tool advice
 

Hey I just bought a 97 4runner with 185k miles as a project vehicle. I am just learning how to work on trucks and would love to do most things in my garage.. I have a lot of maintenance and preventative measures in mind. Things like water pump, timing belt, spark plugs, trans fluids, diff fluids and such.. but my question is what kind of tools should I purchase to begin doing these things I'm young and just bought my first house with a garage so I'm wondering what to buy to get my tool set started. Any suggestions would he helpful ill probably just get like craftsman brand stuff but where do i start and what do i need

It's hard to say what is more important than others, but start with these and you'll be in good shape. You'll soon find out where their limits are.

Metric socket set.
Metric wrench (or spanners as I call them) set.
Screw drivers.
Medium size adjustable wrench.
Jack stands.
WD40

I have Craftsman, Husky, Ace, Powerbuilt and a small smattering of Snap-on. Sure Snap-on and other tool truck brands are awesome but you pay a lot more for them. Other than the ratchets wearing out from time to time, they all work just fine.

Don't buy junk and you will be fine.

If your doing timing belt your going to want a good torque wrench for the crankshaft pulley. Don't forget the all important piece of pipe that can slide over your wrench/breaker bar so you can break stuff free that is not being reasonable. You will probably also need Metric Alan wrenches/or sockets if your changing trans/diff oil. PB Blaster is nice for those rusty nuts. A ODB2 reader can be invaluable to have around on a high mileage truck so you can check it and not have to worry about it being serious or just :uzi: smog crap. When you buy sockets 6 sided sockets would be preferable to 12 sided under most situations because the 6 sided socket will "grip" more and less chance of rounding off.

2nd the jack stands. Jacks are for lifting the vehicle. Jack stands are for supporting the vehicle. Don't get under the vehicle without it being on jack stands or at least a tire that it can fall on instead of you!

Most people start with a basic set of Craftsman stuff. Older Craftsman is good, the newer stuff, well a lot of it is made in China. While not all China products are bad, there does seem to a higher chance of problems with their tools.

I honestly would suggest doing a bit of research and buy some used stuff, flea market, craigslist, auctions, etc are all great places to add to your tool collection.

check out The Garage Journal and some of the similar websites for classifieds and reviews. just be warned they can be very addictive, before you know it you'll have two really expensive hobbies.

Go to pawn shops and buy your name brand tools. Let some one else knock the depreciation off of it. The still carry the lifetime warranty.

Make sure to get a pair of both 6ton and 3ton jack stands.

+1 with Singtoe on finding SnapOn, Bluepoint, etc. at a pawn shop. I still wrench a 20 year old set of Craftsman sockets.

A metric set of flare nut wrenches comes in handy.

As much as I hate to say it… We ran to Wal-Mart to grab a socket set in a pinch and have beat the living hell out of a set of Stanley sockets and ratchet for quite some time without them giving up. We are not kind to tools, so if they can survive Scotty and I, they will probably survive anything you can throw at it.

If you don't wrench a lot, some of the "junk" tools actually work out quite well.
You just have to use common sense. If it looks and feels like a piece of sh*t, it probably is.

All that jibber jabber said… There's a Craftsman kit that a couple friends have that has a box with I think two or three drawers that has just about everything you'd need and would last you forever. That's the route I would go as most of the stuff I use daily is Craftsman with a handful of Snap-on here and there.

I'm done rambling now:nerd:

Here's a thread I created a year ago and it had some really good info. I'm slowly working on my tool collection, but I have a long way to go. http://www.toyota-4runner.org/genera...do-i-need.html

I agree. The nice part about Craftsmen is the lifetime warranty. Just take the broken hand tool to any sears or Craftsmen dealer and they will replace it. I had to do this once with my 3/8" ratchet broke. Be careful how long of a pipe you use for leverage.

Don't skimp on the ratchet get a good quality one craftsman are good but of course snap on are better. Also try to get a flex head ratchet they are very handy.

Check craigslist man!

I got a Husky tool kit from Home Depot for like $100 and it's incredible what all I have been able to do with it. It's mostly sockets, but also has a screwdriver set, and a few wrenches.

The one thing I don't have that I have rented from Autozone a dozen times probably is a torque wrench. A good torque wrench is expensive, but man are they handy.

About once a week I will search for "Craftsman Tools" and "Snap on" on craigslist... There are some screaming deals, but more often then not there are so many tools in a kit that they are still too expensive.

Edit** My Husky 3/4" drive ratchet broke the first time I used it. Everything else has worked wonderfully. It also has a lifetime warranty, I just have not used it yet.

SOBER is one of the best of TOOL.


For working on your car I think you should try to get some Craftsman / Dewalt / Channelock if you have the $$. I have some tools by Huskey but they are definitely lower quality.

Amazon.com is actually a very good place to shop for tools.

So thank you for some of the replys I appreciate it.. now I was wondering I am going to be putting my tool set together slowly and want to buy quality tools but want to save money .. I:girl: was wondering what are the most common size fasteners on 3rd gen runners .. if Iwas going to piece together good wreches and sockets what sizes would i most likely use on a regular basis

My first starter set was a Craftman 260 piece mechanics tool set. My father bought the 263 piece version a week ago on sale for 165. It had everything you could need to do most jobs except a torque wrench. I also recommend a set of metric ratcheting wrenches.

Wrench and sockets are cheaper by the set, and if you buy them individually, sooner or later you'll get stuck on a project without the one size you need. Gear wrenches are nice for tight spots too.
I'm 34 and a former mechanic, and I started buying tools in high school.
As said above, just start with a good Craftsman metric set. 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2" drive ratchets and sockets, metric wrenches, metric allen wrenches or sockets, a 1/2 drive torque wrench(foot pounds), a 1/4 drive torque wrench(inch pounds). GOOD screwdrivers!!!! Snap-on, Mac, Matco, and some of the Craftsman. You'll find out in time the value of a good screwdriver vs. a cheap one that twists and bends.
Snap ring pliers, needle nose pliers, channel locks, vice grips, a big ball peen hammer, dead blow hammer, a quality punch set, test light AND a good magnet!!! As well as a good prybar, and a pipe to put on the end of a 1/2" drive breaker bar.
As you get more tools you'l need a good tool box. Brand isn't so important as long as it's made well, no real flex or flimsyness to the cabinet, and most of all, ball bearing drawer slides.
Buy a box bigger than you need if you can afford it too, because if you continue to work on things, you'll be amazed at how the box fills up as you accumulate tools over the years.
Harbor freight and Northern tools have some junk, but they also have alot of good quality stuff at cheap prices.

Well after using Habor frieght junk for a couple years i finally started buying good tools that will last me a lifetime. I found this set and its a great starter IMO. Its ALL 6pt sockets. It goes on sale from time to time for 269.99 but all in all im very happy with it.


edit. link might be helpful
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...&blockType=G16

I try to get good ones but can't afford and don't use them enough to get brands like Snap on. I mostly get Kobalt because like husky they pretty good tools and have a lifetime warranty. I think I even have some of the newer stanleys because they also have a lifetime warranty on some.

Before my dad died he had a workshop full of nothing but snap on and craftsman tools. It irritates me to think that just about all of them were stolen by so called friends of the family. I have only a handful left, but they sure are tough tools!

My 192 piece craftsmen set says made in USA on it, as do most of there regular hand tools, when you buy the cheaper sh*t that's made in china, they have the basic the pro then the lower line which I believe is made in china and called evolve.

Look again .. this is a change that started about a year ago when SK went bankrupt that's who was actually making a lot of the Craftsman stuff. SK was bought out by Ideal who is re-introducing the brand, but Craftsman had to do something in the mean time, and China was the answer. All of the "professional" wrenches, including the line wrenches, 60deg off sets etc. Walk into a Sears and look at a lot of the COO on their packages. Its probably close to a 50/50 split at this point.

The evolve **** isn't even a consideration, and not worth mentioning as a tool.

having worked as a tech for several years for places such as BMW and a head tech for a major ambulance co in the PNW as well as some smaller private shops(i started off as an assistant and worked my way up), i would not buy a craftsman ratchet. i would get a name brand one like snap-on or mac or matco or cornwell ect. a ratchet is the one tool(s) that is used with the whole set of sockets, and is the single most expensive hand tool(s) for you basic tool set, as well as probably being the most used. and individual socket is cheap comparatively. meaning if you break your ratchet you are done for the the time being(unless you have more than one) until you go get a new one. craftsman ratchets have gone down hill IMO in the last 10 or so years they are junk, and way more pron to failure. id rather have my socket break than my ratchet any day. just cause one socket breaks doesnt mean the work stops. you can do other things and just use wrench for that size(in most cases) till you replace it. now if your ratchet breaks you will be using a wrench for everything. craftsman sockets are fine, i have no complaints there. most name brand tools have life time warranties, even a lot of junk/off brands do too, but it can be a pain in the but to have to keep using that warranty to replace it every other day.

i understand that you will probably not be able to go out and get a brand new basic set of mac or snapon ect set of tool all at once(i can only afford to cause i have an account on the trucks. heck if i were to get all the tools i wanted id be in the hole $50k+, and thats considering all the tools i already own now.

find someone who has both a newer craftsman and snapon ratchet and hold them, use them and i bet you will be able to tell the difference blindfolded, its night and day.

I love my Snap on tools. Especially the wrenches, they don't have sharp edges and won't tear up your hands while using them.


FWIW. I have 6 or so Snap On ratchets that i have broke in the last month. First time that I have broke more then on at one time. My Issue is that I don't see a Snap On dealer in my day to day travels so I can't get them fixed.

find a local shop, and ask them when the snapon truck stops buy(what day of the week and around what time) and then try and meet him there or maybe see if you can get his number then call him they will work with you to get your tools fixed or replaced. if you cant find a shop that is convenient, then call snapons 1800 number and ask for a rep closest to you and they will put you in touch with a tool truck where you can get your stuff fixed

Fasteners on Japanese vehicles generally: 8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19. Bigger than 19 you don't commonly need, but to remove the fill/drain plugs on the rear diff or 5-speed transmission, use a 24mm. Alternately, on the bigger stuff some standard sizes work fine (I use a 15/16" instead of the 24mm & a 1/2" instead of a 13mm).

I've also been a fan of just buying what I need, rather than a "set" since I was 15. Most sets are uber expensive if they are complete & 1/2 of it you probably won't use. Other less expensive sets like Craftsman, are NOT complete, and typically are missing the sizes that you use 90% of the time.

When you replace the fuel filter, use a proper fitting/line wrench like you would for anything on the brakes.

Singtoe offered the best advise of finding a pawn shop that has tools.

I buy most of my stuff from Home depot, so it's mostly Husky. I have broken a number of tools, but the whole reason I buy Husky is because I can return them and get a new one with the lifetime warranty. There are HD's everywhere so I know I can return them conveniently, and Husky is their exclusive brand, so even if I don't have the receipt, I have been able to return/exchange everything that has broken.

Plus I used to work there, so I kind of know how they work. They have tried to deny me returns, but I have been able to talk them into returning everything I have broken (for store credit at least).

BTW, Lots of different tools brand are made by the same people, SnapOn, Stanley, and Danaher are the biggest 3. The reality is that they each have a high quality brand, and then they supply for low quality brands, like huksy, kobalt, stanley, craftsman, etc... Who makes the low quality brands changes quite a bit as different companies bid on brand contracts. So in my mind, there is no quality difference between the economy brands, pick whichever you want, or whichever you can return the easiest. I havn't used the high quality stuff (SnapOn, MAC, MatCo), so maybe there is some quality difference, but likely there isn't as they each probably know exactly what the others are doing, and are making sure to stay competitive.

The oddballs might be the smaller companies like Cornwell that still make their own tools, and (at least to my knowledge) don't have a discount brand. To me, there is something to be said for stateside manufacturing,

Bottom line though, cheap is cheap. You find tools cheaper than husky/kobalt/craftsman, they are probably chinese garbage and will break the first time you use them. Harbor freight is hit or miss, here's a useful thread about them.

Good Harbor Freight Experiences?? - Pirate4x4.Com Bulletin Board

+1 on everyone with stating that a good ratchet is a must. Having everything from Snap On to Harbor Freight, I can state that the two companies I have never had anything break on me is older Kobalt and SK tools. As NelsonMD points out, Cornwell is a good company that fails to get a lot of face time in the tool world, yet their stuff is great.

If you have money to burn, or wrench every day, call the SnapOn truck to pay you a visit and call it a day. If not, then I think collectively everyone has put in their 2 cents to good use in giving ya good tool advice.