Tools and Spares needed for Roadside Repairs?
Discussion
As a follow-on to BarrintonL's thread on 'Starting general maintenance, tools required?' thread, no sooner than a person has built up a workshop tool collection than his mind may digress to what is needed for roadside repairs, taking into account both tools and spare parts.
My suggested criteria would be
My suggested criteria would be
- Tools must be useful for routine breakdowns rather than of no use because some jobs are impractical/impossible on the roadside. A Trolley Jack might be nice but a multimeter is better.
- Spares must be inexpensive and in known working order so good, used parts are fine. Fuses, bulbs, fan belt, HT lead, are all very useful, whilst pistons, crank pulley, brake-cable are simply dead weight.
Depends on the car of course, but in general I'd add a can of tyreweld, a handful of jubilee clips, zip-ties and gaffa tape. With these you can affect reasonably good bodges to number plate, exhaust, bodywork, trim falling off and rainwater leaks. Tools-wise, any tools required to adjust the distributor, bleed the coolant or adjust carburetor settings (flat blade screwdriver).
Car specific spares? Throttle and clutch cables or repair kits. Bulbs and fuses, small quantity of oils, coolant and additives. A bottle of petrol, maybe? Jump leads? Tow rope? Maybe a water displacing oil for electrical problems? Finally a spare FIA cut-off switch if your car has one.
Car specific spares? Throttle and clutch cables or repair kits. Bulbs and fuses, small quantity of oils, coolant and additives. A bottle of petrol, maybe? Jump leads? Tow rope? Maybe a water displacing oil for electrical problems? Finally a spare FIA cut-off switch if your car has one.
Edited by HustleRussell on Tuesday 20th November 11:19
What tools you carry will depend on the car – the spares I carry in my 42 year old Amazon would not be of much use in trying to fix a 2012 car!
In my boot at the moment (as well as the factory jack & spare wheel):
Can of oil, couple litres of water, selection of spanners, flat & Phillips head screwdrivers, feeler gauge, spare set of points, spare dizzy cap, spare condenser (I know they’re good as they’ve been fitted before), wheel brace, half inch drive & selection of sockets, can of Halfords ‘shock & unlock’, handful of fuses and bulbs, some odd lengths of wire, tie wraps and a torch.
Torch & tie wraps may be the most important: tie wraps because there is NOTHING they can’t fix. Torch because holding a Zippo near fuel lines/carbs is never a good idea!
If I’m going on a long journey I might take more stuff, but if you keep your car in good order and do a bit of preventative maintenance, you hopefully will never need your tools/spares.
In my boot at the moment (as well as the factory jack & spare wheel):
Can of oil, couple litres of water, selection of spanners, flat & Phillips head screwdrivers, feeler gauge, spare set of points, spare dizzy cap, spare condenser (I know they’re good as they’ve been fitted before), wheel brace, half inch drive & selection of sockets, can of Halfords ‘shock & unlock’, handful of fuses and bulbs, some odd lengths of wire, tie wraps and a torch.
Torch & tie wraps may be the most important: tie wraps because there is NOTHING they can’t fix. Torch because holding a Zippo near fuel lines/carbs is never a good idea!
If I’m going on a long journey I might take more stuff, but if you keep your car in good order and do a bit of preventative maintenance, you hopefully will never need your tools/spares.
An AA card.
I drove for a living for many years & unless I'm in something that's over 30 years old I don't bother taking any more than what comes standard with the vehicle. On anything remotely modern no matter what you take you wont have what you need, plus anything modern is so much more reliable so on the whole you just end up filling your boot with excess weight that may never be needed.
In the years I drove full time I've had diesel pumps go, a couple of water pumps, a turbo & an auxiliary belt pulley fly off, I've never had anything break (excluding fuses & bulbs) that I could of fixed at the side of the road. I believe that if you look after your vehicle & keep on top of every day maintenance then the odds of you reaching your destination these days are very good.
On the other hand though I do keep a few odds & sods in my old Land Rover although I never go far in it, I think more for peace of mind though than anything else.
I drove for a living for many years & unless I'm in something that's over 30 years old I don't bother taking any more than what comes standard with the vehicle. On anything remotely modern no matter what you take you wont have what you need, plus anything modern is so much more reliable so on the whole you just end up filling your boot with excess weight that may never be needed.
In the years I drove full time I've had diesel pumps go, a couple of water pumps, a turbo & an auxiliary belt pulley fly off, I've never had anything break (excluding fuses & bulbs) that I could of fixed at the side of the road. I believe that if you look after your vehicle & keep on top of every day maintenance then the odds of you reaching your destination these days are very good.
On the other hand though I do keep a few odds & sods in my old Land Rover although I never go far in it, I think more for peace of mind though than anything else.
At the risk of appearing slightly "Careful" If you want to keep a few appropriate tools in the car without lugging a comprehensive tool kit about:
Keep a note of what tools and what size you actually use when doing routine servicing and repairs etc on the vehicle in question. Make sure these tools, in the appropriate sizes and configurations are represented in your emergency kit.
This way you can carry only those sockets/spanners that may prove iseful, plus the essential big hammer and roll of duct tape of course.
Keep a note of what tools and what size you actually use when doing routine servicing and repairs etc on the vehicle in question. Make sure these tools, in the appropriate sizes and configurations are represented in your emergency kit.
This way you can carry only those sockets/spanners that may prove iseful, plus the essential big hammer and roll of duct tape of course.
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