Essential Trail Gear / Tools / Spare Parts
- Thread starter starkey480
- Start date
Ive gotten a bit more aggressive over the last few years. When I hit the trail I always have a standard tool set and some of the bigger sockets like a 21mm, and 36mm, cheater bar, spare, recovery gear, spare axle shafts, oil, PS fluid, ujoints, electrical gear (wire, crimps, terminals), and a way to air back up.
I’m still building my collection, but the basics:
- tire repair kit
- Valve cores
- All the standard sockets
- Some non standard ones like a 36mm for the hubs
- A good handful of wrenches
- Hammer
- Pry bar
- U-Joints
- At least a little spare fluid
- Vice Grips
- Electrical tape
- All the recovery things (shackles, snatch blocks, tree saver, etc)
- Emergency blanket and bivy
- Duct tape
- Ratchet straps
- Paracord
- Waters
- Something high calorie (trail mix, backpacking meal, etc)
same as above, not to mention ratcheting wrench’s (life saver in tight locations). Zip ties, first aid kit, flare nut wrench, magnet.
Just about all of the above tool wise and a pretty well stocked first aid kit.
Add some fluids and spare axles, steering, driveshafts, hoses, hardware for most major parts, electrical stuff and a spill kit. Some times some extra fuel. This was my load out for an adventure competition I did where participants had to be self sufficient for the whole event, 36 hours.
Add some fluids and spare axles, steering, driveshafts, hoses, hardware for most major parts, electrical stuff and a spill kit. Some times some extra fuel. This was my load out for an adventure competition I did where participants had to be self sufficient for the whole event, 36 hours.
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My kit consists of the following:
toilet paper
roll of tie wire
duct tape
electrical tape
zip ties
screw type hose clamps
a few U-bolts of different sizes
a couple 1ft long pieces of bedframe angle (can use with hose clamps to fix broken round things)
20 feet of 14ga wire
electrical crimp connectors
solder
12" of allthread rod and nuts in whatever sizes the rig uses...along with hacksaw, can make any length bolt you need
10' of 3/8 chain w/ hooks
come-a-long
lug nuts
valve stems
tire plug kit
JB kwik
JB weld putty
RTV sealant
small roll of emery cloth
5 quart bottle of engine oil (to be poured in diffs/manual trans/engine whatever to get off the trail)
3 gallons of water
ratchet straps
tube to repair radiator hoses...deep socket out of the toolbox can be used to repair heater hoses and smaller
All tools necessary to do anything.
I can fit most of this in a large tool bag
toilet paper
roll of tie wire
duct tape
electrical tape
zip ties
screw type hose clamps
a few U-bolts of different sizes
a couple 1ft long pieces of bedframe angle (can use with hose clamps to fix broken round things)
20 feet of 14ga wire
electrical crimp connectors
solder
12" of allthread rod and nuts in whatever sizes the rig uses...along with hacksaw, can make any length bolt you need
10' of 3/8 chain w/ hooks
come-a-long
lug nuts
valve stems
tire plug kit
JB kwik
JB weld putty
RTV sealant
small roll of emery cloth
5 quart bottle of engine oil (to be poured in diffs/manual trans/engine whatever to get off the trail)
3 gallons of water
ratchet straps
tube to repair radiator hoses...deep socket out of the toolbox can be used to repair heater hoses and smaller
All tools necessary to do anything.
I can fit most of this in a large tool bag
Any of you weighing your rig when fully outfitted?
Mine came in at 5280# with all my "essentials" but w/o a few things you folks list.
Thinking of how to slim down, like minimal wrenches/sockets instead of a full set of metric and SAE of both.
Guess I need to get it all on the floor and do a real inventory and assessment.
Mine came in at 5280# with all my "essentials" but w/o a few things you folks list.
Thinking of how to slim down, like minimal wrenches/sockets instead of a full set of metric and SAE of both.
Guess I need to get it all on the floor and do a real inventory and assessment.
After a trail day mine was around 4400#, subtracting my chubby rear end out puts mine just under 4200. I keep mine really light. I think that was before I put on my corner armor, but I dropped my spare (so I will call that roughly a wash) and an auto swap (the auto is ~50-80lb heavier than the manual)
Yeah, spare tire, kinetic rope, static rope, snatch block, tire plugs, wrench roll, 3/8" socket set, pliers, adjustable wrenches, bailing wire, ratchet straps, a few 3x3 wood blocks, bottle jack, misc other little things. No hardtop.
Have most of this in my kit and will add what's missing (big sockets).
I'm going to carry a serpentine belt but wonder what other common fail parts needed to get me home. I don't crawl radical rock fields and mostly USFS/BLM trails so not terribly concerned about busting u-joints (but never a bad idea to have spares).
I've not seen any cases where I could have fixed a ujoint on the trail yet, so I don't carry them anymore unless it's a longer trip where I might want to replace it at camp.
Everybody's different when it comes to a trail kit. Some would consider what I carry overkill, but considering the remoteness of the areas I go it makes me feel better and that's all that matters to me. I have USAA roadside assistance, but I am not even sure how far they would come offroad to rescue me...
Lots of good lists already to be found already on this forum. In addition to TJ specific tools, the extra items I carry:
Lots of good lists already to be found already on this forum. In addition to TJ specific tools, the extra items I carry:
- Coolant hose repair tape (can be used on vacuum lines too)
- Extra water (in case of coolant leak)
- Plastic welding kit with cuttable mesh (for split radiator)
- Hacksaw, bailing wire, good quality pliers/cutters
- Jump start battery pack
- Multimeter & digital copy of FSM with electrical diagrams
- Butt splice connectors, crimper & shrink tubing
- Rescue beacon, offline maps and/or paper gazetteer
- Tarp (good for laying on under the Jeep and as an emergency shelter)
- Epoxy & super glue
- Traction boards (in winter)
