Shop workflow
Guided jobs, estimates, labor, parts, and customer-ready records.
Founder • Garage Monkey PRO
Brian Vanderford
Entrepreneur, Certified Welder Fabricator, diesel and automotive mechanic, and creator of the Garage Monkey PRO OBD2 and Heavy Truck diagnostic apps.
From the shop floor
Built by someone who uses diagnostics every day
I’m Brian Vanderford, an entrepreneur, Certified Welder Fabricator, and diesel and automotive mechanic. I work as the Shop Supervisor and Yard Manager at a used semi-truck dealership in Phoenix, Arizona, where practical diagnostics, safe repairs, and keeping equipment moving are part of every day.
Garage Monkey PRO grew out of that hands-on experience. I wanted one tool that could connect to real vehicles, organize the diagnostic workflow, explain codes in plain language, and help mechanics and DIY owners move from a warning light to an informed repair.
Outside the shop, I use AI and Codex to turn useful ideas into working applications. That work has grown into two distinct products: Garage Monkey PRO OBD2 Diagnostics and Garage Monkey PRO Heavy Truck Diagnostics. Each new challenge has helped me build more experience while proving that determination, practical knowledge, and the drive to keep moving forward can create useful tools for other people.
“If a tool doesn’t make the job clearer, faster, or safer, it doesn’t belong in the app.”
Built with Codex
The journey from one shop-floor idea to two diagnostic apps
The first project became Garage Monkey PRO OBD2 Diagnostics, created to give drivers, DIY owners, and independent mechanics a clearer path from connecting an adapter to scanning a vehicle, understanding its codes, checking live data, finding parts, building estimates, and saving professional reports.
Working every day around used semi-trucks showed me that commercial vehicles needed their own purpose-built platform. Heavy trucks use different networks, interfaces, systems, and safety procedures, so I built Garage Monkey PRO Heavy Truck Diagnostics as a separate app instead of forcing truck tools into the passenger-vehicle product.
With Codex helping turn my mechanical knowledge and workflow ideas into working software, the Heavy Truck app grew around NEXIQ USB-Link 3 and Noregon DLA+ 2.0 interfaces, J1939 and J1708/J1587 networks, whole-truck fault scanning, live data, aftertreatment monitoring, guarded forced regeneration, photo parts identification, supplier lookup, voice commands, work orders, and before-and-after reports.
Building both apps represents more than adding features. It shows my drive to keep learning, solve practical problems, and use decades of hands-on trade experience to create tools that can help owners, mechanics, shops, and fleets work more confidently.
App 01 • The foundation
OBD2 Diagnostics
The original Garage Monkey PRO platform for passenger and light-duty vehicles, combining real scans, live data, guided workflows, parts lookup, estimates, and reports.
Explore the OBD2 app →
App 02 • The next step
Heavy Truck Diagnostics
A dedicated commercial-vehicle platform inspired by Brian’s daily semi-truck work and built around professional interfaces, truck networks, aftertreatment, guarded service workflows, parts, and work orders.
Explore the Heavy Truck app →EntrepreneurProduct builder and founder
Shop SupervisorUsed semi-truck dealership
Yard ManagerFleet and equipment operations
Certified Welder FabricatorHands-on trade experience
Diesel & Auto MechanicPhoenix, Arizona
Garage Monkey PRO timeline
From a shop-floor idea to a growing diagnostic product family
Concept and identity
The Garage Monkey PRO name, brand, and mission took shape around real diagnostic needs encountered in day-to-day shop work.
Working Android foundation
Real USB ELM327 communication, vehicle identification, code reading, live PID data, and the first field-ready Android build came together.
Wireless and vehicle-aware diagnostics
Bluetooth adapter support, hardware health checks, faster VIN detection, bus selection, and manufacturer-aware diagnostic routing expanded the platform.
Complete shop workflow
Job Mode, AI Mechanic guidance, parts lookup, estimates, maintenance tracking, report history, cloud sync, and Google Play testing preparation moved the app beyond basic code reading.
Brand and launch foundation
Public hosting, the Garage Monkey PRO website, privacy and legal pages, store materials, and launch pricing established the product’s public foundation.
A second dedicated app
Garage Monkey PRO Heavy Truck Diagnostics became its own focused platform for NEXIQ and Noregon interfaces, J1939/J1708 networks, truck coverage, aftertreatment workflows, parts support, and professional job records.
Beyond diagnostics
Practical software for people who build, repair, and keep things moving
Brian’s broader AI-assisted work includes app concepts and working tools designed around useful outcomes rather than novelty.
Fleet maintenance
Service schedules, reminders, fault history, and vehicle tracking.
Camera tools
Part, label, VIN, and barcode identification from a phone camera.
Voice workflows
Hands-busy commands and guided interaction for field and shop use.
Document automation
Professional reports, estimates, invoices, and structured job records.
The standard
Real data. Clear limits. Useful answers.
Garage Monkey PRO is being built for people who need to understand what a vehicle is actually telling them. It does not rely on a simulated scan feed, and it does not pretend every adapter or vehicle supports every function.
The goal is simple: make professional diagnostic thinking more accessible while keeping the mechanic in control.
Join the Android closed test