Added on October 30, 2019  The News Wheel

6 Home Garage Essentials

If you hate taking your car to the mechanic, you’re not the only one.

There’s nothing worse than going to your local shop for something that seems minor, then walking out with a $1,000 mechanic bill. Sure, you could try to fix the car yourself, but how are you going to do that when you don’t have any equipment set up in your garage?

Today, we will show you how you can better spend that thousand bucks. Instead of giving the auto mechanic all your money for something you know you could do, just get some garage essentials and turn your garage into your own auto shop.

1. Trusty jack

If you want to get underneath your car and not have it fall on your head, you’ll need a trustworthy high-lift jack and jack stands. To do something as simple and safe as changing your tires for winter or as complicated and time-consuming as undercarriage work, you’ll need one that’s highly rated.

2. Power tools

Power tools will save you loads of time, and frankly, there are things that you can’t do without them. You’ll need a drill and drill bits, an impact driver, a rotary multi-tool, an angle grinder, the most accurate gauge you can find, and a reciprocating saw to start. 

You can build this up as you go. Sometimes you don’t know you need something until you really need it.

3. Less powerful tools

You’ll also need a good toolset for getting into smaller spaces. This too will build up over time, but you can start with 1/4 and 1/2-inch socket sets, a selection of wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters, and lots of tapes.

Make sure you get quality stuff so you’re not replacing it once a year.

4. Lights

Make sure that your garage is as well lit as possible so you can see what you’re doing. However, when you’re really getting “in there”, you will need another lighting source. An LED wand will almost always do the trick; it allows you to work with both hands if you need and LED gives off less heat.

5. Workbench

Sometimes you will have to remove a part from the car and work on it somewhere. That somewhere will be on your sturdy workbench. You need one of these so you can work on a hard surface.

Either get an adjustable one or build one you don’t have to bend over to work on. You’ll be using it a lot, so if the height is off, your back will let you know.

6. Compressor

When you’ve got all the other things, a large air compressor will be the item that’ll take your garage and turn it into an auto repair shop. You can pump your tires, clean tight spaces that you wouldn’t normally get to, run air tools through it, and use spray painting equipment with it.

Start with the garage essentials

Start with these garage essentials and slowly build up your arsenal of tools over a period of time. Eventually, there won’t ever be any reason to take your car into the shop because you’ll have a professional setup in your own home.

This is a collaborative article.