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Spent $40 on a digital caliper and it already paid for itself
Picked up a cheap digital caliper off Amazon last month because my old one finally bit the dust after 10 years. Cost me 40 bucks. Used it yesterday to measure a rotor thickness on a 2012 F-150 and found it was way under spec, even though it looked fine from the outside. Customer was about to just slap new pads on and send it. Caught it before it became a bigger problem and saved them a comeback. That little tool just earned its keep in one job. Anyone else have a tool that seemed silly to buy but ended up being a lifesaver?
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lisa_murray15d ago
Oh man, that "even though it looked fine from the outside" part hit home. I bought a cheap borescope camera off Amazon for like 30 bucks just to mess around with, thinking it was a total waste. Then last month my buddy's car started overheating and we couldn't figure out why until I snaked that thing down into the coolant passages and found a massive chunk of rust lodged in there. Totally invisible from any other angle. That little camera has now saved me on three separate occasions and I use it for random stuff like checking inside walls and even looking for lost screws under the fridge.
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elliotc1015d ago
Tbh the coolant passage thing is brilliant, I never would have thought of that. I got one of those cheap cameras last year and honestly it paid for itself on day one. My dryer was making this horrible noise and I had no idea why until I slid the camera down the vent pipe and found a half-eaten mouse nest completely blocking everything. Couldn't see it from outside because the vent looked clear. Now I use it every few months to check behind the washer and under the stove for lost earrings and that one screw I dropped when I was fixing a cabinet. That little thing has saved me so many arguments with my wife about losing her jewelry.
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