Vehicle maintenance and repair is at the heart of what we do, but while a Haynes manual will give you the knowledge to start tinkering, you’ll still need some hardware to actually get stuff done.
A fully equipped workshop complete with air tools and a two post lift would be nice, but you’d be surprised how much you can achieve with a small but carefully considered tool kit.
Here are our top tools that’ll help you do maximum work for a minimal outlay.
01 Floor jack & jack stands
While it is possible to lift your car using the no-frills scissor jack you may find with your spare wheel, these aren’t cut out for regular maintenance work.
A decent trolley jack will not only raise your ride much more easily, go for a quality model with a decent lift range it’ll also create more room to insert a pair of axle stands.
These are absolutely essential if you intend to work underneath a car, and they shouldn’t be skimped on. Get stands from a reputable manufacturer that’ll comfortably support the weight of your vehicle, and use them every time you venture down to the dark side.
02 Socket set & extension bars
You won’t get far with DIY motor maintenance without a comprehensive socket set. Ideally you want a range of sizes from 6mm right up to about 50mm, as some components like oil filter housings can require a large socket to open. But don’t assume all bolts will be easily accessible.
Usually you’ll be trying to remove a component buried deep in your engine bay where there’s no room to fit your ratchet handle, let alone move it.
Here you’ll need an extension bar between socket and handle to get down into a tight spot, and a range of bar lengths will cater for different confined spaces.
03 Torque wrench
The regular ratchet handle that’ll likely be included with your socket set is fine for undoing bolts, but it’s not always the correct tool when it comes to tightening them up again.
Wherever a bolt secures a seal or gasket, this’ll need to be clamped to a precise pressure to avoid a leak, or damaging the seal.
While some ‘pro’ mechanics may claim you can just gauge the right torque from experience, it’s far better to use a torque wrench, as then you can dial in the exact amount of torque necessary for each bolt. Then all you need to do is feel/listen for the first click from the wrench and stop tightening.
04 Torx set
A socket set will help you undo many car components, but most modern vehicles aren’t just held together by regular bolts. Smaller screws, particularly on interior trim panels, often use the Torx standard.
These six-point, star-shaped heads are easier to tighten than traditional Phillips screws, as a Torx bit is much less likely to slip out of the head.
There’s a large range of Torx sizes, but generally most vehicle bolts use T10 to T50 heads, and ideally you want as many intermediary sizes as possible.
It’s also wise to ensure your chosen set matches the drive size of your torque wrench and extension bars, though adapters to convert between ¼-inch, 3/8-inch and ½ inch drives are handy for any tool kit.
05 Diagnostic code reader
Back in the day, diagnosing a problem with your car required an afternoon of trial, error and swearing. Now you can find a problem in seconds using a simple diagnostic code reader that plugs into the on-board diagnostics port included on every mass-produced car in the U.S. since 1996.
If your car isn’t running properly or it’s displaying engine warning lights, locate your car’s OBD socket (usually located around the glove box or under the steering column) and run a scan.
If any sensor on the car has detected a fault, it’ll flag up one or more codes on your reader which you can then cross reference to a list of vehicle faults in the reader’s handbook. The better the diagnostic reader, the more information it’ll give you to help pinpoint the fault.