Show your new tool arrivals

[Squankum]

Emergency tool purchase (and final reminder I need to build a road bag.) There I was, engaging in a weekend living history exhibit to show the youth of two states what a 20th century van looked like, in a driving rainstorm, when the wipers stopped working. Made my way to the upcoming exit and the first gas station after it, it had a nice big awning. Wiper linkage.

Turned out to be a bit of a truck stop, too, so I wandered to the back and found a trucker section, with a good selection of tools, but nooo greases.






(Something had been squeaking dryly as I used the wipers, hence SOME kind of lubricant.)

Screwdriver is trying to look like a good one. It was good enough to unscrew the screws I needed removed. Pliers feel a bit off (same brand) but I've learned in recent years with another cheap (HF) purchase that a little oil on the joints and contact points and threads might do wonders. These pliers do feel strong. I won't be seeking out more for my coming road bag, of course, egads.

 

[NFT5]

Lisle electrical connector release pliers for $11
Handles are a bit small, but that assures you get a good blood blister when the handles pinch your index finger. I thought Crapsman held the patent for this design in the 90's.

Interesting.

I've just added these. They're the unbranded version of the same thing. Look identical.


Don't follow my usual practice of only brand name tools, but they're light duty and although I do have the japanese ones, these might let me access connectors that are in tight spots.

 

[four.cycle]

the unbranded version of the same thing

The Lisle model 37980 (angle jaw) model is made in China (PRC), so other than bragging rights (or stoking ones own ego), I'm not sure how one justifies or rationalizes paying more for an item marketed by a U.S. based company that was outsourced from Asia.
More to the point: the tool is designed to open a PLASTIC connector. How good does it really need to be to accomplish that task?

 

[FigN⋅m]

Interesting.

I've just added these. They're the unbranded version of the same thing. Look identical.


Don't follow my usual practice of only brand name tools, but they're light duty and although I do have the japanese ones, these might let me access connectors that are in tight spots.

I did the same, but I think I got the Limited Vampire Edition



Super easy fix, but amusing nonetheless.
I can't help but think the $15 2-Packs are Lisle seconds or something?
Either way - hopefully they come in handy, although I've made it
decades without them and still somehow managed...

 

[four.cycle]

I can't help but think the $15 2-Packs are Lisle seconds or something?

errrr... I'd be more inclined to think that Lisle is outsourcing them from the same place as your low-end two-pack models, and charging an additional $20 bucks to put their name on the package. The tool itself is not marked "Lisle" - only "PATENT PENDING".

 

[Squankum]

errrr... I'd be more inclined to think that Lisle is outsourcing them from the same place as your low-end two-pack models, and charging an additional $20 bucks to put their name on the package. The tool itself is not marked "Lisle" - only "PATENT PENDING".

Lisle outsourcing this to Asia when Hiwatha, KS, is less than two hours away drives me Wilde!

 

[four.cycle]

^ Considering I paid O'Reilly's $34.99 + tax for those, I would think they'd be able to produce them in country at a competitive price point.
If not Wilde, most certainly ProAmerica.

 

[Buckgnarly]

Heyco stubbies from KC tool. Put some other brands in to compare, they are cool sort of mid sized stubbies....and for some reason I feel like I want to eat the handles!

 

[Meursault74]

Emergency tool purchase (and final reminder I need to build a road bag.) There I was, engaging in a weekend living history exhibit to show the youth of two states what a 20th century van looked like, in a driving rainstorm, when the wipers stopped working. Made my way to the upcoming exit and the first gas station after it, it had a nice big awning. Wiper linkage.

Turned out to be a bit of a truck stop, too, so I wandered to the back and found a trucker section, with a good selection of tools, but nooo greases.






(Something had been squeaking dryly as I used the wipers, hence SOME kind of lubricant.)

Screwdriver is trying to look like a good one. It was good enough to unscrew the screws I needed removed. Pliers feel a bit off (same brand) but I've learned in recent years with another cheap (HF) purchase that a little oil on the joints and contact points and threads might do wonders. These pliers do feel strong. I won't be seeking out more for my coming road bag, of course, egads.

20th century van,

Vaseline.

License plate frame

 

[Beerhippie]

Heyco stubbies from KC tool. Put some other brands in to compare, they are cool sort of mid sized stubbies....and for some reason I feel like I want to eat the hamdles!

I was able to polish out the tooth marks on my green Heycos using Dremel and a car headlamp restoration kit.

 

[FigN⋅m]

Heyco stubbies from KC tool. Put some other brands in to compare, they are cool sort of mid sized stubbies....and for some reason I feel like I want to eat the hamdles!

I'll bet they taste like Green Apple Jolly Ranchers

 

[Beerhippie]

I'll bet they taste like Green Apple Jolly Ranchers

Nope. More like plastic... disappointing.

 

[Squankum]

The Lisle model 37980 (angle jaw) model is made in China (PRC), so other than bragging rights (or stoking ones own ego), I'm not sure how one justifies or rationalizes paying more for an item marketed by a U.S. based company that was outsourced from Asia.
More to the point: the tool is designed to open a PLASTIC connector. How good does it really need to be to accomplish that task?

China hears you and ponders decontenting the handle process. Knipex in Germany hears you and ponders forging them twice. And passing the costs onto you!

 

[Squankum]

20th century van,

Vaseline.

License plate frame

 

[Achilleus]

Four more for my collection - all made in the USA this time:

 

[Smokeshow69]

20th century van,

Vaseline.

License plate frame

I recently saw squankum out on a date doing stunt work for Uncle Rico. Spy shot below

 

[Meursault74]

I recently saw squankum out on a date doing stunt work for Uncle Rico. Spy shot below

Those stripes made me think of this van, is the ultimate for stunts. No one ever go hurt, even with all the shots fired.

I pity the fool who doesn't like this van.

 

[Squankum]

Those stripes made me think of this van, is the ultimate for stunts. No one ever go hurt, even with all the shots fired.

I pity the fool who doesn't like this van.

Of course nobody got hurt! Corrugated steel roofing makes for excellent armor!

 

[landrover bodger]

A CV joint remover

 

[lund]

Aapp

A CV joint remover

Interesting. But does anyone rebuild CV joints these days with non-OEM ready-made ones so cheap? It has become hard to even find cross-ref boots these days. You have to guess close enough equivalent sizes to order.

 

[landrover bodger]

Aapp

Interesting. But does anyone rebuild CV joints these days with non-OEM ready-made ones so cheap? It has become hard to even find cross-ref boots these days. You have to guess close enough equivalent sizes to order.

it makes getting them off the shaft easier to replace the boot.

 

[lund]

it makes getting them off the shaft easier to replace the boot.

I don't doubt that. But the point is not many people seem to be rebuilding the joints these days with non-OEM full replacements so cheap. It seems hard to find the boots even ... and when you can the cost seems to be almost as much as the full shaft replacement. Maybe rebuilding still makes sense for cars where replacements are not easily found, super expensive, or unavailable.

 

[landrover bodger]

I don't doubt that. But the point is not many people seem to be rebuilding the joints these days with non-OEM full replacements so cheap. It seems hard to find the boots even ... and when you can the cost seems to be almost as much as the full shaft replacement. Maybe rebuilding still makes sense for cars where replacements are not easily found, super expensive, or unavailable.

my local parts place has a good stock of the boots for most of the common cars.

 

[Squankum]

Aapp

Interesting. But does anyone rebuild CV joints these days with non-OEM ready-made ones so cheap? It has become hard to even find cross-ref boots these days. You have to guess close enough equivalent sizes to order.

I do, but I only work for me. And I once was at a friend's house and saw a reman shaft he had bought for his VW Rabbit and it did not have ze proper German moly grease... and a friend of mine with a VW Golf bought one and he just couldn't get it to fit and it took him a long time to figure out: right joints, some other shaft not meant for A2 VW.

I'm not on flat rate and I don't mind disassembling and cleaning a CV joint etc etc. It's been a long time, though! At some point my special tool was a foot-long section of 2x12 with a keyhole shape cut into it, after that came the hammer. When I get back to working on ye olde VWs, though, I now have a press and a shaft-squeezy tool to hold the driveshaft vertically under it.

Just checked, for my '85 VW, boot kits still run eleven to nineteen dollars.

I think this isn't just about flat rate mechanics being very mindful of speed and efficiency -- it's about tedious, frustrating work. That's my speciality. I have a tolerance for it, and they want units in and out the door. But also driving their decisions is that they need to send customers out the door with something perfect so they don't come back and whine. Customer doesn't know how long the boot's been torn so mechanic assumes it's been years, and assumes dirt and grit have done a number in there. I might clean/repack/reboot and give it a try -- but all of my work comes with a lifetime warranty with the same old free mechanic, me, and I know what chances were taken on it not being perfect/needing to be redone.


Since the average customer won't understand any of these discussions when they come back angry in 6 months, they just get charged a lot up front every time, but given the best possible outcome.

(Provided the driveshaft rebuild factory isn't a bunch of flailing maniacs in a hurry, going for speed and efficiency as the boss commands, trying to move units in and out the door....)

 

[BobsYourUncle69]

Got this jump starter on amazon that fits my Makita batteries.
I chose this as it was overnight delivery.
After being connected to my tacomas battery for a few minutes, it just turned over enough to start. Used a quarter of a 4ah battery ,So I'll call it a win as I was able to start my car.

It didnt jump immediately though but needed a few min.

 

[Pexto]

I don't doubt that. But the point is not many people seem to be rebuilding the joints these days with non-OEM full replacements so cheap. It seems hard to find the boots even ... and when you can the cost seems to be almost as much as the full shaft replacement. Maybe rebuilding still makes sense for cars where replacements are not easily found, super expensive, or unavailable.

Up here in the sub-Arctic, we often have CV boots crack. The boots on inexpensive replacement axles are notorious for cracking when temperatures drop to the -40 range. So I try to replace cracked boots with quality OEM boots which are sometimes good for 150K miles.

The other approach I've used is to buy the cheap remans with lifetime warranty and plan on replacing them every spring, year after year. I used to work on a girlfriend's Subaru and I got to where I could replace both CV axles in the driveway in about 90 minutes. I guess she liked that OK, since we've been married for decades now.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I do, but I only work for me. And I once was at a friend's house and saw a reman shaft he had bought for his VW Rabbit and it did not have ze proper German moly grease... and a friend of mine with a VW Golf bought one and he just couldn't get it to fit and it took him a long time to figure out: right joints, some other shaft not meant for A2 VW.

I'm not on flat rate and I don't mind disassembling and cleaning a CV joint etc etc. It's been a long time, though! At some point my special tool was a foot-long section of 2x12 with a keyhole shape cut into it, after that came the hammer. When I get back to working on ye olde VWs, though, I now have a presse and a shaft-squeezy tool to hold the driveshaft vertically under it.

Just checked, for my '85 VW, boot kits still run eleven to nineteen dollars.

I think this isn't just about flat rate mechanics being very mindful of speed and efficiency -- it's about tedious, frustrating work. That's my speciality. I have a tolerance for it, and they want units in and out the door. But also driving their decisions is that they need to send customers out the door with something perfect so they don't come back and whine. Customer doesn't know how long the boot's been torn so mechanic assumes it's been years, and assumes dirt and grit have done a number in there. I might clean/repack/reboot and give it a try -- but all of my work comes with a lifetime warranty with the same old free mechanic, me, and I know what chances were taken on it not being perfect/needing redone.


Since the average customer won't understand any of these discussions when they come back angry in 6 months, they just get charged a lot up front every time, but given the best possible outcome.

(Provided the driveshaft rebuild factory isn't a bunch of flailing maniacs in a hurry, going for speed and efficiency as the boss commands, trying to move units in and out the door....)

The last Audi cv axle I priced was about $900 my cost, I could buy a crappy aftermarket for <$100. Yup, sometimes they vibrate a bit, and sometimes the customer doesn't like that. More than happy to sell you the 10X more expensive ~$1000 axle, but everyone just declines it. That's the auto parts race to the bottom as you describe.

Swap it out on that 10yo car that has 5 years left and live with it. Normally I note the leaking boot, but tell them to run it until it's a problem. Usually they make it a few years leaking grease then we slam in the cheapo.

 

[lund]

Up here in the sub-Arctic, we often have CV boots crack. The boots on inexpensive replacement axles are notorious for cracking when temperatures drop to the -40 range. So I try to replace cracked boots with quality OEM boots which are sometimes good for 150K miles.

The other approach I've used is to buy the cheap remans with lifetime warranty and plan on replacing them every spring, year after year. I used to work on a girlfriend's Subaru and I got to where I could replace both CV axles in the driveway in about 90 minutes. I guess she liked that OK, since we've been married for decades now.

I used to live on a winding hillside road with a Honda Civic that would eat CV boots from the tight turn radii and repetitive stress. So I got pretty good at replacing the cracked ones and have done a large number of rebuilds and replacements over the years. But the new non-OEM ones got better and better and cheaper and cheaper over time till I was not saving much by rebuilding them by the (roughly) early 2000s. It was also hard to notice when the boots would first crack and it does not take long driving on a cracked boot to get road grit in and have damaged bearings from the grit+grease slurry. So I largely stopped rebuilding them and shifted to buying new replacements and recycling them.

Funny in comparision to Pexto, I also would do this for my then girlfriend's car who later became my wife. But Pexto, you scored better perhaps: In my case, she never seemed impressed that I could do these kind of repairs

Ironically, the biggest problem that I have had with non-OEM ones axles is the shafts diameters at the inner oil seals being slightly different diameter (typically less) resulting in oil seal leaks. In particular, I had to tweak a Honda Civic OEM oil seals in order to fit better and then all was good.

Generally, in my experience to date, OEM boots last a little longer but not a lot relative to the non-OEM ones. That might be more due to me not wanting to as quickly replace the much more expensive part though than to them being noticably better!! When an OEM axle costs $250 plus you feel more hesitation on replacing it than when it is ~$60.

I have no doubt that special uses like super low temps one can tweak and improve performance by buying special made parts and rebooting etc. I am referring to there not being a lot of economy in the rebuilds in relatively standard situations: When boot kits (including grease and bands) are ~$25 each (prices rose with less being done) and you need two per axle to rebuild and the new axles cost ~$60 it is hard to get motivated to do the messy job rebooting with worn shaft joints underneath. The rebuilds are not that hard, but like anything, it takes some touch and it is possible to screw them up too. I suspect, for me, that the screw up rate might happen at a higher rate than a wrong assembly defect making it out of a factory! I still have a collection on band clamp pliers from when I did axle rebuilds regularly that have been gathering dust since the early 2000s.

 

[Squankum]

Up here in the sub-Arctic, we often have CV boots crack. The boots on inexpensive replacement axles are notorious for cracking when temperatures drop to the -40 range. So I try to replace cracked boots with quality OEM boots which are sometimes good for 150K miles.

The other approach I've used is to buy the cheap remans with lifetime warranty and plan on replacing them every spring, year after year. I used to work on a girlfriend's Subaru and I got to where I could replace both CV axles in the driveway in about 90 minutes. I guess she liked that OK, since we've been married for decades now.

BREAKING NEWS: Subaru woman likes the shaft once in a while!

 

[gfd_703]

Picked up the 51 piece 3/8 service set yesterday to go along with the 1/4 set and the 3/8 mid length set I already had. Got a better deal from my Snap On guy new than any I have found used on Market Place in the last year.

 

[PelicanPines]

BREAKING NEWS: Subaru woman likes the shaft once in a while!

That's my wife you know...

 

[Mr. Roboto]

M12 light, on sale for $35 at HD.

 

[wandrur]

This kept popping up on Woot, so I finally gave in for $74.

 

[LXCam]

Thanks to @Bigblue&Goldie (you fr) I bought **** I didn’t need at JB tools.

But if I use my wife’s logic, I saved so much money they were basically free

 

[Jure]

 

[Squankum]

You and me! The only ones who like them... and buy new ones!

 

[esben57]

Dowidat 1993R 1/2" ratchet, used but unmolested. No quick release, very sturdy.

Also USAG ratchet. Not seen much of their stuff over here. A bit rough, had to find replacement screws and fashion a new switch lever from some steel. Original monkey metal broken.
Cannot find a repair kit, this is now my user ratchet it's a good item.

 

[AJHD]

Have a link?

 

[esben57]

A tool for car washing. Grit guard and magnets.

 

[Jure]

Have a link?

www.race-shop.hr

Its in croatia lol