Offroad tool kit

Happy Joe

Apprentice Geezer
As far as pipe wrenches I only use them on vehicles to hold the pinion yoke on differentials, when dealing with the pinion nuts.... Have only seen/helped field service 2 vehicles that needed pinion service on the trail so I don't bother bringing pipe wrenches. (If you have a use for them & feel the need; bring 'em).
As far as hammers I have used 2 pretty heavy duty hammers one a 3 pounder (might be a 4 pounder) with an 18"pipe handle (Jeep tool) the other is about a 2 to 3 pound drilling hammer (short handle; fits in an ammo can).... (bigger beaters/BFH's beat better)...

Enjoy!
 
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Mundo4x4Casa

West slope, N. Ser. Nev.
Bags are the answer. They compress down to take less space and don't rattle. The longer I do off-roading, the fewer tools I take. It boils down to experience and circumstances. Most people take way too many tools for the occasion, mostly because they don't know what they will really need and just want to cover all basses. When I was tailgunner for a CJ-8 run over the Rubicon my on board welder and well fortified bags of tools worked overtime patching frames, reattaching shock mounts, reinforcing bent tie rods with angle iron, replacing broken mainsprings, and welding up new driveshafts on the trail. Now when we are alone in the TC, 3 days from pavement, I take a lot less, based on the usage of tools in days gone by. Take my 18mm socket and thin cross section open end wrench. For disconnecting one side of my rear anti-sway bar for the week, nothing else will suffice. You have to know that beforehand. I do have a maximum, what to take list, but I won't bore you with that.
jefe
 

s.e.charles

Well-known member
to address both #31 & #32 responses:

I don't know what I don't know, but figure if I have, for example, a spare radiator hose, someone might come toodling through the boonies and give me the sympathy vote by lending a hand. if I have the tools & parts, he won't think I didn't at least try. sort of like the response " leaving the guy stuck on the beach because he never aired down thing." I guess that stayed with me, huh?

so, I know working around, usually alone, I have used a pipe wrench to hold some regular & irregular objects, so my thinking was somewhere on some vehicle there will be a part for which I have no wrench. hammer I got: SK 30 oz ball pein. and an 8 oz just for fun.

inexperience certainly is bolstered with gadgetry, but the experience teaches which gadget to wean. kind of a process, huh?
 

Mundo4x4Casa

West slope, N. Ser. Nev.
s.e., I still like your style. If i ever meet you on the dunes, or up to your eyeballs in goo, I'm all in. You hit on one of my favorite homemade sayings:
"We know what we know.
We don't know what we don't know.
However, we don't know that we don't know what we don't know."
Camp at 11p.m. in a gravel pit near Coldfoot AK just south of the Brooks range on the Haul Road to the Arctic Ocean 2003. Jeanie made her famous Tequila Sunsets till the sun went down; which it didn't on June 19th. Why the term? No matter what time of day you consume said beverage the sun goes down.
 
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Happy Joe

Apprentice Geezer
...Gave up carrying spare hoses ; its simply easier to inspect and maintain the vehicles regularly (spring & fall at a minimum); prevention is the best preparation...

Enjoy!
 
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BritKLR

Kapitis Indagatoris
A small compact 12/24 v welding kit consisting of 2 sets of jumper cables, 6013 welding rods, wire brush/chipping hammer, small bundle of metal scraps, 2 pairs of sunglasses, leather gloves in a small pouch will handle most of what breaks on the trail well enough to get you home.
A couple of years ago a group of us were heading over Pearl Pass. East to West. Just after the Boulder field and just below the pass on a single wide shelf road, a FJ60 got its rear spring hanger ripped from the frame and pulled back about foot. The 60 couldn't move and no one could go around it. I was already at the summit with my own vehicular issues since had I lost my driverside motor mount, which in turn ripped off my air pump hose causing a major vacuum leak and no power. Anyway, I grabbed my mini welding kit and went down to help. Using the winch off the front of an 80 and a sledge hammer we moved the axle hanger back into position. I cleaned up the frame and hanger and hooked up 2 batteries from a couple of vehicles, covered the batteries with blanket and welded in the scrap metal to strengthen the hanger and fill the holes. That fix made it from Pearl Pass to Fruita, Co. to Tulle, Ut and back home to Columbia, Mo.
BTW, my motor mount / airpump trail repair consisted of a ratchet strap to hold the MM together and duct tape and zip ties to seal the airpump hose. This field repair also held for the entire trip and return to Nederland, Co.
IMG_0748.JPG
 
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BritKLR

Kapitis Indagatoris
Dunno studfinder...?
But straightclaw hammer is sure handy. In a roadside kit, Far more handy than similar weight ballpeen or engineer hammer.

A number of clients use our gear to outfit their fleet/service trucks. Many of the these are in the oil and gas industry and construction/contracting industry. So, a stud finder and other common handtools commonly associated with the professional trades industry would be carried. Hope this helps.
 

OutOfBounds

Adventurer
Too each his own.

Very true.

Dunno studfinder...?
But straightclaw hammer is sure handy. In a roadside kit, Far more handy than similar weight ballpeen or engineer hammer.

Interesting. Never thought of a claw hammer being used in roadside repair. I have a ball peen, and a small pry bar. In a pinch a claw hammer works as both I guess. What other things can a claw hammer be used for?

A number of clients use our gear to outfit their fleet/service trucks. Many of the these are in the oil and gas industry and construction/contracting industry. So, a stud finder and other common handtools commonly associated with the professional trades industry would be carried. Hope this helps.

Ahhh, that explains it. I thought these were roadside repair kits. I didn't realize they were pics of tradesman's tool rolls.
 

OutOfBounds

Adventurer
Pounding on screwdriver handles is my favourite roadside task.
Ask any plant Millwright. (If they are not married to a Miners Wrench...) Straightclaw hammer is their all purpose expedient pounding, prying, chipping, bending fork, wedging, sure I missed a few, uses for tool whats easily carried on ones person...
Strangely enough, Such hammers work for pounding tent pins and campground carpentry too.

Huh. All things I use a ball peen and pry bar for. But I guess when you only want to carry one tool it'll work.
 

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