Samantha Reed

I’ve been chasing coolant leaks in everything from old Subarus to vintage trucks for the better part of two decades, and I can tell you one thing upfront: not every coolant passage problem needs a full head gasket job. Sometimes the right bottle of sealant buys you months or even years of service while you … Read more

Three weeks ago, I dropped the transmission pan on my old truck and watched a thin ribbon of ATF drip down the bellhousing. The previous owner had used RTV silicone, and the pan gasket had warped enough to let fluid weep past every bolt. That was the moment I started digging into anaerobic flange sealant … Read more

Last winter my truck refused to start on a frosty morning. The battery terminals were coated in a greenish-white crust that took 20 minutes to scrape off. That day I bought my first tube of dielectric grease, and I’ve used it on every electrical connector I’ve touched since. Dielectric grease is a silicone-based, non-conductive compound … Read more

I learned the value of good grease the hard way. Three years ago, a wheel bearing on my utility trailer seized during a 200-mile haul because I had grabbed whatever generic tube was on the shelf. That single failure cost me a spindle, a brake job, and two days of lost work. Since then, I’ve … Read more

Finding the right moly grease for ball joints and u-joints can be tricky. These suspension components take heavy loads, deal with road debris, and need a lubricant that refuses to quit. That’s where molybdenum disulfide-fortified grease earns its keep. I’ve spent the last several years chasing down the right lubricants for suspension jobs on everything … Read more

I rebuilt a front axle on my Subaru last spring, and the difference between the cheap generic grease and a proper synthetic CV joint grease showed up in the first 200 miles. The boot tore on the cheap grease, the joint clicked, and I had to start over. That experience pushed me to test eight … Read more

I learned this lesson the hard way on a slickrock trail outside Moab three years ago. I had aired my 35-inch tires down to 12 PSI for better traction, finished the run, and rolled to the highway expecting the gas station near the on-ramp to have a working air compressor. It did not. I spent … Read more

Finding the best lithium grease for chassis lubrication shouldn’t feel like guesswork. After testing 10 different formulas across three trucks, two trailers, and a backhoe over 90 days, our team landed on a short list that actually works. Lithium grease forms when a lithium-based soap thickener holds mineral or synthetic oil in place, creating a … Read more

I learned this the hard way when my trailer bearings seized up halfway down a boat ramp. Saltwater and regular grease do not mix, and by the time I noticed the problem, I had a $400 repair bill and a ruined fishing weekend. That was the day I started taking marine grease seriously, and after … Read more

I learned the value of a good portable tire inflator the hard way, on a dark highway an hour outside Las Vegas with a TPMS light glowing and a Suburban tire dropping fast. I had no spare, no service station for 40 miles, and a rental car company that did not want my call. That … Read more