What are some essential and/or needed tools to keep in the vehicle?

I recently bought a roll-out tool pouch to keep in the vehicle. What are some tools that would be handy to keep in the T4R at all times?

ratcheting wrenches and metric socket set in M8, m10, m12, m13, m17, m19. plus extensions.
allen wrenches.
screw drivers,
punches,
pliers,
channel lock wrench.
wire cutters/splicer
cheap light tool thing to test connections.
non-marring plastic panel removal tools.

i double up on some wrenches m19 (for suspension work)
I also double up on some sockets (some deep/some short, thin wall), m17 and m19.

I buy cheap socket sets at harbor freight for the cheap sockets, and I use midtier home depot stuff for the wrenches, socket wrench etc.... so i don't feel bad if it gets lost or stolen, or if i have to pound on it with a hammer.

With this tool set, i can literally take apart 90 percent of my vehicle. Now putting it back is a different story.

:iagree:
That's a really full kit.

In addition:

Yank strap and shackles
and
A road service contract and go with another vehicle. They can possibly tow you back to a road to use the road service.

Some of the things I have that I can think of:

- spare magazine for my pistol
- gloves
- Tow straps
- tow hitch w/ball
- small air compressor
- bungee cords
- First Aid/trauma kit
- basic tools
- knife
- flashlight w/ extra battery
- paracord
- thick military blanket
- some water
- butt wipes/toilet paper (has come in handy more than I care to talk about LOL)

You need like 5 x 10 mm sockets

In addition to the wet-wipes and toilet paper, I would add, a 1/2" drive 21mm deep socket on a breaker bar for the lug nuts. And a wheel lock key or two (if needed).

I don't carry a full tool kit most of the time. When I'm going far from pavement - I have a tool bag that includes most of what was already said above

The regular wrenches, screw drivers, pliers, etc.

What I also keep along that might be useful is:

Lighter
rescue tape - yeah it's $10 for a little roll, but it is pretty handy if you need it.
Duct tape (small roll)
Spool of spare wire. I keep some ~10ga wire. About 20 feet. Plus a few crimp ends. And a wire pliers.
Spark plug socket

I usually take my 20v impact and 20v angle grinder with two full batteries. Impact for faster trail repairs. Angle grinder for cutting whatever needs cutting that I can't do otherwise - like a skid plate that's damaged, cutting off a damaged bolt head, a crushed exhaust tube, or ?? I have used it to cut off the teeth on a transfer case output shaft in the most in depth trail repair I've been around. Broken 4:1 output, only had a 2.3: output spare, so they used my grinder and cutoff disc to cut all the low range teeth off the 2.3 output shaft so it would work in 1:1 high range with the other shaft. - just an example of something you can do with an angle grinder that would be very very hard to do any other way.

roll of electrical tape

I think that mostly covers what I carry in my tool bag.

I also have a second bag of off road recovery and communications gear that I keep together and put in when I'm going to remote areas. In that bag is:

Tree strap
Snatch strap
D shackles
Hitch skid plate
CB radio
Ham Radio
Gloves
extra hitch pin
punch (for repairing damaged synthetic winch rope - I ended up pinch cutting my winch rope two weeks ago in moab on an approach to a steep rock face - pinched the rope between the fairlead and the rocks. Doing a brumel splice is super easy, but only if you have something like a punch to use to guide the rope through. I didn't have one. A sharpie marker was what I ended up using.)

I always carry a survival bag with a few items:
mini camping stove set (jetboil style - cheap $20 amazon version) - this is just handy for hot chocolate at the trail head or coffee or whatever.
about 4 MREs
Rolled up blanket.
Trail repair canvas tarp (for laying on in the dirt - thanks to slee offroad! for the swag)
First Aid Kit - I have an Outer Limits Supply kit. It's big, but very complete.
A gallon of water
Extra sun screen
Jumper battery kit
Air Compressor and hand tools - valve stem remover, spare valve stem complete, and gauge- I also have some easy air down things - but I never use them. It's easier/faster to just pop the valve cores and let the air out manually.
Handheld Ham Radio - I keep a handheld Baofang HAM in my vehicle and my wifes all the time pre-set to a specific channel so we can communicate in the event of a natural disaster/emergency if cell service is out.
fire extinguisher.

I think that covers what I carry in my tool kits. Most of which I leave at home 99% of the time.

Tools to keep n the car

Once you've done some work on your car you get a sense of the essential tools you'll need. Some of it depends on your skill level and ability to take on difficult mechanical tasks.

I have a small canvas tool bag full of sockets and a 1/2" socket wrench. Six (6) point sockets work better than 12 point. Those are usually the hardened steel, impact wrench variety. Everything on mrblah's list above is good to have. I take a better tire lug nut wrench, a cross-pattern X shape that can spin the lug nuts off. I carry a full set of open end hand wrenches in a roll up canvas pack.

A good set of recovery gear is required for off-roading. Here are a lot of good ideas from lots of people here:
Recovery Gear Options

Essential car gear

[MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION],
I like your whole list, especially the survival gear, the third part of your list. Most of that gear is always in my car.

Here in dry, arid So Cal I carry a couple of gallons of drinking water all the time. One gallon+ is in a cheap, well-rinsed liquid laundry detergent bottle with a push button spout (reuse, reduce, recycle) for washing up after a hike or dirty job. I carry at least a gallon of good, filtered drinking water in several reusable quart containers (REI). Most of the door pockets are full of sports water bottles for drinking while driving. I'm a heavy drinker and prefer water over anything else.

In addition to the very helpful lists from above the most useful extra thing I carry in my vehicle has been extra fuses. You can order an assorted set from Amazon for pretty cheap. 10A, 15A and 30A are the most common to replace.

BCMUSA said:

- tow hitch w/ball

Click to expand...

You aren't putting snatch/tow straps on this, right?

What's your commute like?

I have my cell phone, a small assortment of fuses, a compressor with gauges, a noico jumpstarter, a modular screwdriver set, and a rain jacket.

My commute is quiet short.

If I'm driving long distances, over short terrain, a cheap briefcase sized Walmart socket and wrench set, plus some recovery straps and shackles, and a first-aid kit.

I bought this to put my recovery gear and tools in and it is a good product with plenty of space. I found them as they are a sponsor on this site. Will fit behind the drivers seat with the rear seat removed if you don't stuff the outer pocket with too much stuff. Fills the space so when sleeping in the rear you don't have to stuff it full of other stuff so that it is level. Now I don't have to carry a separate bag for my VIAIR 400P Automatic. I just got the standard black so that it is the same color as the interior and will less likely be as visible to criminals.

Overland Recovery Gear Bag

Unless I am on a road trip, I don't take this for day to day driving.

pDubs said:

You aren't putting snatch/tow straps on this, right?

Click to expand...

No I haven't. Are you thinking about the strap slipping out and sling-shotting back or something?

This is an interesting thread. I have not done any off roading yet, as my 4runner is not ready. I had no idea of all the equipment needed to carry. That's like 400 lbs of recovery and repair gear.

A prius is looking better all the time.

A portable solar charger and foil blankets fishing line and lures honey packets

I have a lot of this stuff in my T4, took a trip in our Sienna last week to areas where I should have taken the T4 instead. Did not have much with me and was out of cell area. Not the best planning on my part, and no recovery items. No place to use them anyway on a Sienna.

When the highway ends it's 4Runner time with tools, recovery and other stuff as suggested.

DesertCanyons said:

[MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION],
I like your whole list, especially the survival gear, the third part of your list. Most of that gear is always in my car.

Here in dry, arid So Cal I carry a couple of gallons of drinking water all the time. One gallon+ is in a cheap, well-rinsed liquid laundry detergent bottle with a push button spout (reuse, reduce, recycle) for washing up after a hike or dirty job. I carry at least a gallon of good, filtered drinking water in several reusable quart containers (REI). Most of the door pockets are full of sports water bottles for drinking while driving. I'm a heavy drinker and prefer water over anything else.

Click to expand...

Water is definitely one of those things that I've started carrying a lot more spending time in the desert. I didn't used to. I figure with a gallon of water and some sunscreen - I can cover quite a few miles to get help if I had to. When I'm going somewhere remote I take more than a gallon of course.

I try to always offer to fill up any hikers/bikers I see out in the remote areas just to help make friends with other user groups. It's really easy to bring another gallon or two just for that. It costs almost nothing to have a spare gallon, and is probably as cheap a way to help keep a positive image of our group of users than anything thing else I could do. They don't always take a re-fill, but often they will. I find that mountain bikers around southern Utah are the group most likely to be low on water. I haven't often found hikers to run low.

Swipter said:

This is an interesting thread. I have not done any off roading yet, as my 4runner is not ready. I had no idea of all the equipment needed to carry. That's like 400 lbs of recovery and repair gear.

A prius is looking better all the time.

Click to expand...

It kinda depends on what you're doing and where you're going. Most of the stuff isn't necessary for daily driver duty. I remove most of mine for my drive to work. But some of it is just easier to leave in place than move in and out. If you're going to more remote places - some of these things are safety items, other ones are mostly just handy to have. I've literally never broken anything on my 5th gen out on a trail. And it's never broken down. The only emergency thing I've used on my own vehicle was the jumper battery pack. But I have broken lots of stuff on other vehicles.

For starting out - I'd suggest tagging along with someone who's done it a lot before and likely has all the tools. You really don't need a full set in every vehicle. For me it's mostly stuff I carry because I go out alone a lot.

If you ever go with an offroad club - they generally will have a minimum set of stuff you'll need that includes some sort of radio that everyone will use to talk to each other, a first aid kit, tow strap, and fire extinguisher. Less than $100 will get you all of that stuff. Mostly just basic safety stuff and a way to talk to people in other vehicles so a group of vehicles can proceed at a reasonable pace. Mostly CBs are still used. If I'm leading a group I prefer to be on CB with most people and HAM with the person in the back so we can have our own discussion off the main channel.

A good first aid kit is the one thing that is worth having. Especially if you're spending time in the back country or you like to mountain bike, rock climb, or other outdoor activity. It could save a life - even if it's not yours. Bad things can happen and usually are the result of someone making bad decisions. I've been around plenty of bad situations and I've made more than enough bad decisions myself. You can make your own or buy some pretty good prepackaged ones.

As for tools - I think you could buy a basic set of wrenches, some duct tape, water, maybe just a bag of granola bars, a bic lighter, pocket knife, and you could be pretty good for most places without spending a lot of $. If you are reasonably handy you could survive for quite a few days on just that set of stuff in most places in most conditions.

Swipter said:

This is an interesting thread. I have not done any off roading yet, as my 4runner is not ready. I had no idea of all the equipment needed to carry. That's like 400 lbs of recovery and repair gear.

A prius is looking better all the time.

Click to expand...

I agree with [MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION] about it all depends on what you do. [MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION] drives the Rubicon Trail and has a rock crawler, that's a different ball game.

You have a 4Runner so its ready. My very first exploits where 400 dirt miles on a Subaru Tribeca with zero tools, zero anything, and no proper spare. That includes muddy Southern Utah 40-mile long roads. Not a great example to follow but we never got close to having an issue. Then I added AT tires and a foldable shovel. Never got stuck in that Subaru or my next Outback which saw a lot of offroading. Solo with kids to boot (I did get stuck once in another of our Subarus--one that "never" goes offroad, lol).

Overtime, I accumulated the basic recovery gear everyone carries, mostly out of courtesy. However, there is a separate thread for recovery gear. There is no need to go overboard, but it is also wrong to be like me at the start and have nothing at all.

As for tools, you don't really need any tools until you start pushing the envelope on either the size of rocks or the speed.

I do nowadays carry tools that would allow me to do something about the suspension, a variety of "band-aid" tools like different sizes and types of zip ties and so on and so forth, 12v impact wrench, breaker bar, ratcheting this and that, etc. But the reason is that now we do some difficult trails solo and we also do more remote desert driving than before. And it all fits in two kinda small boxes on the roof basket or in one midsize box in the back when the roof basket is not mounted (which is usually the case).

If you stick to trails rated moderate in the Charlie Wells book--his updated Arizona book is coming early next year; he was here 2 months ago re-driving all his 100 trails--and avoid obviously dreadful weather conditions, you need only very few and basic items.

BUT, I always carry 5 gallons of water when on a desert trail, no exceptions. I do carry less on Sedona and Flagstaff trails which are shorter and milder in terms of weather.

So, yeah, I'd say if there are three things I consider actually required that would be water, first aid kit, and the other one is good tires. If on a trail that you cannot walk out of, you want to have someone know what to do if you don't check in by X hour or have satellite communication.

Of course, the above assumes that every important component on the vehicle is in really good condition, starting with the battery (I do always carry a jump starter nowadays).

EDIT: I guess the bottom line is that carrying nothing like I once did is wrong but that if you read too many forum posts, you will need a semi to carry the stuff you "need"