A video where Ray resorts to using the sawzall, drill or torch is never a bad video. As Ray has said in the past, these parts underestimate Ray's ability and willingness to escalate to more extreme forms of violence. 😂

@spaceflight1019

11 ай бұрын

It's the power station paradigm, or Chuck Noll's favorite saying: "Whatever it takes!"

@johnwood346

11 ай бұрын

Always fun cutting out suspension bolts ain't it thought I was losing my mind the last ones I did Every bolt on the rear of a 2010 mitsubishi shogun

@johndenton5555

11 ай бұрын

almost like watching 'Tim Taylor' when he gets all his stuff out but Al does all the work.😁 👍🇺🇸😎

@mpdavis731

11 ай бұрын

Can't be stuck if its a liquid! :D

Those pieces of body armor are there to ensure that if you have a front end collision it makes sure that the bolts in the control arms bend so you have to cut them out.

@MonkeyJedi99

11 ай бұрын

Sounds about right.

@1gerard47

11 ай бұрын

Ye,and a bit overkill it looked as if they were supports for the front bumper,they obviously done the job they were designed for,maybe to prevent the front chassis legs from having excess damage in a front end,surprisingly they didn't bend.

@DonsJunkmail-vg1wt

11 ай бұрын

Maybe Ray has the Sawzall set on "Reverse"??🤔

@marknelson8724

11 ай бұрын

Looks like those front braces did their job making a simple job more difficult.

@Gassit

11 ай бұрын

@@1gerard47 They where probably replaced after the accident.

In my 65 years of wrenching I have found more than once the "easy" jobs can be the most difficult due to simple parts. Good job!

@halbud

11 ай бұрын

ain"t that the truth!! I don"t care if its a wiper blade or a turn signal bulb ,if you think its gonna be easy it turns into an hour job lol!!

Thank god you readjusted the front lift positions. I was looking thinking that’s only ever going to end badly. 👍

@2pugman

11 ай бұрын

I was screaming at the monitor NOooo !

@frankvucolo6249

11 ай бұрын

Especially with all that slide hammering, banging and muscling being done. Whew!

@forgetfulme1719

11 ай бұрын

the other shop did it on ground level stands@@frankvucolo6249

@adamdnewman

11 ай бұрын

Yep, if it doesn't look right or feel right, IT ISN'T RIGHT ☠

Its always good to see employees WITH integrity! Caught Troy using an actual torque wrench on tires! While he didnt know he was being observed!!! Bravo!!! Canidate for Crew Chief of the month right there!

@davidmarshak8512

11 ай бұрын

M

@BP-Crux

11 ай бұрын

Tornadoman Troy's Repairs

@josephking6515

11 ай бұрын

I agree with you there. I sure would like to know about Troy's mechanical history. I bet that would also be _a very good video_ just like the rest of Ray's uploaded "children."

@CrimeVid

11 ай бұрын

Have to torque him out of that ! no need for that on non performance motors.

@forgetfulme1719

11 ай бұрын

Mercedes dealer will hire Troy and fire his 'Master of Mental Torque'.

Helpful hint: if the lower control arm is horizontal, there is no side load on the rear bushing and the vertical bolt will easily drop out, especially if an uncovered floor drain is close by.

@williamsquires3070

11 ай бұрын

Yes, and if you out-clever yourself by covering up the floor drain, it’ll NEVER come out (without a Ray-approved sawzall)!

@bobhudson6659

11 ай бұрын

Normally with straight bolt yes. Floor drain is an extra. Then it is fishing time for wife with small hands. Retired mechanic in Land Down Under.

@MattOGormanSmith

11 ай бұрын

@@bobhudson6659 She has magnetic fingers? Did you retire before neodymium?

@dotar9586

11 ай бұрын

@@bobhudson6659 Doesn't stuff fall UP there?

@leonardaltig

11 ай бұрын

Yep. they like to find holes to hide in.

I'm a diesel tech at a truck dealership and I usually watch your videos when I get home. Your skill and positive attitude has definitely helped my diagnostic ability and happiness/optimism/sense of purpose at my job. Thank you ray

@originalthreebeard

11 ай бұрын

Do your co-workers throw a sideways glance every time you say "click"? 😁

@halbud

11 ай бұрын

Don"t you just love the smell of diesel fuel in the morning!!!

@cheeseburger3209

11 ай бұрын

Same here

@robertsturtevant6185

11 ай бұрын

@originalthreebeard…….or when he yells, GRAVITY……..when something is dropped

OMG, I’m so happy to see I’m not the only one to have a simple job go way south. Those ball joints absolutely had to be done though. Even without the suspicion of an accident, they’re well worn.

@MonkeyJedi99

11 ай бұрын

And on the driver side, the rubber boot just fell off with vibration. So, it was not all that well seated anymore. I also think I saw grit in the exposed joint.

hey Ray it was good to see Troy in the background tightening wheel nuts with a tension wrench, obviously he has learnt something.

@justnerdlife

11 ай бұрын

Yes! I had the same thought. Look at him go!

@Dennys854

11 ай бұрын

"Cleeek" "Cleeeek" "Cleeek"

@forgetfulme1719

11 ай бұрын

he bought the skill with him, Ray just uses torque sticks.

I work on Ford vans at my dealership, I am so glad you moved the front pads. My anxiety went to the roof at the first spot.

Troy's learning from the best. Hope he's watching and notices that you just don't give up

Ray you have unbelievable patience. Bravo, I would of been throwing stuff around the shop

Glad to see you re-racked the front end. That was pretty spooky looking on the outside edge.

Not even Troys lucky shirt helped 😂

85th! GOOD HUMPDAY RAY AND THE WIFE UNIT! I also wish a great HUMPDAY to the two new employees! Roger in Pierre South Dakota

I am in the HVAC&R trade and came across a footwear tailor when fixing his heatpump. He is now retired and found out we both watch your channel. You inspire great trades by doing it right. If Trevor sees this you know who you are.

Man, that was painful to watch. Thank you for your hard work !

I was very glad to see you made the right/safe choice of re-thinking your lift points. The ball joints only came out because you re-affirmed my love for penetrating fluid. Once we saw the whole van had been tweaked, I really enjoyed/learned something when you had to get it apart. I look forward to seeing how and if you need to tweak it back to where it was to reassemble it or if it will just go together willingly.

used to work for Ziebart rustproofing. The guy doing the undercoating has A Chevy SS454 pickup to do. He centered it on the rack not realizing that A big block short box truck was gonna be front heavy. It fell. No one was hurt, except a few grand fixing the truck... j/s

These Euro-Fords really rock. Easy peasy maintenance...Oh, how I miss the Econoline.

Good job Ray on getting your shop dialed it. It’s looking good. I’m sure the van needs some new KYB strut assembly’s . Bolts like that one not coming out are a real ticker. Ray has heard it many times but I’m gonna say it again , Ray is a great mechanic.

@josephking6515

11 ай бұрын

I would say Ray's a *mechanical engineer.* His skillset is brilliant IMO!! 👍👍👍👍👍

@549BR

11 ай бұрын

I heard that Ray's a great actor, and this program is being filmed on Warner Bros. old back lot in Hollywood. 😎

Yes those big galvanized running boards indicate that was purchased from U-Haul when it was relatively new. Trust me those are very heavy to take off too. They use existing factory holes in the frame with special fasteners. I bought my 2014 E250 from U-Haul with 2400 miles back in early 2015. They used to flip their small vans very quickly. Don’t know now if that’s still the case.

Hey Ray, Troy says he wants his shirt back😂😂😂. "Two things you thought would bring drama and two others that actually did! If it doesn't capitulate, escalate! Great video 👊

I especially appreciate how careful you are with lift safety. Well done, sir!

Hey Ray! You should install a mirror on the wall so you can see when you are right up against the wall.

wearing Troy's shirt today.....

Eric O probably sitting back with popcorn laughing 😂

gotta love Rays positive attitude. he really has a nice well equipped auto service station. he is one of the few guys i would trust to work on my car.

@forgetfulme1719

11 ай бұрын

I trust Troy more.

Hi Ray. I'm in the UK and can feel your pain. Best way to remove that arm is to get it level and the bolt will fall out. With the salty roads over here l, that bolt usually rusts to the steel sleeve in the bush.

Ray, I watch your videos every day. You are an excellent mechanic I mechanic all my life some on vehicles and heavy equipment, love watching your videos keep up the good work big ED coming to you from western Kentucky. Hope you and your family has a wonderful day.

Eric O and Ray uploaded at the exact same time 5:05AM this morning. Sending blessings and prayers Good morning from a suburb near Chicago. ❤❤👍👍👍

3 words, "Factory Shop Manual". They have saved me a ton of hours.

That is a simple job escalating into a major PIA!! Your patience is a blessing to the business.

@wayneessar7489

11 ай бұрын

Pita like the bread...😅

Time for the plasma cutter... If it's liquid, it can't be stuck!😂

@dragonmaker1541

11 ай бұрын

Lol, but no.

Just goes to show every day has a different challenge to overcome in the shop.

Ray has met and defeated the Final Boss of automotive repair!!! This is ... A Very Good Video!!!!

You probably already know this Ray, but if you can get the foot of the saws all against a solid surface, it will cut faster. It lets the blade flex less, and helps prevent you from absorbing the reciprocation from the saw.

@MonkeyJedi99

11 ай бұрын

Of course, you need to have sufficient clearance beyond the cut for the length of the blade. It looked like, for the lower of each cut, that space was partially occluded by a structural curve of that lower plate.

Ray on the driver's side where that bad ball joint was that bracket it was stuck in look at it carefully I swear I seen a Crack in it which means the new ball joint could bust out of it. It's a small Crack just around the rim of where the ball joint goes in at or it's just paint Crack is it painted ?

An incredibly impressive video Ray. You increasingly amaze me with your capacity to be both creative and strongarm your way to success. Applause (in the background). Thanks for the video.

Good way to enjoy my coffee. Have a good day Ray!

mannnnn!!!! That would’ve been ten times harder without that air hammer!!!! Somewhere there’s a guy beating the hell outta that ball joint!😅🥲😂

@MacRODesign55

11 ай бұрын

I think the "Ford Strategy" is to make it so difficult to repair that you replace the entire hub assemblies.

Funny how an easy job become difficult.

“Should” gets you almost every time!

That looked like delivering twins side by side at the same time. ‘Oh, they’re coming out-one way or another.’

Hey Ray and Wife Unit. Greetings from Australia. Keep up the good work!!

@GrayRealities

11 ай бұрын

Eric O and Ray uploaded at the same time this morning. Good morning from a suburb near Chicago. ❤❤👍👍👍

@greenriver520

11 ай бұрын

Just tuned in from CQ in Australia. Been watching Ray for a couple of years now. He's brilliant.

@legogummybear5

11 ай бұрын

Central Queensland ? @@greenriver520

@wisecampmotorcycles8258

11 ай бұрын

Central NSW here 🇦🇺👍

@MacRODesign55

11 ай бұрын

Sydney here.

I was in exactly the same situation when I had to replace a front lower control arm on a 2012 Fiat 500 (same as a 2nd Gen Ford Ka). There was a beam from the subframe to the front bumper obscuring the front bolt of the control arm. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad to remove. I hope the owner gets the front tyres replaced and the front wheel alignment done.

@MonkeyJedi99

11 ай бұрын

Agreed!

Wow that was a physical and mental workout!

Another vocabulary enhancing experience!!! I bought the same Milwaukee kit from Amazon. Money very well spent!!!!!!!!

There's a chance the SAI or caster on the alignment will be at the edge of spec. Replacing the control arms will help but the subframe may be tweaked.

@mph5896

11 ай бұрын

Looks like everything on that front end is junk. When he pulled the DS boot off the ball joint, you could see how much slop it had in it. Then add in the collision damage like you mentioned. Throw some parts on it and see if it will align🙃

I think I might have devised a better way of using prying force, while turning the bolts, before resorting to the slide hammer and sawzall. I think you’re still inclined to forget you have an extra pair of hands that can be used to hold tools for you. Watching you struggle to work with one hand, when 4 are available is always a toss up between fun and frustration. Still, you got there in the end. Bet you were sweaty! Props for getting through it.

Seems like I run into problems like this which should be simple then realize, no lift, not enough tools, not enough experience, not enough patience and fear car will be stuck broke down in driveway then face massive expensive repairs from someone I don’t trust. Choosing battles wisely is important. Wish I could find a good honest mechanic like Ray.

I love his narration style and vocabulary.

you can charge this guy a heck more for this repair. I suspect that he already knew this (hence the supply of material)and chose you for your ignorance (positively meant) What I can't stand is that a lot of people are not honest in their communication and use other good willing people to take care of their shit

patience is a virtue !!!!! years of experience is showing here

Headline reads Rainman Ray Suffers identity crisis and now becomes Troy. Or at least that is what was on the shirt. A job like that and a guy could go through a lot of clothing me thinks. Good work and good work to win in the end.

Gotta love when someone smirks and says, I gotta easy one for ya...

Heart of a lion, patience of a saint. Saint Ray of spanners, the newly appointed patron saint of mechanics!

I work as A Ford Technician here in Chicago those Transit control arms are a common job.i always get new bolts and cut the old bolts off..it seized inside the bushing insert

A lot of knowledge, thinking outside the box, and problem-solving. Interesting.

1058 Troy displays magical abilities by disappearing in front of our eyes. Impressive.

I'll always remember the moment I witnessed the Battle of the Ball Joints. One of those things you carry with you the rest of your life. And then the Love Interest shows up to add the pathos in the middle of the battle. The stuff of legends.

I've been on a brief break watching videos, and my first Ray video, and Ray is doing a job that sums up my last week. I need some gravy in my life. Apparently so do you Ray. May the reassembly go much smoother. 👍👍

I was REALLY hoping for "Customer states, A/C does not blow cold!"

Ya kno.... you have a NEW dimension in auto repair: The use of video to document unexpected difficulties. You would be able to quote repairs but with reservation that extra problems = extra charge BUT with video capture.

Troy walks by is like “sorry your on your own on that one ray” hahahha

I tell you what, ford has some really brilliant engineer's.

I like Troy in the background with his shorts and cowboy boots on, I have donned that dress code many times myself.

I don't own a shop, but if it was me I would switch the HD lift with the center lift and mount the lift a foot or two farther away from the wall. Might limit access to the angled lift but I would use the new used on and the HD lift most of the time. Use the angled lift for smaller cars.

I love how that air chisel hammer helps you out alot on certain circumstances & looks like it works wonders! Keep up the good work Ray! 😃

At my shop ive done a few transmissions and even catalytic converters on these vans where that subframe has to come out. Even with only 50k miles ive had to cut the control arms to get those rear control arm bolts out.

I was a mechanic since the 70s Whenever we bought a loaded control arm it came with everything Same with loaded brake calipers

Ball joints…remove bolts, cut bolt flanges off, press out using normular protocol. 👍

Oh my, what an epic (as in a long and arduous job). Credit to you for tenacity.

I’m all tensed up now! I was fighting the good fight with you on those ball joints!

Thank you for this video. We have been trying to get the bolt out of the control arm on our can also. This was a very detailed, very imformational video. Thank you again!

“I can’t one-hand it” as he one-hands it 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Just a suggestion, I think you were on an easier method to extract the bolt prying and turning simultaneously. I would have grabbed a block of wood, etc as a spacer to place between the pickle fork and the frame to improve the angle of attack to compensate for the bolts length already pulled out. Thus using the bolts threads rather than fighting them.

I don’t miss the drama of the old videos. But a good ol’ do da doo da doo when the phone rings would be nice to hear again.

I would like a short clip on your top ten nightmare jobs. This one looks like one of them. "Endeavour to persevere."

@bloodybones63

11 ай бұрын

Chief Dan George?

Lots of Issues with this van with the bent bolts and Them ball joints didn't want to to come out good video as always 41:29 @Rainman Ray's Repairs

Transit vans are great money makers for the repair industry! As long as you have all the specialty tools, sawzalls, torches and four elbows it's easy money!

That weird bracket probably stops the bumper flapping in the wind. Another great video, thank you!

That support beam your calling it Ray is The Bumper Crush Bar and bumper Support 8:50 @Rainman Ray's Repairs

Ray, your perseverance in the face of adversity is truly admirable mate. I mean seriously, dragging out the Hackzall, slide hammer, pneumatic hammer to cut through bent control arm bolts and distorted ball joints shows that you're not going down without a fight. Goodonya mate - you've truly earned this evening's cleansing ale after going through all that. Watching you fighting the ball joints with the pneumatic hammer, I was wishing that you had some pneumatic spreaders that could wedge in between the flange and the base and extract it that way. You would've had a better angle of attack than going in from the top with the hammer. I can't wait to see the next one in this series.

@epstein_isnt_dead7726

10 ай бұрын

The control arm bolts. When the picklefork maxed out, the genius could have just put anything metal (like the head of a hammer) in between his picklefork and the frame to move the pivot point lower so he could keep praying with the picklefork while using the impact. Would have taken 30 seconds and the bolt would have been out and the customer wouldn't get hit with an extra hour of shop time while this dude screws around

I'm impressed by your tenacity. Keep it up.

First time I've seen a working mechanic in cowboy boots. Go Troy.

Catch 22: if the control arm bushing fails, you can't get the bolt out. If the bushing is intact, there's no reason to change the control arm! Been there, did that, had to drive 2hrs round trip to get the only two suspension bolts left in dealership inventory in six counties. Keep up the good work, Ray, you inspire us all to just keep calm and impact on. Also, torque wrench clicks - shoutout to 15:26 !

Using an assault hammer may seem like an easy too to use but it takes alot of control to use one and exhausting so good job always like seeing what another real technician goes through instead of these youtube "mechanics" do they never show the problems that can arise from a job. Great job Ray keeping it realistic

I really enjoy your videos, especially when you run into unexpected problems. A small suggestion, deablo blades for the sawzall last longer and cut hard metals quicker, you can also get shorter blades that make it easier to only cut what you want to.

When I was little, my parents rarely cursed in the house. However when dad worked on vehicles I always heard lots of foul language coming from the garage

Hey Ray, I could feel your frustration with those ball joints all the way across the country into British Columbia! Glad you were able to get them out. Cheers!

Thought of you, Ray, this past weekend while changing steering knuckles on my Cherokee. Four cans of Brake Kleen. (for you non Jeep people, on XJ/TJ the brake pads slide on the knuckles, not a caliper bracket, and scrape grooves into in the metal; the only fix is to weld the divots, or replace the knuckles)

So now your name is Troy? :D At least that´s what it says on the work shirt

4:00 I didn't like those support points on the front frame either, glad you decided to move them inboard to the flat and likely much more stable frame area.

Nothing like a repair that fights you the whole time.

Man, that one was a doozie! "good job, Ray",you da man! ❤ all your videos no matter the length....

Good job Ray, reminds me of old saying about F.O.R.D what the letters stand for looking at some of their engineering! 😂

The moment you started whacking this bolt with the puller and welding pliers.....I was thinking this is going to end with "Sawzall time!".

I am sitting here pulling for you every time that you pull on the hammer. WOW!!

Ray Good Morning to you looks like a tuff day for you. We term when you check the vehicle to make sure it supported that the Safety Shakey shake. Have a great day Ray. Maybe some thing nicer to work on.