"MVP'S" of tools ?!?!

[spikyhair87]

Im looking for some imput on the most valuable tools that people have (most valuable in the sense of most useful cost effective tools)

please state what it is...

state uses..

Then state aprox cost...

and then maybe life expectancy..

i currently have a little budget to spend (at menards from a holiday bonus check in store only...) and am looking to get a few things/maybe get some insight on some "one time use tools" that arent worth spending a boat load on....

currently, myself i own a mig welder, a lincoln buzz box, wrenches, sockets, air compressor, air tools, hammers etc.... home made sand blaster cabinet... various power tools... sawall, drills, miter saw...


currently thinking of going with a chop saw as i need to build a rear bumper and maybe some sliders......

[spikyhair87]

oops posted in the wrong spot.. please move...

[xcm]

ive had a chop saw for years, and to be honest, i hate the thing.

pain in the ass to do angles, its loud, inaacurate, and messy.
recently bought a porta-bandsaw (milwaukee), and sinse then my chop saw has lost its place on the fab table.

obviously, a bender and tubing notcher are more important than your middle toe's.

i seriously fell in love with the portabandsaw, blades are about $14 at home depot for a 2 pack, and it cuts 1/4" plate like BUTTER. before i was forced to cut plate with a worm drive saw w/ a cutoff wheel on it.

[kastein]

4.5" angle grinder, $35 at sears. Made it so so fast to do my lift, work on random stuff, etc. I don't know what I'd do without one now, especially while fabbing stuff.

hydraulic jack if you don't have one already. I have put my 3ton from harbor freight through hell at the junkyard, dragging it thousands of feet by the handle through mud, gravel, piles of random junk, snow, ice, everything else, it just keeps kicking.

[90XJay]

a GOOD vise grip. I think I bought mine before Irwin changed owners but damn that thing has saved my butt so many times. Rounded bolts, clamping, ripping stuff apart. Best $10 bucks I ever put in the tool box. I use it on most projects.

[kastein]

^ X2, Great for holding stuff together for welding, too... they even make specially shaped ones for that. Since you're looking to do more welding/fab work, might look into those.

Angle finder? welding magnet set? carpenter's square? a soapstone holder + soapstone bars? I hate marking my cuts with sharpie and then having it burn off/evaporate when I'm halfway through with the angle grinder.

[goodburbon]

13 mm open end wrench,single tool for changing axle shafts/hub assembly (36mm socket required for separation from unit bearing if you don't have one.)

8mm gear wrench, don't try to pull an xj driveshaft without it.

2 sets of allen wrenches. One with ends cut off to use in a cordless drill.

Brass 2 lb hammer.

BIG x2 on angle grinder makes sawzall nearly obsolete for jeep use, keep multiple discs around (cut off, flap disc, 1/4" ,1/8", flat and cupped buffing wheels). Most used power tool I have when It comes to the jeep. I prefer dewalt paddle switch design, $79

Torch. Just plain useful. Stuck bolts, bent items, broken items, things that need to be soldered, reshaped, ~ $200 + bottles

High lift jack. puller, jack, clamp, winch, spreader, tie rod sleeve. $60

Air compressor. Runs impacts, cutoffs, drills, AIR CHISEL!!!, air ratchet, pumps, sand blaster, fills tires, cleans parts, purges fluids, $99 and up

Welding machine. Repair, fabricate, make tools, combine with torch and you can make almost anything.

[kastein]

8mm gear wrench, don't try to pull an xj driveshaft without it.
X a million. With one change - get a 5/16 gear wrench. You have a pretty good chance of rounding off the bolts on the CV yoke with an 8mm. Don't ask me how I know.

EDIT: 1/4 deep and standard 12pt sockets of GOOD quality. Don't try and pull a diff cross shaft (and thus axle shafts, in a c-clip axle) without one or you will regret it.

[90XJay]

If you have a renix era xj a ratcheting 14 mm wrench with a pivoting head. Saved me so much time changing my drive side front shock. Plus there are many 14mm bolts in a jeep so it has come in very handy alot.

[xcm]

X a million. With one change - get a 5/16 gear wrench. You have a pretty good chance of rounding off the bolts on the CV yoke with an 8mm. Don't ask me how I know.

EDIT: 1/4 deep and standard 12pt sockets of GOOD quality. Don't try and pull a diff cross shaft (and thus axle shafts, in a c-clip axle) without one or you will regret it.

sounds like someone was thinking the front and rear driveshafts use the same size bolt head! wrong!

i think the later models might run the same size, due to all the plain out wrong comments ive seen regarding this.

on my renix, a 8mm will strip the front d/s bolts at the t/c. 5/16's up front! unless you like using vise grips.

[xcm]

If you have a renix era xj a ratcheting 14 mm wrench with a pivoting head. Saved me so much time changing my drive side front shock. Plus there are many 14mm bolts in a jeep so it has come in very handy alot.

sizes change w/ the shock, rc is 14mm, fox is 15, for example.

[xcm]

If you have a renix era xj a ratcheting 14 mm wrench with a pivoting head. Saved me so much time changing my drive side front shock. Plus there are many 14mm bolts in a jeep so it has come in very handy alot.

sizes change w/ the shock, rc is 14mm, fox is 15, for example.


thought of another one, if youve got a dana 44, i really like my 9/16ths deep socket, thats got a plastic cap shoved down into the socket... makes installing the 4 bolts for the axle shaft a BREEZE, otherwise, i ALLWAYS drop the 4th of 4 bolts into the brakes... making me have to remove the other 3 to fetch the 4th, and try again.

i love my modified 9/16ths socket.

[kastein]

sounds like someone was thinking the front and rear driveshafts use the same size bolt head! wrong!

i think the later models might run the same size, due to all the plain out wrong comments ive seen regarding this.

on my renix, a 8mm will strip the front d/s bolts at the t/c. 5/16's up front! unless you like using vise grips.
Yeah... I prefer to use a 5/16 on both, since it's about 0.0025" smaller than an 8mm it'll still fit on if you are stronger than you are smart, and will work fine. I think it's actually 5/16 on the CV yoke and 8mm on the bolts for the straps (which are the same straps as the ones on the rear pinion yoke, as far as I know) but I have successfully used 5/16 on all of them, while I have been burned bad by using an 8mm on some.

[xcm]

another problem ive found with that small 5/16'ths is that on the craftsman hodgepodge wrench set ive inheaireted from my dads generation, the 5/16ths wrench actually flexes so much, it too will round em. had to go pickup a newer one from pep boys that DIDNT flex!

i was dreading doing my SYE, due to having striped one of the bolts at the t/c for my front driveshaft... i got it off w/ a pair of vice grips.

[90XJay]

sizes change w/ the shock, rc is 14mm, fox is 15, for example.
Didn't know that. I used it to removed my stock ones and put on my rustys ones at the time.

[xcm]

just elaborating, obviously a full set of wratcheting wrenchs is desired!

my set has like 2 or 3 remaining, unfortunately.

[SBrad001]

1/2" and 9/16" open end/box end wrenches. . . keep plenty of those in your tool box.

[kastein]

Didn't know that. I used it to removed my stock ones and put on my rustys ones at the time.
I used a dremel and an angle grinder to remove my shocks :anon:

I hate rusty bolts.

[90XJay]

that's ok i might have had to use a wielder to install a shock once :gee: ..........and a grinder to remove it for a replacement

[xcm]

hey... the flat spots on the nut are only a SUGGESTION of how to remove it!

[ehall]

I have metric and SAE flex-head gearwrench sets, love them although the steel is kind of soft and a stuck bolt will pinch the edge

The most useful tool in my bag is a stubby ratchet driver, that has a 1/4" driver on one side and a hex bit driver on the other (for screwdriver bits). I also have a 1/4" thumbweel that's permanently attached. With the ratchet, a 4" long flexible 1/4" extenion, and a set of metric and SAE 1/4" sockets, I can get to any piece of hardware up to 1/2" no matter how it's facing. With the flexible extension and the thumbwheel I can spin driveshaft bolts off 10x faster than with my gearwrench, and won't get blocked like the wrench either. Since it has the hex bit socket on the flip side, I can also use the wrench to turn screws with some good torque, although I don't use it for that unless the screw head is blocked by something and I need to get in there sideways. Overall it's really useful tool, I use it more often than all other tools in my bag combined.

[bigalpha]

Whatever you do, don't buy vice grips from HF and expect them to not flatten the ridges.

[XJ Eric]

Fab tools? Or the most useful tool of all time?

I'll put my vote in on the fencing Pliers!

Pliers, pick, hammer, cutter, crimper, wire stripper, thats the one tool you must have in your jeep survival kit.

[spikyhair87]

Thanks guys for all of the responses!

[theNAST1EST]

2' length of steel pipe/breaker bar

TORQUE!!