Tools of Desperation

[SignedUpJustToSeeThePics]

Hey, Thought I would kick of a new thread. What are your tools of desperation, or things you've managed to MacGyver and are to this day still proud of?

I'll kick off with something I've been hanging on to for years; an 8mm brake caliper bolt for a Ford Explorer.

I was doing some camping out near the Canyonlands in Utah. I was a good 3 or 4 miles off a paved road and 20 miles from any cell phone reception when I heard a dreaded metal on metal clanging. One of my brake caliper bots had vibrated out which was causing the caliper to slam up and down. After an exhaustive search of the road I figured I would have to resolve it myself.

Armed with a pocket knife and Juniper root; I managed to fashion an emergency fix. I made it to the local parts store. The OEM would take a few days to order so as I was digging through the loose bolts (armed with my comparison stick) The old guy working the counter (who was apparently not impressed with my ingenuity) actually pulled my girlfriend/wife aside and told her it was not safe to be riding with me. Guess he was one of those OEM only codgers..

So The gauntlet has been through down; let me see your MacGyvering skills

 

[tjmonsen5]

I turned a beer can into an exhaust manifold gasket on my jet ski. I was able to ride the rest of the day!

 

[Filson]

Nothing too crazy - I currently have an old slingshot/wrist rocket metal body that was slightly modified and is now being used as an extra-large tool hanger in my garage for some axes and such, I'll add a pic in the next couple days.

Good thread!

 

[mdbeck1]

Okay, as a kid I was always using bailing wire to fix EVERYTHING. It worked for hanging exhaust, keeping the plug wires away from the exhaust manifold, a buddy even put three wraps on a bolt pulled it tight and used it for a nut, .... Usually only for emergencies or until payday (which could easily be an emergency). You can also use it for welding wire on oxycetaline welders (and coat hangers).

Same kind of stuff for duct tape. Emergency radiator hose repair, repair vacuum hoses, fix rips in the vinyl seats, ...thousands of uses. I never leave home without it.

 

[Imcrazy]

Lost a drain plug out of the jet ski quite a distance away from home on the lake. I picked out a water logged tree limb about the right diameter. Broke it off at about 3" and gently screwed it into the hole. It lasted the rest of the day.

 

[justanengineer]

Not mine but my two favorites were from Turkish truck drivers hauling across the Iraqi desert in MAN dumps. 1. a bucket of road tar and some cotton cloth will seal a softball sized hole in a radiator. 2. an ~8x8 wood beam can replace broken leaf springs between tandem axles if properly clamped with U-bolts.

 

[SignedUpJustToSeeThePics]

Okay, as a kid I was always using bailing wire to fix EVERYTHING..

That reminds me, I used to ride about 16 miles (each way) by bicycle to work. I had a rack over the rear tire to hold a work clothes. About 2 miles into the ride home one of the bolts holding the rack to the frame popped off and the rack jammed into the side of the wheel.

after some searching around on the side of the road, I found a short length of solid gauge electrical wire and lashed the rack to the bike frame; saved me a long walk home. Held for 3 years like that; would still be holding if I didn't remove the rack. To this day I keep scrap wire handy for circumstances like that.

 

[Holt]

I once used a screwdriver as a chisel and a prybar. Im still ashamed to this day.

 

[Holt]

Oh and 10 gauge ground wire as jumper cables. That was interesting.

 

[G_P]

Beer can and bailing wire to patch an exhaust leak.
Maglites duct taped to the side mirrors when a headlight wire melted and killed both lights.

Oh and riding as a passenger sitting on the windowsill holding a gascan on the roof with a hose down to the carb to get home with a broke fuel pump

Sent via carrier pigeon.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Beer can and bailing wire to patch an exhaust leak.

Wow second one already. Did the same on a buddies 3 wheeler, except we added a custom "stick" and a beer bottle twist top. Perfect for the rest of the day.

 

[PugetDude]

No pictures, but I once welded two railroad spikes side by side to use as a tie rod separator. It worked just fine...

 

[shoggoth80]

"Beer can and bailing wire to patch an exhaust leak."
-This, but + hose clamps.

Also, used hose clamps as emergency hangers on a really busted up exhaust (not mine, made it so the guy's exhaust wouldn't drag ground).

 

[spacedoutbob]

I have a Snap-On Reversible Screwdriver that I used as a chisel to cut off 5 rivets on a Window Regulator Assembly at a Self-Serve Yard. I showed it to my Snap-On Man and told him just how well Snap-On Tools were made, you could not see any damage on the handle or blade. I had forgotten to bring a chisel with me. (It still works fine 20 years later)

Bob

 

[robwizard]

Was doing some work in a school out in the middle of nowhere and they gave me a visitors bade to wear on a lanyard.. on the way home my exhaust hanger bent out of place and snapped on the other (cheappppp lowering kit.. rumble rumble bang bang..) and so I tied it back on with the lanyard. Forgot about it until a year later when it went in for the MOT haha

 

[tjmonsen5]

Turned an empty brake cleaner can into a muffler for a Honda Trail 70. Lasted about 1 day of riding before it melted.

Hit a deer while pulling a utility trailer, broke the axle. Ended up wrapping the axle with ratchet straps and made it the rest of the way home (about 200 more miles).

 

[G_P]

No pictures, but I once welded two railroad spikes side by side to use as a tie rod separator. It worked just fine...

That reminds me.
Railroad spikes make good punches/chisels. Just grind them to the desired shape and they have a nice big head to pound on.

Sent via carrier pigeon.

 

[jkwilson]

Oh and riding as a passenger sitting on the windowsill holding a gascan on the roof with a hose down to the carb to get home with a broke fuel pump

Been there, but our solution was a 2-liter 7-Up bottle duct taped to the passenger side of the windshield with the condensate drain hose from a broken Icee machine we found out behind a store running down to the carb.


Also got home from 108 miles away when the float on the carb got a pinhole in it. Ran 8 or 10ft of extra fuel line through the passenger window and back to the carb and using Vise-Grips to pinch down on the fuel line to keep the engine from flooding. Interesting trip.

 

[wornoutoldman]

Had a rear wheel cylinder let loose on an old Thunderbird. Pinched off the rubber hose with visegrips to the rear axle and drove home 150 miles on front brakes only.

 

[Steven67fr]

Tie wire and railroad spikes to temp fix a broken u-bolt on a rear axle. Still had slop... but held until it could be fixed properly.

 

[WVBrady]

Okay, as a kid I was always using bailing wire to fix EVERYTHING...

My Limey motorcycle mechanic referred to that as "HarleyDavidson Wire"!

 

[SlappyWhite]

I used some brass shim stock sheet and a hose clamp to replace the adjuster on a classmate's cable clutch back when I was in college (chevette I think). I figured out the right length for proper clutch adjustment, cut the sheet, wrapped it around where the failed non existent adjuster was and held it in place with the hose clamp. I told him this should be good enough to get you home, and that he should get it fixed asap.

About a year later he comes to me saying his clutch was out of adjustment. I go out and look, to see my half passed fix! So I cut some new stock to the current required length......

 

[fourjeepin]

Hi-lift jack handle over the tie rod after bending it on the rocks in Monteagle TN during a competition.

Also broke a throttle cable on my CJ during a road trip right after college. Found a coat hanger on the side of the road and swapped it in. Worked better than the worn out cable had!

 

[Outlawmws]

Oh god I could go on for at least a page or three...

I was towing a cheap import trailer up camping once and on a dirt mountain road at about midnight the load shifted back and the tongue (a simple U channel) folded in half upwards. Looked like this: ^ (The U channel had flattened out at the kink)


I unloaded part of the trailer, stood on the tongue, and managed to get it relatively straight. but it was cleat it was compromised. I found some 2X4 on the road and used that under the tongue and used bailing wire (It might have been barbed wire, it was many years ago) and duct tape to make a splint of sorts, then made damn sure the tongue had enough weight on it. I finished the trip and made it home. on that 2X4 splint.

I did rebuild that whole trailer frame, and about the only things I kept were the springs, axle and the hitch coupler. I still have it (but probably 20 tires later...)