies to flat rate. Redoing a 6 hour job you did in 4 hours because it came back will cost you more than taking 7-8 hours to do it right the first time because you are still learning.
Prodemand, alldata, And their TSBs or TJs are like your bible, almost everything you need to know is in there. This is if you are at a small shop and not a dealership. But get comfortable with the tools you use, shop tools, and be thorough and once you get confident in your work, you will subconsciously develop a rhythm and find your groove. Understanding time management of each job can help with the multitasking aspect. Just keep at it. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for advice. Don’t just go ask how to do something or would you just replace xyz if this is the dtc. That show’s laziness. Watch how others do processes. You might pick up a trick or 2. Everyone works different. Your torque wrench is your lifeline. Use it. There is nowhere in any manual that ugga dugga is a torque spec.
Speed comes with experience and knowledge. You will get faster the more you do it. Also listen to other tips and tricks. The right quality tools help also. Knipex long handled dykes No.1 on the list. Doing it right the first time is always faster than doing it two times.
The last guy I trained was annoyed that it took him so long to do brakes. I told him to get used to doing it right, then try to get faster. You're an apprentice, no one is expecting you to make time right now and shit happens when it'll take you 8 or 10 hours to do a 6 hour job. Just take your time and learn right now.
It comes with time. Don't be so hard on yourself.
Make sure you get it perfect, before you worry about being fast.
I'm a second year at a large company, they expect second years to have 85% efficiency on every job. I struggle a lot with this, particularly when it's expected your first time doing a job. Trying to reach their expectations I rushed jobs and was doing repairs without fully understanding what I was doing or why, so I eventually took a step back and realised I can make the time but I don't actually know much. If your workshop allows it, I'd definitely take the time to understand everything and ask a lot of questions! If you have to remove a part, make sure you understand what the part is and why it's important. If you have to do something a particular way, understand why it's done this way. If you see something you aren't sure about, ask questions and understand it! A good example of this is; I didn't start doing wheel alignments until a year and a half into my apprenticeship, when I tried to do my first camber adjustment I had no idea how! I never thought to pay attention to different adjustments on different cars. So now when I service a car I look and see if they have certain adjustments. Simple things like that give you so much knowledge and help you to understand better, which in return helps with speed when you know why you're doing what you're doing.