Tools

So just got my first car and I am curious, the sticky doesn't really cover it in depth and google has brought me some "top 10 list" on majority of hits:

What HAND TOOLS and other critical stuff do I need for a car, namely things to keep in said car?
AAA or whatever roadside service aside, what are stuff I need for basic home maintenance to roadtrip emergency bandaids?

>first aid
>gloves
>light source, both flashlight and chemical
>spare tire
>tire iron
>mech/hydrolic jack
>jack stand
>socket/screwdriver set

My question is what's a good socket/screw driver set? I am open to good tools. Or should I just go for big box store brands (craftsman, kobolt, stanley, etc) since I am not really going to be working extensively on my car, just emergencies and occasional self maintenance?

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First aid kit, whatever you need to change a tire that didnt already come with the car, a tire repair kit cause sometimes its easier, a flashlight and enough cash to get a tow back home.

You arent going to be able to roadside fi much else than a flat tire and if you do it will likely take twice as long as in your garage with the added danger of people hitting you as they drive by.

>I am not really going to be working extensively on my car, just emergencies and occasional self maintenance
Husky and Craftsman are your best bet, you can pick up a mechanic's tool set with ratchets and sockets for ~200 dollars.

Don't cheap out on tools

It's worth getting Felo, Wera, Wiha tools over chinese junk. Just makes your life so much better and they will last until you die.

Pretty much this.

Even though I have done road side repairs on electrical and cooling systems those were on cars that I knew had particular problems and had brought the items to ghetto rig what I knew would fail.

If you have anything better than a shitheap that you know inside and out I wouldn't bother carrying even a tool kit as the majority of the time you will be short the whole part and the rest of the time you would be short of the supplementary tools one has in a shop.

If you want a tool kit for home type work then any 120~ piece kit with spanners and sockets in metric and imperial would work

Get six sided sockets, not multi sockets.

Also invest in an impact gun and thank me later.

I received this as a gift 8 years ago and it's my daily driver tool set. I use it nearly every day along side a truck full of other tools. I hammer sockets on to rounded off nuts (you can see one stuck in my 12mm from Tuesday that I haven't bothered to take out yet) and broke two bench vices with them. I have replaced a couple ph2 bits and that's it. I haven't even lost anything else (the Allen bits and driver bits are in my tool box).

The 170 piece goes for $100 on amazon. I am not much of a tool shill but this has probably been my most used gift ever.

Any recommends for a Torque Wrench for wheel work, lug nuts?


I have craftsman tools from the 90's but never got a torque wrench.

I have never used a torque wrench on my lugs outside of this one time when I was really just curious.

Just remember that you are to reset the torque wrench to zero when you aren't using it

Habor Freight torque wrenches are "good enough", it's not like you're rebuilding an engine

The beam style torque wrenches are plenty for basic shit. As you get more advanced, with tight clearances, you may need to upgrade as the beam style won't fit or they will be impossible to read. However, as a starter torque wrench, they are accurate and cheap.

>namely things to keep in said car?
Look in the past archived threads about what to keep in the trunk besides the first aid kit.

Example post: archive.4plebs.org/o/thread/16642612/#q16645796

Gorilla tape is better than typical duct tape, but expensive unless you actually use it. I check the items in the trunk and rotate them out so that they remain fresh.

The reason I ask is because I had some work done on the front end: brakes and rotors and tire rotation, but after 2 months one of lug nuts was missing.

I was worried that they were too loose, so I broke out the trunk kit. Here is what I discovered.

I was able to turn one of the lugs about 1/3 of the clockface before obtaining tightness. THe other lugs about 1/4 clock face turn.

Did the shop forget to tighten the lugs? I'll never know at this point, but bringing them to spec is a good way to find out if I have some other issue like
>stretched bolts
>stripped bolts.
>some criminal tried to steel my rims only to discover my wheel locks.

Thanks for everyones input. Here are some Hermione bewbs.

>stretched lug bolts
this is highly unlikely
>stripped bolts
this would be plainly visible as shiny smoothness on the lug bolt where there should be threads
>did shop forget to tighten?
yes
you are supposed to tighten before dropping to ground
and then tighten again
he probably forgot second tighten
this is why you always check after work is done
>almost always too loose or too tight and cannot remove by hand
>since dugga dugga can't look up torque specs or adjust impact wrench
better to find out when it can be fixed instead of in an emergency

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You are lucky you lasted that long. I once left a tire shop and was hearing clunk-gu-clunk in the shop parking lot.

You are having a knee jerk reaction. They just forgot to tighten them on the ground like said.

I have been flying down the road at 100 mph many times in many vehicles with hand tighten lugnuts.

without lugs, what would force your wheel to come off of the hub? you'd think all the weight of the car would keep that thing pretty damn secure

Just make sure your get six point sockets so you don't end up fucking every other bolt.

Short and deep well SAE and Metric sockets 7mm-19mm and 1/4" to 7/8" in for 3/8" and 1/2 impact for same (maybe not the

A serch on the stretched bolts showed a response about bolts stretching when they use the air driver.
>>What is the max torque on one of those things.

I went to AutoZone and borrowed a torque wrench and clicked at 80 foot pounds.
foot pounds? Does that mean that I'm exerting a force of 80 pounds onto the nut?

I'm probably going to pick up a snap on wrench because I might be getting into maintaining my car myself.

You must be very luck- hand tightened nuts sounds like a crash.

THanks for yuur responses.

Unless you're a professional mechanic, you can cheap out on tools.
I only use cheap as shit tools, work fine.
Yes, of course it's not as nice as the tools I have at work (Stahlwille, Wera, PB Swiss Tools), but it gets the job done.

>A search on the stretched bolts showed a response about bolts stretching when they use the air driver.
if this happened they would still be on there
you could not remove them by hand
>What is the max torque on one of those things.
more than 250 ft/lbs plus three feet of leverage
>ask me how i know

fuck she ugly

>80 ft/lbs
yes you are exerting that force when the wrench indicates it
>snap on
maybe start with a harbor freight one as your first time tool
they're cheap and not terribly inaccurate
>You must be very luck- hand tightened nuts sounds like a crash.
um, no. if this was true cars wouldn't come with spares
t. not even that guy

I'd say this and some extra vac line, fuel line, and rubber nipples if you have a carb.

Also some electrical stuff like fuses, a couple feet of wiring, some splices, and a pair of pliers and wire strippers. I think pep boys sells a cheap little electrical box with that stuff.

Toss some zip ties and duct tape in the just for good measure.

Oh, and a good solid knife and a quality flashlight. Phone flashlights suck.

Also, some deepwell sockets of the most common sizes you'll find on your car.

This one here is great and should cover 95% of what you'll be doing. From there on you'll just buy tools as you need them; flare nut wrenches, re-threading tools and so on

I can also recommend getting some stuff to work on electrics; crimping tools, rolls of wire in different lengths, fuse sets, multimeter and such

OP here, thanks for all the info.
I have never in my life ever felt the need to drive all the time now. It's in my head at work and I am antsy at home, I just want to drive my shitbox and maybe even just sleep in it.

She's ight.

>more than 250 ft/lbs plus three feet of leverage
>ask me how i know

How do you know?

I have a familty freidn that has a complete craftsman line from the 50-80's. Do you thihnk there is some value like an investment?

>"via 9gag.ocm"

I just have all the pics from that hack a few months ago. Also the GI girls too, but there's too many tattoos for my taste.

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More Emma pls then

Some decent wrenches
Not sure what car you have but as a Toyota owner I use 10 14 and 17 mm wrenches and a 19mm is also a good one as I used it on my Toyota and my Bros jeep

Also a cheater bar and a pipe for those stubborn bolts

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