89obsSB
I'm Awesome
I wrench for a living at a GM dealer. So I have just about everything. On newer stuff We mainly use 10, 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, 22, 24mm stuff. And lots of special tools for the newer stuff depending on what’s being repaired.
Tools needed for my 95 c3500hd 7.4L dually?
- Thread starter mooreATL
- Start date
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One thing that hasn't been said yet is tool organization. This can be done for cheap with cutout pieces of cardboard in your tool box drawers or up to expensive with pegboard all over your garage.
But either way, there is nothing more frustrating than poking around a drawer full of random sockets for a half hour, only to find the one your looking for is 1 drawer down mixed in with the pile of assorted wrenches.
I'm not perfect but if I cant find what I'm looking for within 30 seconds of looking I stop what I'm working on and re-organize the shop/toolbox.
And, I've always had the mind frame that every tool you buy today is one less that you'll have to stop what your doing to rent/borrow later. Even if its $200 to buy vs $20 to rent, that tool purchase is way cheaper than paying $2,000 to have a shop work on.
Your in your 30s (same as me) so you have another 30+ years ahead of you to use those tools. Take care of them and they will last your lifetime. I was raised like many on this board where I was wrenching on bicycles and lawnmowers when I was 12/13 years old so I've had plenty of time to collect tools and equipment. Its never too late to start but realize it may be expensive initially.
And you are right, this generation and the next has lost a lot of the motivation and drive to get their hands dirty, I'm glad your improving your skillset. You found a great forum and we will be here to help any way we can!
But either way, there is nothing more frustrating than poking around a drawer full of random sockets for a half hour, only to find the one your looking for is 1 drawer down mixed in with the pile of assorted wrenches.
I'm not perfect but if I cant find what I'm looking for within 30 seconds of looking I stop what I'm working on and re-organize the shop/toolbox.
And, I've always had the mind frame that every tool you buy today is one less that you'll have to stop what your doing to rent/borrow later. Even if its $200 to buy vs $20 to rent, that tool purchase is way cheaper than paying $2,000 to have a shop work on.
Your in your 30s (same as me) so you have another 30+ years ahead of you to use those tools. Take care of them and they will last your lifetime. I was raised like many on this board where I was wrenching on bicycles and lawnmowers when I was 12/13 years old so I've had plenty of time to collect tools and equipment. Its never too late to start but realize it may be expensive initially.
And you are right, this generation and the next has lost a lot of the motivation and drive to get their hands dirty, I'm glad your improving your skillset. You found a great forum and we will be here to help any way we can!
Breaker Bar. A square-drive with a (long) handle, no ratchet mechanism. A tool made by professionals for heavy-duty use.
Cheater Pipe. Any random (thick-wall) chunk of round or square tubing/pipe that can be sourced quickly/easily/cheaply, and cut (or not) to a suitable length. Mine is 30 inches of 1 1/2" square tubing as used for the structural steel of a city bus upper framework.
The tubular/hollow Cheater Pipe slides over the handle of the Breaker Bar. Or a ratchet.
Toughest (highest torque) job I've done in ten years was an O2 sensor on a Dodge Challenger with 5.7L Hemi. 24" Snap-On 1/2" drive "long-handle" ratchet, with a 30" cheater pipe (about 10 inches of overlap) so a total lever length of ~44 inches. The vehicle owner and I BOTH pulling on the cheater pipe. O2 sensor sounded like a .22 round when it popped free--and then screwed-out like it had never been stuck. He came to me because the shop he'd taken the car to couldn't get the sensor unscrewed, and sent him away after trying.
Don't forget wrenches, screwdrivers.
An impact wrench is what you want, not a "impact drill" which most folks would call a "hammer drill".
Cordless impact wrenches have become VERY popular. Folks on this site will heartily recommend all sorts of cordless (rechargeable battery) tools. And--I guess--they have good reason. A decent set of cordless tools will cost less than a decent two-stage air compressor and the equivalent air-tools.
I won't touch rechargeable battery tools with a ten-foot pole. The battery is always dead when I want to use 'em, so I'd have to be organized enough to plug the damned things in a day ahead of time, or just leave the battery pack on the charger 24/7/365 which seems like a waste of house-current to me. And don't get me started on battery service life. They only recharge a certain number of times before they won't hold a charge any more. I have the sense that if you use them every day, and charge them overnight, they're a realistic solution. But I'm an occasional user, and they SUCK when not used/charged regularly and frequently.
I don't know of any currently-manufactured "unbranded tools from the... ...top tier tool makers."
Sounds more like "knockoffs" made by dirtbags (Think "Rollex" watches sold on streetcorners) than low-cost unbranded versions of genuine merchandise.
As I said...there's plenty of "subcontractors" used by the Truck brands, but the subcontractors still "brand" their tools with their own name--Lang, Lisle, Mastercool, Wilde, Mayhew, etc. as just a few examples.
I have multiple brands of penetrating oil in my shop.
I use them on all stuck/seized/rusted fasteners.
I have ABSOLUTELY NO FAITH in penetrating oils, but I've never seen them make the situation worse, and--maybe, possibly, could-be--they stand a chance of making things better. It's more of a habit/religion/desperation deal than any real "good experiences".
Some guys go wild for Kano Kroil. Some guys mix their own from Acetone and ATF. Youtube has videos comparing brands.
Pick any brand. One is as good as another. None of 'em work all that well. All of them need hours--or days--to penetrate into the fasteners in order to "work". And don't get me started on folks who spray O2 sensors, spark plugs, and other gasketed--sealed--items, thinking penetrating oil can get in where hot gasses under pressure can't get out.
Well, OK, there is one that I'll use if I'm really, truly in a bind and not spraying oil "just because". It's expensive, it's hard to find locally. Has a really-distinctive odor unlike all the others. ACDelco 10-4020. Used to be sold as "heat riser lubricant", and Chrysler/Mopar sold essentially the same thing--smelled the same.
www.amazon.com/ACDelco-10-4020-Rust-Penetrating-Lubricant/dp/B008I2H55U
xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media
Even so, don't expect miracles. I have WAY better luck with an Oxy-Acetylene torch than with penetrating oil of any variety.
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If you're starting out, buying the tools you need just to get wrenching, you have a lot of spending ahead of you. It's okay to buy some cheap stuff to get the ball rolling. My Pull-A-Part toolbox is all the old tools I started with that survived. My shop toolbox has much nicer tools in it. Upgrade to better tools as you need to. Still, my go-to sockets and ratchet are HF's "Pittsburgh" line. Newer cheap tools are made from better quality metal than the 1980s tools I started with.
You do want quality open end wrenches. My 1980s era "Evercraft" wrenches were always junk. They always flexed open and rounded off bolts rather than loosen them. I stepped up to Snap-On Flank Drive wrenches in the 1990s, but those wrenches are stupidly expensive now ($50 per wrench!). Avoid the cheapest wrenches; find the best quality you can that won't break the bank.
I have a full set of air tools, but if I were starting over I'd go with cordless. Buy everything all in the same brand. I went with Makita because they have a full set of lawn tools that use the same batteries. I just bought their mid-line 1/2" drive cordless impact this week so I could remove a bumper at Pull-A-Part. It's plenty strong, but if I didn't have an IR twin-hammer that I could resort to, I'd have probably got their largest impact.
I use PB Blaster as drill lube or for cleaning more than I use it as a penetrating oil, but I still use it.
HotWheelsBurban
Gotta have 4 doors..... Rawhide, TOTY 2023!
Maybe it doesn't crack your northern rust and corrosion, but it works well on what I encounter here in Texas.
mooreATL, welcome to this forum. Thanks to the combined years of
hard-won experience + a collaborative attitude, the Signal/Noise ratio
here is much better than the average website where people gather
to share a common interest.
Anyway, reading between the lines it sounds like you share a similar
approach to your finances that I do. Years ago, one day I came to
the realization that I was spending the vast majority of my brain
cycles worrying about my debt. With no time left over to think about the
good stuff?
It took some time & focus, but today I have no debt, buy my
(previously enjoyed) cars cash on the barrelhead, and I continue with
the old school 'pay as you go' approach, especially with my hobbies.
(Keeping a couple of credit cards w/no balance for use only in case of emergency,
using them just often enough to keep the creditkarma scores in a good
place.)
And if anything I seem to enjoy more happiness than some of my friends
who have the very nicest toys that they will own xx months or years from now?
Meanwhile, they are on a financial hamster wheel running at max speed?
****
The point I was going to make was that you are definitely on the right
track. The more that you invest in your own skillset in order to become more
self-sufficient, the more control that you will have over your situation.
Our forebears didn't have the luxury of disposing income via Doordash
in order to bring a Big Mac to their front door with a few clicks on
their smartphone?
If they didn't tend to their garden for 3 seasons, then the following
winter was going be extra lean times. (If you ever read some of their
diaries it's amazing the sheer backbone that they had.)
****
The punchline? Tools extend your positive sphere of influence & control.
I have no choice but to buy certain items in order to live. But a good tool is
an investment. For example, when I graduated from high school my
grandmother asked me what I really wanted. And after giving it a
lot of thought, I asked her for a quality 1/2" drive torque wrench.
And to her credit (she came from hardy covered wagon stock :0)
she did exactly that. That was in '77. I've used it since on countless
engine builds. And every time it's been checked for accuracy it's
still on the money. And I used it yesterday.
That's 46 years of use, so maybe $2/year? (~$90 was a lot of money
back then for a semi-pro tool.) And the all-important price-per-use
metric is down in the pennies?
Others have shared rock solid guidance on which tools to get. All I
would add is to figure out which tools you are going to use the most,
and that is where you invest first.
And the expensive stuff that you will use once in a great while? Those
are the tools that you buy used at estate sales, auctions, flea markets,
etc. Never buy junk, no matter how attractive the price. It takes up
valuable real estate, only to disappoint when you finally go to use it.
To recap, buying a single nice tool for $10, and then using it once?
$10 price-per-use...but if you avoided a $300 garage bill by doing so,
then you are still money ahead.
By the same token, a $200 tool kit may seem spendy, but if you use
it 200 times in order to avoid those garage bills, now we're talking
only a $1 per use. Bargain.
****
Like you said, we don't want to start a financial debate in the GMT400
forum, but if you think that being a little more self-sufficient down
the road is a good thing, then tracking down & buying quality used
tools is time better spent than shopping around for, say, a new jet ski
on credit.
Good on you. Glad to see folks like you starting to pop up!
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mooreATL
Newbie
I've been on both sides of debt, and being in debt sucks. For the first time in 18 years I went into debt to help start our small business. I could have been reimbursed already, but we wouldn't be scaling nearly as fast and we wouldn't have this "stepping stone on wheels".mooreATL, welcome to this forum. Thanks to the combined years of
hard-won experience + a collaborative attitude, the Signal/Noise ratio
here is much better than the average website where people gather
to share a common interest.
Anyway, reading between the lines it sounds like you share a similar
approach to your finances that I do. Years ago, one day I came to
the realization that I was spending the vast majority of my brain
cycles worrying about my debt. With no time left over to think about the
good stuff?
It took some time & focus, but today I have no debt, buy my
(previously enjoyed) cars cash on the barrelhead, and I continue with
the old school 'pay as you go' approach, especially with my hobbies.
(Keeping a couple of credit cards w/no balance for use only in case of emergency,
using them just often enough to keep the creditkarma scores in a good
place.)
And if anything I seem to enjoy more happiness than some of my friends
who have the very nicest toys that they will own xx months or years from now?
Meanwhile, they are on a financial hamster wheel running at max speed?
****
The point I was going to make was that you are definitely on the right
track. The more that you invest in your own skillset in order to become more
self-sufficient, the more control that you will have over your situation.
Our forebears didn't have the luxury of disposing income via Doordash
in order to bring a Big Mac to their front door with a few clicks on
their smartphone?
If they didn't tend to their garden for 3 seasons, then the following
winter was going be extra lean times. (If you ever read some of their
diaries it's amazing the sheer backbone that they had.)
****
The punchline? Tools extend your positive sphere of influence & control.
I have no choice but to buy certain items in order to live. But a good tool is
an investment. For example, when I graduated from high school my
grandmother asked me what I really wanted. And after giving it a
lot of thought, I asked her for a quality 1/2" drive torque wrench.
And to her credit (she came from hardy covered wagon stock :0)
she did exactly that. That was in '77. I've used it since on countless
engine builds. And every time it's been checked for accuracy it's
still on the money. And I used it yesterday.
That's 46 years of use, so maybe $2/year? (~$90 was a lot of money
back then for a semi-pro tool.) And the all-important price-per-use
metric is down in the pennies?
Others have shared rock solid guidance on which tools to get. All I
would add is to figure out which tools you are going to use the most,
and that is where you invest first.
And the expensive stuff that you will use once in a great while? Those
are the tools that you buy used at estate sales, auctions, flea markets,
etc. Never buy junk, no matter how attractive the price. It takes up
valuable real estate, only to disappoint when you finally go to use it.
To recap, buying a single nice tool for $10, and then using it once?
$10 price-per-use...but if you avoided a $300 garage bill by doing so,
then you are still money ahead.
By the same token, a $200 tool kit may seem spendy, but if you use
it 200 times in order to avoid those garage bills, now we're talking
only a $1 per use. Bargain.
****
Like you said, we don't want to start a financial debate in the GMT400
forum, but if you think that being a little more self-sufficient down
the road is a good thing, then tracking down & buying quality used
tools is time better spent than shopping around for, say, a new jet ski
on credit.
Good on you. Glad to see folks like you starting to pop up!
Any tools I buy are going to be from my personal pocket, which is always thin since I invest everything leftover after household bills, gas, 2 dates a month and cigarettes.
Yesterday I was nearly convinced that I was going to buy everything from harbour freight to save $, but today I know that's not the best idea long term. I guess I will have to make do with what few decent tools I have, and slowly build the collection, biting the bullet as needed along the way.
Fortunately from my early wiring on power substations, I have what I need to address my present electrical (rear blinkers/brake lights intermittently work) problems without buying a thing except a connector or two possibly. When it comes to clearing the rust off the frame to see if it needs structural repairs, it's cheaper to have someone sandblast it for me than getting/renting the equipment to do it myself (i know, "sandpaper, wire brush"... But given the time it'll take it just won't get done) so i know my limits regardleas of penny pinching.
Thanks for the kind words, you read between the lines pretty well . By the way that same $90 torque wrench should cost $433 new, today after inflation if you believe the official statistics!
mooreATL
Newbie
This is the second recommendation for cordless tools. My youtubing makes me think the Ryobi brushless 1+ extended reach is the best bang for my buck, even though it's half the RPM of the Milwaukee.
mooreATL
Newbie
Tool organization sounds more daunting than buying tools! I truly lack that in my life. After I struggle finding the right parts a bit I am sure ill figure out how to organize as I go. I have an open carport presently so I'm rocking tool bags I can take inside for now .
We are not only on the same page, we're on the same ledger! :0)
As a matter of fact, when I'm talking to people about this subject, I
use this online inflation calculator to make this exact point: (Online Inflation Calculator)
Normal folks are usually stunned when they see the numbers.
Methinks that with your mindset that your business is going to
flourish.
BTW, I became a first time granddad to a little fella last year. It's my
hope that when the time is right that I can teach him how to use it,
and buy him one of his own to use until such time he can have
mine.
Good luck w/your endeavor. Cheers --
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