4w ago

What are some tools you need when starting to do basic DIY Mechanical work and possible home improvement in the future.

I took my wife's car into the dealership for a warranty a few weeks ago and while they were checking stuff, they said the car needed 1300 dollars of work (piston soak and replace some transmission parts). I ended up doing the soak with my grandpa and took it to a shop for the transmission (wasnt even an issue, just a rivot replacement on a wheel well cover) and ended up saving 700 dollars after accounting for tools, jacks, jack stands, etc.

I want to start working on my own cars for things that can be done easily without expensive specialized tools, and I might be buying a house in the next year. I just want to start getting a decent collection of tools to hopefully save money in the long run.

I currently have a huge range of screwdrivers, soldering equipment, plyer set, socket set, file set, wire cutters and a small tool kit with some misc stuff.

I am mainly looking towards a torque wrench and a good spanner/wrench set, but looking for suggestions on what to get. Holding off on power tools until I wrap my head around brands and batteries.

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47 comments

If you've got sockets, wrenches, pliers, and screwdrivers you're 90% there. Get an impact driver, you can use one for pretty much anything with the right bits. I buy DeWalt or Milwaukee power tools in the US personally, but it doesn't matter much. You won't be using it all day every day, dropping it off scissor lifts, etc like I do.
A good set of jacks will go a long way. And start collecting flashlights.
- What jacks would you recommend?
  
  I have one of those harbor freight Daytona 3 ton low profile ones that I really like. Also let me introduce you to the Project Farm channel on YouTube, he does non-biased scientifically fair comparisons of lots of different kinds of tools including jacks and jack stands.
  
  Glad I’m not the only one repping Harbor Freight in this thread lol
  
  Harbor freight has some diamonds in the rough, just gotta be careful of what you get there. Some stuff is great, some is crap.
  
  Most simple tools, I’d always recommend HF (hand tools, basic power tools, etc). If it doesn’t have electricity, I’ve never had an issue with their tools. They’ve also made aggressive upmarket shifts lately (past 5 years), which has introduced some higher end lines that seem pretty well made from what I’ve heard.
  
  Harbor Freight happens to have some good shit, that does not mean most of Harbor Freight's shit isn't garbage.
- No wrench set yet, but hoping Santa brings them this year. What should I be looking for in a set?
  And I have a few flashlights after lockdown prepping. Looking to get a good headlamp now and lantern style light.
  Milwaukee is one of the brands that has my eye for power tools. I've only used Mikita or Milwaukee power tools in my life, just because that's what we were provided at an e-recycle/electronic refurbish shop I worked at years ago.
  
  Re: wrenches.
  I'm not sure where you're at or what kind of things you will be working on, but here in the US you generally want to have at least a cheap set of both SAE and Metric wrenches. Nothing is more frustrating than having a random bolt be SAE while everything else is metric, and stripping the bolt with a wrench that is "close enough".
  You'll also come to a decision on if your like flat wrenches or angled ones, though it doesn't hurt to have a cheap set of both.
  If you know for sure what set you'll be using the most (or even better, what sizes you'll be using the most), spending a little extra money on "ratcheting" wrenches can save you a ton of time and frustration. I do a lot of toying around on my car, and some of these bolts are in tight places where you can't turn a wrench very far; ratcheting wrenches let you get the wrench in place once and just wiggle the bolt out.

47 comments