Roadside Repair Kit?

[Hipster]

Same here, told the wife and daughter to call AAA instead of me. I have a few tools in an ammo box in the truck for quick repairs
to the tractor or implements.

We have AAA mostly for the same reasons, they cover lockouts and running out of gas. This seems to be a big issue with the daughter. lol

 

[Mr Eric]

I read through all the previous posts, and I can't help but think that I never realized I wasn't the only one.

My daily is a 97 k1500 5.7 Burb.

In my somewhat reckless youth I drove a wide variety of vehicles from opposite ends of the earth, on a regular basis, and because of naive youth was never adequately prepared. After a couple of movie level close calls, including one involving walking out a forest road in Central Idaho mountains in November, with tennis shoes, a light jacket, no hat, no gloves.
I can tell all in perfect levity, that I had a lot of time to talk to myself that very long night while walking. I came to decide/ promise myself that night several things:
1) adventure without planning is reckless, and may cost a life, yours or others.
2) however warm you think you are in a vehicle, you Will be cold once you leave.
3) carrying supplies and never used will never be a waste.

My winter bibs, coat, gloves, hat and boots only belong in 1 of 3 places. Wearing them, stored under the seat, or being washed. December, may, August, no expectations. And I haven't been cold in over 20 years. Food, money and EDC stuff in the pockets are extra.

The kit has grown/evolved to amass:

Tool box with basic maintenence and repair tools.
Spare coil and ecm already mounted to a factory bracket.
Spare belt, 6 ft of 3/4,5/8, and 5/16 fuel line
Cap, rotor, wires, plugs. Everytime I replace I test the new set. ( 100-500 miles)
Electric wire, safety wire, etc.
The coveralls, full set of clothes, tyvek, cheap tarp and cardboard are part of the kit.

These are on top of the fluids I carry either under the hood in a factory carry box (oils), or along the passenger side of the rear water and antifreeze ( i carry full strength AF, and water cause i can drink half of what I carry, if it was 50/50 I couldn't drink any of it).

I have a 20# fire extinguisher, and I have used it twice over the years ( never on my vehicle)

Just for giggles, I once weighed all the stuff I carry ( uI had unloaded it all to replace the carpet and had it all sitting on a pallet.)
It weighed 180#, about the same as a passenger. So I figure it doesn't cost me any real mileage, just space.

I have still had things go wrong while traveling, but I'm much more prepared to deal with them. The last adventure happened year and 1/2 ago while driving through Tennessee in July. Ending up troubleshooting a broken wire at the edge of the connector for the ecm, lucky for me the connector is a stock item at any auto parts store in the country. Took me longer to walk to the parts place and back, than it did for the diagnosis and fix. Now guess what else I now carry on my spare parts box? Yep, insulated barrel connectors that I could use to make any temp connector and a couple of spare connectors for good measure.

Anyway, long post I know. Reading all these others make me realize how each of us have had life experiences and how what we carry reflects the level of risk we are willing to endure. This is the mark of earned not learned wisdom.

 

[GMCanada]

Back in the '90s I would get off work at midnight. -Hated it. I couldn't sleep, so I would make two 20 mile laps (10 miles each way) on this stretch of freeway that was not lit nor did it have close access to a gas station that was open. I was looking for stranded motorists to rescue. My truck was loaded with tow straps, 3-ton floor jack, jumper cables, 2 different size 4-way lug wrenches, a couple of rubber wheel chocks, 5 gallons of water, 5 gallons of gas and a 7 gallon air tank. I think I scared as many people as I helped. I only ever agreed to accept any $ if gas is what they needed. After a couple of years doing that, AAA came out with "Rescue Rangers" that offered even more than I could, other than the fact that my services were out of boredom. - And knowing that if I pulled up behind you, your wife and kids, or your parents, I wasn't going to rob, rape or murder them. That was the best feeling, that I helped, and the people I helped were safe.

I remember as a kid in the 90’s feeling good whenever my dad would stop to help someone on the side of the road and thinking when I grew up I would do the same. But nowadays with everyone having a cell phone with them, I found most people don’t want help anymore and just want to wait for the roadside assistances they called for. After a while I realized most of the time it’s better to just keep driving by. But if it’s in a bad service area, the weather is cold or they are just clearly struggling with changing a tire or something I will at least pull up and ask if they need anything.

 

[Erik the Awful]

Years ago I went on a road trip with some friends and left my car at one friends' house. He decided to stay longer and got a ride back a day later. In the meantime I got to his house at 2am. The friend I'd been riding with left. I turned the key in my RX-7's ignition and the lock fell apart in my hand. I could put a screwdriver in the ignition switch and get it to crank and start, but as soon as I released the key it had an anti-theft spring that would push the switch back and shut the car off. It was 40* outside and all I had was a jacket. I ended up calling a friend to pick me up, and it took an hour for him to get there. I was soooo cold. Ever since then I've kept emergency jackets in my cars.