what are some must have tools for working on cars?

>>17423906
go to Lowe's and pick up a beginners automotive toolbox. it'll have pretty much the essentials in there. then get a breaker bar and torque wrench and you're ready

Go to Harbor Freight for the torque wrenches. Even without the coupons, they sell them for much less than anywhere else. Home Depot will charge you $75 for a torque wrench, HF will charge you $20 without a coupon and $10 with a coupon.

While you're there, you might as well compare their beginner toolsets with the other places too. Not sure if Lowe's offers a lifetime warranty on the tools they sell, HF does, but you have to be careful, some of the tools HF sells don't have it.

Anyone who's professional will give you grief for having HF tools, but if you're just a casual pleb, it's perfectly fine to use HF.

>>17423906
Socket set & ratchet spanners are bare minimum IMO.

With that you can do oil changes, exhaust changes (catbacks, headers, etc etc), brake changes (pads, rotors). I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things.

>>17423944
This... Just grab some 3/8 and 1/2 inch kits with short sockets. Get some locking pliers (vice grips), some socket extensions, a breaker bar, spanners and Jack stands.

You can do most backyard jobs with just these and all this should be no more then $100 with coupons, especially if you spread it out day by day. Coupons can be found online.

It amazes me how many dumb kids don't have tools but "modify" their car. I sold this kid a k20 header last week and he didn't even have Jack stands or a proper floor.

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Are Harbor Freight torque wrenches worth it? I'm a poorfag who still needs a torque wrench

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'nother poorfag question:
>car jack
or
>jack stands

Which one can I get away with buying at Harbor Freight? I'd assume the jack, since the stands would be taking more abuse over time.

Work on your car and grab shit as you go. Same with everything that needs tools, except maybe surgery.

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>>17424558
Get a proper jack, and some good steel jack stands without a jacking function

You'll need a lot of basics, which is what you'll be using for 95% of the time. Sockets, wrenches, breaker bar, screw drivers, flat drivers, torx drivers, hex drivers, hydraulic jack, jack stands, crimping tools, cables, cable shoes

Two sets of wrenches/spanners are also a must

From there on you kinda just add to what you already have. Hammer for breaking stuff loose, oil filter cups, air compressor, assortments of bolts, steel line wrenches, torque wrenches, clip pullers and so on

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>>17424617
So...no harbor freight jack/jack stands? Anything you can recommend that's in the poorfag price range, by chance?

>>17424538
Yes, they're fine, I have the 1/4in, 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4 HF torque wrenches and they're all great.
Now kill yourself weeb.

>>17424558
You can't raise your car with jack stands. Get both. Also harbour freight is fine, so long as your not lifting a 3 ton pickup.

>>17424625
There's nothing wrong with HF jacks or jack stands, I use both and they work flawlessly.
The HF low profile jacks are really nice, they fit under pretty much anything.

>>17424628
I know I need both, you genius. I'm asking which one could I get at HF if I wanted to cheap out? Jack or stands?

>>17424630
How long have you had yours? What do you work on with them? I have a 1.75T shitbox so I really dont need anything heavy duty but I dont want shit breaking and ruining everything

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>>17424626
You first, dogfucker

>>17424625
I'm not american, so no experience with HF

You cant go wrong with what I recommended tho. You get it up with the cheap jack, and its kept safely up when you put the cheap stands under. Its a well-established brand, they're not gonna sell you jack stands that are unsafe to use or that can't take the stated weight

As for using just a hydraulic jack; I wouldn't get under a car held up by a 50$ jack from Shanghai, and I wouldn't get under a $1200 one from Germany... all it takes is one rupture and you're dead.

>>17424645
I already have some odds and ends as far as tools are concerned (ratcheting socket wrenches, many vice grips, sockets, rubber mallet, multimeter) but I really need the jack stands + jack and torque wrenches so I can start seriously wrenching on my shitbox

>As for using just a hydraulic jack; I wouldn't get under a car held up by a 50$ jack from Shanghai, and I wouldn't get under a $1200 one from Germany... all it takes is one rupture and you're dead.
yes thats why I want to buy the jack AND stands. I may be poor and stupid, but I'm not retarded.

>>17424639
Get the jack stands retard. Less moving parts, it's pretty difficult to fuck up Jack stands. Also harbour freight steel is aight.

>>17424639
I work at HF and broken jacks get returned pretty frequently, never seen a defective jack stand come back in

>>17424663
>>17424683
Thanks, fellow non-jewish goy-- gentiles. I will definitely look forward to saving my shek-- money by purchasing my jack stands at HF

>>17424683
>never seen a defective jack stand come back in
Probably because when a jack fails, the owner dies
:3

>>17424558
I think you need to learn about the different kind of jacks and stands first.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OyzbGDn6xg

>>17424639
>How long have you had yours?
Bout 5 years, still works great
>>17424644
Stay mad

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Buy a real jack.

>>17424720
That piece of shit wouldn't fit under anything but a truck

10mm socket

>>17424726
Buy a fucking 20-pack while you're at it

>>17424527
>It amazes me how many dumb kids don't have tools but "modify" their car.
They pay someone else to do it.

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>>17424723
You need to park the car on wood pieces to give clearance

>>17424714
I already know all that stuff, but thanks. was just asking where I could cheap out on

>>17424719
Thx, dogfucker

>>17424739
I have to do that with my slammed miata, even with a low profile jack.
That's a slammed car tho, if you just buy a low profile jack you wont need wood blocks 99.99% of the time.

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>>17424751
I'm too old for slammed cars. But I wish I had the low profile one for that reason.

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i love these things

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i love my toe in gauge for checking alignments. sadly this was passed down onto me, and i fucking never see new ones for sale in the tool trucks.

>>17424689
>non-Jewish goy
How redundant

>>17424814
that thing looks pretty cool, looks pretty simple in design, I should make one

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Jack + stands
Multimeter
ODB Scanner(if your car has it)
Spanner and socket set
Multigrips
Filter remover (+oil pan etc)
Torch
Sprays (wd or whatver)
Tubes (gasket seal or whatever)

All this is a good start, get other stuff as you need it

>>17424832
it sure beats the string way

>>17424789
Make sure you get one in SAE and metric :^)

>>17424849
>Torch
As in "flashlight", or as in "blowtorch"?

>>17424789
Get some real tools nigger

>>17424814
>Not having a spare hubcap that you screw your torpedo level into, then fucking going to town with a rubber mallet.

>>17424789
Diyfag here, why do you auto guys shit all over crescents? They're pretty fucking handy, just not for cars.

>>17424880
a level? that would be good for camber right? how would you get toe in with just a level

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>tfw my garage + workbench is a mess
>garage is almost as hot as a sauna
>don't want to open the door and let my normie suburban judgmental neighbors place their eyes upon me while I'm doing stuff
>still have to cowboy up and clean everything + organize it

You can't, he's obviously nocar
I like to use the harbor freight digital levels to set camber tho, they work really good, accurate to 1/10th of a degree, works great for setting pinion angle too

>>17424898
Get your life together and clean your garage. And nobody is judging you for working in a garage. Judge them for not working

>>17424889
This, I used one to get my sway bar links off, they had a small flat part that only my crescent wrench could go small enough to get a good grip on so I could undo the bolt without twisting the whole piece

>>17424868
"flashlight" we call it a torch here senpai

a blowtorch might help, but you really dont need one for basic stuff, can come in handy though.

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>>17424910
You say that but I have the most judgmental (white, possibly jewish) middle-aged lady widow living across the street from me.

the heat is mostly what dissuades me

>>17424932
Fuck cares what she thinks. She's probably just mad that her husband had an oven accident.

>>17424932
Harbor Freight sells shop fans. Stop making excuses.

>>17424932
>Buy shop fan
>Crack garage where they can only see your feet
>Clean

>>17423961
Lmao

Air Impact with a 1/2 inch drive. Air compressor. Jack stands, jack. Mechanics tool set. Torque wrench. Breaker bar. Pans for oil/trannyfluid/coolant. That's a good start from what I can think of. Honestly once you start working on cars you'll just go out and buy the tool you need once you figure out you need it.

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>>17424960
I own a big 'ol shop fan. I just have no reliable way to circulate the air in there since there's no window and the only doors are the garage door and the door from the house into the garage

>Stop making excuses.
no

>>17424962
Probably gonna end up doing this. Although with two fans so I can get some kind of circulation going on, I guess.

>>17424940
>her husband had an oven acciden
lol, I'm using this

what are some good books to learn about auto mechanics and can i do it with a low iq

>>17424985
>what are some good books to learn about auto mechanics
The haynes/chilton manual for whatever shitbox you own/want to work on

>can i do it with a low iq
at the risk of turning this thread into /pol/bait:
if illegal-immigrant-"eh I no speak mucho engleech" Juan can do it...you should be able to

>>17424985
You buy the haynes/chilton manual for whatever shitbox you've got and fix things that are broke

>>17424989
>>17424990
what if i dont have a shitbox to work on yet and want to lear more general knowledge first

>>17425007
Get a shitbox off craiglist and fix it up

Then you can either sell it for more and hopefully profit, or you have yourself a shitbox to break and fix

>>17425007
I mean you could watch some videos on the youtubes, but nothing beats these:
>>17424989
>>17424990
>>17425012

Get a $500 "it runs but needs work" shitbox off Craigslist and drive it home. Find a Haynes/Chilton manual for it, and start looking at it with soft eyes trying to list down everything you can notice that's fucked up with the car. Another neat thing about DIY fixing your shitbox nowadays is that you can go on the internet and find a forum/posts with owners of the same year+model shitbox as yours who may or may not have run into the same problems as yours.

>tl;dr: scrape up $500-1500 and go look for a "runs but needs work" shitbox on CL then go from there

ok guys I got the jack stands stop bullying me now

>>17423944
Scotty "Hardened Man" Kilmer buys from HF and /o/ should too

>>17423906
snappon is better than nippon

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how unnecessary are these?

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>>17426935
that company makes better ratchets. buy them

>>17425382
pretty sure at his age only certain medications can get you hardened

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>>17423906
A full set of metric and US socket wrenches and other similar things twisty-things, like pic related. Got that set from my dad for my 19th birthday, it's served me well for years.

>>17426951

those ratchets don't look like they have flex heads. how did you find getting at hard to access nuts / bolts?

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>>17426980

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a vacuum gauge

>>17424723
And it won't lift a truck. That thing is a useless toy.

>>17426980
>flex heads
Faggot.

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>>17424767
That's a cute little air compressor you have there. Mine is no monster, but 100' feet of hose, and a copper hard line carries air to my workbench. I never have to move it, even to air up a neighbor's tires.

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>>17424625
>no harbor freight jack/jack stands?
Just remember harbor freight uses cast steel that is poured then stamped into final shape. So it is not exactly good forged steel on that big vertical arm. Always inspect them for microstress cracks if you drop them.

>>17424538
get the tekton from amazon instead

>>17424789
Wait it also has a ratcheting end? That's kinda cool tbqh

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When you buy ratchets make sure to buy those weird ball joints and other misc extendo bits.

You'll be hardpressed when you find a piece of shit bolt in a stupid fucking place and you'll need to daisy chain a bunch of random extensions to get to it. Trust me on this. Bolts are fucking stupid sometimes.

>>17427983
So they're ok as long as I don't drop them and be rough with them? Got some 3ton ones yesterday for $17 after the coupon

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>>17424789
My uncle bumblefuck has one of those thumb detecting nut fuckers.

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I just bought this
am I fucked for car work?

impact wrench.
Nothing worse than having to cancel a diy work on the car for a rusted bolt in a hard to reach place.

>>17433568
No, they're pretty handy.

You'd need some normal sockets and a ratchet as well though, as you'll be pretty fucked with extension bars etc.

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Does anyone here /channellock/?
How good are they?

>>17424625
The HF 3 ton low profile jack is really nice for $100

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Fingers are pretty useful. Try not to lose them

>>17433586
I'm too poor for an air compressor, are the electric "impact wrenches" worth it, or should I just save my money

>>17433751
thats a breaker bar dipshit

>>17434575
Wrong. It's a flex ratchet

>>17434570
They're good for getting wheels off and stuff

>>17434570
They only save a few seconds, but they're good for torquing bolts to spec

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>>17423961
kEk cant argue there

>>17434588
>>17434601
Corded? I'm a gigapoorfag so ill probably get it at HF as well

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>>17434662
One of these makes it super convenient

>>17434662
Cordless. Personally I'd look for a lightly used one on Craigslist. Tools on craigslist go for stupid cheap pretty often

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17, 19, 21, and 22 mm 1/2" drive deep sockets (impact rated if for use with air tools)
1/2" drive breaker bar
Torque wrench or impact gun and torque sticks
Set of combination wrenches Metric 6 mm to 22 mm
Socket set 3/8" drive metric 4mm to 19mm
Set of 3/8" drive extensions 1", 3", 6", and 12"
Linesman pliers
Needlenose pliers
Side cutters
Screw driver set and/or bit set with nut driver
Large flat head #3 screwdriver or pry bar
Ballpeen hammer
Multimeter or voltmeter


Patience and logic.

>>17434479
Cooling fan incident?

>>17434686
I forgot big channellock pliers for stuck oil filters and other miscellaneous uses

>>17434662
I got an impact wrench at HF in one of their parking lot sales for $15. If it breaks, eh, I'll just get another :P

>>17434681
>>17434733
There's a DeWalt cordless for $40 and a Craftsman cordless for $50 in my area. Should I check em out or go HF?

>>17434479
Used your hand instead of a prybar when doing an engine swap?

>>17423906
A decent scantool. You can go ghetto if you got a smartphone and get a bluetooth one off of Amazon for $20 or so. But be warned - you get what you pay for.

>>17434781
Goddammit Scotty Kilmer FUCK OFF I'M NOT SPENDING 100 ON A SCAN TOOL

>>17434752
Yeah I'd trust dewalt a lot more than HF

>>17434693
>>17434772
Tripped with a sawzall lol

Socket kit
2 Jack Stands
1 Low profile floor jack
2-4 car ramps
Breaker bar
Torque Wrench

>>17434960
this OP. Might need to get some specific tools/sockets/whatever for certain jobs but this is a super solid base to work off

>>17434932
try drinking less marty

>>17435142
You first

>>17423961
Lol just stole your info
Have fun with poverty, Chris

>>17435321
That's a fake card dumbfuck

>>17435321
>active until 0 month of 2000
jokes on you, it's an old one

>>17434932
wtf
can you get like prosthetic fingers or something?

>>17423906
A spanner.

>>17435518
Those cost a grand each

>>17435659
Not really necessary these days

>>17423906
Air tank and impact gun/sockets. Turn a 6 hour job into 3.

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Diyfag here, thoughts on using my impact driver with a grinded down 3/4 chucked in as an impact wrench. How much stripage we talking if I do this?

>>17436923
>makita
Very much stripage

>>17436923

Makita impacts are animals. Use it only for removing stuff. Use a regular ratchet for installing. Watch yardsales for a "funny ratchet that doesn't work right" also known as a Swench or manual impact. They are insane, and stupid expensive, but when grandad passes away and nobody in the family is a tool nerd, they're sold for $5 in the front yard when it would be $500 on ebay.

>>17435711
that's surprisingly not bad

So what kind of jack/stands should I be using on my 5000 lb Explorer? I can change the oil and shit without jacking it but I don't trust the stock jack set enough to change a tire with for instance.

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>>17437114
Desu it isn't but I really can't justify it. There's not a whole lot I struggle with believe it or not. But I have considered making my own like pic related out of sheet metal or something

>>17437116
Harbor freight jack works fine just don't cheap out on jackstands. Your life is on them

>>17437284
So no to HF jack stands for that kind of weight or will they be fine if they're rated for it? Also, sorry if this is a dumb question, I will need 4 stands right?

>>17437314
Desu they'd probably be fine as long as they're rated for it. Remember they're usually rated for a pair, not just one. You won't need 4 stands though, unless you need to take off 4 wheels at the same time

>>17437346
Okay so just two then, and when I jack the car do I need to put a stand under both front wheels or like diagonally

>>17437373
Under both front ones. Or you can jack up a corner and put two on one corner.

>>17437384
Thanks bro, I'm trying to learn to work on my own car since the previous owner left me his Haynes service manual and I don't want to pay a ton of money for service anymore.

>>17437414
Make sure you place the jack and jack stands under the frame

>>17437414
Working on cars can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but it's not as complicated as most people think. Just know what you're doing before you do it