The Garage Hour's Gearhead Consultancy talks truck parts and the third-world cleptobureaucracy of Kalifornistan's latest plan to screw its taxpayers right out the door over new beers and the new brewer at Helix Brewing Co.

This Helix-homebase episode is a choose-your-own-adventure special:  1. Like beer?  We've got the FNG: Mike Schlerethenbergenhofer (that's how HE spelled it), who talks hops like Idaho 7 (powering the new Hop Bomb) and HPC 369 and 342, which underpin other on-tap creations by head brewer CamBall.  Oh, yeah, and Cameron got a haircut, which will offset his fancy surfer abs when he brews shirtless - you heard it here, ladies.

2. Like trucks?  There's trucks.  Big brakes and where to get them (Mexico versus China), bleeding brakes and whether brake fluid is flammable (apparently not), and blown rings in a master cylinder.  Then it's diesels, functionality and the cost of buying old versus the penalty of buying new.  Oh, and apparently urea is bad for you AND for your truck.

3. Like guns?  We review a day at the range with Active Shooter Defense School and sometime cohost and full-time hardcase Matt Klier, and then get into the Weaver stance (think Miami Vice) versus Matt's isosceles stance (think Special Forces).

 4. Like always, there's the fact that whether or not you are interested in politics, politics is interested in you (especially in the Garage Hour's home state of panic that is CA).  The statist creeps that have infested the capitol just passed a few more up-yours laws, like a huge increase in gas and diesel fuel taxes.  And, just when they hybrid and electric car owners thought they were safe because they'd drunk the Kool-Aid, Gov. Spongebrain Brownpants and his low-info zealots included fees for them, too.  Flee while you can.

The Garage Hour's Gearhead Consultancy talks truck parts and the third-world cleptobureaucracy of Kalifornistan's latest plan to screw its taxpayers right out the door over new beers and the new brewer at Helix Brewing Co.

This Helix-homebase episode is a choose-your-own-adventure special:  1. Like beer?  We've got the FNG: Mike Schlerethenbergenhofer (that's how HE spelled it), who talks hops like Idaho 7 (powering the new Hop Bomb) and HPC 369 and 342, which underpin other on-tap creations by head brewer CamBall.  Oh, yeah, and Cameron got a haircut, which will offset his fancy surfer abs when he brews shirtless - you heard it here, ladies.

2. Like trucks?  There's trucks.  Big brakes and where to get them (Mexico versus China), bleeding brakes and whether brake fluid is flammable (apparently not), and blown rings in a master cylinder.  Then it's diesels, functionality and the cost of buying old versus the penalty of buying new.  Oh, and apparently urea is bad for you AND for your truck.

3. Like guns?  We review a day at the range with Active Shooter Defense School and sometime cohost and full-time hardcase Matt Klier, and then get into the Weaver stance (think Miami Vice) versus Matt's isosceles stance (think Special Forces).

 4. Like always, there's the fact that whether or not you are interested in politics, politics is interested in you (especially in the Garage Hour's home state of panic that is CA).  The statist creeps that have infested the capitol just passed a few more up-yours laws, like a huge increase in gas and diesel fuel taxes.  And, just when they hybrid and electric car owners thought they were safe because they'd drunk the Kool-Aid, Gov. Spongebrain Brownpants and his low-info zealots included fees for them, too.  Flee while you can.