Over the years we have amassed quite a large collection of tools - a much larger collection than the tools listed on this site. These tools range from the most commonly used sockets to specialty tools, such as a serpentine belt tool/wrench. Most of our tool collection grew by necessity as we started taking on new jobs and repairs on our cars and motorcycles. Another great example is when working on Japanese motorcycles, such as a Kawasaki Ninja. Many of the screws look like simple Phillips head screws; however, they are actually Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) screw heads. If you try to use a Phillips screwdriver on these screws, the head will quickly become stripped. So working on these motorcycles required us to get a JIS screwdriver set, hence our tool collection grew by five. So you start to see how the tool collection grows with the more work you do. The good news (at least for your wallet) is, since many of these jobs and projects are maintenance related, they repeat themselves on a somewhat regular basis, meaning you don't have to buy more tools the second time doing a job.

Through the years of working and acquiring more tools, there have been many times when we come across a tool and think - "why didn't we buy this earlier?!? This would've made such and such job so much easier." Going back to that serpentine belt tool/wrench, that's a tool we bought the second time replacing a serpentine belt. We were able to get by using a combination of crescent wrenches, but we had to take apart more pieces to make enough room to release the serpentine belt. With the serpentine belt tool/wrench, we did not have to take apart so many pieces and overall was a lot easier to work with. The tool greatly reduced the amount of time and energy needed to get the job done.

(1)Craftsman 299 Pc Socket Set The first tool on our list isn't so much a specific tool, but how to purchase these tools. The Craftsman 299 piece socket set is the complete set of Craftsman sockets. The main reason why we wish we had bough this set earlier, is that when buying the smaller Craftsman socket and ratchet sets, there are always socket sizes missing between each of the sets. When trying to fill the "gaps" between sets, there are always a number of sockets that will have to purchased individually - which is substantially more expensive. Taking this route results in an endless loop of buying small and individual socket sets.

Furthermore, there are also a decent amount of overlap between the smaller sets, so we started to have duplicates and even triplicates of some sockets. This becomes increasingly frustrating having so many extra sockets. Purchasing this 299 piece socket set is the easiest way to stop the cycle of purchasing sockets. Another advantage to purchasing this set is that it makes organizing your socket drawer easier. With this set, you know that you are not missing any in between socket sizes. This way you can cut out the foam drawer inserts with confidence that you won't have to redo the foam insert with the addition of more sockets.

It should be noted that this socket set does not include any ratchets, so you will still have to purchase a ratchet set. This set does not include specialty sockets such as torx, hex key, or open sockets (Craftsman 51-Pc Max Axess Ratchet & Socket Set) for hard to reach spots.

(2)Craftsman Rubber Strap Wrench These Craftsman rubber strap wrenches are great tools for loosening odd shaped items. Surprisingly, these wrenches work much better than we thought. Specifically, they have been great for loosening oil filters (such as on the Ferrari Testarossa - check out our Ferrari Testarossa Engine Oil Change Guide). These are one of those tools that comes in to save the day when the unexpected issue appears. They also work great when trying to disconnect pipes and pipe fittings - especially ones that have rusted together. Using two of these strap wrenches to loosen a pipe from a fitting worked better than we expected. It proves that sometimes the simplest of tools are the best. We have had these for a number of years and no issues with degradation of the rubber bands.

As a side note; these also work quite well when trying to open a stubborn jar or container... not that we needed help opening jars...

(3)Craftsman Dead Blow Hammer Set This is another simple tool that makes a surprisingly big difference - especially when working on cars or motorcycles. The dead blow hammer is filled with sand, so when striking an object there is not the normal bounce and reverberation that occurs with a normal or sledge hammer. There are a few big advantages to this. Fist, the lack of rebound allows you to accurately hit the target, but not the parts around the target. It also helps prevent you from losing grip of the hammer. We can't tell you the number of times when trying to get an axle or hub assembly loose that we would lose control of the sledge hammer and ding something else on the car. A sledge hammer slamming into a solid piece of metal puts a lot of force back into the hammer, with no place to go except your body.

This particular dead blow hammer set is made of a mixture of durable plastic and rubber, which helps prevent causing divots and dings in the piece you are hammering. We would highly recommend buying the complete set, since having the right size hammer for the job helps to further prevent damaging the piece being hammered. The smaller hammer allows for precise control when working on more fragile pieces, like plastics.

(4)Torque Multiplier (1:3) This tool was purchased out of absolute necessity (and some desperation). When trying to remove the single wheel nut from our Ferrari Testarossa, the nuts were completely stuck. We were using extension pipes to try to loosen the huge single wheel nut, but all we were doing was lifting the car or spinning the tires. We did not want to use an pneumatic impact gun for fear of damaging the chrome finish on the wheel nut. This torque multiplier came to the rescue.

Not only did this torque multiplier save the day when removing the wheel nuts, it also did it in a much safer manner. When using a long extension pipe, in most cases, the nut all of sudden gives way and then you are trying not to crash into the car or ground as the lack of opposing force disappears. Many times, this can be quite a violent experience and possibly cause damage to the car or injury to yourself. The torque multiplier allows you to modulate the amount of force you are applying, which helps decrease the chance of hurting yourself.

(5)Irwin Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper The final tool on our list are these automatic wire stripper. If you don't do a decent amount of electrical work, these can be hard to justify. However, where this wire stripper really makes a difference is when working on small gauge wire. This particular wire stripper is able to strip wire all the way down to 24 AWG (American wire gauge). When working on these smaller wire guages, it can be quite easy to knick the wire core when using a knife or a conventional wire stripper. So far, we have been impressed by how well and easily these strip wires - especially wires for vehicle harnesses or infotainment installations.

This wire stripper also makes stripping wires substantially faster and more uniform. It has a guide so that you can strip the same amount on each of the wires. Using the wire stripper is as simple as inserting the wire until it hits the stop and then quickly squeezing the handles together. We also find these easier to operate in tight spaces than a conventional wire stripper.

Hopefully this article helps to pass along our experiences with growing our tool collection. For all of these tools, we wish we had bought them sooner. These tools would have saved us a lot of headache, frustration, time and sometimes money. An underlying theme to all of these tools are their slight quirkiness. Other than the socket set, these are tools that don't necessarily have a specific use, but they all come to save the day when the basic tools are unable to do the job.

Given this theme, although probably not the best financial advice, in conclusion, whenever you see a tool that could be useful in a tough situation, get it. Simply having the right tool near by will save you time, energy and prevent you from ruining a part trying to fix it with the wrong tool. More times than not, the tool that sits for a year or two, but ends up saving a lot of time and energy in those weird and special cases.