1st Gen essential traveling tool kit

[jbolt]

I started preparing for our annual thanksgiving adventure to the high Sierras for 12 days of mountain bliss. Oo.



It seems my tool kit is getting bigger every year and I’m sure a lot of it I don’t need. I was thinking it was time to put together a 1st Gen essential traveling tool kit. So I’m looking to my fellow parishioners for help in putting this together. Your recommendations please.



W C Jay

 

[JLEONARD]

Well, I carry a small tool box (about the size of a small fishing tackle box) filled with wrenches , a couple of screwdrivers and a pair if vise grips, some fuel additive, a spare qt or 2 of oil,a qt of power steering fluid, a set of jumper cables (in case someone else needs a boost) and some lines for tying things down if need be.

In the 2 1/2 years I've owned my truck I can honestly say that I could have done without any of it other than the lines and fuel additive.

Take along a cell phone instead.

E C Jay

 

[jbolt]

Hey Jay- In the ten years I've owned the truck the only trouble I've had away from home is a fouled fuel filter. Drove the last 100 miles at 25mph. Wife and two little ones at midnight in a snow storm. Pucker factor was high! That and one trip towing the boat I blew a fuse and the headlights went out.



I like to be prepared. Slogging up a snow covered fire road 30 miles off the highway in the middle of the Sierras is no place to be unprepared. Unfortunately a cell phone would be of little use there.



I normally carry a full tool kit, wrenches, sockets etc. Channel locks, vise grips, pliers. Extra filters (fuel & oil), a few quarts of oil & ATF. Jumper cables, small electrical kit wit fuses, volt meter, wire and connectors. A roll of universal mending tape and a roll of all purpose tie wire (duck tape & bailing wire) I have returned from many an off road adventure in my 57 Willy's pickup held together with those two items alone.



What I want to do is weed out the tools that never get used and reduce it to the minimum tools needed to perform any fix or repair that does not require a tow truck.



Jay

 

[banzaitoyota]

Self serving plug here:



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=33573&item=2442198237

 

[Paychk]

Hey, where'd ya get the F4 tape? That stuff is awesome, I used up my stash, since I retired from the USAF.

 

[banzaitoyota]

I am a distributor for it.

 

[Greenleaf]

Hey West Coast, I only carry fuel additive. I figure if there is any break downs I won't have tools/parts to do the repair because I'm not gonna carry an extra 40lbs worth of tools/parts I won't use.

I change the fuel filter,engine oil,trans oil/filter,grease everything,double check,triple check EVERYTHING prior to departure. After I service it thoroughly, I drive it a few days more to check for leaks I may have caused by R&R of trans pan/fuel filter etc.

Things can go wrong but if it does, it will be something major of which I can't repair on the road.

Last trip out I lost my speed sensor. Picked one up at the s[d]earlier and borrowed a wrench from a tech who was happy to help out a CTD driver.



I mean why carry a water pump/coolant/alternator/u-joints/radiator etc when these go any time. Be prepared by looking at everything before you go and don't sweat it.



Scott

 

[AMikonis]

I always carry a small, but tightly packed tool box with all the basics. All that's really happened to me on the road in a CTD is toasting a u-joint in upstate New York (I don't carry a spare, but bought one and had the tools to do it) and my taillight harness fried out in Lexington Kentucky once, so I'd recommend some tape, wire, fuses. These trucks aren't getting any younger.



Sometimes I travel with a buddy who's not big on preventative maintenance. We once had to do a brake job in a parking lot in Omaha on one of his CTD's.



He also ran us out of fuel once. AAA brought us gas first, then when they came back with diesel, we were loosening the injector lines and the tow truck driver asked us if we needed to save any fuel to "prime the injectors. " So sometimes you do have to be ready to take matters in your own hands!



Andy