New Tool Box

[Trav]

So many young guys think they need to drop thousands and thousands in the tool truck right away and get into mega debt. It's really nice to hear that you're considering your tool purchases so carefully and spending your money wisely.

Good tools make the work for a good mechanic easier and faster but even the best of the best isn't making a hack into a mechanic. When I graduated trade school I was no mechanic, when I learned from a real mechanic after that I realized I didn't know much at all. One of the best mechanics I ever knew and a very long time friend, he just died a few years ago at 103 or 104 I forget. Jesus I miss that crotchety old bast...

 

[Timmastertech]

I’ll look into the Knipex I am still young as you probably know so I don’t want to make any mistakes buying I’m sure anything is better than the Kobalts I have they flex and bend with hardly no force like sheet metal. I might look into the ball hex then too. And yeah it is a small market we are just a little family owned dealership the family that owns it is super nice and they are working on getting us our own sink so the customers will stop using our stuff lol. Since we have been so slow I have been giving my work to my coworkers I just can’t see them or their families without something I am the only one there who doesn’t have kids and the new guy has kids and a $10,000 bill from that toolbox he bought last week and he is 29 just getting into the industry. I know it’s every man for himself in flat rate but that’s just not me allowing someone to go without I do occasionally get assigned a job and if it’s been a good day for everyone I will take it happily I have enough saved up to buy the pliers and stuff I definitely will look into the Knipex though sounds like a good deal I think they are available on one of the trucks but I might look online to see if I can get a deal on them.

Knipex are the best for pliers, I prefer them to my snapon ones

 

[AutoMechanic]

Knipex are the best for pliers, I prefer them to my snapon ones

I will definitely give them a try then I have talked to some other people and they like them too so I will be buying some this week.

 

[spasm3]

Knipex are the best for pliers, I prefer them to my snapon ones

I have these knipex cobras, they are fantastic.

 

[clinebarger]

Looks great Chris, shops is look real nice! I have a question for you, what are you using to drive the metal tapered external cone type axle seals in?
I have seal drivers but they are all flat faced so I have been using a cup from my OTC set but its not 100%, it works but its a PITA. I may just end up spinning one up in the lathe but a set would be easier.

I use the cups out of my ball joint service set as well. I had some Kent Moore ones for GM.....But they don't last forever being made out of plastic & they cost a fortune.

I've been making my own seal & bushing drivers on a lathe as you can see in this pic....

 

[Trav]

I will make one this week I just have to get some material, I have to do some soon.
I was thinking about the ideal length for the handle that would give the most working room without dropping the exhaust and cat 16-18 inch maybe? Your thoughts?

 

[clinebarger]

Sounds very VW/Audi-ish Paul?? My homemade Driver is about 15" long with 1/2"-20 threads on the end & the stainless round stock is @3/4".

I think Aluminum would be fine for the actual tool & is (as you know).....Way easier to machine. I've made a few bushing drivers out of mild steel & they'll outlive me but very time consuming to make as well as being hard on the Tooling. But I work with 50+ year old lathes without cooling.

Even with the dissimilar metals....I've had great success with the stainless Driver utilizing a generous undercut along with rolling the threads by making several passes with different Dies before using a rethreading die & Lots of anti seize. I wanted to make a mild steel one with a brass striking cap but didn't have the material or time.

 

[Trav]

Among others, this is a very common seal on Euro cars, you have probably seen it on some GM and Aisin boxes The car I am doing has a Getrag F35 FWD trans with a Torsen diff in it and uses the same seal as the Aisin automatics.
No problem outside the car but when installed its a huge PITA to do, this is what I am trying to avoid.
They use hardened press in (wheel type) studs for the pipe off the cat, they are only 8mm but the press in end is 10mm.

The things are rotten to the point the stud is badly eroded and breaks no matter how hot you get it. It is in a tight spot to drill and harder than stone HSS bits just slide around, I made a jig and get them with cobalt bits alright but it always cost me about 3 bits and an hour or more. You have to drill it 10mm to clear all the old stud out not just big enough for a 8mm tap, do that and the bloody tap breaks off.
So now you need to find old VW air boxer studs that are 10x1.5 on one end and 8x1.25 on the other and tap it for 10mm, there is no room to get a nut and washer in there once the pipe is up. The pipe uses a 8mm elongated hole with little room for error, sure you can hack it out bigger but then the gasket slides and you have a leak in a short time. A nightmare of what should be an otherwise simple job turned into a fiasco.

So what I am looking to do is once the jack shaft is out go right in the same way with the expandable 44mm bushing puller and long slide hammer to yank it out (got that, works fine) but getting it back in is the problem, the tooling is just too dam wobbly so I need to make one with an inner cone end and a handle long enough to get past the pipe and turbo pipe, the jack shaft is 16" so I think 18" would get me there on these and make a shorter handle for the other side maybe 12". There is no more factory tools available even used for these old timers, they were plastic and long gone, they also took into account of dropping the pipe. I do a more of these now than ever, the cars are aging and they leak and with a not so easy to check fluid level I am seeing more blown units due to fluid loss.

This is the animal, almost 54mm at the flange.

 

[Astro14]

For buying German tools, like Stahlwille, I’ve found that ordering directly from amazon.de is usually the cheapest. Google Chrome will translate and you can set your language preferences on the site as well. Shipping will take a while and the ultimate prices are cheaper than listed, because they’re listed with VAT included. Once you put the item in your cart and enter your shipping address, you’ll see the price drop.

 

[clinebarger]

Very familiar with that type of seal......Just not the application where the exhaust/down pipe is in the way. These are the VW/Audi with Longitudinal mounted engines/transaxles? Instead of Transverse mounted stuff I'm accustomed too. Of course 85% of my work is on fullsize pick-ups & SUV's.

The other 15% is filled with C5/C6 Corvette's & Northstar Cadillac's which are usually hacked up by previous "Mechanics", I bet you get alot of that with VW/Audi? Straightened up a 2000 Cadillac STS today that problems were 100% caused by ignorance.

 

[Trav]

Very familiar with that type of seal......Just not the application where the exhaust/down pipe is in the way. These are the VW/Audi with Longitudinal mounted engines/transaxles? Instead of Transverse mounted stuff I'm accustomed too. Of course 85% of my work is on fullsize pick-ups & SUV's.

The other 15% is filled with C5/C6 Corvette's & Northstar Cadillac's which are usually hacked up by previous "Mechanics", I bet you get alot of that with VW/Audi? Straightened up a 2000 Cadillac STS today that problems were 100% caused by ignorance.

A lot of the stuff I work on has been hacked to death, its a never ending battle. Yes those are used on Getrags in some VW/Audi and some Saab, Volvo with FWD Aisin. This will give you an idea what I am on about. The left side is a cake walk but this is the right side.
I am doing both struts and springs, tie rods, CV axles, jack shaft bearing and seals, lower engine torque mount, leaking engine vacuum pump, leaking PS pump and down pipe, both LCA (OE) with joints, I will finish it up tonight.

This is the torque mount with jack shaft and seal. New OE mount with poly street inserts to control inner/right cv joint acceleration issues.

The new seal installed, I still have to clean up the leaked oil from the bad vacuum pump that killed the rear mount.

New OE pipe drilled for M10 on the cat and uses OE sized M8 nuts, I used stainless. Check the cat nuts rust.

New jack shaft bearing with rebuilt (by me) CV.

This is what I am trying to avoid removing, this is normal in the rust belt but it doesn't make it less a PITA.

 

[clinebarger]

My Snap-on Rep came through for me AGAIN.....I was talking with him about a Top when I bought the box, But wasn't even close to spending what they retail for. Said he'd keep an eye out for a used one.

The story I got was.....Another Rep in the Fort Worth area ordered the wrong top for a customer & had to eat it, Been sitting on it for over 6 months. Got it for a little less than what a Harbor Freight Icon 72" SS top retails for.

I know most people with black trimmed boxes get the Bedliner coated tops, Never would have went that direction anyway with what I've seen....Not even close to the quality or thickness of professional sprayed-in Bedliner. Probably still wouldn't as it looks cheesy to me.

 

[AutoMechanic]

My Snap-on Rep came through for me AGAIN.....I was talking with him about a Top when I bought the box, But wasn't even close to spending what they retail for. Said he'd keep an eye out for a used one.

The story I got was.....Another Rep in the Fort Worth area ordered the wrong top for a customer & had to eat it, Been sitting on it for over 6 months. Got it for a little less than what a Harbor Freight Icon 72" SS top retails for.

I know most people with black trimmed boxes get the Bedliner coated tops, Never would have went that direction anyway with what I've seen....Not even close to the quality or thickness of professional sprayed-in Bedliner. Probably still wouldn't as it looks cheesy to me.

Great man. I’d be really happy if it costed less than the Harbor Freight ones.

 

[Crash Bandicoot]

Great box man I like that color it looks sleek and cool lol. I personally have found lots of uses for the smaller drawers but we all have individual needs so it’s whatever suits you best. I have the Harbor Freight boxes I am still young and I don’t make payments I pay for everything up front so until I have full cash money my Harbor Freight will work for me lol.

Smart move. I’ve got a neighbor with a Snap On box and a whole bunch of tool truck tools always mystifies me because he like I, is not a mechanic for a living, and he leases his cars, these are all new tools too so it’s not like inheritance. I guess everyone has their vice.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Smart move. I’ve got a neighbor with a Snap On box and a whole bunch of tool truck tools always mystifies me because he like I, is not a mechanic for a living, and he leases his cars, these are all new tools too so it’s not like inheritance. I guess everyone has their vice.

True I don’t judge. I work with people who have to have Snap-on then I work with people like me and you and many others who don’t have to have Snap-on everything.