Field Tool Kit

T

TWX

New member
So, just got our new Renegade yesterday, and on the way home from the dealer started thinking about the field tool kit.

I've got a little Craftsman Metric kit, picked up awhile back when I thought I was going to end up with my folks' '99 Chevy Tracker before that fell-through. It's got fairly large array of 12pt sockets, a couple of 4/8 point sockets, some ratchets and extensions, some relatively common combination wrenches, and a 1/4 driver handle:

Craftsman-metric-kit.jpg

Looking at some of the writeups it looks like there are a lot of Torx or E-Torx fasteners.

What do you think needs to go into a field kit for one of these Jeeps? What sizes for sockets or other tools can be skipped if they're not present on the vehicle? Is there any kind of parts-list that one can reference to know what sizes are on the vehicle?

Obviously I want the best bang for the buck.
 
10mm-21mm sockets will cover most everything but your axle. There are some good threads on here with trail tool kits so do some searching around. You will find that kits run from mild to wild.
 
Now I'm thinking, both the Renegade and the Cherokee have flat-stored spare wheels. I wonder if a round toolbox with a hole in the mddle for the tie-down bolt exists... Something with enough padding where one doesn't have to listen to the annoying sound of tools clinking off of each other, and fairly light-duty because it'll spend 99.9% of its life tucked-away under a spare wheel, but still just strong enough to be useful when pull it out from under the wheel to use it...
 
Sharkey said:
10mm-21mm sockets will cover most everything but your axle. There are some good threads on here with trail tool kits so do some searching around. You will find that kits run from mild to wild.
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Sharkey, you do realize he has a Renegade? Axle, singular?
 
TWX said:
Now I'm thinking, both the Renegade and the Cherokee have flat-stored spare wheels. I wonder if a round toolbox with a hole in the mddle for the tie-down bolt exists... Something with enough padding where one doesn't have to listen to the annoying sound of tools clinking off of each other, and fairly light-duty because it'll spend 99.9% of its life tucked-away under a spare wheel, but still just strong enough to be useful when pull it out from under the wheel to use it...
Click to expand...

See my build thread. With my spare well, it's filled with tools in bags. No rattles. Granted, I do have the inner shell bed-lined, so that adds some cushioning. I can say on road or off road, no abnormal rattles.

See pictures in first post: http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?31128-WJCO-s-Build-Thread-1999-WJ
 
My hope is to put something that's literally good for the Renegade Trailhawk without anything extraneous.

The kit I posted a picture of undoubtedly has some socket sizes that are not found on the vehicle, or at least are not found on anything user-serviceable on the side of the road or middle of the trail.
 
WJCO said:
Sharkey, you do realize he has a Renegade? Axle, singular?
Click to expand...

:cheesy::cheesy: Nope, I had no idea. I even looked at his profile too but I didn't pay any attention to the section of the forum. :doh: Thanks for setting me straight.

Sorry OP, please disregard my comment (except for the one about looking at some of the repair kit threads).
 
No problem.

I figure these Renegades are new enough that people probably generally don't know what fastener sizes and types are commonly needed for most trail repairs.
 
7-19 mm would be my bet for sizes. Mixtures of both 12 point and wrenches. Something to think about is as you use a tool, write it down and go buy another. I prefer to keep a tool box in each vehicle plus the main on in the garage. As for storing them... Id suggest some small gear bags of some sort. Finding a wrench set in the roll up bundle would be ideal.
 
OP do you have the TrailHawk? My full size spare takes up most of the "storage compartment" under the rear area, but I have been able to use a tool roll type tool pouch to stuff in there, with some roadside kit stuff in it on the left side. There is another little spot on the right hand side up against the back seat where I can stuff something, I have a spare blanket in case I get stranded, and im going to throw a ratchet set with some Renegade specific sizes in there in case theyre needed.

Also saw on another forum where some guys are flipping their spare over, and securing it down with a shorter bolt. This gives you a little additional space to cram things inside the backside cavity of the wheel.
 
Yeah, it's a Trailhawk. We found that our foldable triangles in their orange box fits on the left of the spare pretty well. The tow strap is currently up on the left behind the seat, and I think I put a pack of gloves up on the right.

Might pull the spare out tonight to measure the inside, I'm wondering if I took a 5 gallon bucket and cut it down if it would fit inside of the wheel without leaving a lot of empty space around the edge. That might make for some good storage with a hard container. Would still have to drill a hole in it and put a shaft to go around the tie-down shaft so that it could slip in with that existing wheel retainer, we'll see.

I've got a buddy that does plastic welding. Maybe I'll solicit his help.
 
Annotated Picture of the trunk after we've packed non-mechanic's tools...

Trailhawk-packed-trunk-annotated.jpg

Once we pulled the large styrofoam thing out from the left we were able to fit-in a recovery strap (wrapped in a handtowel with velcro to make it not rattle), windbreaker in a bag, orange triangles, orange vest, a bag with a first-aid kit, gloves, and some cheap jumper cables, an ice scraper, a blue shop towel roll, and in honor of Douglas Adams, a towel.
 
TWX said:
Annotated Picture of the trunk after we've packed non-mechanic's tools...

View attachment 198803

Once we pulled the large styrofoam thing out from the left we were able to fit-in a recovery strap (wrapped in a handtowel with velcro to make it not rattle), windbreaker in a bag, orange triangles, orange vest, a bag with a first-aid kit, gloves, and some cheap jumper cables, an ice scraper, a blue shop towel roll, and in honor of Douglas Adams, a towel.
Click to expand...

Looks good, ive been thinking about pulling the foam out of mine as well because I get some random squeaks here and there from the tire rubbing against it I believe. Also looks like ill be able to cram some more emergency items in there that way too.
 
You could relocate the spare outside the vehicle with a roof rack and have more storage room.
 
That foam insert didn't even remain in-place from the time we left the dealership. I'll go on the shelf and probably sit there for a decade.

I also took the tire wrench and wrapped the hex-end in a blue shop towel, and put a bit of velcro around the whole thing. We could hear it occasionally rattle and that seems to have put a stop to that. Only noise now is the license plate frame from the dealer, which remains in place only until the real license plate shows up from the MVD...
 
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