This sounds kinda silly, but I am being serious... I am looking at consolidating my tools into one larger box to bring with me to the track and I am finding I have to almost create a home tool box and a car tool box. For example: I have pliers for creating coax cable, etc...

One you seperate these items, what is the best way to seperate the sockets versus the wrenchs, etc... I see that Sears has different types of holders, but some look like it would be a pain to quickly grab items out of the organizer.

Any opinions?

 

Over the years, I've gone a lot of directions - often too big - and have ended up with:

1. One of those 5-gallon bucket cover pouch pocket thingies for my home repair stuff
2. A home wiring box (6x18x3 maybe)
3. A home plumbing box (a little bigger)
4. A traveling race tool box - Craftsman machinists chest, 24x11x15 perhaps?
5. Padded plastic "truck box" with my multimeter, tire gauge, and pyrometer
6. Similar box with my alignment tools (the toe bars don't fit and travel loose)
7. All of the power tools living on a shelf in the garage
8. Two plastic tote bins like Mom used to use in the garden - they nest for travel and hold the brake bleeding bottle, pads, and misc. junk at the track

I'm going to go through my race box this week and weed out anything that I didn't actually use last season, in an effort to make it lighter. The VOM etc. might end up in the bottom drawer if I can pare it down enough. This box doesn't have anything in it that I don't need to work on the Golf.

I got a great lesson in toolboxes watching the factory Lancia mechanics at the Olympus World Rally back in the late '80s. Each of them had several coffee cans with tools poking out of them, each of which was designed for a particular job (gearbox replacement, whatever). They just picked up the can went to the car, and ripped into it.

K

 

Organize???
Whats that?

Seriously, I have 2 boxes.
The home box is the big Craftsman cabinet thats about 5 feet tall. No way I can take this to the track (Although the teams with big trailers often do).

So I put together a smaller 3 drawer box of Civic specific tools and I carry it to the track. I'm covered by whats in there 90% of the time, and when I need the odd tool I don't have, I borrow.

And as a side note on borrowing tools at the track or autocross... Don't be "That Guy."
Its OK to borrow occassionally, but if you are consistently unprepared and always doing it, you are eventually going to be invited to **** off. Its also helpful if you carry enough stuff that people can borrow from you sometimes.
Finally, always put stuff back EXACTLY WHERE YOU GOT IT. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. I don't mind loaning stuff, but it pisses me off when I need it later and find it laying in that guys paddock.

 

Good tips guys! Keep them coming!

 

I have a Craftsman setup with the upper and lower, rolling chest. I keep the automotive tools and anything I would want at the track in the top chest: ratchets, extensions, wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, plyers, small selection of hammers and some light electrical tools. The lower box is for more 'household' type tools and misc hardware that I would not necessarily need/want at the track. The top box goes in the back of the tow vehicle where it can be accessed with the rear hatch open.

I do not currently carry too many spares to the track but keep a couple of the stackable plastic storage bins for brake spares, oil, windex, etc. which stack nicely.

 

You will find after a couple of trips to the track that you will be able to sort out your "most used" tools as defined from your "just in case" tools. The problem that you have to watch out for is when your "just in case" tools overcome just about every other tool in your box or truck, for that matter. But, like Catch22 said, learn to put the tools you use back in the same spot everytime. This can bite you bigtime when you miss the first few calls to grid and you haven't torqued, or tightened, or screwed, or fastened, or hooked, or banged, or clicked, or squeezed, or clipped something on your race car and you need that special tool now so you can make the grid and not start from the back...............sheeesh !!! I hate that...

 

I got tired of not being able to find whatever socket or wrench, and went to Sears during a Craftsman Club sale and bought a large-ish rollaway and one of their large sets of tools. All that (new, good) stuff went in the rollaway. The rest went in their own drawers and/or a carryaround box for use at the track.

I then labeled the rollaway with a labelmaker, which helped considerably. Inside said rollaway in 2 of the drawers is a plastic socket organizer and a plastic wrench organizer. The wrench thing I like. The socket thing...not so much. They're piled up very close to one another and you can't see the markings.

When I'm at the racetrack, I'm lazy. If I have a need to do something that requires more than the hand tools, torque wrench, jackstands and whatever else I've got on me...I'm going home. I simply don't want to do that stuff in the dirt, in the sun, amongst the fire ants, in the paddock at CMP, or wherever.

At home I find it helpful, for me anyway, to put EVERYTHING back in the rollaway when I'm done. Even if I know that in 30 minutes, I'll need that wrench again...I put it away. Otherwise I end up with this pile of tools on the floor all mixed up. No good.

 

Why not pick up something like this from sears?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why not pick up something like this from sears?</TD></TR></TABLE>

...because it doesn't have nearly as much as you need. "Must haves" are things like Pry bars, torque wrenches, odd (not found in your typical kits) size sockets for things like hubs, electrical, rivet tool, etc.

 

with a setup like the "123 piece mechanics tool set!" you'll find yourself using less than half of the tools.
I've got my track setup in a 18"x12"x4" aluminum briefcase type case. I keep 3 sizes of socket organizers, ratchets, wrenches, allen keys, 2 screwdrivers and a bit driver with bits, vice grip of course, crescent, a small hammer and a few other bits that will fit into it. It's small, has a handle, and will never be too heavy for me to carry in and out of the trunk (fewer off-season chiropracter visits!)
Then I have a ~50L rubbermaid bin full of bigger tools like breaker bars, pickle forks, BFH (times two), and spare axles, brakes, oil, shop towels, etc.
I'd like to say that my tools at the shop are organized, but... I won't get into it.

The benefit of the small case of tools is that I keep it in the trunk of my daily driver, since I was always finding myself without tools at home, and needed to drive across town to the shop to get a socket to tighten up the door handle of the house or something

 

You know, with Hoosier trailers being so successful trackside, you'd think that a snap-on or MAC truck at trackside would clean house as well.

Hm. anyone know anyone that has one? Might be worth a finders fee...

I'm always leaving sockets on ratchets and misplacing screwdrivers and clamps. I spend more friggin time looking for the damn tools than I do using them.


I will chime in on the whole put-it-back-when-you-borrow thing.
Please, nothing pisses me off more than having to go over to someone's paddock spot and get my stuff back.