What Tools and Spares do you carry?

[wildebus]

Following on from a couple of posts on Delicavans Weight Saving Thread and to avoid taking that off-topic more, thought it might be interesting to see what folk carry in order to sort day-to-day issues and 'situations' when on the road?

This is my set of hand tools

Van Tools by David, on Flickr
Open End/Ratchet Spanners: There is some duplication in Spanners there, but quite often you need a spanner on a bolt and another on the nut (and I have them anyway)
Socket Set: old and beaten up but doesn't take much room up
Long Socket Bits: a few vehicle fastenings have long mounting bolts
Screwdrivers: Screwdriver Handle + Bits Set & set of 32 Mixed Bits covering all sorts of weird esoteric screw heads found nowdays
Heavy Pliers/Cutters: Always handy to have Pliers
Stanley Knife: As above
Wire Cutters/Crimpers: These is the 'Spare to Backup' one. Over 30 years old and still work fine.
Soldering Iron & Solder: AA Battery Powered. not got a good running life but as a GOTS Iron it is fine
MC4 Connectors and Release Tool: Just a handy 'just in case' to have if you have Solar on the roof using MC4 (I have 12 MC4 connectors on my roof)
Insulation Tape & Cable Ties, Selection of Connectors and Fuses.
Step Drill Bits: saves having to carry a load of different sizes. I find these Step Drills dead handy.

All that lot fill up around 1/2 an Ammo Box and lives in the back of the van

Tool Box by David, on Flickr
I also keep a few metres of electrical cable in the box.

In addition to that lot, I tend to have an Cordless Drill with Battery and Charger in the rear garage, Duct Tape (of course!) and an Extendable Ladder.
something I need to add in is a selection of random nuts and bolts ... no use having a spanner to tighten a nut if the nut has fallen off and disappeared (as I found at Drudridge where a single little nut had fallen off my Zero Gravity chair and rendered it useless - I later robbed one off my table to put on the chair and used the Duct tape on the table to stop the now unsecured bolt falling out )

Oh, and I have a selection of spare vehicle light bulbs as well as standard Bottle Jack and Breaker bar as wheel wrench.


What tools and spares do you carry?

 

[Deleted member 12539]

I once got stuck in the woods, and had to use a chain and puller to get me out.
Not anymore, I have a 12v winch, strops, D shackles, ropes and earth anchor, including the standard bread basket plates.
Yes it does add weight to the motorhome.
I also have a small electrical wiring toolbox, but no large spanners or other tools, other that what is needed to change a wheel, including swopping the useless scissor jack for a heavier bottle jack.
I have breakdown cover for whatever else happens.

 

[delicagirl]

fuses, lamps for all external lights, fan belt, spare wheel, "odds n sods box" - screws, strong black sticky tape, length of chain, string, pegs, sewing kit, spare phone and laptop charger, multi meter (thank you alf), multi-use swiss army knife, screwdrivers, 2 pliers, electrical wire stripping gizmo, oil, torches (in almost every cupboard!!)

 

[hextal]

I carry tools and spares to cover any eventually that I can think of.... It ensures that when I get stuck it's for exciting reasons that I'd not thought of.

 

[delicagirl]

loads of spare keks :dance:

 

[harrow]

As times have changed, these days,

a mobile phone,

a vehicle phone charger for the mobile phone

and access to the internet

and of course breakdown cover

 

[Deleted user 48797]

loads of spare keks :dance:

Ha ha you'll be ok if you have an accident then.
3 years ago I fell from the 3rd rung of a ladder while cleaning the roof of the van. Now because it was a wet job I was wearing old clothes and trainers so when I arrived at A&E I was in a proper state. The staff must have thought poor old fellow then proceeded to cut off all my clothes including my favourite rugby shirt that cannot be replaced and binned the lot and being on gas and air I only found out later.

 

[trevskoda]

So most of you dont carry a kit to change a wheel and fit a fan belt which of course you also carry, a mobile.

 

[malagaoth]

I carry an up to date AA card nothing else!
I have neither the space nor the weight capacity to carry a tool kit and even if I had one most of the time I wouldnt know what to do with it

So most of you dont carry a kit to change a wheel

when I bought my first motorhome the dealer advised that I throw away the jack before I was tempted to use it!
My last puncture was in Kirkwall AA had a man out in 15 minutes.

 

[Byronic]

As times have changed, these days,

a mobile phone,

a vehicle phone charger for the mobile phone

and access to the internet

and of course breakdown cover

But you can't generally call the recovery service if your waste tank has worked loose, some wiring in the
hab area has burnt out. window or vent leaks, or the elevating bed jams etc. etc. if you don't carry "some" basic tools, and know how to use them then you're at the mercy of whomever you have to call upon to fix
or bodge, possibly in the back of beyond.
I've heard tales of recovery services taking hours to get to a call out, typically say a puncture,
something which only normally only takes 15 minutes.

 

[wildebus]

But you can't generally call the recovery service if your waste tank has worked loose, some wiring in the
hab area has burnt out. window or vent leaks, or the elevating bed jams etc. etc. if you don't carry "some" basic tools, and know how to use them then you're at the mercy of whomever you have to call upon to fix
or bodge, possibly in the back of beyond.
I've heard tales of recovery services taking hours to get to a call out, typically say a puncture,
something which only normally only takes 15 minutes.

Exactly so.

In a car you may be able to rely on AA/etc. but in a Campervan it is a different situation entirely. And even if YOU are not in a position to use tools carried (ability/strength/mobility), maybe someone who can will be able to help out?

In my list I could have added Spare Wheel and also Heavy Duty Tyre Inflator.
(plus half a bottle of Rum if all else fails :rabbit: )

 

[Byronic]

It's all down to personal choice, I would never preach what I believe to be best for any
particular individual, only for myself. I can quite understand somebody setting off for
their annual 3 or 4 weeks relaxation just throwing a certain level of caution to the wind and relying on recovery
and getting someone else, paid or otherwise to sort out any problems. Even if they
themselves happen to be a time served mechanic, gas engineer and electrician rolled into one
with the physique of Arnie.
If you haven't got the skills or physical capabilities then you have no choice, other than as
has been said you carry a few things with you, especially if specific to your vehicle. Numero one IMO
is to have the Handbook with you, the number of times I've seen and had vehicles jacked
on the wrong point by the likes of Quik Fit "trained" fitters! Then the poor old owner drives
off wondering why his vehicle steers different. "You must have hit a pothole mate".LOL

If you own a Boxer, Ducato van of the specific vintage and you suspect it may be a 5th gear failure victim,
it may not be overkill to carry an overhaul kit, if you can get one that is!

 

[Clunegapyears]

Water pump

Resurrecting this thread

Return to the U.K. in a few weeks so ordering door catches etc that have failed on this trip.

I know various people have told me that a spare water pump is also a pare one should carry ... ours will be 3 years old soon. So I’ve emailed Lilie to see if they still make the one we have / what is the drop in replacement.

We haven’t got spare internal LEDs - should we?

Anything else?

Thanks
Katherine

 

[mjvw]

Tools

Socket set common selections, selection of ring spanners, screwdrivers and two pinch bars, small 12v compressor 250 psi max.
Selection of fuses,electrical connectors,insulation tape,various electrical cable and trusty multimeter.
Spare bulbs completed kit for T4, some spare led lights for hab area.

Engine oil small bottle of coolant spare alternator belt, spare wing mirror glass (cracked but in van as a spare if one of the others goes south) and the most important GAFFA Tape

And my AA card but i do like the idea of being self sufficient.:drive:

 

[daygoboy]

Socket set common selections, selection of ring spanners, screwdrivers and two pinch bars, small 12v compressor 250 psi max.:

I wouldn't worry too much about such a high pressure rating. So long as it exceeds the max. tyre pressure
you need,then it's a good air flow rate that makes the pump practical to use. The Ring models all have
their Litres per Minute stated for comparison, and how long it takes to inflate a car tyre from O to say
35psi or something similar.
High pressure, but small volume means you'll likely be waiting all day.

 

[Topmast]

A decent length of scaffold pipe to crack wheel nuts that some prat has over stressed with an air wrench,also apart from what others have mentioned a decent trolley jack.

 

[Fazerloz]

A decent length of scaffold pipe to crack wheel nuts that some prat has over stressed with an air wrench,also apart from what others have mentioned a decent trolley jack.

Why not sort your nuts out before you go anywhere rather than carry scaffold poles, or do you like overtight nuts.

 

[daygoboy]

Studs lubricated when they are perhaps specified as to be nutted up dry, plus overtorqued wheelnuts, (typically airwrenched), overloaded vehicle, plus when driving as the wheel turning it simultaneously hits a pothole, all adds up to a massive FOS requirement that the designer has to allow for. If he didn't, you would probably be able to get a sub 3500kg m/home with a decent payload, and the crap jack the manufacture often supplies might then be usable

Even so it's a wonder you don't see the roads plastered with dead wheels every day.

 

[n brown]

Following on from a couple of posts on Delicavans Weight Saving Thread and to avoid taking that off-topic more, thought it might be interesting to see what folk carry in order to sort day-to-day issues and 'situations' when on the road?

This is my set of hand tools

Van Tools by David, on Flickr
Open End/Ratchet Spanners: There is some duplication in Spanners there, but quite often you need a spanner on a bolt and another on the nut (and I have them anyway)
Socket Set: old and beaten up but doesn't take much room up
Long Socket Bits: a few vehicle fastenings have long mounting bolts
Screwdrivers: Screwdriver Handle + Bits Set & set of 32 Mixed Bits covering all sorts of weird esoteric screw heads found nowdays
Heavy Pliers/Cutters: Always handy to have Pliers
Stanley Knife: As above
Wire Cutters/Crimpers: These is the 'Spare to Backup' one. Over 30 years old and still work fine.
Soldering Iron & Solder: AA Battery Powered. not got a good running life but as a GOTS Iron it is fine
MC4 Connectors and Release Tool: Just a handy 'just in case' to have if you have Solar on the roof using MC4 (I have 12 MC4 connectors on my roof)
Insulation Tape & Cable Ties, Selection of Connectors and Fuses.
Step Drill Bits: saves having to carry a load of different sizes. I find these Step Drills dead handy.

All that lot fill up around 1/2 an Ammo Box and lives in the back of the van

Tool Box by David, on Flickr
I also keep a few metres of electrical cable in the box.

In addition to that lot, I tend to have an Cordless Drill with Battery and Charger in the rear garage, Duct Tape (of course!) and an Extendable Ladder.
something I need to add in is a selection of random nuts and bolts ... no use having a spanner to tighten a nut if the nut has fallen off and disappeared (as I found at Drudridge where a single little nut had fallen off my Zero Gravity chair and rendered it useless - I later robbed one off my table to put on the chair and used the Duct tape on the table to stop the now unsecured bolt falling out )

Oh, and I have a selection of spare vehicle light bulbs as well as standard Bottle Jack and Breaker bar as wheel wrench.


What tools and spares do you carry?

mine's similar, except for a good length of braided nylon rope and a knowledge of basic knots.
what will you do if you're stuck in wet grass or mud ? who's carrying rope strong enough to pull a camper
what if she says does 'my bum look big?' and you decide to answer honestly?
very fiddly topping yourself with cable ties

 

[Clunegapyears]

A few have mentioned a multimeter ... we’ve lithium’s and Viktron MPPT 100/50 - do we need a multimeter? If we took any readings, I’d be back on here asking what they mean!
Checked our tool box and have most items ... not a long rod ... no intension of tyre changing ... MH nearly 5 ton.