Garage Essentials?

What do you guys think are the top shop/garage essentials and why?

A good set of sockets, ratchets, and wrenches. These will allow you to work on a HUGE assortment of vehicles.

A mapp gas torch, helps out with U joints, ball joints, and so on.

One thing I started using was Mech gloves. It kinda sounds sissy but I won't work without them now.

I also use my vice a ton!

sockets,
heater(if cold)
some sort of torch
breaker bar
all the fluids needed
wrenches and basic hand tools
air compressor and air tools
some sort of light for when you work under the car
jack and 4 jack stands

thats what i have in my garage at my house, but i have plenty more and i can do a lot

kitty litter

A garage.

210V AC, because you know your going to eventualy want that MIG welder

one of those strap on LED headlamps. seriously. I thought they were ridiculous until i bought one. I only bought one because I was swapping a fuel pump that crapped out right after I filled the tank. I didn't want anything hot or electrical near me but needed light.

tools as mentioned, music and storage as well. if my stuff is disorganized while i work I can't concentrate.

61scout80 said:

one of those strap on LED headlamps.

Click to expand...

The best headlamp ever.

i always wear a hat so i dont get grease in my hair and what not.

so i use a clip on one for my hat

3 angle grinders:
1 for cutoff wheel
1 for sand disc/ flap disc
1 for wire wheel or grinding wheel

standard hand tools
wrenches, sockets, etc,

jack stands, big floor jack.

vice w/ pipe jaws.

air compressor, impact

plasma cutter and welder if you're doing serious fab

bare minimum

Bare minimum?
socket wrench - 1/2" with adapters for 1/4" and 3/8". Essential sockets for said vehicle
Screwdrivers
Pb blaster
MAP torch
breaker bar
socket wrench extensions
jack and jackstands
vice grips
hammer

Preferred?
Table vice
air compressor
welder
garage
hoist

IMO, minimum should get 85% of the jobs done. Anything more like an engine swap or regearing or rebuilding engines should either be done by a professional or require extensive time. If you have to rebuild the engine on a side of the road, at that point FYL. Of course I've seen people rebuild engines at the track. Or was lucky to have someone with a welder fix the caliper mounts after it was sheared off.

Beer fridge...

Cottontail said:

Beer fridge, nicely stocked...

Click to expand...

Fixed it for you. :cheers:

fixed it for you...

Along with all the tools and the well stocked beer fridge I find a good stereo and XM is a great thing to have.

my essentials are:

portable swamp cooler (im in phoenix after all)
fans
radio
beer fridge
microwave
multiple sets of work lights
large breaker bar
220 near garage
good jack and jackstands
3 grinders- 1 grinding wheel 1 cutting wheel, 1 wire wheel
2x4s and 4x4s- good for spacers and softeners
i use the heck out of my black&decker work mate
sawsall

but the above is for what i do in my garage. the list for someone who is more into just minor mods and regular repairs would be far less. for that i would suggest:
socket set
breaker bar
pb blaster
jack
jackstands
work light(s)

Two important tools everyone has been leaving off of their lists:

1. A good quality torque wrench.

2. Common sense (probably the most important tool of all).

MT Mike said:

Two important tools everyone has been leaving off of their lists:

1. A good quality torque wrench.

2. Common sense (probably the most important tool of all).

Click to expand...

brilliant, couldn't agree more. I would like to add, I recently bought a compressor, and wonder how in the world I ever got along without one. I use an air hammer, with a chisel bit to remove most of the spot welds on the floors of my MJ. Had to do it this way because the rust was so bad, one couldn't find the spotwelds to cut/drill them out, I had to chisel until I found it...

compressor and air tools, definitely would be on my short list if i were starting over again...

assortment of cheater bars... absolutely required. I bought about half a dozen odd lengths from the bin next to the pipe cutter/threader in the pipe aisle at home depot. A 4 foot long piece of 2" black iron is GREAT with a large monkey wrench when you're putting a pinion nut on.

Full torx set.

This really neat rechargeable LED work light that home depot has in the work light section in one of the electrical aisles - comes with an AC charger and a lighter plug charger, I keep one in each Jeep now because I'm tired of crappy chinese flea market flashlights dying on me.

Keep a random bald tire on a crappy rim around, great when you need to take the nut off a stub shaft + unit bearing and don't want to put the thing in the vice, I just thread a couple lugnuts onto the studs most of the way, sit on the tire, and crank away with my breaker bar and a cheater bar. Works every time.

An engine hoist or a sturdy hook in the ceiling and some rope + block/tackle are great. I use my engine hoist to lift things out of the back of the MJ when I'm too lazy to do it by hand now - great for unloading axles alone, etc.

An assortment of mallets and hammers is good too, I used to be the guy who only used a small carpenters hammer on everything, then I got a 6lb hand sledge (actually a blacksmith's hammer) and found out just how much easier it is to knock a unit bearing out with a hammer of the right size.

EDIT: oh yeah, the OEM brand pitman arm remover at AutoZone is great, well worth the $15 it costs. I use mine to pop the tie rod off the drag link without mushing up the crown nut or the TRE threads. A good gasket scraper (the kind that uses a straight razor blade) and a set of brass and steel punches are also required. Drill press is great to have, I use mine for way more than drilling, I made all stainless screws for the bezels on the front grille by taking panhead screws, putting them in my drill press, spinning it up and using a file till the heads were the same size as the rusty OEM fasteners.

EDIT2: ... safety glasses (and if you wear glasses, a face mask) are REQUIRED! My insurance company has paid at least 1500 dollars to the ER so far and the bills are still coming in... all due to a 0.1mm fleck of metal that found its way past my glasses on new year's day while I was using an angle grinder. It would be at least 6k out of my pocket if I didn't have insurance. Learn from my mistake on that one.