Your collection of car related tools

CIP4

I suppose it's more aimed at your car DIYer than someone that works in the motor industry that has all the tools. But anyway the regular posters on this forum obviously all have a great interest in cars and tend to keep them well and often spend more on modifications, extras, upgrades, parts etc than your average motorist. But would you spend much on car tools or what is your collection ? Some are more prone than other to bringing there car to the mechanics for work vs doing it themselves which may effect the size of your tool collection.

With myself I've always been lucky in the fact of having access to a huge resource that is my dads tool collection which he's built up over 20 plus years and has almost every conceivable comon tool needed for car maintenance / servicing. So this leaves my collection rather small but I am slowly starting to build up a collection over the last year. I think next on the list is a decent 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch socket set. Anyway here's my collection won't be difficult to beat.

-Insulated screwdriver set
-halfords professional 1/4 inch socket set with torx bits etc
-extendable telescopic wheel wrench / brace
-set of draper pliers.

Special Circumstances

The cycling forum always have oddball names for their chat thread "Dr Ferraris camper van" "they don't even pay road tax joe".

I nominate "your collection of car related tools" to be a future motors chat thread name.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Duke O Smiley

Same (presumably) Halfords socket set with torx bits etc, trolley jack, axle stands, have an engine lift in the shed too and a load of allen keys, screw drivers etc that I really need to organise. Brother runs a garage at the back of the house fixing motorbikes so if I need anything he usually has it, but I do get by with what I have myself and I do everything to my own cars

5W30

2 tonne trolley jack
Axle stands
1/2 inch Deltec socket set (with breaker bar) 8-30mm
1/2 inch Powerfix socket set 8-32mm
1/4 inch Powerfix socket set 6-something mm
Spanner set (quite small 8-19 mm, need to get some ratchet spanners)
Screwdriver and screwdriver head set (philips, torx, allen)
Laser spring compressor
Laser wire crimp tool
Vacuum pump (with bits for bleeding brakes. I've used it for priming fuel pump and taking coolant out of the coolant reservoir)
Torque wrench
Delphi DS150 diagnostics tool
Multimeter
Soldering iron

Most important is the Smyths Toys plastic basket/trolley I found (yes found, 10 km away from nearest store) which I use to trolley all the tools to the car from the shed :pac:

I built this whole collection up from September 2014, not bad for a year worth of tools :pac:

Another important tool for anyone's DIY collection is a big dictionary of swear words

Duke O Smiley

5W30 wrote: »

Most important is the Smyths Toys plastic basket/trolley I found (yes found, 10 km away from nearest store) which I use to trolley all the tools to the car from the shed :pac:

I haven't got anything like that but I could do with something on wheels at about waist height for convenience.

I have boxes of parts of various cars that I got in Ikea cheap enough. Keeps all the important bits dry and in one place

5W30

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

I haven't got anything like that but I could do with something on wheels at about waist height for convenience.

I have boxes of parts of various cars that I got in Ikea cheap enough. Keeps all the important bits dry and in one place

Yeah I find it really useful. Before I'd have to bring all the stuff out bit-by-bit as I'm working on the car but the trolley is so handy, especially when it's car test time and you just want to drop everything into the basket and push the thing into the shed!

Wheelie bin would do a decent job too

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

JBokeh

¼", ⅜" ,½" and ¾' ratchets and sockets with most bits, screwdriver set, 2 sets of combi spanners one regular, one stubby, ratchet spanners, aviation spanners, the usual pliers, cutters and vice grips and hammers, multimeter, BJ splitter, ½" torque wrench, and then I have ½" air impact and ⅜" air ratchet

I do most work myself, I've done a few engine swaps, and diff rebuilds. I built up most of the tools in the time I owned Land Rovers, and went from doing oil changes and headlight bulbs, to suspension, cooling systems, rust repair, gearbox swaps, and everything else that would be classed as maintenance

The most used items are the ⅜" sockets and bits, ratchet spanners and flex head ratchet. Anyone can do most jobs on their driveway, the internet will provide an adequate tutorial for most things, and after a few jobs it becomes easier to figure out yourself

An oddball tool I would recommend, especially when working on slightly older cars, is Irwin twist sockets, they are a big help with worn or rounded heads

Cee-Jay-Cee

I have absolutely everything imaginable, from trolley jacks (2.5 tonne, 1.5 tonne and a light 'race' low rise jack) torque wrenches x 4, sockets sets (about 8 different sets) hundreds of screw drivers, pliers, wrenches, spanners etc brake piston windback/compression set, several different type oil filter wrenches, hammers, mallets, saws, electric grinding stone, drills, bench drill, small bench metal lathe, axle stands, ramps, inspection lights and torches, OBD2 scan tool, multimeter x 3 and probably a whole load of other stuff I've forgotten. My dad (RIP) owned most but I bought quite a considerable amount of them too. I'll probably never need to buy another tool again (although I broke my 21mm splined socket recently and can't find the only 17mm socket I had left so there may be a few small purchases.)

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

2 tonne trolley jack from Lidl. Not great but works reasonably.
Axle stands from Lidl. Hopefully these won't fail catastrophically.
Ramps
1/2 in breaker bar, I don't know how I survived without this.
Gunson easy bleed, last used for a transmission fluid change.
VW spark plug puller
Brake caliper rewind tool
Bojo trim removal tools
An old bucket for used oil
Oil filter socket
2 Halfords Torque wrenches
Tyre pressure gauge
Diagnostic cable and software
Multimeter. I never know what I'm doing with this.
Wheel chocks

fancy pigeon

We are much better equipped than most indy garages. I'm not going to say much more, but I think when you have a tyre machine beside your clothes line you know you're not in a normal house

Chris_Heilong

trolley jack from Halfords,
Axle stands from Lidl and halfords
Ramps
C clamps for caliper work.
Oil filter socket
Tyre pressure gauge
Multimeter.
Wheel chocks
Big Socket set.

Need to get a Torque wrenche one of these days.

Toyotafanboi

Trolley jack
1/2" and1/4" socket set including plug sockets
set of open head and gooseneck spanners 6-24mm
male and female torx set
allen keys
limitless amounts and variations of screw drivers
decent vice
Black and Becker 14.4v cordless with various bits
oil filter chain
coil spring compressors
syphon
small air compressor with tyre valve fitting and some small air guns
LED inspection lamp
Panasonic toughbook with plenty of diagnostic software
plenty of files and a decent sander

tools like various hammers, pliers vice grips, moles grips, hacksaws
even tools like a 4 foot steel pipe, a few concrete blocks, cable ties, bungee cord etc

kind of buy a tool whenever i need one for a new task, if you buy something half decent it'l last forever.

5W30

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Kind of buy a tool whenever i need one for a new task, if you buy something half decent it'l last forever.

That's the best way of doing it really

DakarVert

Can't be arsed list it all as I'd never think of everything.

But pretty much have everything to take a full car apart.

All stored OCD like in a Halfords Industrial 3-Tier Box.

Next purchase will a tyre machine.

jimgoose

Hmm...

Halfords Advanced 150-piece socket set.
Bahco BHS240 1/2''-drive socket set.
Many combination spanners, 5mm to 32mm.
A selection of "stubby" combo spanners.
A half-decent set of ratchet spanners.
Three torque-wrenches, 1/4'', 3/8'' and 1/2'' inch drive.
Couple of chain filter wrenches, with 1/2'' drive ratchet coupling.
A clatter of spark-plug sockets.
Gunson compression gauge.
Handheld "El Cheapo" OBD-II scanner, Torque Pro + Bluetooth adapter.
Oil vacuum pump and 6l drain-pan/carry-can.
Vernier caliper.
Cheap-'n'-cheerful tap-and-die set.
Motorcycle axle-spindle adapter set.
Various sized C-spanners.
Multi circlip pliers set.
Five Petersen Shifters - one is actually an Irwin Shifter.
A rail each of spline and Polydrive sockets - mainly to annoy Volkswagen.
A set of polycarbonate interior trim tools.
All sorts of odds, sods, fabtraptions and tom-toolery or the sort you couldn't be arsed listing.

Skylinehead

One thing I don't have is a decent hacksaw, junior or otherwise. Hence me sawing away at a broken plastic clip (old grille) with a bread knife last week

CJhaughey

Skylinehead wrote: »

One thing I don't have is a decent hacksaw, junior or otherwise. Hence me sawing away at a broken plastic clip (old grille) with a bread knife last week

Just get a hacksaw blade and some duct tape.
cheap job if you've nothing else..

jimgoose

Skylinehead wrote: »

One thing I don't have is a decent hacksaw, junior or otherwise. Hence me sawing away at a broken plastic clip (old grille) with a bread knife last week

They sell very nicely made Black and Decker junior hacksaws in Woodies and a couple of more places for a fiver, last time I looked. I have a couple of them and they're excellent.

corks finest

CIP4 wrote: »

I suppose it's more aimed at your car DIYer than someone that works in the motor industry that has all the tools. But anyway the regular posters on this forum obviously all have a great interest in cars and tend to keep them well and often spend more on modifications, extras, upgrades, parts etc than your average motorist. But would you spend much on car tools or what is your collection ? Some are more prone than other to bringing there car to the mechanics for work vs doing it themselves which may effect the size of your tool collection.

With myself I've always been lucky in the fact of having access to a huge resource that is my dads tool collection which he's built up over 20 plus years and has almost every conceivable comon tool needed for car maintenance / servicing. So this leaves my collection rather small but I am slowly starting to build up a collection over the last year. I think next on the list is a decent 1/2 inch and 3/8 inch socket set. Anyway here's my collection won't be difficult to beat.

-Insulated screwdriver set
-halfords professional 1/4 inch socket set with torx bits etc
-extendable telescopic wheel wrench / brace
-set of draper pliers.

Hurley,sledge hammer,pair of gloves