Tools You Must Always Have In Your Car

I magine driving down the highway late at night, when you suddenly notice that the steering wheel is pulling in one direction. You pull over and find out that you’ve sprung a leak, but there is no tire repair kit in your boot.

Worry not; as long as you know the tools you must always have in your car, you can survive such situations with ease. It’s all a matter of knowing which tool can help with what in each situation.

Whether you are a weekend DIYer, or you don’t want to be stranded over the side of the road, here are a few must-have tools that you should have in your kit.

Towing Cables

These can be used to save you from a hefty towing bill. Even a simple nylon cable is often strong enough to pull the car to a nearby workshop.

 A word of caution: automatic transmissions are iffy about being towed; most manufacturers require that the drive wheels are lifted off the road. The only proper way to tow those is on a towing truck.

Car Battery Cables

These should be the other set of cables in your toolbox. The importance of these can’t be stressed enough. They are the only means to bring a dead battery to life in an automatic car, which can’t be push-started like a manual. 

Just remember - positive goes on positive, and the negative goes on last. Make sure that the wiring isn’t frayed, and the crocodile clips are securely in place.

A useful tip to remember is that the negative cable doesn’t necessarily go onto the negative of the dead battery - it can clip onto any metal surface of the stranded car.

Fuse Puller

Sometimes, being stranded on the road can be traced to a simple burnt-out ignition fuse. Given how fuses tend to be closely packed in their boxes, the humble fuse puller can save you from additional hair pulling in an already stressful situation. 

Be sure that you carry spare fuses too, as stated in your car’s owner manual.

8, 10, and 12mm Sockets and Wrench

The holy trio, as some like to call them, these three sizes will cover most of the bolts from a wide range of manufacturers. They can be used on battery terminal ends, air box, resonator, and throttle body, for starters.

You’ll find very few bolts that these don’t cover - the ones they don’t are best left to a professional anyway - they are mostly big engine bolts like the crankshaft main bolt.

Nose Pliers

Nose pliers, and their closely related cousin, cutter pliers, are both must-haves for any motorist’s toolkit. These are versatile tools in any self-respecting DIYer’s toolbox; they can be used for a wide range of tasks, such as removing clamps and clips or cutting errant wires.

Electrical Tape

No toolbox is complete without some electrical tape. They can be used to insulate and tie wires in a pinch. A word of caution though - the wiring in the engine bay is best used with heat shrink tubing and properly shaped connectors.

Tie Wraps

These little buggers are quite versatile, and can potentially save countless hours of frustration. Perhaps a hose is leaking; they can be used to tighten it until you manage to get proper clamps. 

Maybe a clip snapped off, and the ignition wires are touching a valve cover - tie wraps are here to save the day.

Tire Repair Kit

A spare tire can only cover one damaged tire, but what if you get a double puncture? That’s where the tire repair kit comes in.

These are not half bad at covering leaks, and you might not even need to go to a tire shop later. These often include a small air compressor. 

Unlike a spare tire, these are quite compact and take very little space in the boot.

Screwdrivers

Screwdrivers can be used for a wide range of tasks - changing the wipers on a rainy day, for example.

Perhaps you find that the reservoir bottle seems to be missing a bit of coolant every few weeks or so - this can usually be traced to loose hose clamps in the hood. A simple screwdriver can be used to tighten them and make the issue go away.

This is by no means an exhaustive list - the obvious stuff has been deliberately excluded, like a car jack, a spare tire, and a jack stand.

That said, as long as you stick to these tools you must always have in your car, you can rest easy knowing you have all the tools you need to get out of most situations. With the right tools at hand, it’s all a matter of knowing what the trouble is and what to do about it.