If you are due a service and maybe thinking of tackling the job yourself, we have put together some handy tools & equipment suggestions that will make your life much easier when carrying out essential maintenance & servicing on your 4x4 at home.
Minor damage and small problems are often easier to fix than you think, and having the right tools at home can arm you with the means to perform common car repair and maintenance tasks by yourself.
By taking care of the little issues as and when they come up, you can really help to prevent more serious problems and break downs.
Filter Pliers
Always a must and most will fit a variation of filters sizes. Never use filter pliers to tighten a filter, they should only be used to remove a filter.
Oil & Fluid Drainers
Although obvious the waste oil, antifreeze or any fluid drained needs to go into a container as it can contaminated the environment, handy drainers with a spout makes life a lot easier to pour and dispose correctly, not to mention much cleaner.
Lights & Torches
No matter how good your garage lighting is there will always be somewhere you need that little extra lighting, with a wide variety of lights & torches in all shapes and sizes on the market be sure to have at least one to access remote areas or for when have broken down in the dark.
Spanners & Sockets
A selection of spanners, sockets and a variety of screwdrivers are always a necessity if carrying out work by yourself on your truck. All Toyota’s will require metric size spanners or sockets with an 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17mm, 19mm, 21mm, 22mm or 24mm you can virtually strip a vehicle.
Multi-Meters
Although not an obvious choice if you intend to check any wiring or power outputs of your vehicle then these are really useful and can be surprisingly cheap too.
Antifreeze Tester
There are lots of antifreeze testers on the market and it can get a bit confusing purchasing one, they are all very much the same and even the basic antifreeze testers will provide you with a little piece of mind.
Bearing Pullers
With all the bearings on 4x4’s a bearing puller set is an excellent addition to the DIY’er. Specialist pullers are also available for doing major jobs such as removing rear wheel bearings from the half shaft.
Tyre Pressure Gauge
A couple of quid spent on a tyre pressure gauge could literally save you hundreds, we have added tyre pressure guides to all of our Vehicle Specification pages should you need to know.
Gloves
Although not really a tool they are very handy (excuse the pun!), a box of latex gloves or alike can save hours scrubbing away at your palms. Quick Tip: Applying sugar to soap forms an abrasive paste and will help any stubborn oil marks that you may have encountered whilst carrying out your service or repair, alternatively a good hand cleaner is a bit more intense.
Pry Bars
Always helpful when checking play in ball joints or suspension components, good for removing brake drums too.
Jacks & Stands
Although your vehicles standard bottle jack will do the job, having a good trolley jack really does make life easier and supporting your chassis or axle with quality axle stands helps you get underneath to see what’s going on, safely!
Grease Gun
Have a quality grease gun to hand, some aftermarket track rods and ball joints use grease-able versions whilst most prop-shafts will have UJ’s that require regular top-ups.
Being prepared in advance will help you carry out your service or repair, having the right tools and equipment around you certainly helps with the stress levels too.