Tools you can't live without

[calvin78612]

Here is one of mine. If you work alone it's handy for sure.

[Palf70Step]

You got a plan on how it was made or where you bought it? I am alone alot and could use something like that also.

[calvin78612]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

You got a plan on how it was made or where you bought it? I am alone alot and could use something like that also.

I bought the plans from board member Rokcrln. Do a search for cab & bed lift and it should be the first result that comes up.

[100%Chevy]

Originally Posted by calvin78612

Here is one of mine. If you work alone it's handy for sure.

LIKE!(a lot)
I last used my engine lift to pull and replace the heads and intake on one of my 454's in the car.Sure is easier on my old back!
Mike.

[Getter-Done]

Great Idea.











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[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

I've really loaded up on tools due to my project truck, but my favorite tool remains a good shop blower/vac.

[FleetsidePaul]

My favorite tool is one that I can find when I need it.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by calvin78612

Here is one of mine. If you work alone it's handy for sure.

I've heard of "third hands" before, but that's an extra pair of arms! I work alone . Makes me think of that George Thorogood song .

My answer to the title is "All of them". I buy them because I need them and tools are one thing I would never sell no matter how broke

[rpmerf]

I have a MityVac vacuum pump I use a lot. Has a pump like a bicycle pump and a body that hold 2 gallons of liquid. I don't like to get it dirty, so I will take various containers and drill 2 hoes in the lid. Hook one side to the pump, and the other side to whatever fluid I am trying to pull. Makes moving fluids around a lot easier. Some examples of great uses I have found.

Draining the radiator by vacuuming the fluid from the fill hole. No more dumping all over the place and trying to catch it.

Draining fluids through dip sticks when I don't have a drain plug. Worked really well sucking out a bunch of trans fluid before pulling the pan. Works good with lawn equipment also.

Useful for bleeding brakes.

[rsavage]

At my age (68) I find that my lift and transmission jack are my two most valuable "can't live without" tools.

[68C15]

That damned 10mm! Has anyone seen it?

[rsavage]

Originally Posted by 68C15

That damned 10mm! Has anyone seen it?

I have trouble finding an 11mm. Doesn't seem like they are regularly included in metric combination wrench sets. Only have one use for them in spring and fall as the bolts that bolt my cab enclosure to my Kubota require 11 mm.

[Getter-Done]

Originally Posted by rsavage

I have trouble finding an 11mm. Doesn't seem like they are regularly included in metric combination wrench sets. Only have one use for them in spring and fall as the bolts that bolt my cab enclosure to my Kubota require 11 mm.

I have noticed that also they have eliminated some sizes.
There is only 0.005 inches difference between 7/16" and 11mm. if that helps you.
Here is a Link below that has a chart for the sizes.

Link: http://www.csgnetwork.com/wrenchsizetable.html









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[franken]

Hammers

[richard2717]

My Bobcat is still my tool I use most and could not imagine being without it for any length of time

[A1971Blazer]

Bobcat 863
Two post lift
Top side creeper
several CNC lathes and mills
Band Saw
Welders
Pecker

[1976gmc20]

Well apparently the new tool that I cannot live without is a large (maybe 5/8 or 3/4 ?) allen wrench to check the oil in the five speed of my 1989 K1500

Everything else I've ever seen is either hex or square head plug, or else a square hole for a 3/8 or 1/2 ratchet extension.

[68C15]

Originally Posted by 1976gmc20

Well apparently the new tool that I cannot live without is a large (maybe 5/8 or 3/4 ?) allen wrench to check the oil in the five speed of my 1989 K1500

Everything else I've ever seen is either hex or square head plug, or else a square hole for a 3/8 or 1/2 ratchet extension.

That would be a 17mm. I have onenthat fits either a 3/8 ratchet or 17mm box wrench

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by 68C15

That would be a 17mm. I have onenthat fits either a 3/8 ratchet or 17mm box wrench

Thanks

So about 11/16". Now I have to drive 50 miles round trip to town in another vehicle and see if the only parts store in town has one. I better call them first so they can order one. It's only been about 1000 miles since it was serviced but quite a bit of time as I don't drive it much, and you never know with old pickups.

forgot the more important one nowadays

Yeah, I had cataract surgery and lens implants a year ago. Great distance vision for the first time in ~55 years but can't see much of anything within about three feet without glasses - actually can't see that much with them. Mechanic work is hell because nothing is ever the right distance for either the main or add lens.

[68C15]

Originally Posted by 1976gmc20

Thanks

So about 11/16". Now I have to drive 50 miles round trip to town in another vehicle and see if the only parts store in town has one. I better call them first so they can order one. It's only been about 1000 miles since it was serviced but quite a bit of time as I don't drive it much, and you never know with old pickups.

go to hardware store and buy a 12mm bolt and nut. They are 17mm hex. Cram the nut on bolt real tight then use a wrench to get plug out.

[1976gmc20]

Originally Posted by 68C15

go to hardware store and buy a 12mm bolt and nut. They are 17mm hex. Cram the nut on bolt real tight then use a wrench to get plug out.

Or …

It turns out you can take a long 11/16" nut and file a bit down on all six faces of one end to get it down to 17mm

Thanks for the idea!

Oil level was fine, BTW. But the SOB at the last shop must have used a 3/4" breaker bar to put it back in

[richard2717]

forgot the more important one nowadays


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[shifty]

Originally Posted by richard2717

forgot the more important one nowadays (eyeglasses)

This one hit home for me.

Was diagnosed legally blind while not wearing corrective lenses ... in the 4th grade. All distance stuff, was in excess of -7.0 in both eyes.

Started wearing contacts in 6th grade. Wore those til I was in my late 20s and then-undiagnosed autoimmune disease made the eye docs tell me my eyes were too dry to wear them. Around 30 the FDA finally approved contact lens implants as a fully-reversible-alternative to lasers, so I was 1st in line to get that done.

Went for more than a decade after that seeing like an eagle, although the change in my focal point made close-up things like soldering less easy than it used to be, but still manageable. I used to laugh at the parents and in-laws breaking out flashlights and glasses to read menus in moderately-lit restaurants. People would always say, "Don't you worry - wait til you're 40, you won't be laughing anymore". Yeah, right.

Hit 40. Near vision is still excellent.
Then 41. Near vision is still excellent.
Then 42. Near vision is still excellent.

Then 42, 5 months, 2 days, I wake up as usual, pick up the phone to see how bad my day at work will be, same as every day, based on the amount of crap filling my inbox. But, damn, must be more eye-boogers than usual this morning, let me hold my phone a couple inches farther away...

Then 42, 5 months, 7 days, I wake up as usual, pick up the phone, and now I'm holding the phone a foot farther away.

By 42, 5 months, 16 days, suddenly my right arm isn't quite long enough for my right eye, so I'm reading with my left arm out away with my elbow at a 15-20° angle.

HUH.

I think I was more shocked at how quick it happened. I expected it would all unfold over a few years. But naw, was literally about 2wks start to finish on the worst of it, bad enough I booked a next-day appt with the eye doc because they warned me any massive changes in vision could be a retinal detachment related to my ICL surgery. Before a month had passed, suddenly flashlights were really helpful on smaller text.

And now I'm back needing glasses again. At least I got a good 15+ years out of the surgery. Most of my friends who got LASIK were in readers 5-10 years early, almost all within 5-6 years of their first burn. On the positive, I can still get mine reversed.

But I have no shortage of readers now. Just need a light +0.75 or so for close-up tasks, and keep a pair of +2.0 around for when I'm soldering or fidgeting with the super-fine stuff.

[weq92f]

Originally Posted by shifty

This one hit home for me.
<snip>...
I think I was more shocked at how quick it happened. ...

You are not alone!

This happened to me about the same time. So yes... readers are the first tool I require before using any other tools.

I'm now in the market for some 10x goggles for fiddling with really small stuff.

-klb

[68bowtie]

Seriously I think it’s this one. Home made. Lol!

I really like that one man hood removal idea!