5 Tools to Transform Your (Car Related) Life

We spend a lot of our time working on cars, which means we use and spend money on many many car related tools and paraphernalia, good and bad.

 So here's 5 gadgets that have made our own car-related lives easier and we've regretted not buying much sooner. I've tried to not be too specialist with this list and hope everything on it can apply to lots of people, not just mechanics.  ​

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1) Jump Pack

No more flat car batteries! Whether you've left your lights on or it's just a cold morning, you'll never need jump leads and a sympathetic fellow driver again.

​The jump pack we have is great for camping too as it has adapters to charge phones, laptops ect. all in an attractive faux leather case that's small enough to fit in the glove box.

​Always remember to keep it charged though! One like ours will cost around £100

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2) Impact Gun

The wheel brace that comes with your car for changing a flat tyre needs a moderately strong person to crack those bolts, so an impact gun can save you time, effort and the need for a big bar on tight nuts and bolts.

​Same thing as the jump pack, keep it charged or always have a fully charged spare battery ready.​

Our really powerful one (1200Nm in reverse) cost over £400 new which I know is a hard sell, but there's lots of cheaper options for non-professional use and it's not a purchase you'll regret next time you need to change a wheel.

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3) Work Trousers (with Knee Pads!)

You will never regret it. If you do any maintenance work on your own car a pair of these bad boys will save you from kneeling down on a cold, hard floor (unless you have access to a ramp, but then, in which case, you probably wouldn't be reading this!?)

Don't be stingy on the knee pads you choose though, as this would be self defeating and a good pair are probably more important than the quality of the trousers. Choose knee pads with a hard, dense foam. A good pair of knee pads should cost about £15 and work trousers can cost between £20-£50. 

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4) Magnetic Torch

Perfect for working under the bonnet and wheel arches doing routine maintenance. The magnetic feature lets you stick the torch to anything metal and angle it at exactly what you're working on rather than a round one that will just roll away (believe me, I've been there).

Get a decent quality rechargeable one (not one you put disposable batteries in) ideally with an in-car charger as that's when you're most likely to need it. One with Cree LEDs will give ultimate brightness and are usually longer lasting. A good torch will cost between £20-£50  

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5) Socket Set

Everything (mostly) you need in one box.
For general use get a set with hex-drive, as opposed to a 12-point set, as you can easily slip with a 12-point socket rounding off tight nuts and bolts.

The set we use has spanners, allan key and torx sockets too which are always handy. A good sized set (ours is 101 piece) will cost £100-£300  depending on the quality, which sounds like a lot but most better quality brands offer lifetime warranties on all of the contents so it's a good investment to make and by keeping everything all in one place you'll never be searching around for loose tools. 

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Note: All the images are for illustration purposes only and I'm not recommending the exact make/model by including them. As with everything there are a lot of tools on the market and generally you pay more for better quality (although non-professionals needn't worry too much about having the best of everything). Just do your research and read some reviews before committing to buy or send us a message/ ask in the comments if you need any recommendations.