Common car tools

A fleer gauge is a gauge that consists of several thin blades that measure clearances or small gaps. This tool gives measurements in inches and millimeters.

It gives the mechanic an idea of the wideness of a gap by filling the gap with blades of known thickness value. They are ideal for use in places where other measuring tools such as calipers and measuring tapes cannot fit. A torque wrench looks similar to a simple ratchet, but it is not the same. It enables one to tighten bolts at the exact torque specified by the vehicle manufacturer.

This is very important when dealing with operations inside the transmission gear or car engine. A toque wrench is an ideal tool to use when tightening spark plugs.

Consider a toque wrench that reads in both Nm. A mechanic needs a combination of both automotive tools and equipment for efficient and excellent work. The equipment below makes work easier for the mechanic during their daily working routine. Having an air-compressed system enables you to perform heavy-duty jobs with minimal effort.

An air compressor enables mechanics to run pneumatic tools and some auto lifts. Get an air compressor that is easy to use and portable for convenience purposes. The best air compressors range between 60 and gallons. Other things to look at when buying an air compressor are horsepower, requires pistons, PSI, and cubic feet per minute. You will mostly be needed to raise a vehicle, especially when repairing the wheels.

There are also other car maintenance tasks that need the vehicle to be lifted. A jack stand or a floor jack assists you in the lifting of the car.

Never opt for a cheap jack or jack stand at the expense of quality since poor quality jacks can cause injuries. Pole jacks are useful in supporting axles and other parts of raised vehicles. Transmission of fluid and changing oil is a common task for auto mechanics.

An oil drain enables mechanics to catch and store fluids and oil from lifted vehicles. This keeps the floor free from oil. They also help in the storage of old oil, which can later be recycled to be used for asphalt, heating oil, and many other ways.

Most tasks in an auto repair shop will involve charging or dead batteries. You can only handle these tasks if you have a good jumper and battery charger. The battery charger will come with an operation manual that you should go through and understand before use. An engine crane is a must-have piece of equipment if you want to do any works on the car engine.

It enables one to remove the car engine without using too much effort. Consider buying an engine hoist that can support the maximum weight of the vehicles you will be servicing. A hydraulic lift is a machine that uses hydraulic apparatus to move or lift objects using a farce created after exerting pressure in a liquid piston. You can either buy a two-post or a four-post hydraulic lift. A two-post hydraulic lift will raise a car vehicle higher in a low ceiling garage while a four-post lift takes more room than the former.

Four post hydraulic lifts make it easier to position and load the vehicle. A grease gun is a common piece of equipment in a garage or an auto repair shop used for lubrication. Its purpose is to apply lubricant via an aperture to a given point mainly on a nipple or grease fitting.

There are different types of grease guns. There are electric grease guns, air-powered grease guns, and hand-powered grease guns. The air-powered and electric grease guns are easier to use compared to the hand-powered ones. One of the complex components of a vehicle is the automatic transmission. It has several moving parts under hydraulic and electronic control, and thus fluid is vital to its operation. Most automobiles depend on the Automatic Transmission Fluid for lubrication of the transmission and activating different clutches which assist in the changing of gears.

This fluid needs to be changed from one time to another, and an ATF changer will help you in this. A strut compressor is useful when dealing with suspension systems or replacing the strut. This equipment will make your auto repair shop more profitable by adding your service capabilities. Strut compressors are however dangerous to operate. Ensure that you are well conversant with it and handle it with care during the operation. Workbench vice, also known as bench vices attach directly to the workbench to hold a workpiece firmly during operations such as drilling, planning, and sawing.

It has two jaws where one jaw is fixed while the other is movable using a cam, lever, or screw. For general household tasks consider a bench vice of 4 to 5 inches. This equipment will help you to offer services such as measuring wheel orientation by inspecting caster, camber, and toe and checking tire trends for signs of poor alignment.

Most car manufacturers recommend checking the wheel alignment after every 10, miles. A wheel balancer is used to balance the weight of a wheel and tire assembly so that a vehicle travels evenly at high speeds. Every time you mount a wheel for the first time in a vehicle, you have to balance it. As an auto mechanic, you need to ensure the weight of a vehicle is evenly distributed on each tire and wheel, and this is why you need a wheel balancer.

Wheel balancing also ensures that the vehicle has a vibration-free and smooth ride. At times as an auto mechanic, you will deal with metals and a portable welding machine will make your work easier.

This machine helps you to maintain high quality and safe weld. A portable welding machine is easy to control and has high performance. It is portable, so it has to be lightweight and easy to move around with. It reduces gas and wire wastage since only the determined amounts are used to the weld bead.

Some of the problems you will face as an auto mechanic are issues with fuel injectors. Most of the time, the issues are brought about by dirt, and they need to be cleaned with injector cleaners. Injector cleaners work very well to address initial problems with fuel injectors at their early stages. Some issues, such as clogging can be solves by using injector cleaners regularly.

Using these cleaners leads to a more powerful engine, better throttle response, shorter cranking time, and a smoother feel on how the car runs. An engine analyzer is a multi-function and complex instrument which assists auto mechanics to diagnose any engine or engine-related problems. It also assists you in tuning in case of an overhaul.

An engine analyzer is either used with diesel and gasoline-powered vehicles. A vacuum cleaner is a necessary piece of equipment when dealing with vehicles.

This equipment is used for vacuuming car seats and carpets to remove dust, debris, dirt, and other particles. There are corded and cordless vacuum cleaners to choose from.

Corded vacuum cleaners have power cords that you can connect to either an AC or DC. You can draw much power with these cleaners for better cleaning efficiency.

Cordless vacuum cleaners, however, do not have any cords or wires. They offer you greater versatility, flexibility, and coverage. A paint sprayer is a tool used to paint vehicles to give them a new look or restoring them to their old look after an accident. The best paint sprayers will make your car painting job as a mechanic, comfortable, quick, and efficient. All of them have their own pros and cons, but most professionals prefer to use the airless or the HVLP paint sprayers.

A polisher is also known as a buffing machine. There are two types of Car Polisher available in the market corded car polisher and another one is cordless.

Now, the most Popular is Cordless Car Polisher. It is mainly used to polish soft metals such as brass and copper as well as plastics like Perspex. In an auto repair shop, this equipment is necessary for polishing vehicles. It is recommendable to polish your car at least twice every year.

Safety is an important aspect irrespective of whether you are working in your own auto garage or a classic car restoration shop. Personal protective equipment will help you to stay safe from any type of injury in the workshop. Ensure that you have properly fitting clothing.

They should not be extremely tight to restrict your movement neither should they be too loose for they can get caught when moving around. Below are some of the personal protective equipment each auto mechanic should have:. Auto mechanics have a higher risk of eye injury since they deal with small auto parts and chemicals.

This product, from Anker, is making a very strong case to be that emergency torch. One of its big advantages over many other torches on the market is the fact it is a LED torch.

That means that it is capable of generating extremely high levels of illumination — in this case up to Lumens of light. Related Post: Best Mechanic Flashlights.

Duct tape may not be an item many people think of when putting together their car emergency kit. But you can take it from us that it is an item that is very much worth finding room for. It can provide help in just so many emergency situations and mechanical failures.

In fact a good roll of duct tape can sometimes be the difference maker in putting together a temporary fix to get you home. With that being said if you are going to add duct tape to your list of tools to keep in the car then you may as well make sure you are using the best. This product, from Gorilla, is making big claims on that front — and it has the design points to back them up. But if you call home a state that experiences snow fall then this next product should certainly be one to take your interest.

Of course snow chains are not exactly a new invention, and have in fact been around for quite a long while by now. This design from Security Chain Company though is packing a number of features that make them ideal for storage in the trunk as an emergency chain.

The final item today is this folding entrenching tool by SOG. Now, first things first, an entrenching tool sounds fancy, but here at Carbibles we are not at all about airs and graces — especially when it comes to tools.

This is a shovel. But it is a very well designed shovel, and what could be a potentially very useful and essential car tool. If you like off road driving, for example, it could be extremely useful to keep this shovel in the trunk of your car. It could also be useful if you live in an area with high snowfall, where it could help you to dig out your car from heavy snow.

But they should, as these tools are incredibly useful Heavy weight, tight surroundings, Sign up today to stay tuned. This can be especially helpful with a loose battery terminal connection, a slipped hose clamp, or other simple and obvious problems under the hood. Even if you aren't an automotive whiz, popping the hood and looking for obvious problems like these is easy--just put eyes on the major systems and scan for loose or disconnected sections.

Get a set with multiple socket sizes and screwdriver tips for the most flexibility, and be sure to familiarize yourself with how they go together before stowing the box in your trunk.

Duct tape. This might sound a bit too simple, but duct tape can fix a myriad of ills. From damaged body work after a fender bender to temporary emergency fixes on hoses and other parts, duct tape can patch your car back together long enough to limp it to a repair shop and keep you from being stranded--or spending for a tow truck. It's also handy in a million other non-automotive situations.

Be sure to get quality tape, as the more expensive stuff sticks better and in a wider range of temperatures and situations. Tow strap. This length of super-strong fabric can be used for a lot more than hauling your buddy's old truck from one weed-infested yard to another--though it's great for that too.

With a tow strap, you can move an otherwise disabled car short to medium distances think a few miles, rather than across town or to the next state with nothing more than the help of a passing stranger in a pickup. If you're that stranger in a pickup, you can use it to offer the same help. But a tow strap's super-strong nature also makes it a good all-purpose length of tie-down or rescue rope, too.

Be sure to read your owner's manual to find the proper tie-down and tow points for your car before you add it to your stash. If you should need to use it, an improperly placed strap can quickly cause even more damage if it's attached to the wrong part of the car's structure.

Jumper cables. A dead battery is frustrating, whatever the cause. Such a simple piece of equipment, and yet its failure can completely disable a car. Even if the battery itself can no longer hold a charge, a set of jumper cables can get you back on the road and to the nearest parts shop. Choose heavy-gauge cables with durable, high-quality spring-loaded clamps on each end rather than the smaller, cheaper sort.

A proper set of jumper cables is more useful and will work with a wider array of cars and trucks. Sometimes it's not connections you need to make or re-secure, but things you need to separate or get rid of.

That's where a knife comes in handy. Say you get a length of rope or other road debris wrapped around an axle, or a portion of your plastic bumper is broken in a fender-bender, but is rubbing against the tire, and can't be re-secured with duct tape--just cut off the offending part and get back on the road and be sure to have the car checked out for other, less-visible problems afterward.

The knife, like many other items in this kit, can also help if you do end up stranded somewhere. It's one of the most basic tools in the human experience, and its uses can be literally endless, from opening food containers to cutting tinder for an emergency fire.

Be sure to get a knife that locks its blade in place securely if you opt for a folding knife fixed blade knives can be even more useful due to their inherent strength --you don't want the blade to collapse on your hand and make a bad situation even worse. Many cars come with spare tires, but is your spare still inflated? Is it inflated to the proper pressure?

What do you do if your spare tire fails? Each brand has its own specific instructions, but the basics are the same: hook it up to the tire's valve stem, and let the stuff inside the can go to work finding the tire's leak and filling it with enough pressure to let you drive to the nearest tire shop. The sticky compound that does this magic isn't actually magical, however, and it shouldn't be relied on past one emergency use.

Tire pressure gauge. This is the one tool in the kit you should use the most often--weekly, at the least. Keeping tabs on the pressure in your tires can prevent underinflation-related blow-outs from happening in the first place, as well as maximizing your gas mileage and the life of the tires' tread.