What? Using Brake Cleaner to actually clean brakes??? Inconceivable!

Retired after 35 years as a heavy duty truck, trailer and equipment mechanic. I took pride in the work I did and it was good to hear most the drivers that came in requested that I'm the one they wanted working on the trucks. Its good to see there are others in the trade that hold the beliefs that you try to instill upon others. Your damned good. Your electronic trouble shooting skills are amazing. Keep doing what your doing.

I've been working on cars for as long as I can remember. I have refused to work for most shops because of how scandalous they are. I would love to work for Rainman Ray. He is one of the most honest mechanics I have ever witnessed

I have worked in the service industry for 40 years and have always tried to do right by the customer. I made a lot of friends by doing that alone. It's amazing how many people don't get that simple concept. Epic tense double brake cleaner moment with the can throwing finale👊

Great video Ray. I am in the trades for over 40 years and my customers are the most important part of my business. I fix only what’s broken and when in question, I ask myself, if this was my home, what would I do, then I do it. Be a blessing to others, and you will be blessed.

The man knows his audience. All that brake clean. All of the shiny and clean. And to you comment reader, i wish you to have a great day

Thank you for being an honest mechanic! I have learned alot from you! I appreciate you and your work ethic! God Bless!

Ray it's time to do a tool inventory on the cart

My husband is a mechanic I always enjoyed watching him work but he's retired now, your video's are great love watching you!! 🥰

This was a very interesting. Your criticism of the previous repairs was well said. Respectful. I really enjoyed this episode Ray. -SALUTE-

Sway bar end links can make pop noises too

So pleased to see the torque wrench on the lugs. Too many times I've had tire shops buzz them on with the impact wrench set for "cold weld", and no way they would have come off with the factory lug wrench unless you were Hulk Hogan.

We need a Rainman Ray in every shop across the country, no more rip offs no more hack jobs and happy customers... every where!

Tip: After cleaning the rear drum brakes, drive the car in reverse and apply the brakes hard. Repeat several times and the auto adjusters will adjust the shoes to the correct distance. This is is all that is required as long the hardware is in good working order.

12:40 Wife Unit in the office is like "Sounds like Ray is using brake clean. Better order another case."

Truly a pleasure to see someone enjoying their job! The brake clean antics are priceless. You out did yourself today when you said “I’m ok”.

This is why i have done all my own mechanical work for 35 years. Its hard to trust when you hear all the bad mouthing of shops and see the investigative t.v. reports of people being ripped off. Ray you are one awesome person for what you are doing by helping people understand the whole side of automotive repair.. keep up the great work!

A little too late for Ray, but inform the vehicle owner to also replace the stabilizer bar links and stabilizer bar bushings. These are often overlooked parts when servicing struts/shocks.

Oh no Ray, you are wrong! All brake problems\maintenance are repaired by calipers, rotors and pads regardless of mileage. All suspension problems are struts. If that doesn’t satisfy the customer, it’s a dealer visit, we don’t do that. I was schooled once by a newby. I was replacing pads on my XJ. I was told that if I didn’t replace the calipers and rotors, I didn’t know what I was doing (30-years experience, MAT+L1). I asked him to show me what was wrong with the calipers and rotors.…crickets.

The garage floor looks like it needs a good protective coating. Maybe put a big ole Ray emblem in the middle while you're at it. Just an idea 😊

I did a little digging into those black poles: They're almost certainly 5G. I found a news story from last year about a Sarasota resident complaining about one being put directly in front of their property (instead of on the lot line), and the video showed those black poles exactly.

That is what when I replace struts I always replace complete strut, spring mount bearing and shock part as an assembly. Most times it's cheaper. And very much less dangerous, and easier.

Great to see you're going from strength to strength. Top Notch stuff

I was told that with rear drum brakes, you have to periodically use the parking brake, as that will actuate the adjuster.

Awesome job as always Ray definitely greatly appreciate your honesty and openess about everything

I always appreciate watching how you work, how you take care of the customer and their vehicles when they come to you. I wish that I could find someone like you in the Atlanta area, especially for motorcycles. Good shops are still just so hard to find.

Great job Ray...I love it when you are in teaching mode! You are an excellent teacher!

I enjoy your running commentary. I was a motorcycle tech for 4 decades and I always tried to do the little things. Lube the levers and clutch cable, adjust brakes and clutch, 5-10 minutes, maybe. It was great when the customer came back and asked me what I did, their bike hadn't felt that good in a long time. A happy customer is a repeat customer and that's what we all want.

That 'Rolla is in great shape for the miles, well looked after. The customer deserved better from the previous shop, but you did them a solid by giving them the opportunity to correct their work. Hopefully we see that vehicle again, but not for replacement strut mounts.

Ray......you can have all the knowledge....skills....and training......but it's all for not if you don't have the right attitude. You've got it all😊

Thanks for the video, always enjoy watching!

You are so honest and your work ethic is impeccable. Ray deserves a knighthood! For your outstanding work in the service indusrty

Hey Ray ! I have gotta say I've been watching you regularly for at least a year and this I'd say is up there with your very best ever. You make your trade entertaining and educationally driven. Your strict adherence to sound engineering practice at all times makes you a true professional of the trade. Those same sound principals are mirrored in your commitment to customer service. In short you do really care about the vehicles you are trusted with, the customers you deal with, and the respect you give your fellow engineers. Honestly and well judged. Not to mention your sheer STAR value. Thanks Dude.

Being from a road salt state im super jealous of how easy those brake drums come off for you... Also that belt adjuster serves as a stretch/wear indicator and if you look at where it was before you took the belt off it was at the max, that belt was done for.

5G remote radio head (RRH -eNB with a fiber feed back-hall). Used to extend 5G coverage into neighborhoods without resorting to installing a full blown macro base station (BTS). Typically, for this use case RRH is equipped with a low power HPA and an onni directional antenna. Gun shot monitor it is not.

My locally owned shop used to completely reputable and was always packed. Then is was purchased by a larger competitor and within a year they are never packed and had less people where only one person has a fing clue about what they’re doing. The rest have little business. They’re still fine for tires, but I’ve found a new shop that I trust implicitly

Always a great video! Suggestion: Get 4 small magnetic trays to put on your lift arms to put lug nuts in. Save time. They won't fall off the arm.

Brake Clean actually used to clean brakes!!

very good explanation for apprentices and those who have been lost in the repair wilderness. To many quick repair places undercutting legitimate service people.

Ray I wish that you had been around to train me back in the day but that would mean you would be a lot older. I appreciate what you do and your thought process

I think those towers might be tornado alarms or cameras checking on seatbelt violators. Love your videos Ray keep up the good work.

good day to you ray another outstanding video as always but the most important thing is to have yourself a great day Ray

This is one of the most humble and helpful videos Ive seen from someone in the industry. I am currently going to school to become an automotive technitian and we’re starting to learn the little things like this. Now I know that I need to keep the little things in my head because they’re always going to be important.

hope you and you're family units are well

As a fellow automotive repair professional - I must say I love your channel and what you do. The automotive repair industry is marred by the poor conduct of many. I support you and your actions 150%. You help to show people that there most certainly are good repair facilities, and mechanics that actually care a lot about what they do - helping people as best they can. As someone who lives in Wisconsin... I absolutely resent the crap out of you, for being able to remove those brake drums with just a few hammer taps LMAO!!!

I appreciate your honesty and I been a schoolbus mechanic for years and I like your cleanliness, even though your shop is dirty lol.

thank you great review ,i owned my shop for 47 years and i always installed loaded struts ,when i ever did struts

nicely narrated thankyou Ray,we expected nothing less from you,,treat others as they treat you,and being respectful with a strong work ethic ,,goes a long way ,,👍🙏

You've become more descriptive and instructional in some of your videos Ray. I like it...

Nice! Straight forward & honesty Another great quick fix and entertaining 😀

Very good video with lots of break cleaner included

Absolutely. Customer service is everything. I have been in General maintenance for 15 years and thats just nature of the job but so few understand that. Those poles are 5G mmWave. They are short range ultra high speed. They are designed in conjunction with the Macro towers to over layers of redundancy and boost speeds.

I imagine every vehicle has a $10.00 brake clean surcharge as part of the normal service.

Don't repair shops realize that if you charge for work done a.k.a rear drum brake inspection not done or fail to resolve an issue the customer isn't coming back, Word of mouth is everything..If i get bad service anywhere I talk about it. Ray you have 500.000 subscribers so you get what I mean and so do 500,000 others to millions talking about you in the back ground..You likely have a customer for life cause you did what the other shop didn't..you inspected..diagnosed and repaired the problem..their lose is your gain.. I never miss a day of Rays videos..witty,,knowledgeable..skillful..and honest to a fault. As always I'm impressed.

@RAINMAN RAY Thank you for explaining things. Im still learning and I appreciate you and your channel. Ive had struts repaired on my vehicles and no one has ever talked to me about strut mounts EVER!!! Scary to think that many dont even consider it. I wonder how many pple have replaced their struts and its actually been the strut mount. I am going to mention this to my brother bc he just had his strut replaced and yes he still has the same noise. Hopefully they make it right. Thank you again.

😂 “we wouldn’t wanna waste brakleen cause it’s expensive” waiting for ray to setup a brakleen go fund me to fund his addiction.

Always wonder why mechanics don't use the method indicated by the manufacturer: reverse and apply brake or apply parking brake to adjust drum brakes. Better than guessing?

This video is what makes you a great service technician. It also shows that parts cannon is not a good way to go at a repair. Thank you for being you 🤙🏼🇨🇦

Always enjoy your diagnostic skills, and your new shop certainly is more quiet

I watch Ray almost every day and i appreciate the fact that he is honest and doesn't use foul language like most of the other people on utube do.God bless

The shop that I worked at stopped replacing just the strut. There are complete assemblies available that reduce the amount of time that the car is on your hoist as well as making sure that all parts are brand new.

Putting on the wheel covers reminds me of every car chase I've ever seen where the covers go flying off.

Ray, I love your video's been watching them for years. I do have one comment about taking a vehicle back to a shop that may not have done the job properly. The danger is that the person who did not do a good job gets docked pay or some other repercussion and causes a problem that turns up later but cannot be proven that it was caused by a shop employee. This has happened to me and someone in the shop (a paint shop) damaged other paint on the roof of my car and poured epoxy into my engine and radiator. It only became evident when I went to start the car the next morning. The insurance company just paid the wholesale value which was not much, they and the police were not at all interested in pursuing this matter which was a criminal act. Learned that lesson.

Your comments regarding customer service and actually troubleshooting the problem were refreshing to hear. I am a software engineer/consultant- so not quite the same business- but I often see other companies whose engineers don't actually understand how to _troubleshoot_ things. They make changes or fixes to software at the direction of the client without understanding why they are doing it or how this change impacts the system overall. I have definitely experienced this at a few shops in the automotive world too (especially our local Acura dealership). You bring them a problem (e.g. "my AC is not working on the passenger side") and somehow they hear "I want you to recharge my AC". No, I want you to troubleshoot the problem, and recommend the appropriate fix. Does it actually need the AC recharged or is it just the blend door actuator? Are the schrader valves bad or leaking? Recharging the AC won't do much if the valves are shot. They did this to my wife, and they billed her twice to recharge the AC because the first time they failed to troubleshoot the problem and notice issues with the valves. She took it back in, they noticed the valves, and of course had to do the AC again- and billed her for another overpriced recharge of AC in addition to extra labor and time for the valves. I was so pissed (not to mentioned we got hit in that car a week later on vacation in Florida and it was totaled anyways) that I started trying to learn how to do this stuff on my own- cars and software are both just machines. The only difference I have found so far between solving software problems and car problems is: 1. That I can't make my own car parts on the fly with my brain like I can with code (I have to order them, which is annoying) 2. I need more tools than a keyboard, and cars are heavy and annoying to work in/around sometimes (I can tear apart software all day long without needing a jack or a lift, but I will have bloody knuckles just trying to reach the drive belt tensioner on my Altima to replace the alternator) 3. I don't get greasy and dirty while fixing software (except mentally, because sometimes other people's code is just....disgusting) I can tell by the way you do your job and talk about the work that you are a true professional.

This video deserves two thumbs up, one for the repair work and one for the philosophy lesson.

Ray. Have a great day/night. Thanks for sharing!

Ray, In my opinion, you are a great 'Real World' and a lot more honest auto mechanic - plus a lot of fun to watch!!! lol As an old assistant mechanic, I know a lot but I learn a LOT from your videos. I also see you enjoy your job! That in itself makes a persons life better. I appreciate you, just seriously wish you were local to me so I could support your business! Thanks

Ray if you see this I just wanna say you are a great mechanic and you are what mechanics need to be this day in time you explain in every detail which is awesome I am well a mechanic and I do the same thing EVEN if if cost me a little money to go out of my way for the customer that way I know the job was done right... Thank you Ray for being one of those Great mechanics that actually cares!!!! Little story I was in a hurry one day so i had Jiffy lube change my oil and Being that I'm a mechanic I mark my oil filters with a paint pen to see if they changed it and guess what??? They changed my oil and didn't not change my oil filter i went up there and told them I busted them for doing shotty work and got the money back for a filter and filter change they charged me for and didn't do it. We gotta take back our name as good mechanics

Wow other shop didn't do the rear Drums or atleast check them

I wish I had you in my area. Being able to see how you think and work definitely helps build trust in what you do.

SO glad you hit with the torque wrench, last brake shop I had work on my truck just used their torque bit to put on my lug nuts, they said that the torque wrench was not needed, last time they did my brakes, i did it when I got it back to my shop, so much for trying to save time

Good morning Ray. This has already been a good video. The last shop was definitely not thorough with their repairs. But our Rocket Surgeon can find the littlest detail that was missed.

Ooh ooh brake dust= epic brake kleen appearance yes I’m here for that. Now I’ll have a great day

I've always adjusted drum brakes via the window in the backing plate. Adjust until slight drag, then back off a couple of clicks.

New shop is looking great Ray!

how come you didn't put grease on spots behind the rear brake shoes??? That could be a noise issue. Only for a complete job, especially when the brake cleaner most likely left no grease behind

Doesn't all your profit margin go in Brake Clean?😀

When I'm doing drums in my driveway, I use the garden hose to wash out the brake dust. I only use brake cleaner if I have a wheel seal leak.

I have found a good deal of front end clunking can come from sway bar bushings and links. The bushings get worn and allow the bar to clunk in that gap.

Seems some new grease under the shoes on the backing plate is in order.

The top hat is making the noise it's a very common mistake @Rainman Ray's Repairs

Upon the 1st hammer blow it was clear that no mechanic worth his salt worked on it previously. Great video for Noobs. Just got a couple cans of nonchlorinated brake cleaner, though will finish off my old standard cans 1st for my upcoming wheel rotation/brake inspections/adjustments in driveway.

Ray - I love they simplistic and very methodical way you diagnose issues, most of the time even before you have even laid a hand on the vehicle, your experience speaks volumes, and their is no book that teaches that. I do think however, you need to patent some sort of jet washer attachment that fits on to an air line with a break clean can adaptor so you can have super high pressure break clean air jet for even more nice a shiny. Keep doing what you do Ray, I look forward to every upload no matter how mundane it is. 👍😮

First

Your going to "circle back" did you work for the Biden administrations?

Agreed...replace mounts. Might as well do loaded strut assembly.

Good afternoon Mr Ray enjoyed watching some of your live chat yesterday

Love the way you tell the other guy the truth without giving there name. Plus you always seem to know what is going on with the car on the test drive.

Ray, you are wise. Your talk about customer service is excellent. I wish more car mechanics had your attitude. The world would be a better place.

that's why my garage puts on complete quick struts with the salt used in winter here springs are pitted, and all the rubbers are falling apart it avoids come backs.

EXCELLENT BRAKE CLEAN SOUND EFFECTS RAY!!!! Always gets a LIKE from me!

Just a tip. A hammer can damage the rear shoes. The hole in the brake drums are perfect for a 10mm bolt to pop the drum off

I appreciated the pep talk about customer service as applied to your trade. I hope everyone heard the value of the "rant" as I did. Hope the family is doing well. May God continue to bless you, your family and your business 🙏 That brake cleaner double orchestra hit was pretty epic by the way 😅

You nailed it Ray! Customer service is king!

Those of you that never had any type of shop class in high school, this is what you're missing out on in life!!! Basic dude and dudette life skills. Ray breaks it down and explains the why and wherefore to simple and complex mechanic repairs. Keep up the great work Ray!!!

I love watching your videos. Thank you!

I had one shop work on my cars and trucks for almost 30 years until I found out they had done me wrong, now I never go back to them for anything!

Thank you Ray!

I agree with that Ray. The same issue is with many Autoparts stores today also Ray.

The brakes were angry that day my friends! Was just looking for a chance to use that again. You're great Ray!!!