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Tools for home servicing

135

Comments

  • mikey72
    mikey72 Posts: 14,680 Forumite
    ......... You can buy 2T stands/jack but I've found these to be a bit weak in the past. I always use the 3T stuff: ..................


    The kerb weight of my car is barely a tonne and a half, even my van is 3.5 tonne, and I normally only jack one wheel at a time.

    There's a lot of pricey stuff on here to start out with.

    I've had my socket set for the best part of 30+ years.
    It's a half inch draper, and well used.
    It wasn't dear in the late 70's/early 80's.
  • i have the star key set for sump plugs made by laser what a handy peice of kit all ranging from large - small. used them many a time only cost me £6.99. ive got a britool torque wrench capable of doing lorry's vans and cars cost me £155.00 12 years ago never had to be sent away for repairs, only calibration after so many uses i bought a socket extension set from fleabay with knuckle heads (swivel heads for the old skool) included varying in sizes for £30.00 largest one is 12 inches long chrome vandium steel. a power bar set longest is 3ft smallest is a foot long that cames with sleeves. i have many a draper scredriver and hex/torx drivers allan key drivers, many laser spanners inc swan knecks, swivel types, wrench spanners ive collected through the years.

    as for service items, for spin on oil filters i use two types of oil filter wrenches, ones a strap with a wrench 1/2" head for tight spaces, ones a chain type with handle for ones the are easy to access with room.

    i have three different sizes of maul grips i use to crimp brake caliper lines.

    i have a brake clutch vacuum bleederkit 1ltr capacity bought off ebay for £12.00 sealey i think it is.

    i have a oil drain pan from laser £15.00.

    funnels, from bee and que £5.00 for a 4 peice set from pouring in my liquids and lubes.

    have a universal set of caliper rewaind tools from pagid £40 fleabay same one on tool sites are around £80.00

    door hindge or multipurpose grease, copper grease and silicone sprays, lock thread cheap enough from motor factors.
  • Strider590 wrote: »
    Very useful for the home mechanic is a ratchet screwdriver with interchangeable bits, a set of hex bits (allen), a set of Torx bits (star shaped security bolts used by manufacturers to force people into dealerships). Both male and female of the above bits.... You can buy them all in one set on Ebay if you look, doesn't matter about quality as the screws/bolts they're used for generally aren't torqued up too much.

    I'd also recommend a very small socket ratchet wrench, like the Draper stubby (Draper 71959) ratchet, they're not cheap, but youd be surprised how often you come across a screw/bolt/nut that you can't get a full sized tool anywhere near, it can save you spending 3 hours taking the car apart JUST to get at a screw head.

    Gone are the days where servicing a car only needed a spark plug wrench, oil filter wrench, a 13mm spanner (oil sump plug). Now you need to take out half a tonne of plastic covers and security screws just to get at the service items :(


    Those ratcheting screwdrivers are okish for very light work, but I've never seen one I'd want to own.They are usually cheaply made and the ratchets can break.Plus the bit the heads go into can twist and get damaged.
    I'd rather just have a decent set of screwdrivers where the heads don't get damaged and then subsequently wreck the head of the scew you really need to get out.
    Its the same with spanners, the cheap ones are just that little bit too big and will round off the nuts.I've also had a cheap 17mm one snap in my hand on a really tough nut.It could have easily gone stright through my flesh with the force I had on it.I bought decent ones after that.
  • Strider590
    Strider590 Posts: 11,874 Forumite
    Those ratcheting screwdrivers are okish for very light work, but I've never seen one I'd want to own.They are usually cheaply made and the ratchets can break.Plus the bit the heads go into can twist and get damaged.
    I'd rather just have a decent set of screwdrivers where the heads don't get damaged and then subsequently wreck the head of the scew you really need to get out.
    Its the same with spanners, the cheap ones are just that little bit too big and will round off the nuts.I've also had a cheap 17mm one snap in my hand on a really tough nut.It could have easily gone stright through my flesh with the force I had on it.I bought decent ones after that.

    For light/medium work yes, but to be fair i'd not be using a screwdriver or nut driver for heavy work.... They're extremely useful for general car work, for removing trim panels, etc etc as well as general DIY.
    I do get through the pozidrive bits quite quickly, but they're cheap enough to change before they become a liability.

    As for spanners, i've got an old Halfords socket set and a set of box spanners 8mm - 14mm, cheap as chips from Netto and never had a problem (and they've done some pretty heavy stuff). At the sort of force where they'd snap/break I would be using a steel pipe as leverage.

    Something I haven't mentioned to the OP...........

    Don't buy adjustable spanners with the intention of money saving, they do have their place, but they tend to open as you apply force to them, which results in rounded off bolt heads.
    “I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an a** of yourself.”

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  • TrickyWicky
    TrickyWicky Posts: 4,025 Forumite
    mikey72 wrote: »
    The kerb weight of my car is barely a tonne and a half, even my van is 3.5 tonne, and I normally only jack one wheel at a time.

    Not quite sure how to respond to that as it almost sounds like you're suggesting that doing silly things with underrated equipment is not only ok but sensible :eek:

    You can only jack up one side of the vehicle at a time but you should do both sides and put it on stands that are rated for its weight. Halfords little 2T stands are ok for smaller cars but the bigger cars I would never put on them. IMO it just isn't worth the risk. Until you see a trolley jack failure you won't respect the risk you are taking doing anything else.
  • pendulum
    pendulum Posts: 2,302 Forumite
    I've got a Halfords Pro kit and it's good, but it's handy to have a cheap set of sockets and spanners laying around as well. Sometimes you need two spanners of the same size to counterhold while you undo, or the socket in the cheaper set is thinner walled (because it's cheaper and weaker) which is great for getting in a tight spot etc
  • patman99
    patman99 Posts: 8,532 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Photogenic
    Got a whole mix and match of cheap sockets and spanners in my toolbox. Never managed to break one yet.
    Also have a chain wrench for removing oil filters, much better than the useless 'rubber band' ones as it is less likely to slip.

    If I were buying a whole new kit today, I would be going for spanners and sockets that grip the flat of the nut rather than the corners as you can remove any nut/bolt with these.
    Never Knowingly Understood.

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  • mikey72
    mikey72 Posts: 14,680 Forumite
    edited 21 March 2012 at 8:06PM
    Not quite sure how to respond to that as it almost sounds like you're suggesting that doing silly things with underrated equipment is not only ok but sensible :eek:

    You can only jack up one side of the vehicle at a time but you should do both sides and put it on stands that are rated for its weight. Halfords little 2T stands are ok for smaller cars but the bigger cars I would never put on them. IMO it just isn't worth the risk. Until you see a trolley jack failure you won't respect the risk you are taking doing anything else.

    No, I'm saying the right tools for the job are ok.

    A melodramatic smilie isn't really appropriate when I point out most normal cars, and anything up to transit sizes vans are more than safe on a pair of 2t axles stands, and can easily be lifted by a 2t jack onto them.
    I'd be interested how you work out they're underrated?

    A pair of 2t axle stands will be 4 1t axle stands. My 3.5t truck would be ok on those, yet alone my 1.5t car.
    A 2t jack would easily lift my entire car, (although it may be hard to balance). And as it'll never be lifting more than half it's weight at a time, it's already overrated by at least a factor of two.

    If I drove a Ford Cargo I'd think differently, but there is no point in disbelieving what the stands and jacks are rated at, and paying an arm and a leg for stands I'm never going to put a 6t truck on, and it's a lot of money to waste to change an oil filter, or remove a sump plug for my car.
    That is what is really silly.
  • Plus the heavy duty ones can be too big to slot under the front of the car.
  • mikey72
    mikey72 Posts: 14,680 Forumite
    Plus the heavy duty ones can be too big to slot under the front of the car.

    I find most modern cars don't suit trolley jacks any more, either there's no where solid enough, it's all light metalwork that bends, or plastic that breaks, or the jack cuts into the underseal and leaves big scuff marks, in the end I've got a selection of wooden blocks with various cut outs that slot onto the sills, or the jacking points, or sit under the suspension lower mounts.
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