Go bag / Road box..?

[mudflap]

I always wonder why most members here talk about keeping their junk tools, or..lesser quality tools in their road box. Is it because they are afraid they will be stolen, or lost..? It has been my experience when broke down on the side of the road, or a parking lot somewhere..thats when i need my good tools...they have to work.... Back at the shop, or home garage we have duplicates of everything..if a tool dosnt work, or breaks...who cares..? just grab a different one, or the torch, or the welder, or the grinder,

 

[MadMechMaster]

Depends on what you call lesser quality. My Snap-On tools stay in the box at home. I have Craftsman and Gearwrench in the road kits.

Soft no name tools have no place except a kids tool box.

 

[dr_clyde]

I agree, the last place I want to be pissed off at cheap tools is on the road, either in an emergency or just at a customer's facility trying to get a job done.

Theft is always a concern, but I try not to work places where my stuff might grow legs.

My road boxes and portable tools are Snap-On, Proto, Matco, Mac and other high end tools.

So is my home box.

The lowest tier I will buy was USA craftsman, and I don't have much of that. I have some Cman sockets in the Knaack job box, and a set of RP wrenches in my home box.

 

[Rogers954]

For me it came down to budget i don’t own very many top tier tools as a diy guy but i try to work with quality as much as i can, my snap on collection is very small and i got it though an auction (i would not have paid retail for these tools, to much money for me) and my starter set was an old craftsman set like 200 pieces i have been wrenching with that set since i was 19 and it has served me pretty well. As of lately i have been adding to that set with more sockets (some oem some gearwrench), plus i have been concentrating a lot on tools lately so i have been adding more to the mix (Milwaukee auto tools wrench and impact, pliers, screwdrivers, impacts sockets, specialty tools etc).

My tool box in my truck is primarily filled with HF tools, i picked up there big 301 piece mechanics set on sale specifically for my truck as it didn’t hurt the wallet very much and it came with a lot of sockets in all three sizes (1/4,3/8,1/2) sure the screw drivers and other junk that came in the set are pretty much garbage but i subbed in some higher quality drivers (also HF) in there Incase i need them on the side of the road or for other projects when I’m out and about. I don’t feel as though i shorted myself by going this route, these tools are purely for roadside emergency or odds and ends when tools are needed that there wasn’t a plan ahead for. I figure if i can’t change something on the side of the road to get my rig back into action it isn’t because of the tools i have, most likely its going to be that the job requires a lot more than what i had room for anyway and it’s time to call a tow.

I’d love to have the budget for 2 sets of high quality tools but that’s just not realistic for me and my budget constraints, i get what people will say about when you really need it you don’t want to be fighting **** tools, but i don’t have any complaints about the Pittsburg pro sockets, sure the ratchets aren’t the best but they will get the job done. I guess for me it’s just hard to justify the cost of a second set of nice tools that are going to ride in a box for 95% of there life’s.

I have a Hf bottle jack that could lift anything I’m going to mess with in my tool box and some other Hf specialty tools for emergency’s and i feel pretty confident i could accomplish a lot of task with what i have.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[engineer2]

The main reason for cheap tools is potential theft. Around here if you forget to lock your car, it will be rifled through during the night. If you are ever in a rare situation where your car has to be towed and you aren't with the tow truck, you can kiss your tools and phone charger goodbye.

 

[crewchief888]

all my "good" tools (98% truck brand) are in my service truck.

garage tools are a mix of truck/industrial brands, SK, tekton, CM GW and HF

i dont keep a permanent go-bag/road box in any vehicle

pair of jumper cables in both vehicles, wifes car is brand new, truck is 18 years old, and rarely leaves the area.
breaker bar/deep socket for the aftermarket wheels on my truck, a small adj wrench, hammer and a big screwdriver.


i have a couple bags and a CM 3 drawer top box i can toss in the truck with whatever i think i need...

 

[dr_clyde]

I should point out that I don't keep any tools in the truck on a full time basis. I just have them always ready to go, and separate from my shop box and home box.

I don't lock my truck hardly ever. Only in the big city or sketchy areas. Fortunately I live in a good area with good neighbors. It also has a built in theft deterrent, AKA manual transmission and rust.

 

[matt_i]

The mechanics tools I take out with me on the road are as much black oxide as I could find. I find it doesn't invoke the attraction to shiny bling that we seem to all share, and the tools are still good quality. But I never leave them in the truck overnight.

 

[SteveH-CO]

It has been my experience when broke down on the side of the road, or a parking lot somewhere..thats when i need my good tools...they have to work....

In theory you're right, but 'any tools' beat 'no tools' and experience guides you over time as to what you need. My trail repair was a tie rod end that popped apart at a slow speed while four-wheeling. I repaired with two vehicle jacks, baling wire, and vise grip pliers. An elaborate socket set would have been useless. I had to borrow the bailing wire, as I am not (or wasn't) a 'baling wire and duct tape' kind of guy.

I now carry 'improvisational tools' for field repairs - stuff like radiator sprinkles (the powdered aluminum sealant), a tire repair kit, pliers, wire, hammers, a volt-ohm meter. On long vacations, I carry a more complete set, and this allowed me to fix camper propane issues and replace a Powerstroke Ford starter that failed with no warning.

No one will ever have all their dream toolkit in their vehicle, unless they are a mobile mechanic driving their rig when it breaks down.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Not an "every day carry", but for trips !

View media item 74228

 

[HaroRider]

My road bag is mainly gearwrench. I feel it is a pretty good middle ground incase I get stuck, and not used enough to actually matter. But not as cheap as HF junk hand tools.

 

[gtsgarage]

I keep my very first mechanics set of craftsman tools in a bag in the trunk of my vintage Mustang it’s come in very handy several times. Full wrenches, ratchets and screwdrivers.

 

[sberry]

I am not a tool snob. I have a 3/8 Olympia wrench part of my rosd kit I beat with a 20 oz nail hammer on a bleeder, how good does it have to be.

 

[bobcatdan]

Doing road work on the side, I have a snap on kra 60 I picked up off of CL in the back of my truck. It's mostly a mixed of tools funneled down from my higher up tool sets in the pecking order. Originally it was mainly a place for my craftsman to die. As they died I have picked a few things up for it. Namely sockets. I think the metal expired in my craftsman sockets. 20 years they were fine then all of a sudden I'm break 2 everytime I open the box. Giving Northern impact sockets a try now.

 

[Farrell]

Well, I came across this post looking to see what others carry in their road box. I was just putting one together for myself.

I initially had high end snap on tools in my go box. I came to realize that my go box was worth more than my work car. I slowly sold off my spare snap on tools that I was lugging around.

Currently this is what I am planning to carry with me
1. Blackhawk 65pc socket set 1/4 and 3/8
2. Sunex 1/2 impact socket set sae/metric
3. 1/2 ratchet
4. Milwaukee m12 impact and ratchet
5. Jeggs 65pc screw driver set (great value)
6.Multimeter (harbor frieght)
7. Powerprobe (harbor frieght)
8. Plier set (harbor frieght)
9. Zip ties, fuses and bulbs
10. Wire brush set
11. Sand paper
12. Small collection of fasteners
13. Breaker bar
14. Lights (harbor frieght)
15. Gear wrench sae/metric wrench set
16. Husky torx bit set
17. Cresent wrench set
19. Channel lock set
20. Vise grips


Im still trying to find a cheap makita 18v 1/2 impact.

 

[rick carpenter]

My "go bags" are for an entirely different purpose. I do disaster demolition & rebuilds, plus community service home repair etc. So I keep a 5 gal bucket and a tool bag full of duplicates ready to go. The bucket is more for demo work with flat bars, pipe wrench, bolt cutters, etc. The bag is more for rebuild/build work. When I go out on a job, I add the single tools I have in the garage plus a mix of the better tools depending on what the job is. I have to be ready to lose perhaps one hand tool per outing... I accept that this is what might happen when I share my tools with other volunteers. That being said, I also take a pouch of electrical tools that I don't expect to lose.

My road kit is chocks, tire gauge, HF torque wrench, breaker bar, and socket for lug nuts. That is always in my trunk. For long trips I chuck motor oil, windshield wash fluid, and coolant into a milk crate.

 

[ddawg16]

I have a crescent wrench
Screwdriver
BFG

For everything else, AAA

Wife drives a new car....the car dealer can fix it under warranty

If my jeep breaks....it's usually on the trail...in most cases, you can't carry enough tools to fix it on the trail

 

[seanb02]

Good topic for sure. I need to put together a road box to toss in the back of my Dodge pickup along with the spare tire when I'm going out in the woods or on a longer road trip somewhere. The GMC service body has pretty much every tool I could possibly need to rebuild a tractor in the middle of a field if needed, so I haven't gotten around to getting a dedicated tool kit together to toss in my regular truck. Granted I do have AAA+RV but that wouldn't help if out somewhere with no cell service.

I have close to top quality tools on my service truck, but I wouldn't go that route for a toolbox to throw in the other truck. Way I see it is the truck broke down, anything I have may help that situation, or may not. I can't plan for everything, and whatever tool is in the truck toolbox is only getting used rarely, so it isn't going to pay for itself if it may or may not help in a roadside breakdown situation.

Quite frankly there isn't much I could do on the side of the road even for my 16 year old truck since I'm not going to have parts handy to replace what is broken. Even less so if it was newer because I would need my service truck full of tools (and access to a parts source) since the newer stuff requires even more specialized equipment than a basic wrench set and a couple pairs of pliers.

 

[anndel]

AAA for my wife and I. Tow it home to my shop then work on it there. I do have some wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, ratchets and sockets in both trucks.

 

[icthruu74]

For me my trunk tools spend a lot of time riding around in the trunk of my car, and very little time being used. I can’t justify having a thousand dollars worth of tools sitting unused, so I go with less expensive things. A craftsman socket & wrench set I picked up on clearance, a few channelock pliers, a Tekton screwdriver set, hammer, gloves, knife and rags pretty much covers whatever I’m going to do roadside for under $200. I should note that I have family members that I often help with minor repairs too so this kit comes in handy for that.

 

[NUTTSGT]

The tool bag I keep in my truck started out as a Cman set that came in a zippered pouch back around '93-94. It went from the pouch to a Cman screwdriver case and then into the current tool bag. Since it started out as Cman, I slowly added more Craftsman tools to it as I caught them on sale RP wrench sets and the such.

Now, I would say it's probably 80-85% Cman with other stuff added in, like a no name cheap ball peen hammer. My thoughts as well, some tools better than no tools.

 

[irishjihad]

3/8" Tekton sockets and ratchet.

18" breaker bar and socket from Autozone (Taiwan made) for my lug nuts.

Two half decent adjustable wrenches (a USA Craftsman and some German one)

Free philips and flat screwdriver set from HF.

Torx multi bit screwdriver from Milwaukee.

Harbor Freight framing hammer ($5).

Channelocks, Husky needle nose pliers, linesman pliers, two pairs of old Visegrips.

About 20' of #9 tie wire.

Old mechanics hammer from a yard sale.

A few random pieces of tubing in 12"-14" length, and 8 or 9 hose clamps of various sizes, and a nut driver that fits them.

Self-fusing tape. Electrical tape. Duct tape.

Battery jump box. Jumper cables.

Compressor.

Box of screws. Box of nails. A plastic tarp. Staple gun and staples.

I use it for non-car repairs a lot more often than car repair.

 

[Magnum440d100]

FWIW, I made a 13,000 mile trip with only the socket set shown in the bottom drawer of this tool box. JUST the socket set. No toolbox or other tools shown in the pic.

I was going to take my channellock set, but left it for my brother to use back home if he needed since he doesn’t have tools of his own.

I finally put my 117 piece craftsman back together. The case has an extra spot for extra tools if needed. It is in the back of any car I drive now (same Honda I made the trip in) and will be transferred to other cars when I drive them.


But from my experience using the small socket set, any repair on the side of the road needing more tools, is not a repair to do on the side of the road. AAA gets me to a place where I can safely work on my vehicle.

 

[jd_1138]

I just put my best stuff in my main box in the garage, then 2nd best gets relegated to the shed, and the 3rd tier stuff goes to the road box. I usually use my main best tools on all repairs anyway.

The cheaper stuff in the trunk box is usually to help a relative or a friend at their house with their stuff. But even my cheap stuff is pretty good -- SK, USA CM, Knipex pliers, etc.. Might be older, beat up stuff, but still pretty good. I hate bad tools.