Vehicle tool kit

[FerlasDave]

Being someone who likes to be self reliant. I always like to carry some simple tools with me if I can. They’ve come in handy numerous times both for myself and others, most recently when we were in Scotland and the fan belt delaminated on the Land Rover.

I took the opportunity yesterday afternoon to sort and reorganise, as one needs to do now and again. And I wondered how many folk here might have something similar in their vehicle?

Not talking about spare food and sleeping bags but perhaps a tow rope and a set of jump leads, or a spanner set in the glove box could make all the difference when the fuse blows on your heated seats in the middle of winter.

Here’s a few pictures of what I carry, I won’t list all the items as some are very specific to my vehicle but most are normal socket sets screwdrivers etc. it’s a comprehensive kit but not overly bulky and all fits behind the dogs crate in the boot nice and neatly.

 

[Glow_worm]

Very sensible, although many have breakdown/recover cover, it can save waiting at the roadside or cancelling a trip.

I'm probably an extreme example- my only car is 52 years old so I carry a toolbox with spanners and sockets/pliers/circlip pliers/lump hammer, multimeter, spare fanbelt, accelerator cable, coolant hoses, bulbs, fuses, complete spare distributor set up and ready to go (two bolts to change over). Electrical tape, small gas soldering iron, solder and flux in case of electrical troubles, small trolley jack. Electrical tape, paracord and fencing wire. Always have drinking water on board so at least could part refill the coolant system after a hose went.

Hi-vis jacket on board in case of breakdowns in bad spots. Long waxed cotton trench coat too, to wear or lie on if repairs needed in rain. Trangia, fuel, ferro rod and a couple of tins of food. Torch. Trapper hat, driving gloves, sunglasses live in glovebox.

No exactly travelling light!

Regular preventative maintenance and inspection has meant none of the above have been needed very often in over 15 years of motoring.

 

[Pattree]

This is pretty obvious for a Landrover but

For those of us who use two wheel drive domestic vehicles I would include a spare wheel! My Scoda minivan came with a canister of gloop but luckily they have kept the floor pressing where the spare used to go and the space where the jack went. It also still has jacking points.

 

[FerlasDave]

I’d just like to add… We still have comprehensive breakdown cover. It’s not always safe, or practical do everything myself and I understand my limits too.

@Glow_worm Hi-Vis is a great idea actually. I’ll definitely add one of those to my kit!

 

[TeeDee]

Very sensible, although many have breakdown/recover cover, it can save waiting at the roadside or cancelling a trip.

I'm probably an extreme example- my only car is 52 years old so I carry a toolbox with spanners and sockets/pliers/circlip pliers/lump hammer, multimeter, spare fanbelt, accelerator cable, coolant hoses, bulbs, fuses, complete spare distributor set up and ready to go (two bolts to change over). Electrical tape, small gas soldering iron, solder and flux in case of electrical troubles, small trolley jack. Electrical tape, paracord and fencing wire. Always have drinking water on board so at least could part refill the coolant system after a hose went.

Hi-vis jacket on board in case of breakdowns in bad spots. Long waxed cotton trench coat too, to wear or lie on if repairs needed in rain. Trangia, fuel, ferro rod and a couple of tins of food. Torch. Trapper hat, driving gloves, sunglasses live in glovebox.

No exactly travelling light!

Regular preventative maintenance and inspection has meant none of the above have been needed very often in over 15 years of motoring.

What flavour of Car is it ?

 

[TeeDee]

I’d just like to add… We still have comprehensive breakdown cover. It’s not always safe, or practical do everything myself and I understand my limits too.

@Glow_worm Hi-Vis is a great idea actually. I’ll definitely add one of those to my kit!

And a head torch or Two.

 

[Glow_worm]

What flavour of Car is it ?

Very, very well used MGB GT. Currently doing serious structural work to house so passenger seat is removed to allow carriage of 8' timbers with the back shut. Often towing up to 3/4 ton too...

....but my list would also equally apply to any Land Rover over 20 years old!

Something else which lives in the top of the toolbox is a small lunchbox containing a couple of pairs of nitrile gloves and a wodge of kitchen towel for cleaning parts. I have an old milk bottle of hand washing water and a bar of soap tucked behind the seat as I'm often collecting grubby materials, rummaging in boxes of rusty or oily tools at car boots, and it would be a bonus after roadside repairs too. My skin doesn't like the gentlest of hand wipes.

Oh, and I do have a map book and compass on board too! The compass has actually been useful on numerous occasions when roads don't match what the book says, and it's too cloudy to judge direction from sun or stars.

Good quality snowchains in winter if there is any hint of bad weather, or if going away for a period long enough that it might be a lot colder when returning home!


If towing a trailer/caravan, a spare wheel bearing, grease and any special tools needed to change it, trailer breakdowns are often not included on recovery policies and the extra fees can run into several hundred plus!

I automatically grab a headtorch and my penknife when heading out, but if I wasn't a habit I'd keep one of each in the car.

 

[TeeDee]

Very, very well used MGB GT. Currently doing serious structural work to house so passenger seat is removed to allow carriage of 8' timbers with the back shut. Often towing up to 3/4 ton too...

....but my list would also equally apply to any Land Rover over 20 years old!

Something else which lives in the top of the toolbox is a small lunchbox containing a couple of pairs of nitrile gloves and a wodge of kitchen towel for cleaning parts. I have an old milk bottle of hand washing water and a bar of soap tucked behind the seat as I'm often collecting grubby materials, rummaging in boxes of rusty or oily tools at car boots, and it would be a bonus after roadside repairs too. My skin doesn't like the gentlest of hand wipes.

Oh, and I do have a map book and compass on board too! The compass has actually been useful on numerous occasions when roads don't match what the book says, and it's too cloudy to judge direction from sun or stars.

Good quality snowchains in winter if there is any hint of bad weather, or if going away for a period long enough that it might be a lot colder when returning home!


If towing a trailer/caravan, a spare wheel bearing, grease and any special tools needed to change it, trailer breakdowns are often not included on recovery policies and the extra fees can run into several hundred plus!

I automatically grab a headtorch and my penknife when heading out, but if I wasn't a habit I'd keep one of each in the car.

I have a old MKII mazda MX5 as my daily drive. With the roof down I've had giant Gunnera plants , lengths of decking and barrels either on the passenger seat or hanging out the back of it.

A friend of my has a 1954 Landrover he adores.

 

[Falstaff]

I don't have as many spares as Gloworm, but otherwise pretty much the same. Basic EDC, tools plus, old kitchen mat to lie on, wheel wedges, hi vis, clean up materials and best part of 5ltr of water. I found out the hard way that it is not possible to change the front tyre without a bigger hrydraulic jack, or two jacks. Once the wheel is off the spring drops the disc down too low to get the new wheeel on! No way I can lift it against the suspension spring.

 

[Glow_worm]

That's jogged my memory.... in the boot there's a square of 18mm ply to put under the jack on soft ground, and a couple of offcuts of 4x2 which are needed to jack up the trailer I use most often. Amazingly most of this stuff tucks away into nooks and crannies...

 

[Kadushu]

I prefer taking a better jack than the scissor jack usually provided. The only "on the fly" repair I've done on my current vehicle was hitching up a middle section of exhaust with some wire when it rusted through and started dragging on the ground. I always carry a socket set and ammo box full of hand tools for work anyway.

 

[Falstaff]

Saved my bottom once when my gearbox linkage un-linked in the middle of nowhere at night.
Kitchen mat, head torch, zip ties to hold it on, scissor jack it up a bit to wriggle underneath, few blocks of wood in case it failed, = jobs a good'un. Oh, and the leatherman to grip and pull the ties tight.

 

[FerlasDave]

I’ve never been a fan of scissor jacks. I kept the small bottle jack from my old Mitsubishi and replaced the Land Rover scissor jack with it.

Come to think of it that old jack probably wants to be checked and serviced… How often should one replace the fluid in one?

 

[FerlasDave]

A friend of my has a 1954 Landrover he adores.

Interestingly I have a 1957 that I’m slowly (6 years and still going) restoring.

 

[Keith_Beef]

An interesting thread... We have one car; it's provided by SWMBO's work with full roadside recovery. We got the latest one last week, replacing the diesel VW Tiguan with a petrol hybrid Toyota RAV4. We don't really need to carry a toolkit capable of fixing anything serious.

When we go away anywhere for more than a day, I usually put a small Makita rechargeable drill/driver and a Halfords socket set under the floor of the cargo area. Imperial sockets are probably overkill, but the screwdriver and Allen key bits are a useful addition to the metric sockets. Along with a Leatherman Super Tool (always on my belt), the special torque tool for the rooftop box (this lived in a drawer under the front passenger seat of the Tiguan, don't know where it will go in the RAV4), a towing strap, a couple of torches and a telescopic magnet I can do just about anything I've ever needed to in the car.

I've been reading this other thread about tool rolls, and thinking that I could put one together for the car.

When I had my own car I used to keep jump leads, a battery tester and a manometer along with assorted small tools, cable ties and the socket set; these are all in the garage, now, along with a portable compressor and 12V water pump... not sure if I'd ever need to keep the water pump in the car, but it came in useful to be able to run the pump from the car's electric when the cellar flooded and during an electricity cut.

 

[Moondog55]

Funny thing cars and tool kits. It seems that I never have the tool needed when something happens. But a couple of screwdrivers and a couple of adjustables cover a few bases. Always jumper leads and a short tow rope tho and because the shed is chockers I keep the emergency snow chains in the spare wheel well with the spare warm clothing. Jacking plate and a set of wet weather gear always because Sods Law says I'll never need to change a wheel unless it's pelting down with sleet/ hail/ heavy rain or all three at once. Ditto the comments about lighting. What has been handy on more than one occasion has been the Ryobi 18V battery operated air pump. Tyres going flat on the trailer or the grandkids bikes

 

[Bazzworx]

I keep a couple of ammo tins in the vehicle, the first has been modified with socket rails fitted to the inside of the lid. When required the lid is removed and inverted so all the sockets are accessible and in easy reach, it also has extension bars clipped to it. Inside the box are various other hand tools including a multimeter. The tool kit is fairly specific to the vehicle and if you looked at the socket set you think that there are quite a few missing, in reality the kit was assembled so I didn't waste space and weight. Theres no point it having a 23mm socket if there's no 23mm bolts....

The other ammo tin has spares and consumables and some vehicle specific parts. If we're going on a longer or more remote trip I'll include more parts in a third tin.

As well as all that we keep a tow rope, snatch block, high lift jack or bottle jack and a Nomad power pro 700 jump pack as it weighs a lot less than a decent set of jump leads and takes up less space. Other additions are disposable overalls, grippaz gloves and also a heavy duty hand soap.

 

[RonW]

Where I live a shovel with snowblade, unditching/skidplates and the means to stay warm in the car are mandatory.
Other then that handtools, rope, wire, towing- and jumpcables + a firekit.
Snacks and water get added whenever we are taking longer trips.