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What are some tools you need when starting to do basic DIY Mechanical work and possible home improvement in the future. (midwest.social)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I took my wife's car into the dealership for a warranty a few weeks ago and while they were checking stuff, they said the car needed 1300 dollars of work (piston soak and replace some transmission parts). I ended up doing the soak with my grandpa and took it to a shop for the transmission (wasnt even an issue, just a rivot replacement on a wheel well cover) and ended up saving 700 dollars after accounting for tools, jacks, jack stands, etc.

I want to start working on my own cars for things that can be done easily without expensive specialized tools, and I might be buying a house in the next year. I just want to start getting a decent collection of tools to hopefully save money in the long run.

I currently have a huge range of screwdrivers, soldering equipment, plyer set, socket set, file set, wire cutters and a small tool kit with some misc stuff.

I am mainly looking towards a torque wrench and a good spanner/wrench set, but looking for suggestions on what to get. Holding off on power tools until I wrap my head around brands and batteries.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Re: wrenches.

I'm not sure where you're at or what kind of things you will be working on, but here in the US you generally want to have at least a cheap set of both SAE and Metric wrenches. Nothing is more frustrating than having a random bolt be SAE while everything else is metric, and stripping the bolt with a wrench that is "close enough".

You'll also come to a decision on if your like flat wrenches or angled ones, though it doesn't hurt to have a cheap set of both.

If you know for sure what set you'll be using the most (or even better, what sizes you'll be using the most), spending a little extra money on "ratcheting" wrenches can save you a ton of time and frustration. I do a lot of toying around on my car, and some of these bolts are in tight places where you can't turn a wrench very far; ratcheting wrenches let you get the wrench in place once and just wiggle the bolt out.