Yup, pink. TM has previously mentioned the LifeHammer and ResQMe. Now, if you buy the pink versions, the distributor, nov8, will make a donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  If someone you know has been affected by breast cancer — it took my Mom after a long struggle many years ago — then this might be a way to support or recognize them. So far, I’ve only been able to find the pink ResQMe available for $12 online at Ace.

ResQMe Pink [Ace]

OTC constructs the Wheel Mate from structural steel tubing, and its U-shaped base gives it clearance to fit around the wheel and under the vehicle. It moves freely on heavy-duty ball bearing casters and locks with a foot-operated lever so it won’t go rolling about.

The truck wheel rests on rollers that allow you to spin the wheel so you can align the lugs, and it has 14″ of vertical travel to get the wheel to the right height. The Wheel Mate will hold most truck tires without the need for restraining chains.

You’ll pay at least $2,000 to buy a Wheel Mate new.

Wheel Mate [OTC Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

A worthwhile addition to your vehicle’s emergency kit and safer than incendiary flares, the small (6 oz. with batteries; 4 1/4″L × 3 7/8″W × 1″D) Lite Flare has a clear high-impact polycarbonate housing, two high-intensity red (yellow is available, also) LEDs that flash about 55 times per minute with a claimed visibility range of 1 mile at night, and uses two AA batteries that will operate for “400+ hours (alkaline type).” A 3-pack (the recommended number for “optimum” visibility) costs $33. They also make a Cone Flare version that fits in the top of a traffic cone to make it more visible.

If you don’t like the directionality of the Lite Flare, other manufacturers (e.g., PowerFlare) make LED flares that emit light in all directions.

I’m sure there are even more options out there. What do you prefer for road-side emergencies?

Lite Flare [Manufacturer's Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Sure you can run a battery charger with a portable generator, but why not cut out the middle man, especially if you’re off the beaten path where you don’t want to haul around a large generator? This would be especially great for charging up an electric trolling motor battery or camper battery when you’re 150 miles from the nearest outlet.

Weighing in at 26 lbs, this 2.5hp generator can charge a 12V battery up to 55 amps an hour. It uses a 55cc 4-stroke Honda engine to drive a Bosch alternator. The generator consumes about 1/5 of a gallon an hour and has a tank large enough to run for an hour and a half. The panel features an LED readout and a switch to choose between low and high charge rates.

This little generator is made in Australia and it isn’t cheap. It ships with 10 foot leads terminated with alligator clips and runs $1350 AUS, or about $1200 US. If anybody knows of a little gas-powered charger like this that’s made a little closer to North America, let us know in the comments.

Outback Battery Chargers [Christie Engineering]
Outback Battery Chargers [Energy Matters]

With their heavy insulation, grounded barriers, and strong rip-prevention weaves often built into the casing, spark plug wires can be a royal pain. There aren’t many strippers that can easily handle the tough casings, but there are plenty of options for crimpers.

The unit above retails through Summit Racing Equipment and is manufactured by Taylor. The design doesn’t look terribly robust, but the $16 asking price isn’t bad. If that doesn’t seem like a decent value, there’s a pair of simple cast-aluminum blocks made by MSD which contain a jig for stripping plug wires with a razor. Put the two pieces between a vise’s jaws with a terminal in between, and they turn into a crimper. And that little doodad runs for only $7, which is close to cheap-ass tool territory.

The high-end option comes in the form of dies for interchangeable-jaw crimpers. The exact model will depend on the crimper you own, but they usually retail for around $30. This model [What’s This?], from SG Tool Aid, is a good example.

Taylor Plug Wire crimper [Summit Racing Equipment]
MSD Stripper/Crimper [Summit Racing Equipment]

Modern automotive ignition systems use coil packs for every cylinder, shortening wire runs, increasing spark energy, and improving timing. However, coil-on-plug ignition systems, with their short or non-existent wires, have rendered some proven spark plug tests obsolete. It’s easy to test for spark, but Thexton’s 458 plug tester can also tell you how strong a spark you’re getting.

The tester has an adjustable gap between the anode and cathode, and since air’s electrical resistance is nearly constant, adjusting the gap can give a mechanic a good qualitative picture of a voltage’s magnitude. The 458 is adjustable from 0V to 40,000V, which, while lower than the spark energies of many common COP systems (for instance, GM’s LS engines have 55,000V packs), is more than enough to ignite a good fuel/air mixture.

Though spark technology has evolved, the tools haven’t gotten much more expensive. The Thexton is available from ToolSource.com for just under $19 before shipping. As an added bonus, it looks like it’ll work with distributor-based and wasted-spark ignition systems as well.

Thexton 458 [Tool Source]

This is long-time reader Peter P. who is starting to blast the paint off his soon-to-be amphibious ride. We’ve never tried this method in the Toolmonger shop — normally opting for bead blasting ourselves — here Peter is working a soda blast rig.

Soda Blasting is relatively new, as far as we know, but the proponents of the system say it’s the new hotness to strip paint and/or clean hard surfaces. The blasting machine uses compressed air to pump baking soda onto the surface to be stripped. It’s about the same as sand blasting, but less abrasive as far as we’ve heard.

Many folks say it’s less hard on the environment but I always thought sand didn’t really hurt the environment anyway since it came from there in the first place. It’s all the crap you blew off the nasty object you just cleaned you need to worry about. However, I may just be thinking about this wrong and someone needs to school me.

In any event, keep posting up the pics, Peter, it looks like it’s coming along great!

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

I’ve never — knock on wood — had the “fun” of trying to repair stripped threads in a key mechanical component, but I’ve seen various options. It seems that the two main contenders for thread inserts are Heli-Coil® and TIME-SERT®, but I don’t know which one works better for which applications and materials. TIME-SERT® requires drilling, counterboring, and tapping before installing the insert. A typical TIME-SERT kit, with all the required tools and several inserts, costs around $74. Heli-Coil preparation needs drilling and tapping before installing the insert. A Heli-Coil kit, with a tap, the installation tool, and several inserts, will be about $27.

So, all you Toolmongers out there with experience in this area, what’s your favorite? Are there alternatives?

Time-Sert [Manufacturer's Site]
Time-Sert Street Pricing [Google Products]
Time-Sert Via Amazon [What’s This?]
HeliCoil [Manufacturer's Site]
Helicoil Street Pricing [Google Products]
Helicoil Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Chances are you’ve seen a wheel lock, sometimes called a boot, on a car that’s violated some parking ordinance — if not in person, at least on TV. The concept is to make the car stay put by completely immobilizing one of the wheels until the owner pays a fine. The Wheel Chock Lock from Curt Manufacturing uses the same concept to keep your trailer or camper from disappearing, only now you have the key.

The Wheel Chock Lock will expand to fit a variety of tires. It has a powder-coated yellow finish to resist corrosion and make it stand out. The Wheel Chock Lock comes with three keys and runs about $75.

Wheel Chock Lock [Curt Manufacturing]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Not everybody needs an ultra-low profile jack, but if you’re regularly working on high-performance cars you probably run into the problem of getting the jack under the car from time to time. With a saddle height of only 1-7/8, it’ll be hard to find a vehicle too low for this new jack from OTC tools.

The 5200 ultra-low profile service jack is rated for 2 tons. While it can squeeze under low cars, it can lift them to 20-1/2″. A “fifth-wheel design” allows you to turn the jack almost in place and a foot pedal allows you to quickly raise the saddle up to the jacking point on the vehicle. OTC uses polyamide casters because of the material’s high strength and thermal properties, and builds a tray into the top of the jack to catch fasteners and tools that otherwise might roll away.

I can’t find this jack for sale anywhere yet, but judging from the fact their other 2-ton floor jacks run anywhere from $200 to $400, this jack will probably run at least $400.

Jack [OTC]

Got a pile of bungee cords that are the wrong size or the hook at the end just doesn’t quite fit the application? The Joubert Smart Bungee System lets you connect bungee cords together, swap ends, create a three ended bungee, or create complex combinations you may’ve never imagined.

The system is comprised of bungee cords with the patented end tips and the accessories that attach to the tips like steel hooks, carabiner hooks, adjustable hooks, wall mounts, and single and double connectors.

You can buy 10pc and 22pc kits or individual components in pairs. The 22pc Smart Bungee System runs about $20.

Smart Bungee System [Corporate Site]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Despite the fact that these bags look a lot like bags of leaves piled in front of a car, what they really are is air-lift bags that can jack up your car or light truck under its own power. The Titan jack uses the vehicle’s exhaust to inflate a bag that lifts the car.

Seems interesting, but having never used one we have no idea how well they work. This either sounds like a very good or very bad idea. On one hand, no pump required. On the other hand you now have your car sitting on a bag of exhaust gas. Anyone out there have one?

Amazon has the 3-ton Titan Exhaust Jack for $109.99.

Titan Air Jack [Chandler Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Ever had that annoying problem where the 90° fender flanges are digging into the over-sized tires you’re putting on your exotic supercar? Yeah, me neither. But, just in case you run into this issue, Eastwood’s Fender Finisher-Hand Fender Former Tool will fix it for you. The $80 tool allows you “to roll fenders without having to remove the wheel!” and ease that troublesome factory edge. A heat gun is suggested to warm up the paint so you can form without damage, but you should be able to do the job in less than 30 minutes. The Fender Finisher has molded hand grips, a durable power-coated finished, and comes with two extra replaceable rubber pads.

A video is available at the manufacturer’s site.

Eastwood [Manufacturer's Site]

Ignition wrenches are one of those tools you’ll never need until that one moment when Murphy’s messing with you, and then nothing else will do. Normal wrenches have a 30-degree offset in the head to allow for rotating hex bolts by thirty degrees at a time, but that’s too much for some very tight situations. That’s where ignition wrenches come in. With a 15-degree offset on one side and an 80-degree offset on the other, you only need five degrees of rotation to spin a bolt. Tedious, yes, but sometimes those small increments are all you can manage.

Pricing is reasonable from Craftsman, at $20 for a set of eight metric wrenches, and the same price for eight inch wrenches. Snap-On, naturally, has similar options at the stratospheric price of $224. Personally, I’ll take 91% off and go for the Craftsman set.

8-piece ignition wrench set, inches [Craftsman]
8-piece ignition wrench set, millimeters [Craftsman]

Springs, dampers, and all the hardware that goes with them are a subject of endless discussion among everyone from career race professionals to weekend auto crossers and garage mechanics. An incredible number of factors affect ride and performance, and texts like this try to make heads or tails out of the lot. The Shock Absorber Handbook is part of the Society of Automotive Engineers’ official library, which is about as good as seals of approval get, but it does mean the book’s expensive.

The SAE themselves retail the book for $110, or $88 for SAE members. Amazon, the everyman’s source, has it for $96, or $78 if you don’t mind buying a used product from an online retailer. A fair price, to be sure, but careful attention to this book’s principles will turn you into the neighborhood suspension guru. Just the thing for breaking the ice at dinner.

The Shock Absorber Handbook [SAE]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

While normally used for finding and diagnosing issues within human beings, stethoscopes are also excellent tools for seeking out engine troubles. It’s easy to tell when an engine is making weird noises, but discovering exactly where they come from can shave time from the diagnosis and repair process. You can also avoid silly mistakes like replacing your alternator when it’s an idler pulley making that infernal squeal (nice move on my buddy’s part). Examination with a stethoscope can reveal valve train noises or spun bearing locations in toasted motors, and an old engine builder I worked with refused to sign off on an engine assembly until he’d gotten it running on the stand and listened to a laundry list of critical areas with his ’scope.

Even if the uses are limited, stethoscopes are cheap, and while specialized mechanics’ stethoscopes are available, the standard kind works fine. If you have a community college or university with a medical school in the area, their bookstore will usually have good offerings, but as usual, Amazon has a wide selection and good prices (from $4 to over $100) that almost make a good stethoscope a cheap-ass tool.

Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you need to check drive pulleys to see if they’re out of alignment, one way to do it is to use the Gates Drive Align laser alignment tool.  It can show you if the drive pulleys are offset or angled with respect to each other.

Gates’ tool uses a 650nm (red) laser diode powered by a replaceable lithium battery which provides 20 hours of continuous use. It can be used on all automotive serpentine belt drives with four or more ribs.

The Drive Align Laser includes glasses that help you see the laser better, a bungee cord to secure the laser tool to the pulley, and an Allen wrench to align the light beam. The tool comes in a high-impact plastic carrying with space for the other accessories. Overall the Laser Drive Alignment Tool will run you at least $125.

Lazer Drive Align [Gates]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

It’s a familiar scenario: you twist the lever to clean your windshield, and the fluid mostly misses the glass and goes up over the roof. Though it could be worse; you could be in a convertible. I don’t know how many vehicles still have fixed nozzles (the ones on my truck are mounted on the wipers), but if your vehicle does, you can use this windshield washer jet tool from Klann Tools to aim them.

You can use the tool on ball head or fixed nozzles. Just stick one of the needles into the nozzle and use the pen-like body to move it to the right position. If the nozzle is clogged, sticking the needle in will unclog it if you’re lucky. Both ends have screw on caps to protect the needles or your chest when you use the pocket clip to store the tool in your breast pocket.

Klann’s Windshield Washer Jet tool will run you about $6 before shipping. Whether it’s worth the money when you can probably do the same job with a straight pin is your decision.

Klann Tools [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Master Lock is trying to make it easier to use bungee cords. Rather than trying to hold onto the middle of a small metal hook, you slip your fingers into the two-finger grip, making it easier and safer to stretch them.

The black 5/16″ diameter cords have the EZ Grip polypropylene hook on both ends.  Sold in 24″ and 32″ lengths, a single bungee of either length will run you about $3 to $4.

EZ Grip Bungee Cords [Master Lock]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Reader Jeff sent us a question about those big road-going tractor trailer trains that they drive down under. He asks, quite rightly we think, how the hell they back up. This is a great question I had never pondered before.

The short answer is, we have no clue. If I had to guess I’d say either very carefully, or they have some sort of steering control on the trailers as well as the cab — though if this is the case I would be very surprised. If you pushed me to make a call, I’d say the guys driving them are just that good.

What say you, Toolmonger hive mind? Are these guys just the Barons of Backwards or are there steering assists involved? Let us know in comments.

Triple Roadtrain Reversing [YouTube]

After a bit of a hiatus we resumed our search for a transmission for our shop truck project. We learned several things in the process, not the least of which is this: transmissions can be expensive.

Thankfully our luck held and we managed to find one in the local area that would suit our purposes — but not without first looking damn near everywhere for one that fit both our budget and level of desired risk.

The simple fact of the matter is buying a new tranny would cost about as much as the entire build put together, so we decided to look for the used/rebuilt solutions. These, however, come with the knowledge that you could be right back in this position sooner rather than later. We broke it down into several categories.

Junkyard one and hope for the best. This option was definitely the cheapest, with the low end falling somewhere around $100 and buyer-beware rules in full effect. Also, you have to pull it yourself.

Reconditioned unit with a 12-month warranty. There are plenty of these around and you can get a nice, well-built transmission of almost any model or vintage for less than half what you’d pay for a new one.

Craigslist crap shoot. Here you are most likely to buy from an individual or a small shop/yard that warranty the part for a window of 30/90 days but you won’t have to pull it yourself.

We ran with the Craigslist option and found a nice unit that looks like it will do just fine. It came with a 30-day warranty and a great deal of nastiness all over the housing and case, but went for about $175 (which included the torque converter).

Before we mounted it up to the freshly-rebuilt motor, we decided to clean that bad boy up with about 3 cans of Gunk and the careful use of a pressure washer. It went pretty well, all things considered, and after an hour and a half drive to get the damn thing plus a little time in the driveway, we were rewarded with a new (to us) transmission.

Gunk Degreaser [Gunk Products]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

We all remember the original magnetic pickup tool. Someone stuck a magnet on the end of a telescoping antenna and life was made a little simpler. Next thing you know, we’re adding hinges and pads and flex shafts and LED lights. Everything under the sun has been added to the basic magnetic pickup tool to make it more effective. The funny part is, it all works.

You don’t really plan on going out to pick one of these bad boys up until you need one, so we’re letting you in on a little secret now: if you don’t already have one, you need to get one the next time you’re out. Be it a small old-school kind or one of the new generation flex-shaft, extendable variety, the time will come when an errant bolt will pop down into or behind an immovable object and you’ll be boned. Don’t be without a way to retrieve it.

Street Pricing [Google Products]

The lights are out. The mutated alien horde is coming. You need power for the Tesla cannon. This is when you’re really glad Duracell’s Powerpack DPP-300EP is sitting on the basement shelf. Essentially a small car battery powering a 120V AC inverter and a 250 psi compressor, it can even fill your truck’s tires for a mad dash to the burnt-out supermarket for a scavenging run. Just watch out for the stray dogs.

Back in the real world, where a greasy, sweat-streaked Bruce Willis won’t be defending his homestead anytime soon, the DPP-300EP will set you back $78 from Amazon, and Duracell isn’t exactly a poorly-regarded name. Keeping one of these charged and ready to go can be a treat, since even the best batteries slowly discharge over time.

Keeping it in your car can be a serious frustration-saver, if you remember to remove it for a recharge every two weeks. It’s worth the effort for a finicky old Sunbeam Tiger, perhaps, but not for a brand-new Chevy, especially since Duracell only recommends using the battery for 4 and 6-cylinder engines. However, they make larger versions like the DPP-600HD which can handle “most 8-cylinder engines,”but you’ll pay $137 and lose the air compressor. So, one for your Civic, and one for your Cutlass 442.

Duracell Powerpack 300 Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Duracell Powerpack 600 Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Duracell Battery Chargers [Duracell]

About a year ago, I made this valve spring compressor for Ecotec motors as a way of saving myself about $300. 3/32″ steel plates form the frame, with a 1/2″-13 bolt handling the compressing duties and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plates in the jaw to prevent damage to the head. It’s missing the dowel pin which hinges the lower arm at the moment (probably hiding somewhere in my engine tools drawer), but it works pretty well when it’s together. Like anything made by an amateur, it’s imperfect, but functions well enough.

This basic concept can be adapted for just about any engine, but there are a few tricks. Unless you have extremely strong hands, the compressor needs a way to hold itself at the proper angle, which is a feature I overlooked. The result is that I sometimes let this thing slip, and a 280 lbf/in spring makes an $800 cylinder head jump a few inches off the table. Good thing I don’t need to go that deep into engines often. You could also solve the issue by putting the upper hinge in line with the compressing screw, which would kill the tendency to rotate. Since this only used about $15 in materials, I may produce a more polished version in the future.

Street Pricing [Google Products]

I’m going to start with the bad news about Mittler Brothers’ Machine and Tool’s Ultimate Notcher: $3900.

So you won’t be seeing one of these in your kids’ high school shop anytime soon, nevermind your own. This is a tool designed for an extremely specific function, and it does actually make some sense. Designed to notch tubes for TIG-welded race vehicle frames and roll cages, the Ultimate Notcher is definitely a niche product. Nevertheless, it can handle tubing of any wall thickness up to 2″ outer diameter, and the manufacturer claims that its titanium nitride-coated hogging cutter will last nine months (assuming 1,500 cuts per week), even without using cutting fluid.

Other features include automatic feed and chip collection, in addition to the expected adjustable-angle vise. Surprisingly, the whole device weighs a whopping 350 pounds. While it’s light and cheap compared to a Bridgeport, the lack of flexibility makes the Ultimate Notcher a tool for only high-throughput, narrowly-focused shops.

Ultimate Notcher [Mittler Brothers]