In-Jeep Tool Kit

B00mb00m

B00mb00m

The Church of Cutting Brakes of Atlas-Front Digs
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I got my entire jeep tool box stolen out of my ford when they took the whole truck. I have about $500 to spend on a tools, what do you recommend? I saw some nice stanley complete kits with box I'm thinking about. Maybe some of you how have found a pretty complete kit that works well? I want lots of sockets and ALL the wrenches.
 
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I recently acquired the 3/8 Tekton socket set with breaker bar. And both an SAE and metric wrench roll from them too.

Have a full case of hex and torx sockets from some companies with good reviews off Amazon.
 
Apparition said:
I recently acquired the 3/8 Tekton socket set with breaker bar. And both an SAE and metric wrench roll from them too.

Have a full case of hex and torx sockets from some companies with good reviews off Amazon.
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Yes, I'm actually planning on getting the tekton complete wrench roll thats what i had in the stolen box. Its most important to have every size and thats what i liked about that kit.
 
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I know you prolly don't want to hear from me, but, some of the best advice I read on this forum was regarding Lowes, and Husky tools.
They are great products for what you are going to use them for, they are available in every major city, and they have a warranty.
And, they won't kill your available funds.
I'm pretty sure they will hold up to the occasional trail use.
 
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tombicon said:
I know you prolly don't want to hear from me, but, some of the best advice I read on this forum was regarding Lowes, and Husky tools.
They are great products for what you are going to use them for, they are available in every major city, and they have a warranty.
And, they won't kill your available funds.
I'm pretty sure they will hold up to the occasional trail use.
Click to expand...
i had kind of written off Lowes/Husky, but youre right they are locally available. I'll do some reading.
 
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tombicon said:
I know you prolly don't want to hear from me, but, some of the best advice I read on this forum was regarding Lowes, and Husky tools.
They are great products for what you are going to use them for, they are available in every major city, and they have a warranty.
And, they won't kill your available funds.
I'm pretty sure they will hold up to the occasional trail use.
Click to expand...

This.

I spent $125 ish on a 227 piece Kobalt set. Plastic box with three drawers, bottom drawer is empty so I added my own stuff in there, like pliers, wire strippers and crimpers, some bigger wrenches, etc. It's not big enough to hold the 24" breaker bar so that rides separately.

EDIT: Either I got it on sale or the price has gone up, but this is basically the same set. Looks like they've actually added some mini-screwdrivers since I bought it.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-232-Piece-Mechanic-s-Tool-Set-in-3-Drawer-Chest/5000183119
1621026724712.png
 
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freedom_in_4low said:
This.

I spent $125 ish on a 227 piece Kobalt set. Plastic box with three drawers, bottom drawer is empty so I added my own stuff in there, like pliers, wire strippers and crimpers, some bigger wrenches, etc. It's not big enough to hold the 24" breaker bar so that rides separately.
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Home Depot, Husky.
Lowes, Kobalt.
You really can't go wrong w either.
 
I went with a milwaukee packout setup permanently mounted in my jeep, so the socket set is about $300 and a Gearwrench ratcheting wrench set for <100. Of course you'd still want some basics: adjustable wrench, some pliers, 36mm socket, a 16oz ball peen, ...

Obviously you could save a good bit on the sockets - this was my first big upgrade trying to get closer to my dream setup.
 
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rasband said:
I went with a milwaukee packout setup permanently mounted in my jeep, so the socket set is about $300 and a Gearwrench ratcheting wrench set for <100. Of course you'd still want some basics: adjustable wrench, some pliers, 36mm socket, a 16oz ball peen, ...

Obviously you could save a good bit on the sockets - this was my first big upgrade trying to get closer to my dream setup.
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I did the same, got some kaizen foam to make specific spots for my impact and sockets.
 
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Compact size was important to me so I went with a setup like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BHJE0J4/?tag=wranglerorg-20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VGDXW81/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I also carry two roll up wrench sets (Standard and Metric), along with a small bag that has a plier assortment set, hub socket, and a couple hammer sizes. FWIW, the above Dewalt socket set was one I found that had the widest assortment of sockets, ratchets, and extentions in a compact and inexpensive package. It also didn't have useless stuff I didn't need.
 
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Check out your local pawn shop. I bought a set for my jeep really cheap. I almost bought an impact snap-on set but it was much more expensive. Still a lot cheaper than buying new.
 
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The Stanley sets are good, I have the 1/4" & 3/8"s drive set in both SAE and Metric with both standard and deep sockets. Pair that with a couple of wrench sets made by Pittsburg and sold at Harbor Freight. Add some screw drivers and you should be able to handle most road side repairs without breaking the bank.
 
Tools to carry in the Jeep? All this goes in a tool bag. Hard cases rattle and everything usually falls out of it's slot anyways.

Full set of SAE and Metric wrenches in roll.

12" / 8" Adjustable wrench

36mm Socket (Axle Stub), 1/2" Drive Breaker and extension (Double to get tire off).

13mm 12pt Shallow socket and 3/8" Drive ratchet (Unit Bearings).

Tire plug kit & spare valve stems.

Small assortment of cotter pins.

Leatherman

Cheap screwdriver with bids.

I'm probably forgetting something but I try to KISS.
 
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rhanna said:
Check out your local pawn shop. I bought a set for my jeep really cheap. I almost bought an impact snap-on set but it was much more expensive. Still a lot cheaper than buying new.
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Not a bad idea. We got lots Of pawn shops here and more likely than not my tools are at a pawn shop as we speak.
 
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I’ll also second the HF kit. I have the 225 piece set that’s been extremely handy and useful. It does skip some sizes but it’s got a lot of functionality for the price and if it disappears wouldn’t hurt too bad.
 
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Pawn shops are a start. Do you have swap meets in your area? Also, I go to estate sales. Not so much garage sales, but actual estate sales. You can get high dollar stuff cheaper(most of the time) and build a set.

I not a fan of the online auctions estate sales, but this was the first one on the list today. Just an example: https://www.estatesales.net/CO/Loveland/80537/2884071?force-reload=true
 
I pieced mine together, starting with the basics from Harbor Freight, and filling in with other tools I had duplicates of and/or specialty tools from Amazon. I carry cheap shit in the Jeep. Nothing I will cry over if it is stolen or lost in the dirt on the trail.
 
Steer clear of Craftsman in my opinion. They aren’t the same tried and true brand you could take stuff back and get fixed or warrantied. It took me 6 weeks of battling to try and get 3 ratchets repaired or replaced. The “new Craftsman” won’t honor the warranty of the “old Craftsman” so you have to call Craftsman customer service (once you figure out which of the 3 numbers is the right one) go through a bunch of nonsense, send the photos, slow response times and then they load points into their Shop My Way website so you can order them. The even shittier part is they charge shipping and even worse most of the tools aren’t even in stock so they refer you to a store that may be 4 plus hours from you. It’s ridiculous. Buy tools you can get warrantied locally would be my advice.
 
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