Tools and Spares

One lesson that our trip to Africa taught us is that we can get by with a lot fewer tools and spares. The stuff we brought definitely saved a lot of hassle a few times, but we would have survived with out it. That said, small useful things are still coming with, especially an assortment of bolts, in the event a wheel falls off our car... again.

Pictured to the right is the side storage compartment in our 4Runner. It is small, but it fits a surprising amount of stuff.

1. Recovery Strap - For getting out of the mud, sand, snow, or dirt.
2. D-Ring shackle
3. Lift-Mate - allows us to use our Hi-Lift jack on any wheel.
4. Air compressor - runs on 12v, for refilling tires
5. Folding lug wrench
6. Safety seal truck tire repair kit
7. Leather gloves
8. Road flare
9. Warning Triangle - slightly modified to not be so big and heavy

1. Spare fuses - Blade fuses for the vehicle and ANL fuses for our dual battery system
2. Spare headlight
3. Volt Meter - For testing our batteries and electrical connections in the car
4. AA and AAA batteries - Lots of them

The second place we are storing tools is under the passenger-side rear seat. This is the standard storage place for the stock bottle jack and lug wrench. And a very easy place to access in case we want to make a repair without unloading the back. We were pleasantly surprised to see there was a lot of extra room under the seat, enough to fit a decently sized set of tools.

Jessica, our team seamstress, was put to work sewing nylon bags and tool cases that we could easily wrap and tie closed. This saved us the wasted space of a tool box but still kept everything organized neatly under the seat.

1. Duct tape - Can you ever have enough? No. Not ever.
2. Electrical tape
3. Two-part quick epoxy - For when Kobus's sandals break.
4. Spare gas cap - This is the stock cap that we replaced with a locking cap.
5. Spare set of belts (fan, water pump and alternator belt)
6. Shovel - For digging stuff, underneath stuff.
7. Itty-bitty screwdriver set - For repairing laptops and eyeglasses.
8. Screwdriver bit set - Required to remove/repair our roof rack.
9. Hex Key's / Allen wrenches
10. Tap set - For re-threading stripped threads
11. Socket set
12. Wrench set
13. Regular and needle-nose pliers
14. Vice grips
15. Adjustable wrench
16. Large and small screwdrivers
17. Lug nut key - Fits our locking lug nuts to keep thieves from walking off with them.
18. Spare bolts - In case the wheel falls off.

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Comments

 

#1 Juergen 2013-01-09 22:12

Oh, please do the environment a favor and lose some of the regular AA + AAAs and replace them with rechargable batteries! We have a small solar charger which sits neatly (and securely) on the dashboard, so a full set of rechargables is always at hand.

 

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