Automotive related items you are adding to your online shopping carts this holiday season?

"Alternate Apex" (alternateapex)
11/05/2015 at 22:52 • Filed to: None

DISCUSSION (23)

lunr > Alternate Apex
11/05/2015 at 22:56

I’m trying to start up my garage toolset, so impact drill, torque wrench, work lamp and maybe an air hose reel but I don’t understand why they are so expensive.

EL_ULY > Alternate Apex
11/05/2015 at 22:58

left front CV axle

AM3R shamefully returns > Alternate Apex
11/05/2015 at 23:01

Just bought a turbo car, my first foray into forced induction. My list is exponentially growing the more time I spend looking at parts haha.

Alternate Apex > lunr
11/05/2015 at 23:05

I am starting that as well.

Living with my in laws while I save for a house and my father in law is a mechanic so every tool for free! but I need my own.

Why is an impact drill so expensive!? I got my go to Black and Decker power drill for $30, so why is the base Dewalt impact $250!

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Alternate Apex
11/05/2015 at 23:12

http://www.americanfloormats.com/ultimat-car-ma…

The driver’s floormat in my car was creased when I got it, and it’s in the memory of the fabric. No amount of un-creasing attempts will make it stay flat. It folds up while driving and gets wedged under the pedals. I had to remove it and have been driving mat-less for the last year.

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > Alternate Apex
11/05/2015 at 23:14

If I can find $2000, a renntech chip

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Alternate Apex
11/05/2015 at 23:51

My wife wants to get me a dash cam. I really should ask Oppo for recommendations.

Sam > Alternate Apex
11/05/2015 at 23:56

For my car - a Dinan or Turner chip, and either a roof bicycle rack or a tow hitch for the rack we have

For the garage - a stick + TIG welder to go with the MIG we already have.

911e46z06 > Alternate Apex
11/06/2015 at 00:12

Kinja'd!!!

Hopefully I can find one of these to buy myself as a Christmas present. The search continues.

Clown Shoe Pilot > Sam
11/06/2015 at 00:18

Craigslist, yo. if you’re near a big city, watch CL like a hawk. I picked up a Miller Syncrowave 200 for cheap, WITH an owner bottle of gas! The machine looked brand new and when I put in the cheat code to get the arc time on the machine, it was under 15 minutes! The only bummer was no stick stinger, but I was able to pick up one of those at Tractor Supply.

A few months later I found a torch cooler for another $150.

bob and john > Alternate Apex
11/06/2015 at 00:26

I got my dad a set of motorcycle frame sliders

Frank Grimes > Alternate Apex
11/06/2015 at 01:49

here ya go. I have a kit that was $99 at lowes lithium batteries and even though its a weak 1.4 drive I use the crap out of it and love it! I also have a cheap harbor freight corded impact that was like $39 and have beat the crap out of it and works pretty well.

I want a beast though. Something like this.

http://www.amazon.com/Ingersoll-W715…

I scoped out some deals at home depot might be worth it if you want to buy some other tools you can get a milwaukee set and a dope impact at agood deal but it still costs like $400 total.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto…

Kinja'd!!!

you buy the bare pimp impact tool with the above kit. You don’t get batteries just for the impact but the above kit has two that could be swapped around.

Old Red Wagon > Alternate Apex
11/06/2015 at 03:41

Not really gonna be a Xmas list for myself as i’ve got to much going on but i have an excel spreadsheet worth of parts for my E30. Plan on picking that stuff up in January-February. Might be buying some new wheels for the GTI soon after i take delivery of it but may keep it stock for a bit before dropping money into mods.

boxrocket > lunr
11/06/2015 at 06:58

For basic DIY, you’ll be OK using Harbor Freight tools. I’ve actually stopped using my Ingersoll-Rand pneumatic impacts in favor of my electric (corded and cordless) Harbor Freight (aka Chicago Electric and some other forgettable name) tools for most jobs. Less likely to strip or over/under-tighten, and quieter overall since I don’t have to use an air compressor.

DrScientist > lunr
11/09/2015 at 18:17

you’ll likely need a couple of torque wrenches. remember you don’t want to be using those things at the ends of their torque specs. also 3/4 vs 1/2 drives.

lunr > DrScientist
11/09/2015 at 22:49

As a complete newb, should i start with a 1/2 or 3/4? This is the one I was looking at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C5ZL0RU/

Mostly what I have now is a basic 3/4 Craftsman ratchet set I got a few years ago as a gift.

Primary use would be for swapping wheels on my Forester.

DrScientist > lunr
11/09/2015 at 23:16

i have a craftsman torque 1/2 drive which is specced 30-250 ft-lbs which is appropriate for my lugs which take 96 ft-lbs. (of course you also need the appropriate socket)

however, i’ve more recently read that craftsman have begun outsourcing their manufacturing and so i’m not sure how long i will trust that wrench. im not a tool nut (tool nut, ha) but i understand that harbor freight still has a reputation for solid manufacturing in their tools. still not the quality you get with a brand like snap-on, but serviceable.

if you want a tool for life, youre going to have to hunt for a solid manufacturer and read some real reviews, not the fake nonsense all over amazon. i’m not sure about the tekton brand you linked to. hopefully someone else will chime in.

btw, nothing better than a solid floor jack for swapping wheels... not one of those $30 pep-boys trolley jack jobs. pittsburgh, sold at harbor freight, has very decent jacks for reasonable prices. especially if you catch them on sale.

DrScientist > lunr
11/09/2015 at 23:21

let me reply a bit more directly.

if your primary use is swapping wheels, find a socket appropriate for your lugs/nuts, based on the socket drive sizing, look for a torque wrench that has the same drive sizing and places the torque spec within the middle 50% of torque wrench specs.

not to be a patriot or go all ‘murican on you, but look for something made in the usa. its a little cliche, racist and/or xenophobic, but there is something to be said about the whole manufacturing process.

lunr > DrScientist
11/10/2015 at 09:07

I did get Craftsman jack stands and jack a couple years ago. This is how long I’ve been attempting to build out my toolkit :-)

edit: typo

lunr > DrScientist
11/10/2015 at 09:08

Thanks for the info. The middle 50% point is great information. I have family in the mechanic business so I’ll ask around about torque wrench brands to try vs looking on Amazon.

DrScientist > lunr
11/10/2015 at 10:00

no problem. this concept holds true for (nearly) all measuring devices. you wouldn’t use a measuring cup to measure out a few teaspoons of flour. or a yard stick to measure the distance to albequerque. :)

DrScientist > 911e46z06
11/10/2015 at 10:09

if you do find a reasonable car to purchase, is there any way you know of to protect it from rusting? so you dont have to drive around in fear that its going to disintegrate under you?

they are really beautiful. but i think i’d want to drive it too much. :(

911e46z06 > DrScientist
11/10/2015 at 13:34

I live in San Diego, so rust isn’t really an issue here. As with everything I buy, I’ll just try to make sure it’s a lifetime CA car.