I made the plunge

"whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU" (whiskey-business)
03/19/2015 at 00:29 • Filed to: None

I bought tools to start working in earnest on my own cars. No more of this borrow this, can I use that bullshit, I'm a working (part-time at least) man that needs his own toolset. Got a proper 1/2 in drive torque wrench for making sure things are snug, impact sockets to match, some offset wrenches to get to tricky spots, and last but not least a jack and some stands. Its going to be Christmas in Detroit when all this stuff gets there, hope no one working my dorm's mailroom snags them before I get to them!

Have a rally Evo up on stands to help me celebrate this big step. What age did the rest of you Oppos start accumulating tools? I feel like a late bloomer, having only gotten the real auto stuff at 18.

DISCUSSION (28)

bob and john > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 00:34

I got a decent set of bicycle stuff at 14, start to get real tools about 18. i'm 20 now.

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > bob and john
03/19/2015 at 00:37

Its interesting that you mention bikes, was a bike mechanic for a number of years myself at a local bike shop. Never felt the need to have my own tools until I left there. Its good that many bike tools carry over!

Kevin Barrett > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 00:38

I've overhauled big aviation powerplants with 5/8" through bolts, and I've never needed a 1/2" torque wrench or socket. What is the effective torque range on that thing?

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > Kevin Barrett
03/19/2015 at 00:41

It works anywhere from 20-150 ft lbs. I hear that the 1/2 inch drive sockets tend to be a little more robust, and as I have a nasty habit of splitting them, I decided to go big.

bob and john > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 00:45

I was a mechanicle at the local one too :P

Kevin Barrett > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 00:46

How many parts on your car need even 20 ft-lbs? And what kind of sockets are you using that you're splitting them?

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > bob and john
03/19/2015 at 01:05

Kinja'd!!!

Lol. My 3 pieces of park tool equipment as a former bike mechanic. I fell in the same situation with working at the shop and using their tools, until it closed and now I'm trying to find a place to find cheap park tools.

bob and john > CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)
03/19/2015 at 01:46

Lol I never bought park. I had bontrager, KWT or pedros stuff.

desertdog5051 > Kevin Barrett
03/19/2015 at 02:32

Few automotive bolts use less than 25 Lbs/ft. I agree that a smaller torque wrench would do the job. If you buy quality, the accuracy is there.

Kevin Barrett > desertdog5051
03/19/2015 at 02:56

Huh, I've actually wrenched more on airplanes than I have on cars. We rarely see anything as high as that—even the wheel of the main landing gear of a Gulftream jet—a huge assembly carrying a large multi-disk brake with of hundreds of pounds of air and hydraulic pressure, etc., is held on with a single nut tightened to 130 inch pounds . Go figure.

shop-teacher > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 05:21

I started nuying tools when I was 13, but I'm a tool nerd.

Matthew Phillips > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 07:55

like you I just started building a tool box, stands and a torque wrench are next on my list.

Street Surgeon > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 08:27

Tools are purchases that you'll never regret. Now, everyone has their own brand preferences etc. but I've assembled and disassembled an entire car with a Craftsman mechanics set I bought from Sears years ago. I like them because they're of reasonable quality, cost, and because there are sears stores everywhere so if anything ever breaks (nothing has) I simply take it in and exchange it. I've found that black friday and father's day are the best times to buy tools as they go on sale for up to 50% off at those times! Anyway, good on you man!

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > Street Surgeon
03/19/2015 at 09:12

Thanks for the kind words! Funny you say Sears, because that's where I got all of my toolset so far. A mix of Husky and Craftsman tools.

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > Matthew Phillips
03/19/2015 at 09:13

If you are so inclined, Sears actually has all of those things on sale right now. I got all of them plus some others for under $150 shipped.

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > shop-teacher
03/19/2015 at 09:14

Nothing wrong with being a nerd, especially if you're nerdy for something productive like tools and DIYing.

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > bob and john
03/19/2015 at 09:16

Its a great jobs, you learn so much and its an excellent way to become mechanically inclined!

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)
03/19/2015 at 09:17

"cheap park tools"

Those are three words I never expected to see together.

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > Kevin Barrett
03/19/2015 at 09:22

Lug nuts and suspension components all fall into the range of the wrench I bought. Its uncommon to see torque figures under 20 ft lbs on cars. And as to the tools I've broken, when working at a bike shop, I split a number of sockets when trying to unfreeze rusty and called bolts on neglected bikes.

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > Kevin Barrett
03/19/2015 at 09:23

I'm not sure I ever want to ride in a Gulfstream now. . .

shop-teacher > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 09:27

Oh, I take pride in my tool-nerdom! :)

A word of advice, and this was learned the hard way, don't waste your time with cheap Chinese pliers. Get yourself some Channellocks, this is a good starter set, which will last you the rest of your life. If you live in an area that has a Menards (I think they're primarily in the midwest), wait for their sales. They will periodically put all their Channellock stuff on 20% off.

Craigslist is also a gold mine for older high quality hand tools, for reasonable prices.

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > shop-teacher
03/19/2015 at 09:41

I actually inherited a number of old Craftsman items from my grandfather, and have picked up a bunch more from garage sales. I'd never touch the cheap Harbor Freight/EBay stuff with a ten foot pole.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 10:01

I wasn't even into cars until I was in my 20s. I got my first ratchet set when I was 26. I still don't have a compressor, though I'll be buying one, along with a new ratchet set (mine was stolen), an upgraded jack, and a few other things when I sell one of my cars.

Good on ya for getting started from the cramped confines of a dorm room.

whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig
03/19/2015 at 10:08

Yeah, its not easy to be into cars in college. My room is pretty cramped between my toolset and my roommate's 5 guitars and a piano.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 10:12

It will pay off. A basement storage area in your apartment will feel like McLaren HQ.

Street Surgeon > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 10:19

I started with this set , added a set of screwdrivers, added a few sets of racheting wrenches, the 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2" tq wrenches, and went from there. It's on sale for 210 but it goes as low as 150!

desertdog5051 > Kevin Barrett
03/19/2015 at 10:36

I don't know much about aircraft. Maybe it has to do with tighter tolerances. I do agree that many of the plastic parts on modern engines call for a reduced torque value. I guess that is why I own in/lb and ft/lb torque wrenches.

Kevin Barrett > whiskeybusiness NOW A DANGER TO CROWDS NEAR YOU
03/19/2015 at 13:06

Most of us will never have to worry about it. It's not really a plane for the 99%, but it does employ people!