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]

From time to time when you’re taking something apart, you run into an e-clip. Sure, you can pry them off with a screwdriver, but getting them back on can present a problem if you don’t have the right tool.  This set of tools from OTC allows you to both remove and install four different sizes of e-clip.

The set comes with tools for 6mm, 7mm, 8mm, and 9mm e-clips. One end of the tool removes the e-clip while the other installs them. Each tool locks into the provided handle to give you a better grip.

To buy this tool set you can pay anywhere from $10 to $20 before shipping and handling.

E-Clip Tool [OTC]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

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]

Sears is selling OTC’s GM Pitman Arm Tool, or Pickle Fork, for just $16.  It’ll help you remove the Pitman arm on your GM pickup or SUV, should you be so inclined.

OTC GM Pitman Arm Tool [Sears]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you only use a pry bar occasionally or don’t have the room for a full-out pry bar, this pry bar head attachment from OTC Tools fits onto a 3/8″-drive breaker bar or ratchet and turns it into a rolling-head pry bar.  Even though OTC specifically says ratchet, we wouldn’t risk a good one.

Measuring 2″ long by 2-13/16″ wide by 5/8″ thick and weighing about 3oz., this little tool is surprisingly expensive.  Most places charge $50 or more — but not good old Harbor Freight.  For $7 they sell a tool that matches OTC’s description and picture almost identically.  We’d be willing to bet it’s the same tool.

Pry Bar Head [OTC Tools]
Street Pricing [Google]
Pry Bar Head [Harbor Freight]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Once (in my youth) a friend and I were assembling a strut with a coil-over spring with one of those crappy five-dollar compressor tools.  I looked away for a second and there was a bang followed by silence.  The spring had come loose and knocked my friend’s hat off while blowing by his face.  Since then I lean towards stronger and more stable spring compressors — like the Strut Tamer from OTC.  It’s large, heavy-duty, and not going to lose its grip at an inopportune moment.

The Tamer will work with almost any straight, conical, or offset spring, and it sports a four-point locking jaw system that securely holds the spring in place. The stand’s and open-ended design lets you can position the strut easily — both in and out of the ‘Tamer — and two wheels allow you to tilt the stand back and move the entire unit to the work area.  During compression, the wheels lift off the floor, and four no-slip rubber pads keep the stand firmly in place.

The arms adjust in and out and up and down in order to accept many sizes of springs from ranging from 2-1/2″ to 10″ in diameter to from 2-1/2″ to 24″ in the vertical.  To compress the spring, you turn the ‘Tamer’s long 3-bar handle located on the top of the unit.

To keep the strut assembly straight during compression, the tamer has a center screw that floats from side-to-side. 

The bad news: it costs a lot more than $5.  Street pricing starts around $470.  Maybe we’ll just uninstall the struts and take ‘em down to Midas.  We hear they’ll remove and install springs on the cheap for carry-ins.

Strut Tamer [OTC Tools]
Street Pricing [Froogle]
Via Amazon [What's This?]

While pondering upcoming Toolmonger automotive projects today, our thoughts turned to tools we wish we could afford but can’t — specifically a power train lift.  If you’ve never used one of these, let me introduce you: Power train lift, these are Toolmongers.  Toolmongers, this is a device that significantly simplifies an engine swap — especially if the engine you’re swapping in doesn’t fit.  (And what better reason is there to do a swap in the first place?) 

OTC’s “Model 1595″ can scissor-lift 2500 lbs. of drive train assembly (!) several feet into the air — all under the control of a hand-held remote that’s hooked to a 30 ft. long retractable extension cord.  The cord gets its own reel that’s mounted to the lift’s frame. 

The remote controls a 110V electric / hydraulic pump that silently moves the platform up and down without the user lifting anything except the remote — which is why we dig the unit so much.

When you consider the hefty $3500 price tag, practicality disappears for most DIYers.  But if you’re a Toolmonger with automotive fetishes, practical isn’t really the point, is it?

Model 1595 Power Train Lift [OTC Tools]
Street Pricing [Froogle]

Sure, your gagillion-volt cordless uber-hammer-driver can make a lot of torque, but this “old school” method of freeing stuck fasteners really works. 

When you strike the top of the driver with a hammer, you not only drive the bit into the fastener, but also turn it as the wrench converts some of that downward force into rotational force — giving you the best possible chance of freeing the fastener without camming it out.

You don’t see a lot of these around anymore, but we’ve got one around the shop, and it’s saved our asses a few times.  Ours doesn’t have the nice hand shield around it, so you’ve gotta be careful with your fingers.  This looks way nicer.

Street pricing starts at $16.

1/2″ Impact Driver [OTC Tools]
Street Pricing [Froogle]