Hi Everyone,

I'm waiting patiently over here waiting for that "perfect" Cherokee to pop up on Craigslist. In the meantime I figured it might be a good idea to look out for sales on tools. What tools would you suggest for someone who hasn't worked on cars before? I'm talking about tools required for basic maintenance. What are your thoughts on those mechanic sets that I advertised all the time from Craftsman?

 

Yup. Looks like I great place to start. I think it's good to get the quality items to start with, skimp on other things.

Gonna need the simple things too like hammers, multiple sizes screwdrivers, pry bar, pliers, vise grips... that electric meter thing, wire cutters/crimpers, a box of fuses....TORX sockets....harbor freight will be your friend.

Jeep repair manual.

BREAKER BAR. I did my entire rear lift with my breaker bar. Tired as hell afterward but it worked.

 

Craftsman is ok use to be better but now its made in china,They use to just replace a broken ratchet now they give you a rebuild kit or ship out your ratchet to be repaired and you get it back in weeks.

 

I used to buy all craftsman tools but since they seem to break now just as often as duralast I just get all my tools at harbor freight. They have a lifetime warranty on all hand tools as craftsman only warranties some of theirs

 

For basic maintenance you really need a good set of screwdrivers in various sizes, some garage scissors and knives, a good set of crescent wrenches and sockets in both metric and SAE, a breaker bar, at least one good torque wrench and a few hammers (regular, ball peen, rubber/plastic mallets). Other things you'll accumulate as you need them.

As for brands, I have a combination of Kobalt, Craftsman and Harbor Freight. My grandfather bought all Craftsman tools, so I followed his example when I was younger. More recently I buy Kobalt when I need quality.

The Kobalt tools sold by Lowe's are among the best you can get now, of the quality that Craftsman used to be. They're expensive, but you can get good deals around holidays when they run specials on kits. Lowe's usually runs "doorbusters" on Black Friday, around Christmas and around other holidays like Father's Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day. What I normally do is shop those days to build out my kit, or when I need something immediately, I try to find a kit that has that particular tool in it rather than just buying a one-off. Those big 200 or 300 piece kits are expensive, but they're really the best deals on Kobalt sockets and wrenches.

When it's something Chinese quality can't really screw up or something I intend to abuse, I'll buy it from Harbor Freight. For example, I bought my big rubber mallet, my plastic trim removal tools and my vise from HF. I also buy HF when it's something I don't expect to use a lot but would be nice to have around, like my vacuum pump for AC work. HF has a warranty, but honestly I don't buy HF stuff unless it's something I can expect to do without if it breaks.

 

It's pretty much already been answered but since I was in your position 6 years ago I'll list what I have bought since getting my first cherokee. I started with a tackle box with a few old random sized wrenches, a hammer, ..and that's pretty much it.

so in no particular order:

- decent sized set of socket wrenches, 1/8, 3/8, and 1/2
- a few torx sockets ive collected. I wish I had just bought a set at the beginning
- a few different size funnels
- rubber mallet
- an additional jack from the jy
- mechanics gloves
- a tarp for when I lived in an apartment (no mess, no fuss)
- a few large catch cans and pans.
- collected large cat litter containers to make taking used coolant and oil to the parts store easier
- msc rtvs
- dialectric grease
- rags
- pumice soap like gojo
- silicone grease, brakleen, throttle body cleaner, etc
- battery terminal brush

that's all I can think of now there are other things like a coolant tester but I've only used them once or twice. I would really like some jack stands and a hydraulic jack and eventually an air compressor and battery checker/charger

 

if you get their small tool kits with the black painted wrenches/sockets, those r China. But the chrome ones are all made in USA. I broke a my 3/8 ratchet trying to get a lug nut off( long story) and they replaced it immediately, no shipping it in or repairing it myself. That was 3 months ago.

 

According to a certain member on this forum, it takes tens of thousands of dollars in tools to do routine maintenance on your rig.

 

Not sure if anyone has said it, but zip ties are always great to have around

 

Don't forget "Kentucky Krome", aka duct tape.

 

Get one of the 200+ piece tool kits. It makes life a lot easier.

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-258-p...2&blockType=G2

I have similar. Maybe not the best ever, but it has helped me so much, and I've definitely saved over the $150 price in labor costs alone!

 

I got one of these several years ago, different config, but the same tools basically. I use it to this day. It is my main tool source, and I take it to the salvage yard...I do have other hand tools as well, but this is my main kit, I also got some ratcheting flex head combo wrenches, and spent the dough on name brand channel locks and vice grips.

http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-to...kit-45951.html

At $200 its a fine buy, and if you wait for a sale you can get a pretty good deal. And before anybody goes crapping on HF tools, their hand tools have a lifetime warranty, so if you break it they replace it, so good there. As stated earlier, don't buy channel locks and vice grips from HF, those are junk...but their wrenches and sockets are fine for the home/hobbyist mechanic.

FWIW I have only broken 2 things in the kit, a breaker bar (who hasn't, LOL), and a screwdriver I was using as a prybar, so my bad there...otherwise it's held up great.

 

While I don't crap on HF tools and have quite a few of them myself, for $200 or less you can get a variety of Kobalt 200- to 250-piece mechanic's tool kits that are higher quality and also have a lifetime warranty. I usually try to shop for them around holidays when they put them on sale for even cheaper.

 

Just made a small list of tools to do "routine maintenance" of the single tools needed and it came out to be $28 at HF if they care to shop there to do it.


A must have item I carry 5 different sizes in my XJ.


One thing you should always have in your tool box.


Like others have posted Craftsman, Lowes, tools good place to find full sets to start with still will need other items. Also craigslist is a good place to shop for tools, box's and Pawn Shops, Garage Sales watch them all for deals.

 

Yeah there are good power tools to be had at pawn shops & yard sales. Find a dude's old impact wrench that still has 50 years in it for $5 sometimes....