using your tool
 

What neat tool do you own that has saved the day for you? I have two favorites:
-Swiveling box end ratchet-wrenches (I've seen as low as $30/set at HF). These suckers get in everywhere.
-Impact driver ($6 at HF without bits, not as good as my dad's $60 Mac, but good for 10% the price). I don't know how else I could have moved some bolts like the ones that hold on the miata's headlight lids or the fuel pump bottom bracket.

90* drill adapter.

pb blaster and channellocks for removing snapped exhaust studs from greddy manifold.

i have this ratchet that turns slightly when you twist the handle. It's great for working in small confined spaces where you just can't quite get the socket to go onto the head of the bolt.

Nice Craftsman Breaker bar - was using her last night (installing the FM/AGX's)

Also used it last weekend when swapping the front rotors on the winterbeater

It makes loosening factory original nuts and bolts easy, also saves your ratchets internals from snapping - went through a few before i got the bar....

two by four and any nearby object.

"Vice-Grips"

Borrowed a set of shorter metric wrenches from a buddy. He just gave them to me. One of them is the only wrench short enough to reach the back passenger side bolt on my HKS manifold, i'd never be able to tighten it otherwise. Longer wrenches it the head or won't slip on the nut because the turbine housing shape.

$20 spring compressor have gotten their monies worth.

MY hands the usualy get the job done for me. did you guys know that our axles are torqued ot 160+ lb/ft i had th ecar about 6 inches of the ground before it finally gave way, and loosened.
BTW 1.6 dif is now out.

Short stubby wrenches,ratcheting swivel wrenches and my ability to solve problems.

Not really saving the day but it's my favorite tool,a Snap-on digital torque wrench.

i'm gonna vote bfh
one time my brother bent the steel wheel on his cavalier and popped the tire off the bead, but the tire was fine. and didn't have a spare to i was able to bend absolutely perfect with a sledge hammer, i was amazed my myself but it came out like nothing ever happened. then he totalled the car

^ I love my BFG...and my steel pipe/breaker bar to break stuff with.

craftsman striped bolt removing socket set.ratchet wrenches and spring compressor tool.

-deep 1/4" drive sockets. Excellent for the t-bolt clamps.
-Craftsman reversable ratched head wrenches
-Weller butane soldering iron

a 14" piece of fence post.

Little brake fitting plug for testing out Brake Master cylinders. Guy at the autoparts store gave me a brakeline for free cause it wouldn't scan. Took it home, cut about 2" of the tubing off near the end with the fitting on it. Soldered the end shut and it worked like a charm.

My craftsman flood lights. Almost all of my work is done at night after school/work, so being able to light up the whole street is awsome.

Those aren't really "tools" though, so I would say my Makita electric impact. Makes short work of just about anything (within reason).

ditto on the 1/4" deep sockets. 6-12mm. i use them every time i work on the miata.

My Frankencock.

When you need a bunch of little iluvtruenos' running around, I've got the right tool for the job.

Oh, and thick conduit tubing for breaker bar purposes.

my floor jack's arm works wonders as a "cheater bar"

a big ol' hammer

My fiance. She tightened up a bolt for me while i was under the car doing my best to hold a shock nut in place. If it wasn't for her, the car would still be up on jackstands.

Swivel head wratcheting 14mm wrench. Saved me an hour or so last time I had to pull the manifold off.
-Michael-

My best friend has a lift, that is the best tool I can think of.

Lucky you, what I would do for a lift...
-Michael-

I couldn't narrow it down to just one thing and the first three aren't really tools, oh well.

1. 24" jackstands (nothing like enough room to sit indian style under car while you work on it)
2. TV for the garage (nothing like working on the car while watching the race)
3. A tolerant Wife (nothing like a woman who will hand you a sandwich while you're sitting indian style under the car peering through the fender watching the race)
4. tie: magnet on a stick, mirror on a stick
5. Anything in the bargain bins up front next to the registers at Northern Tool or Harbor Freight.

Oh god....I remember that. I almost left a dent in my car. I had 4 feet of bar on the end of my breaker bar. I heated the bolt, applied candle wax, and finally it broke loose. I felt the rear was harder to do than the clutch for sure.

Without doubt, on a 16 year old car with rusted bolts....long ass breaker bar! Nuff' said.

Well it took a 30 ton hydraulic press and a 50 dollar labor charge but the axle came out :D . my torque wrench only goes to about 150 so i just went past that about 3/4 of a turn and i should be ok hopefully. we shall see. Lesson learned if the nut comes off easily then the axle is stuck and will be a bitch to remove.

Huge air compressor. Will never work on another car without one again.

Close 2nd: 36" pipe used as a cheater bar.

On that note... I love my impact wrench

my impact wrench couldn't take off my axle bolts. took a 4' long cheater-bar

Yeah if an impact wrench doesn't say snap on on it somewhere, chances are it won't break anything loose.

If it does say snap on on it, then it will break loose anything you ever throw at it. :bigtu:

We use Ingersol Rand at work, they break everything loose that we try. The only thing so far was a Mercedes lug stud that was frozen in the hub, NOTHING would move that. Needed a huge breaker bar.

impact wrenches and cheater bars are for cheaters :p

Lets see what I can add.

Jack handle slipped over a 1/2" breaker bar will remove things that no impact wrench can.

As can the "hot wrench".

Taps and dies have saved whole engines for me.

Air powered cut off tool, when all else fails.

Air Chisel with pickle fork attachment for those ball joints that no normal method will remove.

MIG Welder, duh.

And finally "The Yellow Pages," when you need two driveshafts made into one, or a clutch relined or whatever... nothing else will do.

Takes out Sharpie... squiggle squiggle ... :p Fixed. Just a brand.

This is what I use... BFIW
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...TL._AA280_.jpg

haha, a two-hander, nice :cool:

Those 1" impacts will break your fucking wrist in half if they lock up on a stiff lug nut. Scares the shit out of me, hate taking wheels off motorhomes and semis.

Yeah we have one of those for dump trucks and motorhomes, they sound really neat. They are scary to use though.