Autoblog

I need this. My back isn't what it used to be, so when it's time to fiddle with the undercarriage, I start thinking wistfully about lifts or pits. It'd also make it easier to hang off the end of the breaker bar for those monster-torque suspension fasteners. Exhaust work? No more lying on your back, rust crispies falling into your mouth, embers from that bolt you're torching out ending up who knows where. Of course, it's always a plus to make sure there are no fluids in the car, or they'll remind you of their presence once you get the car on its side.

Eastwood's catalog is chock-full of tools that look awesome, and yet, I have no idea how to use them. Their Tilt-A-Car unit is pretty self-evident. It attaches with the lugs and one side has a radius. You pop your 3/8" driver drill on the lift screw, and it's bottoms up. This unit would have made repairing the rust-tastic rockers and rear quarters on my Volvo 245 a cinch. It's about half the price of a lift – not counting the installation cost, and it seems more useful on a fully assembled car than a rotisserie is.

Thanks for the tip, Keith!

[Source: bbgadgets]

Quite simply, rust sucks. Most any vehicle regularly driven during winters in the Salt Belt will fall victim to corrosion, and the various spray-on undercoatings available from the aftermarket have their shortcomings. Specifically, the spray-on application of these coatings often results in incomplete coverage, and what is applied will typically degrade upon repeated exposure to a decade's worth of abrasive road debris.

After dropping the fuel tank on our 1996 Buick Roadmaster, we found some oxidized ugliness despite the vehicle's near-impeccable maintenance record. Fortunately, the damage was caught before significant amounts of sheetmetal were lost, and modern technology has provided us with the tools to keep the situation from getting worse.