Here Are Your Favorite Automotive Specialty Tools

Hammer impact screwdriver. This has saved my butt countless times, especially when removing Phillips drive or flat head screws. I don’t use it often, but when I do it has a very high success rate.

This is a pretty simple one, but brake piston compressors. When I was young I would just shove random things in the caliper like a block of wood, then muscle the piston back in. What a game changer a compressor was! If you are going to be a home mechanic, and brakes are one of the easier and most done jobs, just pony up for a compressor. And make sure you have the dual sided ratcheting kind for monoblock calipers. All in for both sets below is under $50.

My handiest tool is my smartphone. I’m always taking pics when working on stuff, because 1) easy to see behind stuff or into tiny spaces (poor man’s boroscope), 2) snap a pic of part numbers so I can easily look up or order later, and 3) a snapshot of what it should look like when it all goes back together!

JIS screwdrivers, for all the not-actually-Philips head screws on old Japanese motorbikes. Although even then you still have issues because the screw heads have usually been damaged by someone thinking a Philips screwdriver is the right tool, since it looks like it fits and most people have not heard of the JIS standard. If you ever plan to work on a 70s-80s Japanese bike, look online and buy a set of Vessel brand JIS screwdrivers - it will save a LOT of future cursing!

My 3/8 Milwaukee Fuel Ratchet. Low enough torque to not break stuff, high enough torque to get things snug, small enough to get into most spaces, great battery life, and seriously speeds up most jobs. I use it more than any other tool in my arsenal. And yes, I still use a torque wrench.

My U-jack that lets me place a jack stand right where I am jacking the car.

I used a vacuum bleeder for quite a while, and it usually did the job. But when I picked up my Camaro and started doing track days, it just wasn’t cutting it. Picked up a Motive power bleeder and it became an easy job.

Exhaust hangar pliers. I don’t use them often, but it greatly reduces the effort of exhaust removal. Especially useful if you’re working on jack stands or a Quickjack and quick jobs.

Either my slide hammer and/or my drum/rotor puller.

Forget the cheater bars, impacts, or sockets. Put this sucker on the nut and beat the bejeezus out of it. It was somewhat shocking the first time I used it and I realized that a tool so satisfying could also be so safe and effective.

My oil extractor which lets me change oil on the VW without ever getting under it since the filter is on the top.