Who sells the best tool assortment for taking on the road?

I'm looking for AMERICAN made, and a good assortment of all the usual tools you might need on the road. Not just sockets and wrenches. And ZERO metric shit. What are your choices, and WHERE do I buy it from. Thanks

 

matco,snapon,mac,cornwell, and a few others,but they dont offer a small tool box for the road,you have to peice together a set yourself.(notice i didnt include craftsman ).

 

Cruz tools sell an assortment of road-ready kits, complete with tool roll. Made in USA. I realise that they are motorcycle oriented, but do have a look, as the kits are quite well equipped.
cruztools.com

Cosmo

 

No. But I did notice your reply was vague, and bordering on useless. Hey, just saying.

 

Thanks boss. I'll take a look

 

Not exactly what I'm looking for...But, they have some GREAT kits to offer!

 

whats wrong with craftman tools ... Life time replacement.
The man at sears sucks though.

 

hey groucho , why is a old school hamber asking about tool kits ?
nothing personal , just wondering.
i just make sure my aaa is paid up.

 

He wants made in U.S.A tools. AFAIK, Craftsman is made over there now but I could be wrong

 

I have a Montezuma tool box... best box I've EVER had. Go to Toolboxes.com and look at them. You might THINK you need to big'un, but their small one is plenty big.
I put my own kits together:
The Corvair is the most reliable car we have, so it had just a small ammo can of the very basics: full set of combo wrenches, medium and large adjustable wrench; full set of screwdrivers (straight and phillips), hammer, flashlight, small cheap multi meter, basic set of 1/2-inch shallow and deep sockets, basic set of 3/8 shallow and deep sockets; ratchets for both, and a breaker bar that doubles as the tire iron. Also have pliers and needle nose pliers.
Everything but the breaker bar fits in a .50 cal ammo can.
I also have a spare set of points, a spare fan belt, and a spare coil.
Everything is Craftsman, picked up over the years at garage sales, swap meets and on sale.
The Suburban's Motezuma box is also my junk-yard box, and is VERY complete. It's overkill, really.
Full set of 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch sockets with drives, extensions and a breaker bar. This was one of the Craftsman kits in the plastic carry box, and I added to it until there was no missing sizes for either set.
Full set of combo wrenches from 3/8 thru 1-inch. Full set of double box wrenches covering all those same sizes (one for the nut, one for the bolt).
Full set of screwdrivers, including Torx tips.
Pliers, side-cutters, line-man's pliers, needle nose, and Craftsman cut-off short-nose wire cotter for brake cables.
Small bolt cutter
Small pry-bar
medium ball-pein hammer
cold chisel and alignment drift
Multi-meter
stubby wrenches
Set of metric combo wrenches and sockets
Mechanic's magnet
flashlight
Deep-woods off
Small can of WD40
shop rag, gloves, one-use individually packed Fast Orange wipes, flashlight, and an assortment of zip-ties, hose clamps, nut/bolt pairs and some duct tape.

At one time or another, I've used a lot of that on the Suburban or '54 Buick to get them back on the road, or the junkyard.

Again, most everything is craftsman, with a few misc. mac or Snappy thrown in.

Not sure there's one "buy it" tool kit for the road. Just look at what your car has that can go wrong, and bring what you need to fix it.

Short of driving over my crank, I can get on the road with the big kit.

-Brad

 

Hey Groucho,Ive picked up a bunch of stuff cheap on craigs list in recent months.........I buy all the old visegrips I run across (USA) good luck

 

Well, I got a cheapie tool set that has a bit of everything in it that I take on trips instead of raping my big box at the shop. Luckily, I haven't had need for it until recently. The few tools I needed were virtually useless. They looked OK at a glance when I bought them. But, maybe, in the back of my mind I was convinced I would never need them...possibly causing me to overlook that they were useless pieces of Chinese CRAP. So, before i need some tools on the side of the road again, I want to equip my trunk with some decent tools that will afford me a decent range of repairs

 

I've flea-market/yard sale/moving sale 'd a nice collection of USA made tools over the years.
Moving sales are the best,most of the time they don't have the energy or time to argue and I offer them a fair market price to take their tools off of their hands for them.
It's American made,a USA institution and the money stays within our borders.
Just takes time to collect them all?
Best of luck in your adventure and the good ol' USA stuff is still out there.

 

Guys, I'm looking for a more precise answer. I do have an acute sense for the obvious

 

Hey Grouch,

Last year I really fucked up one night, and failed to lock up the truck- sure as shit, some cocksucker snagged the tool box from under the seat, and the contense of the glove box. No way in hell was I gonna give the Chi-Comms. any of my hard earned money! I hit Vets Swap Meet the following Sunday, and in under an hour of shopping I bought a box, and some real tools with names like Proto, Craftsman, Blue Point, Cornwell & Channellock. Maybe including a beverage I spent three Jacksons.

" The ice cream truck in his neighborhood plays Helter-Skelter "

 

I'll give you 3 1/2 Jacksons

 

Had this bolted to my wheel well on my 74 jeep
Before I had to sell it
I think it was originally a case for a propane torch

 

Filthy frank is right about snapon,matco and cornwell are good tools,but they are all expensive and they want a fortune for their boxes,I keep in the car a Craftman set with decent box,paid $149 for the set and it has about anything I need,and lifetime warranty on all.The tools I make my living with are Snapon,Mac and a few cornwell.

 

I just made a trip to LA and all I used outa the tool bag (stole it outa my 56) was about 8inches of bailing wire,gotta love that and duct tape..........How have tool prices been at Pomona swap meet????

 

Hey,

What's the 1/2 Jackson? the dead one who had a thing for little boys and had a monkey as his best friend? NO Fuckin Deal!


" Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork "

 

What nobody appreciates my redneck propane case toolbox?
Bolt it to the floor or somewhere put a lock on it and your good to go
Never had anything stolen out of it but then it was under my hood

 

Brad you take more tools than I own.



Ago

 

I've driven across the desert with a blown head gasket, replaced water and fuel pumps, radiator hoses, done brake jobs, rebuilt carbs, replaced points and coils, and most recently drove over 200 miles using a zip tie as a fuel pump while avoiding a towing bill.

I've also stripped a couple trucks, pulled rear ends out of two '58 Ford wagons, center sections out of a couple Dodge trucks, pulled parts off a couple cutlasses (including chiseling off the transition from rocker/door jamb to quarter panel), over a dozen finned aluminum drums, and who knows what else with the Montezuma kit.

I've also helped friends keep their junk on the road.

The Montezuma kit sounds like a lot, but it really isn't.

-Brad

 

Answer requested was American made. That makes tool purchases to be made on your traveling local SnapOn, Mac, Matco, Cornwell tool truck and spending money like you local pro mechanic for extremely good quality tools. I know myself very well how much the cost and what their warranty replacement policies are.
Craftsman has come out with some good looking tools in a new line called Eco. I wouldn't count on them to have been made on this continent. Other than that line, Craftsman tools have gone downhill very badly in the past 15-20 years. I couldn't use their box end wrenches in my driveline shop without thinning on a bench grinder. They feel as smooth in my hand as a splintered 2x4 compared to a SnapOn wrench.
If I'm wrong about my rantswer, please correct me, with all due respect.

 

Kinda cheesey but Costco has a pretty cool/complete tool set made by Crescent. Check it out the next time you are there.

 

Who would make a box kit of tools for your car that is a worthy road kit for just the average dope let alone you? Even if there was a Santa and you sat on his lap at the mall he would fudgeisill this one up. The answer is to go to your tool box, rape it, and replace the carnage and put the spoils of plunder in a nice box, that fits in your car where you want it to. You could have 200 guys and no 2 would pick the same contents, color or box type.

 

For an on the road a Sears Craftsman on sale set. X # of piece for X $$ and then add and or remove what you want. Add some decent screwdrivers and a good size hammer and a punch that you can knock the inner races out of a hub in and out with ( I learned that one the hard way two weeks ago) a dozen punches in the big box at home and none in the box on the truck and a burned out wheel bearing on the boat trailer 200 miles from home.

Most of the time you don't need a lot as the main things a guy might contend with are: Bad alternator/generator, bad starter, burned out wheel bearing, bad U joint, carb acting up and need to be pulled off and taken apart, bad fuel pump and or bad water pump. Beyond those things it probably is going to take a stretcher to get the rig home anyhow.

 

Alternate source is looking through local pawn shops, yard sales, estate sales for good real name tools.
I don't mean to sound negative, but it's reality.
You will get surprised when you install that replacement starter or alternator when your tool option is your metric adjusted older ViseGrip locking pliers.
My travel box is 15 years old and weighs over 100 pounds. I changed a water pump on my Olds 307 in an AutoZone parking lot at Sikeston MO in 4 hours and didn't need to buy a wrench. Previous to that, my buddy had asked me why I had that damn many tools with me.

 

in the o/t i carry a 60 some odd piece of kobalt sockets and end wrenches. an old 3 piece set of craftsman pliers. 3 adjustable end wrenches of 6", 10" and 12". a butane fired soldering iron, 1 multimeter, 1 test light, a rivet gun and various rivets, 2 yes count em 2 rolls of mechanics wire (or as we in ok say baling wire). 1 ball peen hammer and a bunch of other crap not worth mentioning. as if any of this was. kobalt tools are made in the u.s.a and have been good for my road box.

 

Try Northern tool # 16320-1101. See if thats waht you had in mind . It's Crescent brand. Probably Chink but maybe usable for on the road stuff. Comes in it's own box.