Tools to live in the boot

[Hol]

vikingaero said:

My latest addition to all of our family cars are a tyre plug kit. I've not used one on my own vehicles yet, but have helped 4 other people out with them.

I have considered getting one of these ever since spare tyres stopped being fitted, but nobody I know personally has ever used one.

Have you had an issues in having the puncture repaired fully afterwards, as you ironically have to make the hole bigger?

[Stick Legs]

s p a c e m a n said:

Surprised that noone is carrying some wire with them, I've always carried a bit of 2 core the length of the car in my kit

I forgot my universal relay!

I had a jump wire with a spade connection on each end I made to literally run a fuel pump or whatever if the relay died.

[Mammasaid]

C5_Steve said:

I'd add duct tape to that. You can fix anything with the right amount of duct tape

That's all you need, duct tape (and WD40), all situations covered!

[Gad-Westy]

Hol said:

vikingaero said:

My latest addition to all of our family cars are a tyre plug kit. I've not used one on my own vehicles yet, but have helped 4 other people out with them.

I have considered getting one of these ever since spare tyres stopped being fitted, but nobody I know personally has ever used one.

Have you had an issues in having the puncture repaired fully afterwards, as you ironically have to make the hole bigger?

Repair afterwards isn't a huge issue. I have had one done. Biggest challenge I find with them is getting the 'thread' into the hole in the tyre. It's easier with the tyre off the car as you can get a good angle to work at and get some weight behind it. With the tyre on the car it seems to me to be near impossible. So for that reason I'd also suggest making sure you have a jack and wheel wrench too which was my mistake last time and partly why I've been pondering all this stuff. Don't forget some means of inflating the tyre too. It still annoys me that spare wheels are becoming a thing of the past. What used to be a 30 minute inconvenience can now turn into a 12 hour nightmare. A repair kit at least gives you hope!

[C5_Steve]

Mammasaid said:

That's all you need, duct tape (and WD40), all situations covered!

If you can't fix it with duct tape, you're not using enough duct tape.

[LordLoveLength]

A decent cob type work light- your phone don’t cut it compared to something like
https://www.screwfix.com/p/nebo-big-larry-2-led-wo...
Torch, flashing beacon and bright cob work light for big area.

[Boosted LS1]

Cable ties, gaffer tape, rope :-)

[CheesecakeRunner]

Christ, it’s 2024, not 1904.

[sjwb]

Ho ho ho, you are all just playing at it!
Picture this; Marlborough town traffic lights, complete traffic jam, we are at the head of the queue and father lets the clutch out to pull away. BANG, no drive. Dad’s best friend in the car behind comes to our aid and helps push the car to the market square.
Diagnosis; a broken half shaft. Panic, end of journey, total despair?
Nah, jack it up, pull out a complete tool kit from the trunk and of course - a new half shaft!!!! Father and friend had the diff out (to remove the broken end from the output gear), old shaft removed and new one fitted in under an hour. Wash up in the local conveniences and away we go. They didn’t even break sweat.
The back story: We were on our way home from our annual holiday in Wareham in 1956 in our 1936 Hillman Minx BRM 535 reg. Dad fitted a Talbot 80 OHV motor with a dirty great Stromberg carburettor and straight through Burgess muffler - perhaps that’s why the half shaft gave in?
Happy days.

[Gad-Westy]

CheesecakeRunner said:

Christ, it’s 2024, not 1904.

Indeed. If it was 1904 I’d probably have a spare wheel.

In all seriousness my Mazda is 33 years old. Silly little things can go wrong and I’d feel like a right tit if I had to wait several hours for a yellow van to turn up with a screwdriver!

[SlimJim16v]

Compact socket set

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teng-M3812N1-Basic-Socket...

Circuit tester

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teng-M3812N1-Basic-Socket...

Knifeless multitool, so legal (and/or Swiss army knife)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leatherman-Rebar-all-lock...

Emergency ponchos

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Emergency-Clear-Rain-Ponc...

+ Hi Vis vests

[Boosted LS1]

Gad-Westy said:

CheesecakeRunner said:

Christ, it’s 2024, not 1904.

Indeed. If it was 1904 I’d probably have a spare wheel.

In all seriousness my Mazda is 33 years old. Silly little things can go wrong and I’d feel like a right tit if I had to wait several hours for a yellow van to turn up with a screwdriver!

Yep, in the midlands the AA will show up in an hour or so. Try that in Dorset where they phone a yocal from a garage that closed at 4.30. They still won't arrive 3 hours later. Having a few tools is essential.

[Stick Legs]

CheesecakeRunner said:

Christ, it’s 2024, not 1904.

Emergency pro-nouns.

[OldGermanHeaps]

Rac took 7 hours last time i relied on them then sent a subcontractor. Why didnt i learn my lesson and stop driving renaults after that?
Tyre plug kits are great, very useful tool.
A bit of pipe to use as a breaker bar is handy.
Tiny bluetooth code reader is useful to know whether to continue driving or not.
Cash can help pretty much any problem you are likely to come across.

[vikingaero]

CheesecakeRunner said:

Christ, it’s 2024, not 1904.

Your credit card has expired and the AA take 99 hours to come out. If you rely on both of these then it would be a reasonable assumption to say that you never go anywhere apart from the train station, the local gym and the retail park at the weekends. All fine and good. Can you imagine if we all relied on cards and breakdown cover? The 99 hour wait would be 199 hours.

Try being on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula with a puncture on a Bank Holiday...

[s p a c e m a n]

East London/Essex..

TVR ran out of petrol on the A13 because the fuel gauge is crap. I had waited so long for the AA to turn up that the police arrived as I still had 2 wheels in the road and then an hour after that I gave in and got a taxi to go get petrol.

Went to Leigh on sea for a lunchtime beer with the missus and phoned the RAC at 1pm because her disco wouldn't start. It was hot and sunny and we were wearing minimal clothes when we phoned, by the time they turned up the pub was closed, it was dark and I think we weren't far off hypothermia.

That's the 2 times I've used a breakdown service in the past 10 years, at £50 a year with all the discounts for the full get us home package. I don't bother anymore, I'll just pay someone £300 to drag the car home if I'm stranded, they're not good for anything else.

[hellorent]

s p a c e m a n said:

East London/Essex..

TVR ran out of petrol on the A13 because the fuel gauge is crap. I had waited so long for the AA to turn up that the police arrived as I still had 2 wheels in the road and then an hour after that I gave in and got a taxi to go get petrol.

Wow, you ran out of petrol and called a breakdown company for assistance, I wouldn't have thought of that as a breakdown.

[tux850]

Boosted LS1 said:

Try that in Dorset where they phone a yocal from a garage that closed at 4.30. They still won't arrive 3 hours later. Having a few tools is essential.

Yup, and invariably the guy that gets sent out generally isn't a 'mechanic' but rather a 'recovery driver' and so will be wanting to load you up on the back of the flatbed regardless even if a roadside repair with a few tools would have otherwise sufficed.

Edited by tux850 on Friday 23 February 09:53

[tux850]

One suggestion that I haven't seen so will throw into the mix: a set of belts. I don't mean buying a set but rather next time you replace them put the old ones inside the spare tyre wheel well rather than in the bin. Sure, they may be past their best but they might get you out of a pickle.

Edited by tux850 on Friday 23 February 09:45

[tux850]

Apologies, three posts in a row!

Gad-Westy said:

I've looked at some of the little all in one tool kits but a lot of those are quite household orientated rather than being geared towards cars.

I've had this kit for *25* years and whilst I don't recall using it in a breakdown situation I have used it to completely strip several cars, rebuild engines, do clutch and timing belt changes etc and it is still going strong. If the current product is still the same (it certainly looks it) then I'd highly recommend it.



(And another thing: reusable cable ties. Can be used for all sorts, and the reusable bit is key for maximum freedom and flexibility. A small part of me always dies when I have to snip off a misplaced cable tie...)

Edited by tux850 on Friday 23 February 09:52