Many of us have earned the title of shade mechanic, that is, we work in the backyard, in the garage, or in the worst case, on the streets neglected by the nearest spruce or oak trees. We use basic tools, wisdom and tricks to keep our crumbling convoy on the road, usually out of pure money. Machinists are expensive, and if you can do a job yourself, you can save a lot of money. As a bonus, working in a car is fun, and you often learn a lot in the process.
Obviously, the success or failure of any DIY repair often depends on the tools at hand. Today, I picked some of the most important tools I found, these tools are the most important for people repairing cars at home. Some of these can make a difference between a successful weekend repair and a sad oily disaster. The others are just high-quality tools that feel good, and you will be satisfied every time you pick them up.
In any case, if you are looking for a gift for your shade tree mechanic-even if that is you-throw in!
Small utility knives like Crescent Wiss are suitable for various craft and mechanical activities around the home. Whether you are cutting off a bunch of cable ties or scraping off old gaskets, you will need a sharp blade to do the job. Unlike the retractable utility knife design, I found that this Crescent Wiss will not get stuck or slip onto you when encountering difficulties, and the blade will not break unless you are really stupid.
I used this blade to build a complete adult-sized box fortress, and it has been with me ever since. Knife, not a fortress. It is sturdy and feels great in my hand. I smile every time I take out the trash plastic garbage I once owned from the toolbox.
As a bonus, you can open it with a flick of your wrist with one hand, and everyone will think you are cool. When I got mine, I thought it was worth 35 Australian dollars, but you can get one on Amazon for less than 12 Australian dollars this winter.
Once upon a time, shadetree mechanics had only wrenches (Editor's note: wrenches, Lewin, they are called wrenches) and sockets for counteracting stuck bolts. Professional stores have their pneumatic impact guns, but they basically can't get household wrenches. However, battery-powered cordless rattle guns, or more formal impact wrenches, are now accessible to almost anyone.
As a long-term user of Ryobi 18V wireless tools, it was a simple decision for me to go out and buy the corresponding Ryobi rattle when I needed it. In fact, I used this tool to replace the differential of my W210 Mercedes, which proved invaluable in loosening stuck axle bolts. This is something useful around the workshop, and you can use a 4Ah battery and charger for $149. However, if you already own some Ryobi 18V devices, you can purchase the tool separately for only $95.
Just as tires are to driving a car, so sockets and wrenches are to a car. It's cheap, and you'll slide around the place, heading for a mess of trouble. You need quality sockets and wrenches that will not peel off the bolts, break or untie anything at all. At the same time, few shadetree technicians have enough money to buy top professional equipment-after all, money is used to buy parts. Finding balance is the key.
The Neiko 1/2" driver impact socket kit strikes a good balance between value and robustness. In fact, The Drive conducted a full review of the kit earlier this year! The kit contains 58 half-inch driver sets Barrel, covering metric sizes from 10mm-24mm, most SAE sizes are 3/8-1-1/4". It also includes a ratchet and some useful extensions. Unlike ordinary socket sets, these are impact grade, so you can use them with the Ryobi impact you just purchased without worrying about them breaking on your face. The 65-piece main set is priced at $165.99, but the larger set can fit some additional useful adapters, but it can cost a little more.
We've all had the experience of trying to untie the bolts that are stuck behind the engine and facing the firewall. If you are lucky, you can take a wrench on it, turn it a quarter turn at a time, and slowly unscrew it. In these cases, ratchet wrenches may be a godsend, because they are very suitable for working in small spaces where socket wrenches cannot be inserted. These tools make a lot of heavy work faster, especially in modern cars with limited engine space. It is definitely a premium.
Be careful not to be too stingy with this kind of ratchet wrench; cheap versions of ratchet mechanisms are often cheap and annoying, these mechanisms are easy to fall apart, and pay close attention to the tooth mechanism they use. However, this set of Crescent comes from a good brand, and at the time of writing, your entry price should be less than $35.
Money and suitable equipment are usually two things that shadow tree mechanics are in short supply. Stripping bolts, which are a small obstacle for professional shops, can ruin the home mechanic's weekend or longer. Therefore, the key is to avoid damaging the fasteners as much as possible. Hexagon head bolts or hexagon socket bolts, depending on where you are from, can be particularly worrying. Using cheap keys made of mild steel or using the wrong size, it is easy to peel off the head.
Wera's hexagonal wrenches are available in two sizes, imperial and metric, and the price is less than $50. They are made of Wera's special Hex-Plus profile to minimize the wear of hexagon socket bolts. When someone brought them to my last engineering job, these were actually office conversations. One end is a straight cone head and the other end is a ball head. They are good at loosening tight fasteners and quickly loosening them when they are loose. They are also very good at finding a tool that is fundamentally a very simple tool.
If you are doing more than just replacing strange flat tires, then you will need a decent jack. A simple hydraulic floor jack like the Pro-Lift model will cost less than $70. It is low-key, so it also serves those who have lowered or tracked vehicles. There is no need to spend a lot of money here, but safety is very important, and you should not work on a vehicle that is only suspended by a jack. This leads us...
The hallmark of true shade mechanics is the scale of the work they do in the driveway or backyard. When you start using large suspension modifications and full engine replacements, you know you really did it. However, when you want to work under it, you really need to put your car on the jack. A true shadetree technician dreams of owning a crane, but has never used it.
At the time of writing, these 6-ton capacity brackets from JEGS cost about $55, but if you plan to complete a larger job that requires all four wheels to be off the ground, you will need two sets. As a bonus, recognizable brand names will give your family peace of mind because they are not cheap and sometimes even deadly kits.
The car is full of flammable liquids, and if something goes wrong, you may end up with hell on your hands. All it takes is your cousin cut off the wheel arches while you were repairing the leaking pipe, and then suddenly, your car caught fire.
Having a fire extinguisher on hand can not only save your car and garage, but also your house and marriage or partnership. FWIW, important other people don’t fully like living in motels because you are too cheap to buy a fire extinguisher for $22... Remember Gary, your wife’s college boyfriend? You hate that person. But Gary bought a fire extinguisher and his house is still standing. Obviously, he will take her and the children to the zoo on Friday. At the same time, you are calling to ask your insurance company to write you a check. Don't let it happen to you!
Whether you are installing a stereo or repairing a damaged power window, you will need to remove some of the interior. If you want to do this without breaking everything and breaking every delicate plastic tag, trimming tools are the key to removing these fasteners. If you are also repairing an old car, many fasteners may collapse in the process. Fortunately, this set combines a trimming removal tool and a set of replacement fasteners, and the price is less than $10. Of course, you can continue to mess around with a screwdriver and pliers, but you will spend three times the time doing this, and you will mess up your internals when you do it. Get the right tools and move on.
Every shadetree mechanic has left a car at some point, but just sat for too long. The old-fashioned way to deal with this problem is to drag some jumper cables and spare batteries from the garage to make the basketball move again. However, technology is constantly evolving, and now a small and compact starter box is enough to run a heavy-duty engine.
NOCO Boost Plus GB40 is the leader in The Drive's detailed test, with a startup cost of less than $100. It can be equipped with a 6-liter gasoline engine and a 3-liter diesel engine. Alternatively, NOCO Boost HD GB70 can handle up to 8 liter gasoline engines and 6 liter diesel engines. At the time of writing, the upgraded version is priced at $199.95.
For those who worked on cars from 1996 and newer, there is no denying the value of ODB2 scanners. These essential small computers will issue diagnostic codes to help you find the problem with your car, and will usually allow you to clear the check engine lights that have been plagued by the dashboard after the problem has been resolved. At the time of writing, this MOTOPOWER scanner costs only $23.85, which allows you to no longer have to guess to find ignition, refueling, and various other tricky issues on more modern fuel-injected vehicles. Or, it is a good gimmick gift for old-school grumpy people who refuse to drive anything built after the 1973 oil crisis.
Are there any hints? Let us know: tips@thedrive.com
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