Emergency Tool Kit

[Russell Sawyer]

Eric,

I’m a big advocate of maintaining my vehicles and the biggest reason I watch your videos, aside from the fact I don’t want to get stranded on the side of the road because my truck breaks down.

On that note my suggestion is that maybe you could make a video about what you would put in an emergency tool kit to keep in your vehicle based on your experience with what you know tends to cause break downs.

Thanks

Russell

Topic

[EricTheCarGuy]

That’s a great idea, thanks for the suggestion. To be honest though, it’s been years since I carried anything more than a leatherman. I do have a ‘kit’, but it contains a first aid kit and some other things. I might focus on that.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

[Edward]

The things I carry are more related to self recovery than fixing the car at the roadside.

To give an example I carry:
A rain coat
Head torch
Tow rope
Gloves
Warning triangle
Calume light sticks

I also carry:
A leatherman
Spare fuses
Bulbs
Oil
Windscreen washer fluid
Jump leads
Tyre pump
High Viz vest
First aid kit
Fire extinguisher
Note pad & pen

(I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything)

I have found that generally the stuff I carry gets used on other peoples cars more than my own (touch wood).

If I ever did breakdown my priority would be to get the car to a safe better equips place to fix it rather than messing about at the road side.

If I was off road driving in the desert it would be a completely different story and a much longer list!

Kdr

[EricTheCarGuy]

That’s a good list. Similar to what I have. This would make for a good video. Great suggestion. Thanks.

[Russell Sawyer]

I was also thinking that not all tools are in the form of wrenches and screw drivers. Maybe impart some knowledge of do’s and don’ts for example if you run out of gas don’t keep trying to start the vehicle to keep from damaging the fuel pump. Make sure you know how to change a flat or that your wife knows how to change a flat and where the tools are and how they work. Some spare tires are really hard to get out from under the car. Some of this stuff may be basic for your viewers since most have a pretty high skill set but I’m sure you will think of some better examples.

Russell

[Harry]

For each of my cars I just buy a cheap multi-piece tool kit and then add a few tools that it wouldn’t have.

The tool kits generally run about $25-$40. One set that I have had the following:

• Socket wrench
• various SAE and Metric sockets
• pliers
• needle noose pliers
• 10 regular wrenches (SAE and Metric)
• diagonal cutters
• tape measure
• screw drives with multiple tips and minor items
• Channel locks
• level
• box cutter

The tool kits are generally really cheap, but for the one or two times you actually use them they do the job fairly well.

Generally, if it has an extension it wouldn’t be long enough to do a spark plug swap (at least in the cars that I drive) then I’d add an additional extension. I’d also add spark plug pulling socket.

On three different occasions on long car trips I’ve had to pull over to swap plugs. Somehow at exactly 20K miles since I last changed plugs car starts misfiring with no prior warning. Generally I can drive far enough to get to auto parts store to get plugs.

Cable ties, electrical tape, and assorted fuses helps too.

The other option is to take your older beat up tools from the shop to create a kit and replace them with new ones.

[EricTheCarGuy]

[quote=”rsawyer05″ post=114699]I was also thinking that not all tools are in the form of wrenches and screw drivers. Maybe impart some knowledge of do’s and don’ts for example if you run out of gas don’t keep trying to start the vehicle to keep from damaging the fuel pump. Make sure you know how to change a flat or that your wife knows how to change a flat and where the tools are and how they work. Some spare tires are really hard to get out from under the car. Some of this stuff may be basic for your viewers since most have a pretty high skill set but I’m sure you will think of some better examples.

Russell[/quote]

I did these a while back.

[Russell Sawyer]

Good videos. I especially liked the tire change video. The tip about using the jack to help loosen the lugs was awesome. Oh, and the banjo music in there was hilarious. 🙂

[Author]

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