Mechanics: what are your most common tools?

Really, the little 12V “impact wrench” is even more useful than duct tape.

 

I have this one, one of my most used. About $35.00

 

Similar here for 1/4 the price.

Professional Lighting Headlight 2 Modes Waterproof Q5 LED Head Lamp Super Bright Headlamp Lanterna With Headband for Hunting-in Headlamps from Lights & Lighting on AliExpress

 

I just ordered a new headband for my petzl tikka headlamp. The elastic finally gave out. Pretty sure I've had this one 20 years now. I was thrilled that they still sell parts for it, and less than half the cost of a whole new unit.

 

I was thinking of that this morning, what I was using:

 

Jinx!! I've got one. And the headband seems to have been stretching unceasingly since day one. It's longer every time I put it on.

Other than that it's a great light.

 

I've had an IR 231 1/2" pneumatic wrench since early 1990s, and it works great. It's big, heavy, powerful, reliable and awkward. During a couple of recent jobs, I've had the chance to use a borrowed, very beat up but serviceable DeWalt cordless 3/8 impact wrench. What an incredible time & effort saver! I think that may be my next discretionary tool purchase.

 

Ditto to what you listed ILuvMyPrius!!. Add a good pair of leather gardening gloves and a jumbo sized pair of pliers................for those special type of removals.............

 

Garage is another way of saying "man cave"

 

I really like your set up, real easy to find your tools when they are in eye sight!!

 

If others don't distract you while looking.

Was loading up for the Bay Area meet up yesterday and forgot a couple of torque wrenches when a neighbor needed something.

But @Ianmeister had us covered at least.

Organizing does help though.

 

I’m outgrowing my big blue rolling tool chest. I spent a few hours re-organizing it. I put all the non-metric wrenches and sockets in an old Craftsman toolbox, along with some duplicate metric sockets. And I got a wrench organizer at Harbor Freight so my metric wrenches are neatly laid out in a drawer.

But I have a German car, too, and it needs torx, and reverse torx, and a bunch of other weird tools.

 

Depends on the quality of the tool. I've had my DeWalt 18V 1/2" hammer drill for something like 10 years. I'm not a contractor, but I do used it quite a bit and had been using it a LOT in Honduras. After about 3 years or so, the NiMH (or NiCad?) batteries wimped out. Got a pair of DeWalt 18V lithium batteries. Not cheap but less than a whole new rig. Still using the heck out of it. A couple weeks ago, it stopped. With those batteries, it doesn't slow down; it just stops. Figured the battery needed charging. Grabbed the spare battery and it didn't run it either. I was just using it as a screwdriver at the time so I let it charge and forgot about it for a couple weeks.

The other day, I needed to drill a hole in some concrete. Drill was still inert. Grrr. Checked the batteries and they were good. Took apart the drill, cleaned out a pile of metal grit and concrete dust, popped out the brushes and cleaned them and the commutator. Put it all back together and drilled the hole. It'll still rip your arm off if you let it snag!

But ... while I had it apart, I saw that the two little plastic bumps that keep the gearbox locked in place were broken. Not gone, but just the stubs were left. Not sure how they will hold up. Then again, the thing still might outlast me.

 

Corded electric impacts seem to be going extinct? Seems like they don't have anywhere near the same torque ratings either, not sure why that would be. There's something inherently more efficient about the current battery powered impacts?

My paranoid side thinks, it's kind of like the push to "subscription" software. The cordless tool manufacturers don't want you buying a tool and be set for life, handing it down to your kids, and so on, lol.

Speaking of which, anyone else got a box or two of their old-man's tools. Or Mom's, better not get chauvinistic here...

 

The problem that all of these manufacturers face is that once they get into Lowe’s, Home Depot, or (worst of all) Wal-Mart, the retailer incessantly demands and pressures them to cut costs. And it’s not in little ways. The manufacturer is forced to build a new factory to fulfill the order, THEN, after they set up the factory and run it a year or two, the big box retailer has a few mechanical engineers tear into the product and tell them how to make it cheaper. “Replace the metal collar with these plastic lugs,” for instance. If they don’t, their factory goes empty.

 

In the 2020 edition of Toyota’s Service Tool catalog for Japan, the Service Tool Full Set—the set of basic hand tools most often needed for maintenance and repair of Toyota vehicles—has seen a major revision for the first time in over 35 years, apparently reflecting the trend in servicing towards parts replacement rather than overhaul. The new set, part number 09002-1C108, list price ¥83,800, has 52 tools:

Open-end wrench: 8×10, 10×12, 12×14, 14×17 mm
Open-end wrench, thin: 17×19 mm
Long offset (box-end) wrench: 10×12, 11×13, 14×17, 19×21, 22×24 mm
Short offset (box-end) wrench: 8×10 mm
Extra long box-end wrench: 12×14, 17×19 mm

Socket, 3/8" drive, six-point: 10, 12, 13, 14 mm
Socket, 1/2" drive, twelve-point: 17, 19, 21, 22, 24 mm
Deep socket, 3/8" drive, six-point: 10, 12, 14 mm
Spark plug socket: 14.0 mm, 16.0 mm

Ratchet handle, 3/8" drive: 180 mm length
Spinner handle (breaker bar), 1/2" drive: 398 mm length
Extension bar, 3/8" drive: 75, 150, 270 mm
Extension bar, 1/2" drive: 150 mm
Socket adapter: 1/2" drive handle to 3/8" drive socket
Flex ball joint, 3/8" drive

Cross-recess (+) screwdriver: 100, 150 mm
Flat-blade (–) screwdriver: 100, 150 mm
Flat-blade (–) thin screwdriver: 75 mm
Nut driver: 8, 10 mm

Adjustable wrench: 250 mm length
Slip-joint pliers: 200 mm length
Needle nose pliers: 160 mm length
Nipper (cutting pliers): 161 mm length
Ball peen hammer: 450 g
Clip remover: 6 mm, 10 mm
Gasket scraper: 30 mm blade width
Air duster (for use with air compressor)
Ruler: 150 mm​

I’ve highlighted in purple the items that were not part of the previous set (09002-1C105, ¥68,800), which also had these tools, still available individually:

Open-end wrench: 17×19 mm
Long offset (box-end) wrench: 12×14 mm
Short offset (box-end) wrench: 11×13, 12×14 mm

Socket (1/2" drive, twelve-point): 23 mm
Socket adapter: 3/8" drive handle to 1/2" drive socket
Universal joint: 3/8" drive
Sliding T-handle, 3/8" drive: 200 mm length

Cross-recess (+) screwdriver: 75 mm, stubby
Flat-blade (–) screwdriver: 75 mm, stubby

Hub nut wrench: 21 mm
Magnet hand: 520 mm length
Brass bar: 220 mm length × 16 mm diameter
Hose plug: No. 2
Spark plug gap gauges: 0.8–1.1 mm
Thickness gauges: 0.03–0.50 mm​

As discussed in my April 2018 posting, these sets are not sold in the United States; I mention the contents here only as a guide to the tools that Toyota expects every technician to have. Obviously, there are other tools—such as a tire pressure gauge and oil filter wrench, among the many others kindly discussed in this thread—needed to do even routine maintenance tasks.

 

For restraining the caliper slide pin when removing nuts I'd think. I noticed some extra-flat wrenches at a Princess Auto once, snapped up a 17 mm. It doesn't have to be super thin, just a little less thickness than the usual.

I'm really not sure it's needed. I do try to use it, though it is a bit awkward, especially when torquing the bolt.

 

I would like Harbor Freight or the big box hardware stores to sell a package of 10 mm sockets.

It seems to be the most common socket size used for most repairs. I manage to drop one of those sockets every time that I work on the top of the engine and they are usually never seen again. I have three socket sets with that particular socket missing. It costs about the same to buy a whole new socket set as it is to buy one replacement socket.

If only they would make a 10 mm socket Pez dispenser.

 

There's probably a makerspace near you in Columbus. They'll have a 3D printer. Draft up your 10mm socket dispenser, make a few prototypes, a couple pretty brochures, and you're off and running.

Send us a postcard from the islands!

 

Screw driver bits seem to come in packs like that. Seems pretty profligate (today's word , got it from @jerrymildred ).

I've been trying to get organized lately, put a bit of masking tape on each socket/wrench, wrote the size number in bold Sharpie marker. Makes them much easier to find.

Thinking too to make a socket rack with the scraps of 1x2 and various dowel diameters I have around.