Top 100 Car Maintenance Tips that you should know

March 23, 2022

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61. Free Up a Stuck Trailer Hitch

When the ball mount on your trailer hitch is rusted in place, don’t whack at it with a sledgehammer. Here’s what to do instead. Buy a can of penetrating oil ($6) and an air chisel fitted with a “hammer” bit. The air chisel will run about $15 and the extra bit will be about $8. Spray the opening to the hitch receiver. This newest style of penetrating fluid chills the metal, causing it to contract to help break the rust seal. Then use an air chisel fitted with a hammer bit to knock everything loose. The air hammer will break up the rust, spread the penetrant and free up the ball mount. Once it’s free, just tap out the rusted ball mount with a regular hammer. If you plan to reuse the rusty mount, coat it with a rust converter or waterproof marine grease. Check out these great trailer upgrades!

62. Rubber-Band Bolt Holder

Mechanics often use special magnetic inserts in sockets to prevent the bolt from falling out while they try to thread it into a tight spot. You don’t need to waste money on those gadgets. Simply cut a rubber band into strips and lay a strip across the opening of the socket. Then insert the bolt head. The rubber band will wedge the bolt head in the socket, allowing you to start threading without losing the bolt.

63. Free Up a Sticking Hood latch

If your hood doesn’t latch and unlatch easily, chances are it’s just rusty and dry. You can fix the problem in about 10 minutes with spray rust penetrant and spray lithium grease. Pop the hood and saturate the entire latch mechanism with rust penetrant. Latch and unlatch the hood several times until the mechanism works smoothly. The rust penetrant won’t last long, so you’ll have to apply a better lube. Open the hood and spray all the moving parts with white lithium grease. Latch and unlatch the hood several more times and you’re good to go. There is a difference between rust penetrant and WD-40, which is still great at scaring away spiders, believe it or not.

64. Replace a Pickup Bumper

A rusty or dented bumper can drag down the whole appearance of a pickup that’s in otherwise good shape. Having it replaced by a pro will set you back $1,000, but you can save $500 or more in labor and parts by doing the job yourself. It takes only a few hours. Get complete instructions here.

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Top 100 Car Maintenance Tips that you should know

61. Free Up a Stuck Trailer Hitch

62. Rubber-Band Bolt Holder

63. Free Up a Sticking Hood latch

64. Replace a Pickup Bumper

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