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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It took me forty minutes to find an online answer to a very simple question: what is the wheel bolt pattern for a 2006 Chevrolet HHR? Given the simplicity of that question, I’m either the world’s worst Googler or the Internet is a Biblical flood of poorly-checked information.
A $19 set of Commercial Forms’ wheel pattern gauges would have saved me the trouble. Normally I’d call a tool like their 15-piece set a waste of money, but less than $20 is hard to argue with. That cost is well worth the definitive answer this tool can provide, and the fifteen pieces cover thirty different bolt patterns. Strictly speaking, only workers at tire shops will get a lot of use out of these gauges, but I can see them dangling from the belt during a crawl around the junkyard. They could be just what you need to find a used, cheap disc brake setup compatible with your project car.
How many people ran for cover? Even among tech-savvy Toolmongers, electrical work can be a big, hairy monster, partially due to the confusing nature of electrical diagnosis, and partially due to the wide variety of tools needed to do the work properly. Fortunately, one of the most common styles is pretty cheap.
Mac Tools retails a crimper designed to properly attach Weatherpack connectors, but there’s a nice bonus. Many different terminals can be secured with this crimper, even if they aren’t designed for it. Deutsch and Yazaki terminals work nicely in Weatherpack jaws, which isn’t a bad trifecta for $35. Unless you’re a pretty neurotic type-A personality, this will do nicely for occasional repairs. Anyone who’s used one of these before will probably note that this plier-style crimper isn’t as precise as a torque-sensing type, but careful use will navigate nicely around those issues.
The DeoxIT® Service Kit, $60 from Caig Laboratories, comes in a zip-top bag with a variety of products incorporating their DeoxIT® contact cleaner including sprays, wipes, and brush applicators. Caig claims that DeoxIT® is a “fast-acting, deoxidizing solution that cleans, protects, lubricates, and improves conductivity on all metal connectors and contacts.”
Different versions and sizes of DeoxIT® are available through Amazon and other web sites.
I have used DeoxIT® on many connections including tool battery packs, flashlight batteries, vehicle batteries, vehicle audio and antennas, and computers — and found that it does work. Have you used DeoxIT®, or similar contact cleaners? What’s your opinion of it?
TM has discussed 12V portable compressors before (Black & Decker’s Air Station and Master Flow’s Tsunami, for example), but the ContiComfortKit adds a feature for sealing typical tire punctures. The $79 kit weighs 5.5 lbs, is 9.5″W × 7″H × 3.75″D, has a 12-V air compressor with an integral illuminated pressure gauge, a low-intensity LED worklight, and adds a latex liquid tire sealant. The ContiComfortKit will work on most sizes of car, minivan, and crossover vehicle tires. If the sealant is not activated, the kit can be used as a stand-alone compressor.
I suppose using the ContiComfortKit is easier than jacking up the car and putting on the spare or calling AAA and waiting, but does the ease justify the price? Let us know in comments.
You need a funnel to direct a wild-flowing fluid into a barely-accessible opening, but you also need two hands to steady and hold the fluid container. If you can get the funnel to wedge in place so you don’t have to hold it, consider yourself lucky — otherwise you either need a helper or a tool like the UniFunnel.
Made from a glass reinforced polyamide, the bright yellow Unifunnel resembles a pair of spring-loaded pliers. When you release the handles, four stabilizing prongs expand to grip any opening from 1-1/4″ to 2-1/4″. Then just insert any standard funnel into the adjustable rings and pour.
A single UniFunnel will run you $15 shipped. Note: Not advisable for beer consumption.
Owners of multi-cylinder motorcycles with several carburetors or throttle bodies know the pain of syncing the finicky little buggers, but a tool like the Morgan Carbtune can take the bite out of the process. Available with two or four vacuum chambers for bikes with up to four carburetors or throttle bodies, the Carbtune is a British-made four-chamber stainless-rod manometer: accurate and reliable. Unlike liquid manometers, the heavy steel rod isn’t affected by pressure pulsations in the intake tract, so it’s easier to see and balance the readings.
While $82 is a bit steep for a tool you won’t use much, a dealership will probably charge you anywhere from $60 to $100 for the procedure, so this fine device will pay for itself quickly. Morgan ships it with vacuum hoses, plugs, and assorted other necessities, all contained in a slick storage case.
If James Bond ever spent a weekend in the garage, he’d use one of these beauties to lift his DBS. The above is a jack manufactured by Mittler Brothers, very light, and costing a cool $1300. Not exactly weekend-mechanic fare, but if your calling is race mechanic, this could well be your weapon of choice. Have fun justifying the cost to your boss, but if you can convince ‘em, you’ll be rewarded with a hydraulic lifting device fit for a king.
Every part is CNC-machined from aluminum. The handle swivels to make steering easy, and has a nicely-padded surface where it’s likely to bash fenders. One man with one hand can haul this thing over a wall with ease, and it has a quick-raise feature which makes me jealous. One pump will lift the pad into contact with the jacking point, no matter how large the distance between them. That’s the kind of ability I’ll have to look for when shopping for less exotic gear.
Thank the fine folks at Fluke for these neat little expletive-savers: they’re simple prongs of thin, sturdy metal used for back-probing wiring harnesses. Anyone who’s used a bent pin or rusty paper clip from the shop floor can appreciate these doohickeys, especially since the female banana plug socket on the back makes ‘em compatible with Fluke’s interchangeable test lead wires.
Sure, $31 is a fair amount to ask for what are basically sewing pins with a socket on the end, but for career electrical technicians and harness builders, these lovelies would make a great addition to a tool box — if you’ve ever had to disassemble a Weatherpack connector, you understand why some Toolmongers would make the investment.
Meteor’s Spark Doctor is yet another multi-tool, but this time they’ve specialized it for working with spark plugs. This multi-tool boasts eight different tools for removing, tuning, and cleaning your plugs.
As always, we’re skeptical about the number of tools a multi-tool packs — sometimes marketing departments like to be sneaky and claim a lanyard hole or carrying case as a tool or function. So let’s enumerate the tools, shall we?
5/8″ socket
3/4″ socket
13/16″ socket
Brass brush
Metal file
Metal pick
Gap gage
Gapping tool
The metal file and metal pick are part of the same tool, kind of like the wire stripper is part of the flat screwdriver blade on Leatherman and Swiss Army Knives. If they can get away with it, why not Meteor? All these tools fold into a soft-grip handle.
The Spark Doctor can be had for less than $20 before somebody tries to gouge you with shipping.
