In the past 6 months I've done 2 long distance trips from central FL to south TN, smokey mountains to be exact. It's a 1200 mile round trip, plus all the driving there would be around 1400 to 1500 miles total. On the 2nd trip, on my way back I got to thinking , what if I had broken down, I was in the middle of nowhere, no cell phone signal and I had nothing in my car to get me out of trouble.
So my question is, what tools do you guys think are necessary to take with you in a trip, in case of a mechanical failure or something that would otherwise be easy repairable with simple tools???

 

Food and water. If winter, a blanket.

The most likely thing to get you stuck is a flat tire, and the kit that comes with the car takes care of that. I bought a plug kit so if I get a repairable flat I won't doom the tire to death by glop.

I used to keep a decent set of tools in my cars - wrenches, sockets, etc. But cars these days are such a pain to work on that even a simple problem like a blown water hose or a fan belt is hard to work on roadside.

Ken

 

This is the set up I have in all my vehicles, including my motorcycles. I've found that you only need a few things if you're doing work on the side of the road.

Pliers
Screwdrivers
Most common wrenches (one to fit the tension pully, and other common sizes.)
Crescent wrench
Hex wrenches

It generally doesn't take up much room and I've changed everything from shattered pulleys to broken brake lines with it. Granted most vehicles are reliable enough (if you stay on top of maintenance) that when something fails, it fails catastrophically and there's no way you can fix it on the side of the road. Also if you need a replacement part such as a belt, most auto parts stores will let you borrow tools. I'm just paranoid about them not having the right size or something and being screwed.

 

A 10mm socket,extension and ratchet

 

personally i take a full set of metric sockets (deepwell and standard depth) two ratchets, a set of metric ratcheting wrenches with the flex head (made by gearwrench), i take a small assortment of extensions, screwdrivers, pliers, needlenose vice grips, a 10mm line wrench, a few rags, a can of seafoam, a change of clothes or a blanket, a couple quarts of oil, and a shop manual.

 

For some reason I never put tools in my RX-8, but now that I have the 3 to be the long distance trip soaker, I might just take my entire toolbag on all my trips. It has some handy storage compartments in the cargo bay where I can keep them.

 

What do you guys think of something like this???

http://www.littleblacktoolkit.com/ca...28AEDE24E225E9

What would you add or take away from it???

 

Here's a list I saw at at a rally website I was looking at earlier:

Duct tape, paper clips, cable ties, ratchet straps, C clamp, Maglite, wire, electrical tape, spare lights, spare fuses, Leatherman Wave, pipe wrench, adjustable wrench, plyers, cutters, 21mm spanner, 19mm spanner, 18mm spanner, small - large - long phillips screwdrivers, small - large - long flat screwdrivers, 3/8″ ratchet, 3/8″ metric sockets from 10mm - 18mm, Vice Grip plyers, 3 pound hammer, 1/2″ speed wrench, 1/2″ 19mm deep socket, tire pressure gauge.
Lug nuts, hose clamps, additional vice grips, additional flashlight (LED if possible), bigger ratchet strap, oil, brake fluid, water bottle, empty container for filling stuff (empty the water bottle), misc bolts + suspension bolts, gloves (heavy ones and latex ones), socket extension, piece of plywood, universal joint for 1/2″ socket (make the speed wrench a breaker bar), spool of safety wire, spare belt(s) (power steering / alternator), towel, Neatsheet (lightweight waterproof tarp), rags.

 

$99 is outrageous for what you get in that set. And I doubt a claw hammer would be all that useful.

Take a look at the mechanics tool sets at Sears. This one:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...nics+Tool+Sets

(KR Tools 140 piece set, if the link does not come out) for $50 looks pretty promising. You can find sets like that for half the price (and much lower quality) at Wal Mart. I've been in the middle of nowhere and picked up sets like that after limping into town.

The rally set looks pretty interesting, but you've got to ask yourself whether you're really going to be doing the kind of things that call for that much emergency gear.

There's kind of a life cycle to what tools you carry. A new car just has the jack and lug wrench. When it's a few years old, you start carrying a few wrenches, scredrivers, and pliers. Maybe a pair of vise grips and a couple of flares. A few years later, and you're likely to be carrying a full mechanics tool kit.

It passes a peak, and gradually the tools find their way into your other car or your workshop. The final stage is when all you carry is a screwdriver - to remove the license plates at the final moment.

Ken