As a car lover, you might have experienced an overwhelming uneasiness when you have to drop your favorite ride at a service station. This is especially the case when the mechanic is a new one.
With the appropriate car repair tools you can minimize your frequency of visits to the mechanic by taking care of basic repair work all by yourself.
This way you can spend valuable time with your beloved vehicle and ensure that it is in your safe hands while tinkering with it. Besides, it’s a great way of saving on some bucks too.
Even if you have a trusted professional mechanic, there are some small maintenance activities like timely checking the air pressure and changing the engine oil that you can carry out easily at your own garage.
So if you are ready to go on the DIY path, here’s a list of a few auto repair tools that are an absolute necessity to have at your disposal.
Contents (Jump to Topic)
1. Four way tire iron
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It is one of those multipurpose car tools that should have a definite place in your car repair tools kit.
It is also known as a lug wrench and comes in an L-shape (two way tire iron) too.
Its sockets are used to remove the lug nuts of your wheels, while the prying part helps in removing the hub caps. No wonder you won’t be able to change your car’s wheels without this equipment.
2. Hydraulic Floor Jack
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One of the most basic yet indispensable car mechanic tools and equipment, a hydraulic jack is an integral part of every DIY auto repair tools kit.
It is used to lift up your car off the ground for many activities like changing a tire or replacing engine oil.
Ensure that you buy a floor-jack of adequate capacity depending on your car’s curb weight.
3. Oil Filter Wrench
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This is a tool that is specifically designed to work on the oil filter screw.
Anyone who has worked on their car’s maintenance activities knows how difficult it can be sometimes to unscrew an oil filter, especially after it’s been to a professional work station.
Worry not, oil filter wrench makes it much easier for you and hence should be in your car tools kit.
4. Combination Wrench
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You may have got a ratchet set and complete wrench sets, but there are still some areas in the car that are too congested to reach with any of them.
In these cases, a combination wrench comes to the rescue, especially in the engine bay area. Try to get a 12-point SAE combination wrench set with box-ends.
5. Jack Stand
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Just having a floor jack is not sufficient to safely work on maintaining your car.
Once you have lifted the car off the ground, you have to place these jack stands as additional supports so that the weight of the car is distributed evenly between them.
Make sure that you are placing them on a flat rigid floor and at the recommended slots.
6. Wheel Chocks
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Another basic equipment on our list of car tools, wheel chocks can be a potential lifesaver for DIY mechanics like you.
These chocks should be placed appropriately to stop the car from rolling away, especially when you have to do some maintenance activity on a sloped surface.
These situations may arise less frequently, but when they do, chocks come to the rescue.
7. Oil Drain Pan
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There are a lot of people who don’t buy a standard oil drain pan and use anything that they can find around their house. They are the same people that have a messy garage!
Ensure that you invest in a proper oil drain pan as it is so much better when you are trying to drain out any oil from the car.
Also Read: Top 10 Pros and Cons of Electric Cars
8. Spark Plug Spanner
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Checking and replacing spark plugs of your car are quite common repairing activities that every car owner has to get done at set time intervals.
If you have decided to do it yourself then make sure you have a spark plug spanner among your car maintenance tools. It ensures that the threads on the spark plug are not damaged while removing.
9. Adjustable Wrenches
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It is a great handy tool that can unscrew all types of nuts and bolts. If you have an adjustable wrench as part of your car maintenance tools kit, it can save you the space and need of possessing multiple wrenches for each different size.
Although, it has limited usability in constricted spaces of vehicle, where you would need an appropriate sized wrench only.
10. Clicking Torque Wrench
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So you have tightened a nut or a bolt. Maybe you were changing your tires and have replaced the lug nuts back with a tire iron.
But do you know if you have tightened the right amount? A clicking torque wrench must be used to make sure that you tighten every bolt and nut to the exact torque specification.
Keep one handy in your car mechanic tools and equipment kit, always.
11. Plier Set
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This is an important tool for a variety of applications. It is quite useful when you need to cut, bend or compress wires and other such material.
There are different pliers for all types of applications so make sure that you go for a nice kit that covers a wide variety.
Especially needle-nose pliers are a life-saver when trying to reach deep and unreachable parts of your car.
12. Screwdriver Set
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This is a no-brainer actually. Screwdrivers are the cornerstone of any tool kit, not just for car repair tools kit.
You might already be familiar with the wide functionality that these simple tools have to offer.
Just make sure that your screwdrivers have magnetized heads to easily take out screws from their slots.
13. Hammer Set
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Although not used very often, hammers are useful when you want to work on the steel body of your vehicle.
Such a situation generally arises when you have to get rid of minor dents, bumps and other such abnormalities that happen quite frequently.
It’s a good idea to have a rubber mallet as part of this hammer set for removing those dents.
14. Tire Inflator
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This is a great tool to check and maintain the recommended pressure of air in your car tires. It is quite lightweight and compact, rendering it super easy to carry with you and use anywhere.
Even a 12-volt compressor is sufficient to fill up your tire to the recommended pressure.
Also Read: How to Remove Water Spots from Car
15. Flashlight
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The need of a bright flashlight can’t be emphasized enough.
A well-lit area is the primary requirement for anyone to start working on any maintenance activity so that their safety can be ensured.
Whether you want to look into the innards of your car or are amidst an emergency situation on the road in night, flashlight is there to help you out. Ensure that you keep it charged though.
16. Ratchet and Socket Set
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It’s a handy tool to keep your set of wheels up to date with regular maintenance.
For a majority of cars, having just a three-quarter inch ratchet would suffice for dealing with the bolts and nuts present in your vehicle. Having an extender is recommended to reach the tight areas of car.
17. Car Multimeter
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Besides the mechanical parts, you need to service the electrical parts of your vehicle too. One of the most important components is the battery that you need to check from time to time for appropriate charge.
A digital multimeter checks the current and voltage readings of the battery to ensure that it doesn’t die on you and possibly cause trouble. Moreover, you can use it to measure the circuit resistance of other electrical components too.
18. Impact Gun
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It’s not a necessity to be fair, but a luxury that you once have, you’ll never want to work without it.
Impact gun eases the hard work and effort that has to be put in to fix the nuts and bolts. It’s a much faster way to tighten or loosen them.
If you want it in your garage, go for a pneumatic one. But if portability is desired, battery-operated impact guns are available too.
19) Funnel
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You would be surprised to see how often you’ll be looking around for your funnel while performing timely maintenance activities on your car.
The thing is, there are a lot of fluids like engine oil, brake fluid etc that need to be checked and replaced from time to time and a funnel will keep the things neat and clean.
20. Breaker bar
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There are times when you find a stubborn and tightly fixed bolt and none of your wrenches or pliers are able to open it despite all your efforts.
The same is the case with rusted bolts. In these situations, a breaker bar is your best bet. It is similar to a lug wrench, except for a pivoting head that allows you to put in more leverage.
Also Read: 25 Car Cleaning Hacks to keep your Car Spotless
21. Heat gun
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This equipment is for the intermediate level DIYers. Heat gun is helpful in many scenarios that you might face in your garage. For example, removing paint, loosening stuck bolts etc.
Besides you can use it to thaw those frozen pipes below the house too.
So if you are on the way to do your car’s maintenance by yourself, make sure that you have these car repair tools in your kit. Remember, safety is the utmost priority while using tools. Keeping that in mind, go and have fun!