Some of us haul 397 pounds worth of tools. Some of us carry nothing except for enough beer to be able to borrow as many of those tools as needed to do a trail repair.
In the FSB I'm guilty of the former, but I kitted it out with supporting desert racing as a primary function. It needed to have tools for both trucks and buggies. In the Dune Buggy I took the approach of always working on it with the tools that I carried IN it. When I ran into a job that I couldn't do with those tools I added only what I needed to do that job. That slowly built up a tool kit that only had the barest minimum tools needed for that vehicle.
BTW, I can't drink beer but I am bribeable with chocolate....
Even if I put nothing else in them I put these tools in every new to me off-road vehicle:
Clamp-it tool There's a range of this product. I use the most basic version. There is a bit of a learning curve to using the tool, but once you have it figured ot you'll be borrowing it from the truck to fix stuff like garden hoses around the house. You'll want a spool of .032" SS Safety Wire to go with this tool. Don;t bother with the thicker or thinner wires, you won't be happy.
This tool can make any size hose clamp that you can ever need. From fixing a CVJ boot to fixing a radiator hose to binding a T-post fence post to the tie-rod to reinforce it. While you're carrying the wire you may as well carry a set of safety wire pliers. I've used the safety wire pliers sold by HF and found them lacking. These are OTC's and while not the best that I've ever used, they're a decent function vs. price compromise.
6 way screwdriver I've used the common red/blue/green handled version that are commonly found at hardware stores and they work fine. My link is for a Craftsman version that I like better. Note that some are sold as 4 way and some are sold as 6 way. the difference is that the 6 way versions use two different hex driver sizes and the smaller hex opening happens to fit most hose clamp drive hexes. No more slipping out of the slot! It's a rapidly decreasing use, but the large std driver in these screw drivers fit Holley jets better than any other screwdriver that I've ever used.
6" Crescent I usually place these next to the driver's seat. If you have some exposed steel a large rare earth magnet makes a great mount for it.
Razor knife This particular link is for a Milwaukee folder that has the easiest to use blade lock that I've encountered so far.
Some pictures of all of those tools in the FSB, notice that almost everything is in some sort of soft bag or roll. I hate rattles!
Like I said above, this was kitted out to support desert racing. It's overkill, bordering on massive overkill for most trail runs. It's even overkill for most multi-day trips.
I find that rolls and bags fit into nooks and crannies better than hard tool cases. The only hard case or box that I use has the greases and aerosols in it. Don't need those accidentally making a mess.
Name brand companies like Bucket Boss, Mastercraft, and Carhartt make tool rolls & bags. Then there's all of the no-name stuff that can be found on amazon. Some of it good, some of it junk. Tool rolls and bags are a big biz in Overlanding and you can spend a small fortune on some of that gear. It's worth looking around a lot before buying anything. Consider where you're going to put the tools in your vehicle. Different locations may want different bags, boxes, or cases.
The pry-bar with a handle on it no longer is in the truck. The HF bar next to it can do everything it can do and more, no need to carry both. Think about that sort of thing, what tools can do jobs other than their typical use? I use that 24" Snap-On breaker bar as a handle for the bead breaker. Cuts down on needing to haul a long handle just for the bead breaker. MISF uses the handle off his 60" Hi-Lift for his bead-breaker. If I carried a Hi-Lift I'd be very likely to use it's handle for both the bead-breaker and as a breaker bar.
In the FSB I'm guilty of the former, but I kitted it out with supporting desert racing as a primary function. It needed to have tools for both trucks and buggies. In the Dune Buggy I took the approach of always working on it with the tools that I carried IN it. When I ran into a job that I couldn't do with those tools I added only what I needed to do that job. That slowly built up a tool kit that only had the barest minimum tools needed for that vehicle.
BTW, I can't drink beer but I am bribeable with chocolate....
Even if I put nothing else in them I put these tools in every new to me off-road vehicle:
Clamp-it tool There's a range of this product. I use the most basic version. There is a bit of a learning curve to using the tool, but once you have it figured ot you'll be borrowing it from the truck to fix stuff like garden hoses around the house. You'll want a spool of .032" SS Safety Wire to go with this tool. Don;t bother with the thicker or thinner wires, you won't be happy.
This tool can make any size hose clamp that you can ever need. From fixing a CVJ boot to fixing a radiator hose to binding a T-post fence post to the tie-rod to reinforce it. While you're carrying the wire you may as well carry a set of safety wire pliers. I've used the safety wire pliers sold by HF and found them lacking. These are OTC's and while not the best that I've ever used, they're a decent function vs. price compromise.
6 way screwdriver I've used the common red/blue/green handled version that are commonly found at hardware stores and they work fine. My link is for a Craftsman version that I like better. Note that some are sold as 4 way and some are sold as 6 way. the difference is that the 6 way versions use two different hex driver sizes and the smaller hex opening happens to fit most hose clamp drive hexes. No more slipping out of the slot! It's a rapidly decreasing use, but the large std driver in these screw drivers fit Holley jets better than any other screwdriver that I've ever used.
6" Crescent I usually place these next to the driver's seat. If you have some exposed steel a large rare earth magnet makes a great mount for it.
Razor knife This particular link is for a Milwaukee folder that has the easiest to use blade lock that I've encountered so far.
Some pictures of all of those tools in the FSB, notice that almost everything is in some sort of soft bag or roll. I hate rattles!
Like I said above, this was kitted out to support desert racing. It's overkill, bordering on massive overkill for most trail runs. It's even overkill for most multi-day trips.
I find that rolls and bags fit into nooks and crannies better than hard tool cases. The only hard case or box that I use has the greases and aerosols in it. Don't need those accidentally making a mess.
Name brand companies like Bucket Boss, Mastercraft, and Carhartt make tool rolls & bags. Then there's all of the no-name stuff that can be found on amazon. Some of it good, some of it junk. Tool rolls and bags are a big biz in Overlanding and you can spend a small fortune on some of that gear. It's worth looking around a lot before buying anything. Consider where you're going to put the tools in your vehicle. Different locations may want different bags, boxes, or cases.
The pry-bar with a handle on it no longer is in the truck. The HF bar next to it can do everything it can do and more, no need to carry both. Think about that sort of thing, what tools can do jobs other than their typical use? I use that 24" Snap-On breaker bar as a handle for the bead breaker. Cuts down on needing to haul a long handle just for the bead breaker. MISF uses the handle off his 60" Hi-Lift for his bead-breaker. If I carried a Hi-Lift I'd be very likely to use it's handle for both the bead-breaker and as a breaker bar.
