A 10 Year Retrospective

[shoggoth80]

So, it's been a good while since I went from DIY to paid technician, and then back again. I went from Independent, to working for a government fleet shop, to working in the parts room due to injury. Hence back to DIY.

I started with a tool bag, graduated to a cart, went to a supplied top and bottom single bank for work, and back to a slightly modified cart for home. It's been interesting for sure. I've bought new, used, cheap cheap, mid tier, and higher end. Kinda all over the map. About the only thing I'd change is not getting hurt, but hindsight is always 20/20 right?

Figured I would share for no particular reason. This is the current state of things. It's a HF service cart. I've come close to outgrowing it, even as returned to DIY. Lol. I'll probably add some edits after I get things uploaded.

Top: hammers, screwdrivers, case splitter, magnets, Torx bits in plastics container, bearing/race driver, 3 jaw harmonic balancer puller.


1/4 drive drawer. Super shallow, shallow, mid depth, deep metrics. Torx bits , swivel sockets, roto, fixed, and micro ratchets, e-torx. Misc SAE.

3/8 drawer. Long roto, long fixed, typical length ratchets. Super short, shallow, mid depth, and deep metrics. Swivel adapter, spark plug sockets.



Metric wrenches. Largely Armstrong 6 point combos. Filled in with others. Mostly American made KD. Matco ratcheting stubbies. Some Suzuki. Kobalt stubbies. Toptul Zero degree long pattern wrenches. Astro flexible line wrenches.

1/2 drawer. Deep metric impacts. Mixed manufacture between Armstrong, and Pittsburgh Pro. Shallow metric 12 points, Pittsburgh...a hold over from before I was paid to ream on them. Lol.
Wobble adapter. Pittsburgh breaker. Mini picks. 2 of the ratchets I got for a price I couldn't say no to, and the Cman was a warranty swap.

SAE wrench drawer. Mostly Armstrong, but also SK, Cman, Bonney. Mac duckbills. Globemaster wire stripper/crimper. Cheap HF vise grips.

Misc drawer. Some brake tools. Grease gun. Spring compressor used for one job. Lol. Pipe wrench was a bonus in a used purchase. Pretty much haven't had to use it.

 

[shoggoth80]

Not pictured are the oversized pieces that live in cases off to the side. Inner tie rod tool, crank installer for bikes, 1/2 and 3/8 torque wrenches, leak down tester. Electric tools live inside... So my battery impact driver, and 1/2 gun, battery, charger, code reader, and meter aren't pictured either.

Special ish stuff drawer. Triple squares, harmonic balancer puller (again, needed for a different job), snap ring pliers, oil filter wrenches, harmonic balancer installer, caliper service set, Mighty Vac, test light, timing light, spark tester, oil pressure socket, flywheel puller for my bike, Cman bolt outs, puller for Chrysler timing gear.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

It creeps up on all of us. I have a 1/4 drive set that was my grandfathers, SK box with mostly SK and some add ons. That'll all be us one day.


What's in the toptul roll? If you outgrow it the 6 drawer flip top cart might be another option.

 

[shoggoth80]

Toptul roll has 0 degree long double box end wrenches.

 

[joel63]

So, it's been a good while since I went from DIY to paid technician, and then back again. I went from Independent, to working for a government fleet shop, to working in the parts room due to injury. Hence back to DIY.

I started with a tool bag, graduated to a cart, went to a supplied top and bottom single bank for work, and back to a slightly modified cart for home. It's been interesting for sure. I've bought new, used, cheap cheap, mid tier, and higher end. Kinda all over the map. About the only thing I'd change is not getting hurt, but hindsight is always 20/20 right?

Figured I would share for no particular reason. This is the current state of things. It's a HF service cart. I've come close to outgrowing it, even as returned to DIY. Lol. I'll probably add some edits after I get things uploaded.

Top: hammers, screwdrivers, case splitter, magnets, Torx bits in plastics container, bearing/race driver, 3 jaw harmonic balancer puller.


1/4 drive drawer. Super shallow, shallow, mid depth, deep metrics. Torx bits , swivel sockets, roto, fixed, and micro ratchets, e-torx. Misc SAE.

3/8 drawer. Long roto, long fixed, typical length ratchets. Super short, shallow, mid depth, and deep metrics. Swivel adapter, spark plug sockets.



Metric wrenches. Largely Armstrong 6 point combos. Filled in with others. Mostly American made KD. Matco ratcheting stubbies. Some Suzuki. Kobalt stubbies. Toptul Zero degree long pattern wrenches. Astro flexible line wrenches.

1/2 drawer. Deep metric impacts. Mixed manufacture between Armstrong, and Pittsburgh Pro. Shallow metric 12 points, Pittsburgh...a hold over from before I was paid to ream on them. Lol.
Wobble adapter. Pittsburgh breaker. Mini picks. 2 of the ratchets I got for a price I couldn't say no to, and the Cman was a warranty swap.

SAE wrench drawer. Mostly Armstrong, but also SK, Cman, Bonney. Mac duckbills. Globemaster wire stripper/crimper. Cheap HF vise grips.

Misc drawer. Some brake tools. Grease gun. Spring compressor used for one job. Lol. Pipe wrench was a bonus in a used purchase. Pretty much haven't had to use it.

What the 2 threaded rods with wing nut like things?

 

[shoggoth80]

What the 2 threaded rods with wing nut like things?

Those are spring compressors. For those that like to live anxiously Needed them to do my SUV rear springs. You use them slowly, with a good deal of caution. Can't recall the brand. They do work, if you do your part.

 

[joel63]

Those are spring compressors. For those that like to live anxiously Needed them to do my SUV rear springs. You use them slowly, with a good deal of caution. Can't recall the brand. They do work, if you do your part.

Thanks. I kind of thought that's they were, but I wasn't sure. I understand what you mean "to live anxiously."

 

[shoggoth80]

Electric tools that weren't pictured previously. The impacts are budget, but they're putting in the work. The little Matco code reader is about 12 years old now. It's been a solid little reader.

 

[rust in the eye]

Oh, there is plenty of room remaining in that cart

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have been retired for over 17 years now.

Tool wise, I got a Craftsman rollaway and an upper box. Then I had to add middle. Finally, replaced the rollaway with one with ball bearing slides (tools too heavy for regular slides !). Most of what I have I acquired in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. 90% of it is Craftsman. A couple of years ago, I bit the bullet and got into Milwaukee battery powered (the Black and Decker things I had before were JUNK !). Started with M12. Inflator, 3/8" drill, 3/8" impact. Broke down last year and got some M18 (most of which are at my son's house, 5 minutes away). M18 mid-torque impact, 1/2" drill (w/hammer and driver functions), impact driver (M18 overkill), vacuum. Last purchase was an M12 angle grinder, my new Favorite tool !

The only other thing I have bought was 3/8" impact sockets. Imperial and metric, standard and deep and metric swivel.

Maybe an odd screwdriver (2 sizes of Briggs and Stratton, hollow ground, carburetor jet screwdrivers) or pliers (you can never have enough Vice Grips).

Lot's of consumables. (So nice to have these on hand ! I buy Walmart brand carb cleaner and brake cleaner by the case. FREE delivery !)

Forgot ! A TS101 soldering iron and a "Flea Scope" (I haven't got it to work with a Fire Max 11 ... YET !)

 

[AJHD]

So, it's been a good while since I went from DIY to paid technician, and then back again. I went from Independent, to working for a government fleet shop, to working in the parts room due to injury. Hence back to DIY.

I can relate. I went from working in an unrelated industry as just a DIY, to being a paid mechanic. I bounced around, working in several shops and eventually left the industry altogether. Later on, going back to being a paid mechanic, but this time working on heavy equipment instead. Chronic injuries and other variables pushed me back out again and yet another demotion to DIY.

I wanted to return to automotive, but I had to accept the reality that I just can't do the job physically. I had to walk away...
I've been trying to find something else since. Worked in parts for a bit, and currently working as a tool crib attendant/manager.

Ultimately, it's not what I want to do and I'm consciously holding onto this unrealistic delusion that I can physically be a mechanic again (heavy equipment, not automotive). Although I'm also aware it won't happen, or it won't end well/last long if I try.

I got rid of a lot of my tools after leaving CAT and not going back into automotive. But I've started buying a lot of tools again, although different brands and versions than I had before. I'm sure most of them will never be used, but it's all I have.

 

[shoggoth80]

Oh, there is plenty of room remaining in that cart

Where there's a will, there's a way. Lol.
Hard to fault it when it's doing what it's supposed to do.

 

[shoggoth80]

Random lessons learned along the way:
Kobalt sockets are ok. Not a huge fan of the ones I still have, but not a fan of 12pts. They hold up decent though. Got a couple in 1/2 drive that would definitely fall under the "abused" category that are still doing duty. The stubby Kobalt wrenches are doing ok, but don't see high use. I'm more likely to grab the Matco ratcheting ones.

Kobalt air tools... Not so much. I blew up three of them in the timespan between being an independent, and moving to fleet shop. They weren't abused, and oiled on the regular. Got guff trying to warranty them almost every time. Kobalt ratchets are also a no go for me. Busted all of them. Started with some new old stock American ones, warrantied them out when they started skipping. Then those started to skip, even with the occasional home use (after being replaced by more pro-quality items).

Both my HF dead blows have been warranty swapped at some point. They're pretty high value. Got years out of them, and would have still been good value if they didn't have a solid warranty.

Impacts seem to work well regardless of who made them. There's HF, Armstrong, and Kobalt in the mix. Recently grabbed some Jobsmart on clearance.

HF sockets. They're pretty legit. Low price point, been kicking for ages. HF Torx... Not so much. Warrantied out about 4 of them. They twisted, and got chewed up rather than snapped. I've seen lots of broken Torx, from most manufacturers (including brands supplied at work). Nobody really makes a good one, some just make ones better than the next guy.

I'm not a rust belter, but I put more stock in 6pt stuff. I've rounded nuts, even with 6pt wrenches.

Everything will break with enough use, and time.

 

[Stelzer]

If you're looking to maximize space, I'd clear off the top of your cart and designate it for sockets & ratchets so you're not having to lay them down in the drawers, (which is a big space hog). Add a tray to both sides, you can drill holes into it so it could hold long screwdrivers, extensions & prybars. Get some wrench racks. HF has decent mag rails you could attach to the inside lid of your cart, since it's currently empty space just waiting for a purpose.
Find another home for all the cases. File cabinets can be had on CL, FB Marketplace & OfferUp for cheap. The lateral file cabs especially make for great tool storage and most are built quite well. Doing all of the above would free up several of your drawers.

 

[shoggoth80]

If you're looking to maximize space, I'd clear off the top of your cart and designate it for sockets & ratchets so you're not having to lay them down in the drawers, (which is a big space hog). Add a tray to both sides, you can drill holes into it so it could hold long screwdrivers, extensions & prybars. Get some wrench racks. HF has decent mag rails you could attach to the inside lid of your cart, since it's currently empty space just waiting for a purpose.
Find another home for all the cases. File cabinets can be had on CL, FB Marketplace & OfferUp for cheap. The lateral file cabs especially make for great tool storage and most are built quite well. Doing all of the above would free up several of your drawers.

The screwdrivers currently occupy some of the side space that could accommodate breakers or pry bars. One side of the cart is hard up against the wall of my work shed. I've thought about adding something to the other side... Either a tray, or small locker. I pretty much never close the lid on this thing.

However, the point of "could use some organization" isn't lost. I know the set up isn't as efficient as it could be. But I'm also saving money, rather than using it to make money these days. When I was independent, the sockets, ratchets, and air gun lived in the top.

Wrench racks. Those would be beneficial. No doubt about it.

Cases. Most of them are holding kits. The Maddox bearing driver, caliper service set etc. They don't organize quite as nicely as other hard line tools. Though I'm sure I could find a more compact solution with some creativity.

While I wasn't specifically hunting for organization advice, I do appreciate the input.