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A suction cup that will not hold is usually not worn out. Three components fail, all of them replaceable, and GT Tools sells the parts for all three in one kit for $5.30. The pump seal wears and the cup stops pulling vacuum. The rubber flapper inside the plunger bore cracks, or its retaining clip breaks, and the cup pumps but will not hold. The cup rubber itself dries out and stops sealing against glass. Replacing a $77.00 cup because of a worn $5.30 seal is a mistake plenty of shops make. This guide covers how to tell the three apart and what to do about each.

Setting glass is the point in a windshield job where a second technician usually appears. Someone has to hold the weight, someone has to watch the gap, and the urethane gives you one chance to land it in the right place. A setting tool changes that arithmetic by taking the weight and the positioning off the technician's arms. GT Tools builds one for this: the Lil Buddy PRO1, a driver's-side mounted device with a sliding rod and a measuring system that lowers glass into the bead without detaching the suction cups. This guide covers what the tool does, what it needs around it, and what a complete single-technician setup costs.