What Do You Carry In Your Truck For Roadside Repairs?

[David]

I have a set of combination wrenchs, pair of vice grips, philips and flat screw driver. Been enough to get me home many times.

[cgallamore]

i have a 18"x24"x48" box dedicated to nothing but tools,starting with a craftsman 150 piece in the molded plastic case, so i can see whats missin.18" toolbox with drillbits,combo wrenches sae@ metric, punches, chisels ect. davco filter wrench. and electrical repair,torch, soilder,wire,bulbs. including air impact and ratchet, with impact sockets,battery drill.recently removed battery sawzall, can,t forget the 4 pound sledge and crowbar

also the most important 3ft.x5ft piece of carpet to lay on.

an 18"x24"x24" nothing but fluids.. from coolant to wd40.

carry a quick kit in jockeybox,needlenose with wire cutter, vicegrips,cresant,4wayscrewdriver,ductape,blacktape,wireties,

clawhamer,pushbroom.

mini torch in berth for thawing frozen locks and such.

love my dewalt 18volt flashlight and vacum

but i allways only need the one thing i don,t have with me...........

[randyp]

A big pistol, rope, shovel, sack of lime, panty hose, rubber gloves, 3 hand grenades, rolling papers, duct tape and ear plugs. randyp

[Underdog]

I could prolly cut my tare weight 1/2 ton if I take out my tools & spare parts...What DON'T I carry with me?

Gregg

[hatcity]

1/2 inch socket set, wrenches up to 11/4 pliers, screwdrivers, chain,oil,fuel treatment,hyd lines, tire valves and tool. grease gun and tubes of grease. latex gloves, paper towels, cloth towels, filter wrenches, BFH,LFH. 50# kitty litter, spill kit, 2 brake cage tools

CELL PHONE

[other dog]

A big pistol, rope, shovel, sack of lime, panty hose, rubber gloves, 3 hand grenades, rolling papers, duct tape and ear plugs. randyp

All reasonable equipment to have...but what are the rolling papers for?

[other dog]

1/2 inch socket set, wrenches up to 11/4 pliers, screwdrivers, chain,oil,fuel treatment,hyd lines, tire valves and tool. grease gun and tubes of grease. latex gloves, paper towels, cloth towels, filter wrenches, BFH,LFH. 50# kitty litter, spill kit, 2 brake cage tools

CELL PHONE

But what about the bag of cheetos,cookies,and a pepsi?

[randyp]

All reasonable equipment to have...but what are the rolling papers for?

building signal fire for rescue or smoking creeses,,,randyp

[vision386]

A big pistol, rope, shovel, sack of lime, panty hose, rubber gloves, 3 hand grenades, rolling papers, duct tape and ear plugs. randyp

Have you been looking in my sidebox? that sure sounds like a Jersey hit-man ditch kit to me!....good enough for Jimmy hoffa,good enough for me! only things you forgot were Hacksaw,pliers,fake I.D,travel papers.................

[vision386]

Being an EX bedbugger,(Household mover)i am almost ashamed to admit all i carry with me,i have more equipment in my trailer than some people carry freight!.......if i ever do come out of this truck,its gonna take me a month to clean it out! But i DO believe in being prepared! long story short,i carry a LOT of things with me! But i also believe everyone should carry at least a basic set of handtools (even company drivers) i dont know how many guys i've seen stranded,unable to change a fuel filter or something simple like that because of company policy, I'll be dammned if i'm gonna freeze! company policy or not!..............Mark

[other dog]

building signal fire for rescue or smoking creeses,,,randyp

I feel so foolish!..signal fire-good thinking!

[Lmackattack]

I carry all the tools I need except the ones I will need when I brake down....

[ThaddeusW]

A big pistol, rope, shovel, sack of lime, panty hose, rubber gloves, 3 hand grenades, rolling papers, duct tape and ear plugs. randyp

I think you left out chloroform.

[jryoung]

Tie wire, jumper cables, duct tape, either, wiring kit, and lunch box.

[bullhusk]

Hammer, duct tape, vice grips, duct tape, screwdriver, duct tape, roll of wire, duct tape, cuttin plyers an last but not least (with wire an rope theres always HOPE) an duct tape

Ernie

[Rob]

Good spare tire, jack, lug wrench, cell phone. I've never been broke down on the road with the exception of stripping off a tire once many years ago. Good maintenance helps a lot there. In the wreckers always carried a basic hand tool kit, couple different sized pry bars, spare gasoline and diesel cans, (full), and of course a couple hammers large and small. I'll probably add to this as I put a truck on the road again.

Rob

[other dog]

Good spare tire, jack, lug wrench, cell phone. I've never been broke down on the road with the exception of stripping off a tire once many years ago. Good maintenance helps a lot there. In the wreckers always carried a basic hand tool kit, couple different sized pry bars, spare gasoline and diesel cans, (full), and of course a couple hammers large and small. I'll probably add to this as I put a truck on the road again.

Rob

Jeff told me I should carry a gallon of gas too-just in case the truck catches fire.

[other dog]

Hey,just noticed another birthday today-happy birthday David!

[randyp]

I think you left out chloroform.

Yeah, I see your thinking Thaddeus, but a good heavy shovel also doubles as chloroform, one good whack and theyll go right to sleep. My way of saving space. randyp

[RowdyRebel]

Let's see....my 36" box won't hold TOO much more. I've got a 5-drawer Craftsman box inside to try to keep things a little organized...with the top lid removed so the drawers will open.

The top shelf is home to a bunch of miscellaneous items....duct tape, electrical tape, thread tape, anti-seize, electrical splices, extra barrel nuts & lug nuts (10L & 10R of each), bailing wire, 30" cheater bar, 40" 3/4 drive breaker bar, a pair of 36" tire spoons, a 36" pry bar, ether, WD-40, and an air line coiled up inside a 5 qt. oil drain pan. This is also where I keep my full set of external easy-outs. Oh yeah....my "custom-made" no-bounce rubber mallet with the 36" sledge handle.

The top drawer has about 20 different sizes & lengths of screw drivers, 5 different sizes & shapes of pliers & cutters, strippers/crimpers, zip tie gun, scissors, a couple rolls of wire (10, 12, 14, & 16 gauge), allen wrenches in both SAE & metric, a test light, and I'm probably forgetting something....

The next drawer is home to one of every size & shape vice grip I've ever come across (including a pair that has a chain that locks around whatever you're trying to grip), as well as 6 or 7 different sizes of both channel locks and crescent wrenches. Also in this drawer are ratchets (1/4", 3/8", 1/2" drive) and an 18" t-slide in 3/4" drive....as well as extensions of varying lengths for all drives. There is a pair of fence pliers in there, too.

Next drawer down has my combination wrenches, both SAE & metric, from the tiniest little ignition wrench all of the way up to around 36mm & 1-1/2"

The next drawer houses all of my sockets...same sizes & varieties as the combination wrenches....in 1/4, 3/8, & 1/2" drive....both in standard and deep well....and in a lot of them, both 6-point and 12-point varieties. Also, there are universals to help get the sockets to those tough-to-reach spots, as well as adapters to go from one size drive to another. I've got torx bits, both internal and external. I've got the 3/4" drive impact sockets for the 1-1/2" lug nuts, as well as the 13/16" square in 3/4" drive for the barrel nuts....and the external easy-out to remove broken barrel nuts. There's probably more in this drawer, too...

The bottom drawer has 2 different size pipe wrenches...a short steel one and a large (can't fit a bigger one) aluminum one. There's a 16 oz claw hammer, a 24 oz. ball peen hammer, and a 4 lb. engineer mallet. I've got a glad hand lock, at LEAST 6 brake cage bolts, strap filter wrench, bolt cutters, a wire brush, a set of chisels & center punches, and a set of files. There's also a mini-pry bar, a grain lock for the dump trailers, and I'm probably forgetting a few things here, too.

Between the craftsman box and the front side of the side box, there is a nut-driver set. I also keep some magnetic parts trays in that space.

In front of the box, I keep the emergency triangles. On top of those sits an ammo can containing a 1/2" impact gun, 3/8" air drill, 3/8" air ratchet, 3" air cutoff tool, a drill bit set, air-tool oil, and spare cut-off discs. Next to the ammo can, there is a gallon of washer fluid. A chunk of 2x6 goes between that stuff and the door. Then there's a gallon of oil and a gallon of anti-freeze to fill in the space between the box door and the front of the drawers.

On the side between the craftsman box and the rear-facing side of the side box, there is enough room to keep my 25' 2-gauge jumper cables rolled up in an old 2.5 gallon rotella jug. I've got a small bucket that I bought a tow-chain in that now stores miscellaneous air fittings, pipe fittings, and some extra 1/4" air line. There's a funnel, as well as a long, slender "behind the seat" type tool box which keeps a pressure gauge for the hydraulic system. In a gallon-size rotella jug, you'll find a 25' 3/8" grade 70 chain, as well as a 6' 1/4" chain and a 1/4" binder (used to secure plastic rolls to the catwalk when hauling dirty dirt). A 20-ton bottle jack sits here, too, along with a short piece of 2x4 and a small piece of mudflap, and a few different sizes/lengths/strength plastic zip ties. I'm probably forgetting something here, too.

In the driver's door pouch, you'll find the air gauge, dual chuck tire inflator with a male 1/4" quick connect, valve tool, blue stick lock-tite, a utility knife, and I think there's still a couple hose clamps in there too.

I keep my multi-meter and a 35' tape measure in the overhead compartment.

In the center section thing on the rear of the cap, there's a glad-hand with a female 1/4" quick-connect, and a pair of male 1/4" quick connects coupled together with a valve.

I have a bucket secured to the frame in front of the side box, too...with about a half dozen holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. Originally intended to temporarily hold doggie droppings, Dozer's been a pretty good dog and hasn't gone anywhere I couldn't either just leave 'em or scoop 'em into a nearby dumpster. So, along with the scooper, this is the easy-access place where I carry fuel treatment when they are expecting cold temps, and there's usually a can of WD-40 in there, too...along with whatever else happens to get tossed in there....bungee cords, etc.

On the catwalk, I have a couple gun racks mounted...which USED to hold a shovel and a broom...but the shovel & broom are now up on the exhaust brackets. My tractor mudflaps also reside on the catwalk....they only get mounted behind the drive tires when I don't have a trailer....keeps 'em from getting ripped off.

I bought 8 tire chains from a guy not too long ago.....4 brand new in the bag, 4 used....for $100. I took the 4 used ones and put 'em in a milk crate that finds it's way onto the back of the trailer (these tanks have a spot that holds 'em quite nicely) to make sure I can get myself home or to a SAFE spot to lay over if the roads get too bad. Last winter, it would have saved me about 3 hours after I guessed wrong regarding a construction road closure in close proximity to where I was going with a load of rock. I realized about half way down a hill that the road hadn't been cleared & it was pretty iced over....and I slid to a stop MAYBE 5 feet before crashing through the "road closed" sign. I backed up as far as I could...then started chopping ice with the shovel to clear 10-15 feet behind the drives....and a little in front of the drives...and between the drives. Then I'd roll forward into the cleared spot so I could chip away where the tires had been sitting....then I'd get another run at the hill and go 'til I couldn't go no more before grabbing the shovel and getting back to work. If I even had just 2 friggin chains...one on each side of one axle....I could have backed up that hill and been on my way in about 15 minutes. The 130 pounds them 4 chains add when they are on the truck ain't nothin' I'm going to lose sleep over....especially if I run into a situation like that again. When they ain't calling for nasty weather, though, and the roads are clear, the chains stay in the garage.

I'm sure there's a lot on my truck that I'm forgetting....but I think I got most of it covered.

Oh yeah....couple more rolls of duct tape in the space under my driver's seat....no such thing as "too much" duct tape.

[Gambi80]

Jeezus...

Well...I've got Windex, 2 rolls of paper towels, a screw driver, pliers, a little box with various wire ties etc, some wire strippers...and a pocket knife.

I don't venture too awful far from home and knock on wood, haven't had a break down big enough to render me immobile...hell, been 4 years since I've had a flat tire. Guess that's what I get for over-maintaining and (every muslim terrorist's wet dream) having all virgins....

[RowdyRebel]

Jeezus...

Well...I've got Windex, 2 rolls of paper towels, a screw driver, pliers, a little box with various wire ties etc, some wire strippers...and a pocket knife.

I don't venture too awful far from home and knock on wood, haven't had a break down big enough to render me immobile...hell, been 4 years since I've had a flat tire. Guess that's what I get for over-maintaining and (every muslim terrorist's wet dream) having all virgins....

Most of the time, my tools are used to help another driver who broke down & didn't have the right tools with him to get back up & running. I've even got breaks on service work when I had a tool a shop mechanic needed, since it saved him having to take time out of his work day and running to the store to try to find & buy it for his own tool box. I've never NOT stopped to help another truck owned or leased to the company I work for, and I nearly always at least ask (if I don't stop) whenever I see another companies truck broke down. I carry tools...and I'd much rather use 'em to help fix someone else's truck because that don't cost me nuthin' but time. When you run local, it's good to have a reputation for helping others....might come a time when you are the one needing help and if you're known to only look out for yourself, who's gonna want to stop to help you? There is ONE O/O leased to the company I'm with who I would have to give it some serious thought if I saw him on the side of the road....it's his own damned fault, though. You get what you give.

[rhasler]

Most of the time, my tools are used to help another driver who broke down & didn't have the right tools with him to get back up & running. I've even got breaks on service work when I had a tool a shop mechanic needed, since it saved him having to take time out of his work day and running to the store to try to find & buy it for his own tool box. I've never NOT stopped to help another truck owned or leased to the company I work for, and I nearly always at least ask (if I don't stop) whenever I see another companies truck broke down. I carry tools...and I'd much rather use 'em to help fix someone else's truck because that don't cost me nuthin' but time. When you run local, it's good to have a reputation for helping others....might come a time when you are the one needing help and if you're known to only look out for yourself, who's gonna want to stop to help you? There is ONE O/O leased to the company I'm with who I would have to give it some serious thought if I saw him on the side of the road....it's his own damned fault, though. You get what you give.

And that's the way it ought to be! Good for you.

[vision386]

And that's the way it ought to be! Good for you.

I agree! when i was still doing broadway shows for the company i'm leased to,we toured together sometimes MONTHS at a time,same trucks,same show crews,so you get pretty familiar with eachothers operation. We had an O/O team (husband-wife) if anybody ever should not have owned a truck,it was these two! once they had an alternator go (60 series detroit/freightliner FLD 120) no idea how to change it,so after i run them to the shop to purchase a new one...."i havent got any money" so i loan them the cash to get one,meanwhile my other driver has everything pulled apart and ready to go,on THEIR truck! so we get back,i decide to go ahead and put the new alt.on (we are under a serious time constraint) so i'm getting it bolted on,last thing i tell the woman is "DO NOT START THE ENGINE!" she is sitting in the truck daydreaming,husband goes to eat! well sure enough,she hears "start the engine" bumps the starter,runs my index finger between the belt and pulley (yes,it seated!)damn near cut my finger off,mashed it flat! so after a few chice words we were done,able to travel....now this was an old SWIFT truck,puchased for $50.000! at the time they OWED $75.000 on it! bald tires,dont think it was ever serviced,when they went to get new steer tires,the tire shop refused to put new ones on,he had it up on a lift,showed it to me,needed kingpins,shocks,tie rod was bent,never ever greased,springs/shackles wore out just needed whole new front-end! last i saw them,truck had been repossed,they had "borrowed" $25.000 from clark,$200.00 from me (never got it back,or as much as a thank-you!) so some people sure deserve what they have coming! last i heard they were working for werner,clark sued them for the money,dont think they'll ever collect! we have hired some real winners in the last few years!...........Mark

[Greg Rider]

The number 1 in every vehicle I drive is a roll of toilet paper. I keep it in a ziplock so it stays clean and dry. Other stuff is 6pt wrenches, some 6pt sockets, a combo screwdriver, oil, coolant, some 14g wire with crimps and tape, 24" zip ties, fuses, bulbs, a spare belt, and a set of points.