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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] 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

This is how to properly build up a tool set.

Dropping thousands on tools you might need js silly.

Buy the cheap version first. Its very easy to end up with a pile of unused tools that you thought would change your life, but you only used them once or twice

Once the tool gets worn out/broken or you find the tool can't do everything you need it to do, then it is time to look into something nicer.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Yarp. Same advice many give for kitchen tools. Buy a cheap assortment set of everything for $20. (You get the point). Then when you break the can opener splurge on a heavy duty 1. 5 years later you'll find out half of the original cheap shit is still there, as you learned of another tool you preferred or simply never use some. Instead of paying $15 per good utensile and having a $150 up front cost, you get up and going for $20. And likely by the time you break 8 tools, you will know more about what you want/use.