There are certain tools that I recently purchased that had me slapping my forehead with my palm and thinking “You dummy. You’ve been doing things the hard way for so long!” I’m sure this feeling is one shared by you, dear wrenching Autopian members. So let’s try to save younger wrenchers the agony: Here are the tools I wish I’d ponied up for years ago.
Some of these tools are expensive, and my budget meant I couldn’t really afford them. But most of them are on the borderline — they’re tools that I could technically afford, but they’d be painful to pay for. But now, years later, I realize these tools’ true value, and I know for a fact that whatever pain I would have to have endured at the check-out counter would have been worth it.
First off, there’s the flex-head ratcheting wrench:
Seriously, if you have $100 burning a hole into your pocket, buy a set of metric and English flex-head ratcheting wrenches. Having to turn a standard wrench by hand 10 degrees at a time is painful; you have to set it, turn it, reset it, turn it again, reset it. And sometimes the space you have to swing the wrench means re-setting it is a pain in the ass. Just buy a ratcheting wrench; that saves you the pain of continually resetting your wrench on a nut or bolt. You could get a solid ratcheting wrench set, but I find that its utility is severely limited; having that flex head makes a huge difference.
Next up are power tools. Seriously, it makes me cringe thinking about how much time I’ve wasted trying to remove a wheel with a damn half-inch ratchet. Just throw the socket onto an electric impact wrench like the one above, hit the button, and the lug nut will be off in under two seconds. Just buy one of these. Stop using breaker bars and cheater pipes and all of your might to loosen stubborn nuts when you can just tap a button.
Speaking of power tools, just last week was the first time I put my 3/8″ electric ratchet to the test. It’s a bit big, with that chunky battery at its end, but it’s still incredibly useful, especially for smaller bolts that don’t require that beefy 1/2-inch-drive impact wrench.
I have a huge list of other tools I wish I’d purchased sooner, but the flex-head wrenches and power tools are at the top of my list. They make life so much easier!
What are some tools you wish you’d bought earlier in your life? How much time/effort have these tools saved you since you’ve owned them?
Bolt extractors. You hope to never need them, but once you do, it brings a sense of peace to know that you have the tool you need.
Not car related, but I bought a Milwaukeee 18V power nailer last week, and I don’t know how I have lived this long without one. Bam there’s a nail. Bam, there’s another one! I can keep this up all day.
I have mixed feelings on cordless tools, knowing that batteries are wear items, and that with enough time, the old models’ batteries might not be offered anymore.
I only recently bought my first power tool–a corded drill. Amazing how little selection there is for those, relatively speaking. But I’d rather have that, knowing that realistically its death should be the motor burning out or something, not a dead battery.
That’s why I recommend people use a brand with a track record for maintaining the same style battery. I personally like Ryobi stuff for the balance of cost, performance, and availability.
One thing that helps with this is battery adapters. You can use almost any battery with almost any tool if you’re willing to deal with a little extra bulk. Not ideal, but at least you aren’t left with a useless tool just because the batteries aren’t available anymore.
Also, modern batteries last a lot longer than they used to in my experience. I have some pretty old Ryobi batteries that are still going strong. I have had a couple die, but they were over a decade old at that point.
I still have and occasionally use my dad’s jigsaw from approximately 1965. Built like a tank.
It’s tough to come up with a single item, but I’ll say it’s the LED drop light. My youth was spent wrenching with incandescent drop lights, which get hot enough to melt plastic and badly burn you when you’re working in tight spaces, and one drop and the bulb is dead.
I do not yet have a cordless LED drop light so I’m always wrestling with the cord. I wonder if someday I’ll wish I’d bought one sooner.
Get yourself a headlamp. It’s always pointed where you’re looking, it’s cordless, and hands free.
The electric ratchet was a good time-saver, but I used the Ryobi for about a month before I got fed up with the big ass battery hanging off the end and bought a Milwaukee. Completely worth it.
If you’re doing anything involving suspension, a set of Go-thru sockets and ratchet is indispensable for those obnoxious top bolts on shocks.
Funny. I am switching to Ryobi. All my craftsman 19.2 batteries died and they’ve since moved on to another format. The only option is to get janky Chinese batteries from ebay.
Ryobi, though, has been using the same battery format forever.
Everything else I have is Ryobi, drills, impacts, inflators, cut-off tools, even a vacuum at home. But the large length and big battery just kept frustrating me when it banged into everything.
A friend has 3D printed many adapters to mate Ryobi batteries to other tools as well
I would be surprised if the craftsman batteries were not rebuildable with fresh cells. Check with batteries plus.
Sell me the old Ryobi I have been eyeing them lol
Air powered vacuum brake bleeder. A thing of beauty, no more messing around bleeding brakes.
One I will say right off: good ear plugs. My hearing is not what itnonce was and I am.sure that hammering in a fender well is part of the reason.
The one both my dad and I loved right away was the angle grinder. Cheap, brutal and effective. Living where they salt the roads, if you need to get a bolt or nut loose, and it just won’t come, cut it off with the grinder. Easy-peasy and sparky!
Much love also goes to an electric or battery powered impact gun. If you have money for a project car, these are worth spending a bit more. And if you can’t swing a battery powered Ridgid or Ryobi, a corded model works well too.
Agree completely about the ear plugs. I found an oversized set of over the ear style hearing protectors that allow my oversized (cheap) earbuds to fit inside without hurting my ear.
I try to always have my Samsung earbuds in when working on cars even if I am not playing music just to minimize potential hearing damage. For really loud stuff I also add over the ear protection. That plus having a dedicated pair of rated prescription safety glasses has me feeling a lot better about my longterm senses
3/8″ electric ratchet was all I wanted for Christmas this year. We’ve had one where I work for years now and it makes simple jobs (mostly car battery replacement) so much faster and easier.
Models like mine (Craftsman) or DeWalt (and many others) keep the battery in line with the rest of the tool so while there is a weight hanging off the end, it isn’t made even bulkier by being turned 90 degrees.
Electric ratchet. I have a 3/8″ drive Milwaukee fuel ratchet and it, by FAR, sees more use than any other tool in my box. I tell all the new apprentices that (with a few exceptions) air is dead, buy cordless tools if you’re starting out.
big hammer
Wheel of death angle grinder. So many hours wasted on rusted bolts and other stuff. Usually, my reward/pay for any project is allowing myself the purchase of a new or better tool. I figure some of the money I save by DIY should be invested in future projects.
I love tools and have everything I need. However, I did buy a Wera Tool-Check Plus and I have to say it is the best thing since sliced bread. Very portable, tons of bits and sockets all housed in a convenient case. Unless I am going for something big at a junkyard, it is all I carry these days. Heck of a tool.
The tool that I wish I had purchased by now is something that I still don’t have.
Oscillating saw.
Yeah this is really a tool I want for my house not car, but somehow still don’t have despite needing to borrow one from a friend about 1000 times. I thought I was getting one for Christmas one year, but my wife seemed to think reciprocating saw was the same thing. It… is not.
I have used the reciprocating saw a lot though.
A 3 foot breaker bar. I have four now, for reasons which escape me. The amount of time I spent hammering at my socket wrench with a rubber mallet, and the number of bolts sheared off as a direct result……
The varied array of emotional and cognitive tools that would have allowed me to eke out a modicum of success in life.Uh… a little screwdriver with switchable bits for the car. Yeah, that’s it.
I had 1982 Buick Skylard and 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity, and both had the 173 cid V6 engines with difficult-to-reach spark plugs on the rear bank next to the firewall. Many times, I had cracked or broken the ceramic part of the spark plugs when trying to change them.
I came across this extension tool and became enlightened beyond the automotive nirvana. No more broken parts! No more frustration!
I am ordering a set of those immediately.
Where has this been all my life?!?!?!
I have a set of those, but from a different manufacturer. They are cool, but (at least my set) will not work with VERY tight fasteners. They start flexing nda twisting from the torque.
Yes, you have to put your hand or fingers on the socket as to prevent the base from flexing when turning. I would prefer this over cracked or broken spark plugs…
Ratcheting, tilt-head wrenches. Also Vampliers.
Agreed on the Vampliers, though I haven’t used them very much (yet).
Snap ring pliers.
So many hours of my life wasted, so many layers of knuckle skin abraded.
Because I figured some needle nose pliers would suffice…
Nope! Go get yourself some snap ring pliers.
All of the ones I have now. I will admit, though, when you’re first starting out in life it is amazing all of the things you can do with a simple pair of pliers. Hammer? check. Socket wrench? check. Hole puncher? check, etc, etc, etc, you get the idea. Pliers, the do it all in a pinch tool when you a broke ass college kid.
Quality screwdrivers. They just make everything so much easier.
Snap-On screwdrivers are worth every penny of their ridiculous price.
I have a Wera 14 piece screwdriver set and they are superb screwdrivers.
Bent needle nose pliers. I use them all the time!
I agree with all the suggestions below. I’ve built my collection of tools over a long time. There is still one tool I want more than any other tool. It’s a tool that, if bought early, could save one so much more time and money than any other tool. It has one obvious problem though. A lift.
If it hasn’t been said already, I always play very carefully with the impact and air impact drivers. I’m always worried a stuck lug will come suspiciously quickly free.
Heard in the ratchet head wrenches though. I forgot how much a pain in the ass it is to undo the oil drain plug on the truck and didn’t bring a socket, just the wrench, 15 agonizing degrees at a time. The sway bar, amidst acres of otherwise free space, is of course in the perfect place to obstruct the turning of the wrench.
Its a bit insincere to say that electric power tools were something that you should have had 10 years ago since battery technology and tool power/capability has come so far in that time. Weak 12V NiCad batteries vs the current 18-20V Li Ion electric dak-daks is no comparison, so that one really comes down to technology readiness.
2nd, 3rd gen Lithium Ion tools are better than their 1st gen versions by far as well. Most first gen tools didn’t have battery discharge protection so if the battery reached a state of minimum charge, they would just die. I paid good money for Dewalt tools that died this way.
Now most Li Ion tools have that kind of protection as well as charge indicators and other features. Some tools, like Rigid now have lifetime warranty battery replacement.
On top of that, their motors are lighter but produce higher torque, and it’s much easier to find brushless motors as well.
Hear hear! My first drill, not a bad one at the time, but one that really showed its age after 10 years. The NiCd battery was clapped out and weighed a damn ton. I took my next move with cordless tools more seriously than most girlfriends, knowing I’d be vendor-locked into their batteries far longer than any relationships I might muster along the way. Milwaukee M18 here. The jigsaw wipes it out but the drill goes all damn day on the 2Ah battery, unless I’m drilling metal.
I’ll second the Knipex Pliers Wrench. I also keep a small bit driver and set of bits handy. A couple allens and screwdriver heads. They live on the back of my car’s seat because I use them frequently and I don’t want to have to dig them out of a tool bag.
Speaking of tool bags, get a good one. I’ve bought Step22 gear and it’s really good stuff but Adventure Tool Company is my new favorite. 100% of the materials are made in the USA and they supply fabrics and sewing to our domestic OEMs. They run some great deals at tradeshows.