The routine carrying of tools in-car?

[Simonsays]

Whilst I was clearing out the boot of the Volvo yesterday for a mammoth tip run I transferred quite a few tools back into the shed from their temporary home. I dont routinely carry any tools in any of my cars under any normal motoring situation.

 

I've upgraded my wheel changing gear with a cheap trolly jack and decent wheel brace (the supplied scissor jack and 8" brace can FRO). But that, a tin of WD40 and a roll of gaffa tape is about all I'm likely to have to hand. Well, that and an RAC card.

 

I accept that none if my cars are more than 14 years old. Mere youths compared to some of the cars owned by the beige collective.

 

Am I 'average' or have I failed my 'man' test?

[djimbob]

You have failed i am afraid to confirm, I have always carried enough tools to fill a snap on wagon since I started driving mopeds at 16 years old, onto reliant Robin on a bike licence, which I had a proper travel chest in the boot (it was a SuperVan for the win)

 

Still don't trust cars, also a member of breakdown organisation as well

[Jim Bell]

Ive developed a Smallish KIT BAG that lives in the rear foot well of every car I buy/drive. Its overkill personified (in bag form) . Multimeter, jump pack, ratchet screwdriver with interchangeable bits, ratchet handle and socket rail, wd4o, duct tape, bungee cords, jubilee clips, gloves, tow rope, jump leads and god knows what other shit. Ive only ever opened it once in anger and that was for the jump pack which had gone flat.

[DSdriver]

I would add self-amalgamating tape and a pair of long-nose pliers

[Kiltox]

A cheap little socket set is pretty invaluable if you don’t want to carry loads - I bought one for £5 from B&M the other day to un-FTP the Panda.

[chaseracer]

  On 26/06/2018 at 08:08, Simonsays said:

I accept that none if my cars are more than 14 years old...

 

None of mine are now LESS than 14yo...

 

I carry a multi-tool, WD40, gaffer tape, LED torch, compressor and a breakdown card; this last because anything that the others can't sort, I'm stuffed anyway!

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

I don't bother. Minor faults can be avoided through preventative maintenance. Major, unexpected faults are likely to require parts and tools that you won't be carrying...

 

...unless, of course, you have a support van following you at all times :

 

[Stanky]

Yeah, I've got a box of assorted tat in the boot most of the time, a cheap socket/hex/torx.screwdriver set, bungee cords, a hi-vis jacket, assorted bulbs and fuses in a little plastic box, a 10/13mm stubby spanner etc. Won't fix everything but there is nothing more annoying than something small breaking, you knowing exactly what it is and where it is on the car and being unable to fix it because the tool you need isn't to hand.

 

I had this years ago with tobyd's (then) Volvo 340. The choke cable got stuck and it refused to start. We couldn't get the air box off because we needed a 10mm socket and it was 8 at night so had to call the breakdown people out. It was humiliating because we knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix it, but didn't have the right tools and couldn't leave it until the next morning because we'd just loaded it up to drive 180 miles home and were in a 1 hour parking zone.

 

Since then I've kept the emergency box in the boot of all cars. Its more of a lucky charm now, I rarely need anything from it, though I did deploy the hi-vis vest on the kayak I recent got from freecycle when bringing it home on the roof of the car.

[Stanky]

  On 26/06/2018 at 08:32, Sigmund Fraud said:

I don't bother. Minor faults can be avoided through preventative maintenance. Major, unexpected faults are likely to require parts and tools that you won't be carrying...

 

...unless, of course, you have a support van following you at all times :

 

 

Is the van an early example of the pineappling craze with a roofrack full of old tyres and rammel?

[Sigmund Fraud]

  On 26/06/2018 at 08:33, Stanky said:

Is the van an early example of the pineappling craze with a roofrack full of old tyres and rammel?

 

It is indeed. Also check out that boy racer chariot parked next to the van. Massive wheels, massive exhaust and that ridiculous Dimma* bodykit...

 

[fordperv]

I rarely carry tools unless im going to go a very long journey where i will put the trusty halfords big set in the car with a bottle of water and cable ties but I do keep a tow rope and jump leads in the car every day, I have used the things I carry on other people's cars but not my own

[MorrisItalSLX]

I have the factory Jag toolkit (quite comprehensive in the spanner dept.), spare fuses and bulbs, some random screwdrivers, gaffa and electrical tape, a BFO hammer, rags, cable ties, torch, 10L of water (also suitable for human consumption), some oil, HBOL and Jaguar's even worse BOL.

 

Oh, and another Jag toolkit, this one is from an XJ40 and came with the car.

 

People call me a pessimist, but every one of these things have been needed and used whilst "out and about".

[lesapandre]

Plenty of disposable gloves to keep the oil of your hands and a heavy pair of gloves for wheel changing. And some clean cloths.

[clayts450]

My stuff is all over the place at present, spread across the boots of the fleet.

 

Invariably my Streetwise masquerades as the AA van, as it has everything in there, ranging from a crap trolley jack that couldn't lift the Streetwise due it's raised height, yo, two socket sets, loads of screwdrivers, jump leads, assorted fluids and sprays, pliers, wrenchs, wheel braces (two), breaker bar, etc etc etc

 

Of course, as noted above, you can guarantee that the one tool you do actually need come the inevitable breakdown, it'll be in one of the cars at home. So then I'll have to ring AutioAid

[sierraman]

I keep a few rags and gloves for emergencies. Stopped carrying enough tools to keep the Paris Dakar running a long time ago. I'm in the RAC, fuck laying on the hard shoulder fashioning a throttle cable out of baling twine and some yoghurt pots.

[MikeKnight]

  On 26/06/2018 at 08:17, Jim Bell said:

Ive developed a Smallish KIT BAG that lives in the rear foot well of every car I buy/drive. Its overkill personified (in bag form) . Multimeter, jump pack, ratchet screwdriver with interchangeable bits, ratchet handle and socket rail, wd4o, duct tape, bungee cords, jubilee clips, gloves, tow rope, jump leads and god knows what other shit. Ive only ever opened it once in anger and that was for the jump pack which had gone flat.

 

Pretty much the same for me in my 1990 Supra, except also throw a small medical emergency kit in there. It's never broken down, it's Japanese and from the 90's so will probably rust and blow away in a strong wind before it breaks anything but better safe than sorry.

 

On the other hand I have absolutely nothing in my Rover 75 Diesel except for the obligatory wheel brace and jack it came with. I think I trust it far too much.

[sierraman]

If you are carrying round heaves of kit in a newish car there's something badly wrong. Can sort of understand if if you've a sixties Morris 1000

[Junkman]

I think I could significantly increase the PWR as well as the ground clearance, if I'd remove some ballast from the R16.

I only carry this stuff around because every time I work on it, I simply put the tools I used into a tool box in the boot,

which is a rather unnecessary mannerism if you don't drive a Rover P6 V8.

 

It's also totally against my usual habit of carrying a wheel brace but no jack, a broken tyre inflator, half a set of jump leads, an empty bottle of water,

a half empty bottle of oil the specification of which being unsuitable for that particular motor and a 5l jerrycan two thirds full with what holds true to

the term "fossil fuel" considering when it was last refilled.

Incredibly I managed to transverse some of the biggest deserts of this planet similarly equipped*, thus in a densely populated area like the UK and Europe

I frankly give an even lesser shit about what's on board and what not.

[AlabamaShrimp]

I don't carry much really. The Mk2 Fiesta has the most with at least one 10mm and one 13mm spanner (needed the other week when it wouldn't start) three or so screwdrivers and a small bottle of manky water besides the normal jack and wheel brace. Brake down comes with the insurance.

 

There's a shit Swiss* army knife and a screwdriver or two in the other two running cars but as ones half Japanese and the other only 13 they don't need much.

[sierraman]

My father carries an array of stuff as far as I know in his Insignia despite being in the RAC. He'd have no idea what to do in the event anyway with this stuff. At one point he carried stuff around like Tea bags and a snow shovel in case he got snowed in, it filled the boot all this stuff. To my knowledge he has never had to use any of this stuff

[Guest Hooli]

Trying to think what's in  my boot -

 

Compressor (was handy at shitefest when the lockers were buggered & I couldn't change the flat wheel)

Full size spare (see above)

Bottle of water (from when it was using coolant)

GT85 (can't remember buying so probably forgot to take it out)

Spare gearbox hydraulic control unit (still in the same box SiC supplied it in)

Oh & a rag for wiping my hands

 

On the bike I always carry -

1/4" socket set

Puncture kit

Tyre weld

Spare bulbs

Spare levers

 

Mostly as I packed under the seat to tour europe in 2012 & never seen the point in emptying it

[mercrocker]

A couple of weeks ago I  emptied the boot  of the Minor prior to it going in for a new rear inner wing.   Jeez, it filled the bloody shed.  Only a little boot, too.   Amongst the usual cable ties, gaffer tape, socket set and so on are complete bulb sets, flasher units, fuel pump, dizzy, hoses, all manner of unions and clips, jack, jump leads, inspection light and accumulations of giffer shit that will no doubt fail instantly upon being needed.   

 

Most of this has been used on other people's cars over the years and in my defence the idea was to be able to maintain it whilst in the barn away from the house.   Maybe I should sort it out when the car comes back so that I have luggage space again....

[Mally]

I always carried a full toolbox in the boot.

One day the boot was open and the toolbox had gone.

I bought an AA card and no longer carry tools.

[jonny69]

I've done the last 600 miles or so commuting in the Anglia with no tools in it. M25 and M1, 60 miles each way. The more I look back on this, the more foolish I know it looks.

[Remspoor]

Long trips yes. Spanners, screw drivers and an oddment of tools. Plus spare lightbulbs (a legal requirement in Spain) Spare fuses, tape, hose tape, wire and electrical connections. The other legal requirement here is two warning triangles.

Roadside repairs are not tolerated in Spain and towing with a rope is neither. It is normal for us here to have breakdown cover included with the insurance.

[DSdriver]

When I do need stuff it is always miles away in one of our other cars.

[Asimo]

I havn't broken down on the road for 21 years or had a puncture whilst rolling since 1986. Jump leads, tow rope and a socket and bar for the whheelnuts is all I carry nowadays. And a mobile phone + RAC card

[Aston Martin]

I have snow mat things in the cactus, I think due to laziness they’re still in there.

[anonymous user]

I have a plastic sandwich box thing in the battery compartment under the passenger seat, in that is a small selection of spanners and screwdrivers, along with bulbs, fuses,points, condenser, gaffer tape and string. Behind the driver's seat is a spare fan belt and jump leads. Naturally whenever I have needed any of them I find that they are not there and my poltergeist has removed them and left them on the hall table. Luckily I always carry my RAC card, and mobile phone and a hip flask

[Guest Hooli]

I'm amazed at the amount of you that have breakdown cover.