I mostly use my truck for longer trips, sometimes vacations with my truck camper and sometimes 2+ hour each way work trips into pretty rural areas.  My long time practice has been to try to keep a pretty complete tool kit as well as some spare parts (heater hose, serpentine belt etc) with me.  In general if I find myself needing a particular wrench etc while doing maintenance at home then I try to have it in the truck if practical.  That said, with this Dodge I feel like my tool bag is getting kinda huge.  This thing has metric fasteners, a few SAE, torx, etorx hex and that one darn 10mm 12pt socket needed for the starter.  Plus on my last adventure replacing the vacuum pump I needed probably 4 different combinations of 15mm wrenches/sockets/extensions just for like 6 bolts.

 

So with that winging out of the way what do you guys carry with you on road trips and how do you organize and store it?  I currently have two bags, one with the most universal tools and one for the more in depth potential repairs. Universal contains:

 

* Set of short metric sockets + extensions

* Set of deep metric sockets

* Stubby and normal 3/8, long/extendable 1/2 ratchet stubby 1/4 inch ratchet.

* Short 1/4 sockets

* Set of stubby wrenches

* A few larger metric wrenches

* Torx sockets

* Short and long screwdrivers with bit sets

* Several different kinds of pliers (long nose, standard, wire cutters etc)

* Medium and small adjustable wrenches

* Double ended sockets for lug nuts.

* Multimeter

* Tire pressure gauge

* Tire plug kit

* Fixed blade knife

* Razor Knife

* Duct tape, zip ties, hose clamps etc.

 

Secondary bag has:

* Better wrench set (flex head ratcheting)

* Crows foot sockets (for lines etc)

* More largish wrenches

* Some SAE Sockets and wrenches, mostly to help others on the road

* Large pliers

* Hack saw

* Ratchet straps

Separately I have a jack, breaker bar, and tire inflator.

A tow strap and related bits

Jumper cables

Jump starter

From the first list I carry all but the double ended sockets for lug nuts and the tire plug kit.  From the second list I carry some SAE Sockets and wrenches, large pliers, 2' braker bar, and tire inflator.  I also carry a cordless ½" impact gun, a ⅜" cordless ratchet and an OBD code reader which I forgot on my last trip and had to borrow one.  I carry most of this under the back seat in short cardboard box and the rest in the 5th wheel.  My best tool though is a AAA card with premier RV towing.  

Edited January 11Jan 11 by IBMobile