Wrench Nation

At-Risk Youth Issue Continues Youth involvement in gangs is a serious problem across the country, whether you’re in a big city or the land of suburbia. Many of us see gang graffiti yet glance over it as we have become numb to the blight and crime. The National Gang Center reports that over the past decade, annual estimates of the number of gang members have averaged around 770,000 nationally. Shif...

The Overwhelm of Tool Box Purchases How are automotive technicians preparing for their career? Are we overwhelmed with technology? What is the requirement of a modern day toolbox? Auto mechanics are consistently buying specialized tools that they don’t use often and not giving them a good return on investment. As a business owner, what is the immediate priority over the next few years for an...

Ford v Ferrari Ranking as one of the most vicious rivalries, Henry Ford II and Enzo Ferrari battled it out with grit and brawn representing their perspective race teams on the track at the legendary 1966 LeMans. Carroll Shelby was a maverick and driver Ken Miles was a force to be reckoned with and the storied Ford GT40 Mark II raced to battle Ferrari straight for the win! A HUGE 1 – 2 &#8211...

Modern Day Engine With millions of direct injection turbocharged engines on the road today, we examine some of the critical and costly failures that may arise due to service neglect. We also will investigate why this combination of power has been widely successful for both MPG and the environment by way of lower emissions, while providing case examples of repairs directly from the service bay...

Hybrid Vehicle Hybrid vehicle technology has been a mainstay for years with consumers support of a cleaner environment. Some of you technicians may have serviced these vehicles in your garage cautiously, yet generally speaking, with relative ease. With advancements in technology, the difficulty has increased and thus comes the need for additional training and tools. Maintenance & Diagnostics M...

Excited to bring to you an announcement of an episode with an incredible interview of Formula Drift judge Ryan Lanteigne coming soon ! We spent time discussing all things drift racing and his amazing connection to the sport and fans alike at recent Future Collector Car Show in Scottsdale, Arizona .

Electric Vehicle Sales Boom With an economy that is booming and electric vehicle sales on the rise, the one major shortcoming is the inadequate availability of electric vehicle charging stations across cities and suburbia alike. Los Angeles has one of the largest populations of electric vehicles and the growing concern of charging inconvenience could hinder future growth and practicality of these...

Industry Veteran with Heart & Soul  Mitch Schneider is a 52-year veteran of the automotive service industry. A fourth-generation auto repair professional, certified master technician, and for more than 37 years, operated Schneider’s Automotive, a successful six-bay, family-owned and operated service facility in Simi Valley, CA, PLUS accomplished trade journalist. As a result of his k...

Racing Career Lays the Foundation We are excited about our first guest of the new year whose racing career at race circuits across the globe during the 80’s and 90’s are legendary. We are honored to have Formula 1 and Indianapolis 500 driver Derek Daly https://bit.ly/DerekDaly share his incredible experiences, including surviving one of the most dangerous Formula 1 crashes in 1984. Der...

It’s a Wrap! It has been an incredible year for us spending time with you while bringing an awesome array of talented automotive topics and guests. For our final LIVE show of 2019, we review some of YOUR favorite episodes based on podcast download popularity. All of these shows and our complete catalog, are on our website to hear in full at https://bit.ly/WrenchNationListen #148 Discovery​ C...

Reflection Propels the Journey We sometimes reflect about how we arrived as automotive technicians, service advisors or owners of our operations. It is the sort of reflection that we lean on regarding those difficult days or hardcore challenges. We all have our stories and life experiences that make us who we are today. Many of you race on the weekend or are carving out the ability to someday hit...

  City of Chandler, Arizona Leads in Electric Vehicles On this special edition, we discuss the key details of how the City of Chandler is leading the country with autonomous vehicle platforms by way of shaping legislation for safety, and formulating ethics centered around the companies that are currently blazing away with autonomous technology such as WAYMO and Local Motors. With innovative c...

My Car Crashed. Now What? How many of us actually think about the details of a repair after a collision? Do we realize the intense process of skilled craftsmanship and technology challenges that technicians overcome while quietly nursing back to health your ride after a fender bender? You notice the airbags where horrific, the body damage was pretty nasty and it seems that every instrument cluster...

The Journey of Automotive Parts The trade wars that are currently going on are historic, especially as it relates to the automotive industry and manufacturing. GM’s Romulus Powertrain plant makes about 400,000 V-6 engines a year for high-margin Cadillac SUVs, light pickup trucks and other GM vehicles, while the process of manufacturing the critical pistons can lead to a cross border journey that m...

A Historic Race Exhibit   Picture some of the most prized racing vehicles assembled all under one roof. The kind of collection that would have you taking steps back in time during race history, an era of phenomenal race proven vehicles, along with fantastic journey of the drivers who mastered those legendary winning championships.    Phoenix Art Museum Hosts Legends of Speed   Featuring more than...

Top Fuel Alcohol Dragster Racing The rumble and raw speed of a Top Fuel Alcohol Dragster is an incredible thing to witness and quite frankly, the in-between rounds back in the pits is a true mechanical wonder to experience as a fan, no matter how old or what background you have. That visceral acquaintance with horsepower leaves us all in a wonderment longing for more. In a world of constant change...

Corvette Enthusiast Mike Yager bought his first Corvette in 1970 when he was just 20 years old. When he saw there was no Corvette Club in his area, he started one. As the club grew he made the observation that there wasn’t a place where a Corvette fan could purchase Corvette merchandise. To remedy that, he bought whatever he could find that related to Corvette and started making it available at Co...

Military Vets Struggle for Employment We are a country that is proud of our military heroes regardless of party lines or affiliations.. What about those veterans that are returning from overseas and their prospect of a career to support their families and future and find it to be a struggle? According to many statistics and reporting, this is not always an easy transition for them and arguments th...

Popular Rides    We are all familiar with the major brands of vehicles being displayed on everything from bus billboards to the wildly expensive listings during the Super Bowl. The in your face branding of some of the most popular vehicle brands is at times annoying, yet let’s face it, highly effective.    Not So Popular   What about the more obscure vehicles that you may not have heard of....

Critical Shortage There is a critical shortage of automotive technicians and the U.S. Labor Bureau estimates about 46,000 automotive technicians will be needed by 2026. Today’s cars have more computing power than the system that guided Apollo astronauts to the moon. The Apollo 11 spaceship had 150,000 lines of code. Google’s mobile Android operating system has 12 million and the modern car can hav...

Ahead of It’s Time Cast as the “Flying Wombat” in the 1938 movie Young in Heart, the 38′ Phantom Corsair was way ahead of it’s time as an incredibly sophisticated rolling work of art and style. Match that spectacular vehicle with 200 other gorgeous time pieces of vehicle variety at the very first Las Vegas Concours d’Elegance bit.ly/LasVegasConcours and you have...

IMSA Was Born Fifty years ago, a new sanctioning body emerged at a pivotal moment in motorsports history. Racing was on the upswing and new tracks were being built all across the U.S. Imported cars from Europe and Japan were flooding the market, designers were pushing limits and drivers were looking for an opportunity to race for more than just a trophy. Into this void stepped John Bishop with a f...

  Our Time at the Wheel is Done?! Driving will become illegal, as human drivers will be demonstrably more dangerous than cars that pilot themselves. Is this an impossible future, or a revolution just around the corner? Sam Schwartz, “Gridlock Sam,” America’s most celebrated transportation expert, describes in his book about the revolution in self-driving cars. The ramificati...

The Overwhelm of Tool Box Purchases How are automotive technicians preparing for their career? Are we overwhelmed with technology? What is the requirement of a modern day toolbox? Auto mechanics are consistently buying specialized tools that they don’t use often and not giving them a good return on investment. As a business owner, what is the immediate priority over the next few years for an inves...

The Wayne Carini Passion Wayne’s passion for cars started when he was a child, working alongside his father on such classics as Duesenbergs, Lincolns, Packards and Ford Model As. Then, at just 9 years of age, he experienced a life altering event: he went for a ride in his first Ferrari, a 1960 Rosso Chiaro 250 SWB to be exact. Wayne was instantly bitten by the Ferrari bug and hooked for life...