Setting up my road box - what's missing?

[chrismenke]

So I'm trying to put together a road box to support a small stable of cars and bikes. They are primarily metric but with a couple SAE holdouts. I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing as there's still a little room in the box. Also, if there are things I'm carrying which I shouldn't be I'm keen to hear why.

So far I've got the following:

• 3/8 drive rack of standard and metric sockets (shallow 6 points) plus a plug socket
• 3/8 ratchet, extensions, and universal
• 1/2 breaker bar and 1/2-3/8 adapter
• 8-19mm wrenches
• 1/4-7/8 wrenches
• Pliers, dykes, and Vise Grips
• Circlip pliers
• Screwdrivers
• Allen keys in metric and SAE
• Butane soldering iron with solder, shrink tube, and butane
• Mag Lite
• Hammers
• X-Acto Knife and blades
• Grabby magnet
• HF Digital Caliper and spare battery
• Duct tape
• Two Crescent wrenches
• A bouquet of zip ties
• Rubber gloves
• HF Multimeter
• Wire brushes
• Flywheel pullers for bikes
• Remote starter
• Inline spark tester
• Feeler Guage
• New spark plug

I plan to add:

• Tape Measure
• 18" ruler
• Sharpie, pen, moleskin notebook
• Leatherman Wave
• Third Hand Cable tool
• Electrical Tape

So...what's missing?

 

[CJM8515]

Breaker bar and an 18" long piece of pipe as a cheater bar perhaps.

Id also suggest you throw in a 1/2" setup

 

[chrismenke]

Breaker bar and an 18" long piece of pipe as a cheater bar perhaps.

Id also suggest you throw in a 1/2" setup

I'd listed the 3/8 stuff twice...edited my original post to mention that I've got a 1/2 breaker bar and 1/2-3/8 adapter. Most of our cars and bikes are older and smaller, and 3/8 is usually sufficient in range of available sizes and appropriate torque.

 

[JonnyMac]

I have a small cheap 9v drill with a few bits plus rivets and a rivet gun.

 

[IFMJohn]

Radiator sealant??? Noooooo. Dont do it!

Definitely fuses, some wire, bailing wire and those hose clamps.

I'd use Marine grade heat shrink if I were you. Make sure that you have a trashed screwdriver in there that you don't mind destroying (prybar, jumping high amperage switches, etc). Different colored sharpies.

 

[Adam.C]

I think we all need to reconsider what we can actually do roadside to get a car that is having driveability issues, remedied. Once upon a time, you could fix a car by the side of the road. There may be some cars like that still, but not many.

I think you should have fuses and a flashlight, tire changing tools, prybar and a BFH if you get in a fender bender. Duct tape is never a bad idea for the trim pieces that are about to rip off and have to be color matched to the vehicle. Maybe hose clamps. Someway to repair a belt wouldn't be a bad idea.

For occassional auto work, I have a small box with 1/4" drive sockets, extensions, ratchets, a ratcheting screwdriver, bunch of bits, couple small ratchet stubby wrenches (8,10,13mm) 3 small pliers (dikes, needle nose, and duck bills), flashlight, tiny red light bulb with 2 wires on it for testing circuits.

I can change a battery with this, do some interior work, maybe change an accessory belt, pull out a radiator etc, not much really.

Other than that, modern cars leave us stranded when the computers fail, coil packs go, electric fuel pumps quit. Ain't nothing you can do to fix any of that roadside. The stuff that's easy to fix (mechanical stuff) doesn't go wrong anymore.

 

[sberry]

You rarely see cars stranded, it used to be common. About half of it you can fix, a big c camp for pushing stuck calipers.

 

[stratman977]

I would throw in some torx bits or keys. They are too common these days not to have them.

I carry a small aerosol can of wd40 also. I would rather carry something better but wd40 is the only one I know that comes in a small aerosol size.

You might not have the parts to fix it roadside but it's nice to have the tools to changeout a coil pack in a hotel parking lot when you are hours away from home. Not everytime you get stranded is in the middle of nowhere miles away from civilization.

 

[Greatwhitewing]

Coat hanger and duct tape

 

[egnorant]

A couple of trash bags...lots of uses in those. Include several of the small grocery bags too!
A set of good gloves.

Even then you will not need them! My last repair was a proportioning valve and I needed flare wrenches and an O-ring!

Bruce

 

[jkwilson]

Maintenance work or emergency repairs?

Hose clamps in various sizes. Two of them with a can or piece of scrap metal can repair a broken exhaust pipe.

Baling wire. Cable ties are great, but if an exhaust hanger fails they won't cut it.

Though I hate them for real work, crimp **** splices can be use a lot of places you can't apply heat.

Lubricant of some kind.

Cotter pins.

Tire repair and a 12V compressor. This is the thing that has saved me the most.

I'd also upgrade the lighting to something that will hold itself in place.

 

[sberry]

Throw out any round jaw Vgrips and put in 6 and 10R and toss a 6 inch adjustable and have 8 and 12 and pitch most other for 440, a 9 side cutter.
Toss the exacto for a utility knife.

 

[CORTEZSS69]

Jumper box and a tire repair kit with compressor. 50/50 gallon of antifreeze. i aslo carry a small round and flat file, 1/2 sockets, telescoping magnet.

 

[CORTEZSS69]

I also carry a pack of gm seal tablets. gm# 3634621. Watched it seal a leaky freeze plug in the middle of nowhere one night.

 

[panknuckshovel]

AAA card

 

[d.mcfarland]

The multimeter is more complicated that a roadside hose blowout in my opinion.

 

[thewatusi]

I would think that the cost of a double set of tools along with the decreased gas milage over the long term because of the additional weight would exceed the small price of a roadside assistance plan.

I pay less than $2 a month to have roadside assistance on my vehicles through my insurance company. If I break down they will tow me wherever I want.

 

[erty67]

A shower curtain to lay on or cover you in the rain.

you just made my day. Why did I never think of this???

 

[chrismenke]

Great ideas all! Gonna beef up the wire selection (bailing, electrical, coat hanger) and the electrical bits like connectors/fuses/etc. as well as the helper chemicals. I've built this box several times for different cars to do road rallies and just want to build one generalist kit and be done with it.

Just to give everyone some context between the fiance and I we've got 15+ motorcycles/scooters and 9 cars. One is her truck, a 95 Toyota T100, one is my truck, a 1994 Volvo wagon. They have computers and fuel injection are are pretty reliable. The rest have points, condensors, chokes, carbs, drum brakes, control cables, ancient electrics and all the other good stuff you can fix on the side of the road.

How's this for unreliable...I have a British car which was licensed to and built by the Italians! The good news is that when it has an electrical short it shoots Chianti instead of Lucas brand smoke.

I already have AAA and Hagerty roadside assistance and I know when I'm beat, but I'm not gonna let a simple thing cost me a tow if fixing it on the spot will take less time than waiting for the truck.

 

[Beenman]

So...what's missing?
[/IMG]

Tin of WD-40? Small hacksaw? Scraper? Carb cleaner?

 

[PKile]

A roll of silicone Rescue Tape...when stretched it bonds to itself and forms a better repair than standard electrical tape. It can even be used to seal small leaks in hoses.

 

[honcho]

I'm always tinkering with my truck bag, mostly adding items because the tools get used for a lot more than just automotive applications. Best adjustment I've made in recent times was deleting the 8 and 12 inch adjustable wrenches and replacing the two with a 10 inch Knipex plier wrench.

I tried for a long time not to carry both normal and deep sockets too often the requirement for a deep socket would crop up. I do carry up to 22mm and 1 inch in normal depth and only 19mm and 13/16th in deep. I was recently visiting my father and needed a deep 7/8 to fix his riding mower so had to go borrow one from a neighbor.

I carry a small tube of loctite and a roll of teflon pipe tape as well.

I've replaced a unit wheel bearing (F250) on the side of the road. It required me to buy a deep socket and snap ring pliers. I replaced a leaking heater core in an 86 Suburban at 6 degrees in a hotel parking lot in Concorde NH one winter trip. I had to buy a 1/4 nut driver to complete that job. Thank goodness I had a pair of insulated coveralls with me.

Modern vehicles are incredibly reliable and,as many folks have said, when something electronic goes, there's generally not much chance of successful roadside repair. I still don't like to be caught without a few tools available.

 

[cgv69]

I like a lot of the other suggestions (trash bags, fuses, wire, tire plug kit, etc.)

Some additions
Gorilla tape - Much better then duct tape
Pry bar = GearWrench 18"-29" Extendable Indexable Pry Bar
Small bottle of hand cleaner
Small (~8"x8") kneeling pad
Some kind of rags/shop towel/etc.

 

[dale500]

Air shocks for your car to keep it from dragging the ground with all that in the trunk and perhaps one of those mount on the roof luggage carriers for your suitcases.

I'm a fan of the AAA card. I do sometimes carry small bag with a 3/8 ratchet, a few common size sockets, a 10 in 1 screwdriver and a couple of pairs of pliers. 4-5 lbs tops and it fits in the corner of the trunk leaving room for the other gear. I like to spend time making sure the car is ready for the trip before we leave. If the hoses/belts or other maintenance items are old, change them before they have a chance to fail on the road.

With all that available on the internet it is fairly easy to find out what the weak points are on any car you own and be proactive. If anything majors breaks I'm renting a pickup and a car trailer to get the thing back home.

 

[AA/FC]

Tire plug kit and a can of fix-a-flat.

 

[chrismenke]

I've gotta say that the one thing on this whole thread I never ever would have thought of is the shower curtain. Arrives tomorrow from Amazon with an old car print and all!