Essentials in the boot

[pyebibby]

What essential things do i need in the boot? tools, what in particular, ive heard some people saying not too much incase it gets knicked and others saying a whole toolbox? any hints and tips on what too carry with me? so far i have the obvious from my previous cars, first aid kit, high vis, maps!

Thanks
Pyebibby

[SGTBILKO]

Years ago some foreign cars like the Renault Dauphine or the Fiat 500 used to carry spare engines in the boot or so I've been told. Seriously though, some service items like plugs, points, condensor, distributor cap, a set of bulbs and basic tools like pliers, hammer, screw drivers and a set of spanners in a tool roll. Some would say a spare fuel pump is needed, it all depends on your journey. Is it to the local supermarket or a continental trip? Years ago I went to France with my godparents in a Reliant Scimitar and had to share the cramped back seat with an emergency windscreen. They took everything. Bear in mind that there is Murphy's law, which states that the thing you havn't got is the one you will require in the event of a breakdown.

[chrisryder]

i agree with the above, but would also suggest:
a spark plug socket (and something to turn it with!)
the starting handle if you've got it (these can be used to undo wheelnuts too)
if no starting handle, something else to undo wheel nuts
something to remove hub cabs, be it an odd L shaped bit of steel, or a push-bike tyre level. you may find your hub caps are loose and pull off by hand anyway! but some can be tight little bleeders.
i carry a gallon or so of fuel in a can, but that's because i don't trust my fuel gauge!
make sure there's lots of air in your spare
and make sure you've got a jack of some sort in the event of a puncture.

[StaffsMoggie]

As above, the usual tools, jump leads, foot pump, fuel can, points, coil, condenser, plugs and a spare fuel pump. The starting handle is great for wheel nuts and the spare wheel clamp is the perfect hubcap removal tool.

[Matt Tomkins]

tbh, if you've got a starting handle and know how to use it, you don't really need to carry jump leads.
If it's really being a begger, lack of a catalytic converter means that a bump-start is perfectly ok.

i'd also add to the list fuses. the old original type and blade ones if your car has any fitted. I know someone who's wiper fuse went in a vw beetle in he pouring rain without a spare. not fun - especially when he used the old tin foil trick and the car court light! midway through putting it out, the traffic went quiet, and he'd closed the motorway!

also, jack-wise, get something like a bottle jack, rather than the original one. that way you're not dependent on the original jacking points being ok. also, the door needs to be open to crank the old-style jack - not ideal when changing an offside tyre on the side of a motorway!

[cmea]

I tend to agree with the above, however, its no use carrying anything you do not know how to fit. So if your mechanical knowledge is limited only carry what you would be comfortable replacing on the roadside. Atlas, coins for parking meter/tyre inflator, Oil, spare bottle of water (for radiator/windscreen/cooling burns), jack and wheel spanners, screwdriver and adjustable (yuk) spanner, torch (to shine at defect whilst looking knowledgeable), plus tape to bodge it up till you get home as well as charged mobile phone to call RAC/AA/Dad/Wife/Mechanic would be my minimum. But for short journeys decent shoes and a jacket

[MarkyB]

Get something more like a scissors jack, much more likely to fit under a flat tyre.
If you are full of doubts an AA/RAC card is pretty good too .

Cmea is right to a certain extent, although even an AA/RAC man probably wont have Morris Minor bits on board so service items and a petrol pump have to be favourites, some wire, some cable ties maybe.

Don't head out on a journey thinking you are rolling dice, you aren't, have every expectation of getting wherever you intend to go, in this country, or any other, with a smile on your face.

As far as cars go, a Minor is as simple as a stick.

[pyebibby]

Fantastic, a brilliant list of things too chose from, but as one person said (too many too be quoting i this state) only take what you know what too use! i have breakdown on my insurance so that is a possotive, i just need too build my knowledge up. I'm slightly worried by the fact though that she passed her MOT today, only too break down on my mechanic a mile down the road...

[chrisryder]

congrats on the mot. it may be that you carry stuff you can't fit. but an aa/rac/passer by might be able to fit it for you. and is less likely to have what you need in their van/van/coat pocket!

i never knew the spare wheel clamp was a hubcap tool! lucky i haven't got hubcaps any more anyway!

i carry a spare set of wheelnuts too. as someone once told me 'it's all too easy to take off your hubcap and lie it down, then take off the wheel nuts and put them in the hub cap for safe keeping, and then kick the hub cap and fling you wheel nuts over the nearest fence'.

i've got free recovery on my insurance. i've only ever used it twice (in the 25000 miles i've done in my minor) both times for head gasket failures no less. it is always a good back up. i drive a lightly happier knowing i can get home no matter what. but it's not fun waiting up to 2 hours for the truck! (1st time was 2 hours, 2nd time was 30 mins!)

it's often been suggested to carry a wire coat-hanger too. good for bending into makeshift brackets when something falls off!

[mike.perry]

Once you have established who is in charge, you or the car, you should not need a boot full of spares especially as the part that breaks will be the part that you do not have spare.

[dp]

I'd add a pack of wet wipes. Most jobs will leave your hands mucky and that muck'll find its way everywhere.

PLUS First aid kit. Patching up yourself is more important than patching up the car after all

Plus disposable pac a macs as it'll probably be raining.

[alex_holden]

I'd add a pack of wet wipes. Most jobs will leave your hands mucky and that muck'll find its way everywhere.

Swarfega make some wet wipes that work pretty well on oil/grease etc.

Some things I carry that I haven't seen mentioned:
Fire extinguisher. Used it once when a stray welding spark ignited a bin full of oily rags in the garage.
Warning triangle. Used it two or three times when I've broken down in an awkward place (particularly important if your car doesn't have hazard lights).
Tow rope. Make sure it's a good strong one - I had a cheap one snap unexpectedly and cause an accident once.
Small army surplus folding shovel. Came in useful recently for shifting snow and grit when I got stuck half way up a steep hill.

It should go without saying that you should stow the extinguisher and warning triangle in such a way that you can get to them quickly in an emergency.

[pyebibby]

Yes, i have a triangle and used that only last month, first aid kit i have (sure its propably out of date by now!) not a scout any more so not too worried about that!
toe road, we had one snap when i was taking her too the garage, aparently it is illegal to use one now? it has too be a solid structure, toe bar. ow well!

Thank you everyone,
I said too the missis that there wouldnt be anywhere too leave her stuff in the car (thank god ;) )

[Matt Tomkins]

I'd add a pack of wet wipes

i'd tend to lean toward some disposable latex/vinyl gloves - so much easier to take them off than clean off the layers of grease at the roadside... in the dark... in the rain... while lorries whistle past you...
... that's inevitably going to be where any breakdown occurs!

[pyebibby]

Once you have established who is in charge, you or the car, you should not need a boot full of spares especially as the part that breaks will be the part that you do not have spare.

Well at the moment shes in charge, MOT passed, shes now miss firing, shes got a new distributor cap, and spark leads i think and still not working new headgasket... anyone any ideas, (and i really dont know much more than that! :/

[santadawes]

I have an assortment of tools & spare parts, Bottles of drinking water, small cooker & gas kettle, teabags/coffee and cups, folding table and other junk.
I will be cutting down on some of these as I know that it will be a drag factor when the cost of fuel is high.

[chrisryder]

i always kept a water bottle in the boot for topping up rad or screenwash, or cooling burns... but over winter the bottle froze and split, and when it thawed it's done a lovely job of washing my boot!

[StaffsMoggie]

One thing i did forget to mention, always carry a petrol can. Should you run out, and we have all done it, petrol stations will never lend one out even if they have one among the pot noodles and the rest of the rubbish they sell. Bulbs? No chance!

[Matt Tomkins]

One thing i did forget to mention, always carry a petrol can.

but for god sake, either fill it or make sure it's totally empty, and ALL the fumes have evaporated off. A full tank burns, an empty one explodes!

[mike.perry]

A tow hitch and trailer to carry all the spares
Actually a lot of spares can be crammed in the boot under the floor and the 1st aid kit can go on the shelf behind the back seat so that if you brake suddenly it will fly forward and hit someone on the head. You can then practice using the bandages.