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Looking to explore your DIY auto repair talents? A properly equipped home garage is the answer. In this guide to home garage must haves, we’ll explore the tools, equipment, and accessories to help you create the ultimate garage for all your DIY projects. But before you start ordering stuff, make sure the space is ready.
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Check the basics, such as electrical service. Most home garages have outlets tied to only one circuit breaker on the panel and if you plan on using power-hungry tools such as electric welders, you may need an upgrade and depending on the equipment, maybe even a 240 V outlet.
Proper ventilation is a must and often easy to solve with window mounted exhaust fans. A good heater is also an unavoidable need and stay away from anything with a flame as you’re likely to be working with flammable materials. Avoid under-powered space heaters and consider permanently mounted electric baseboard units or better yet a wall-mounted compact furnace giving you the advantage of having the heat move to where you are working.
Good lighting is also required and remember any ceiling mounted units will be of little help when working under a hood. Supplement them with mid-height wall mounted lights; you’ll appreciate being able to see what you’re working on. A less expensive option is a LED light bar that can hang under an open hood giving you the option of moving it to other areas of the home when needed. They’re often available for less than $100 on Amazon.
Protect the floor. Working on vehicles, means fluids leaking onto the floor; it’s unavoidable. It’s very easy to permanently stain bare concrete floors. Either consider a liquid sealer such as a fluoropolymer based product which penetrates into porous materials or oil-resistance flexible floor tiles. The latter, if padded, can also help prevent leg and foot pain from standing on hard concrete for extended periods of time.
Air compressors and air tools used to be mandatory for any serious auto repairs, but advances in battery-powered tools, especially impact guns provide much cheaper and less intrusive options. One of the top rated makers is Milwaukee. And now there are plenty of hand-held powered air-pumps for inflating tires.
Your basic hand tool set should include both SAE and metric versions. While you’re unlikely to find metric fasteners on your 65 Mustang, you may need to do some work on your 2019 Civic. A top-rated DIY user set is DeWalt’s 168-piece mechanics set at around $250. Remember that impact guns aren’t friendly to normal hand-tool sockets (they easily crack them) and it’s highly advisable to get a set of properly rated impact sockets. Again Milwaukee has the solution for about $200. Impact sockets often require a 3/8” drive gun while most hand-tool socket sets are sized for a 1/2” drive. It’s easy to step a 3/8”power tool drive down to a 1/2” socket, but stepping up from 1/2” to 3/8” may reveal the weak point; the socket adapter, especially with impact guns.
A solid tool bench is a must but often protrudes into limited floor space. Consider a rig that folds up against the wall when not in use. It should also have sturdy fold-out legs to support another garage essential; a bench mounted vise.
An electrical multimeter is essential if you’re working on any type of ride and much easier on later-model vehicle electronics than a 12 volt circuit test light. Fluke is one of the top rated multimeter makers in this field and while their products can be a little pricier than many at $300 and up, they’re worth it. Look for an inductive clamp accessory which can let you test circuits without puncturing a wire’s casing. Any time you put a hole, no matter how small, in a vehicle’s wiring, you invite corrosion.
A good quality floor jack and jack stands are tools you really can’t do without and Blackhawk is one of the top brands for passenger cars and Big Red makes one of the best for light trucks. Prices range from $200 to $300 for jacks and $50 to $150 for a pair of stands; you should have four. Here’s a refresher on how to jack a car safely.
There’s a reason why you won’t find a claw hammer in a professional tech’s tool box, the ball-peen variety is designed to work on metal and is much better at reforming dented steel or persuading stubborn components to come off. A five or ten pound hand sledge and pry bar will also get things to move when the going gets tough due to corrosion.
What you don’t need. I mentioned electric welders at the beginning, but unless you want to take some professional instruction on using them, or gas welders, you’re likely to cause more problems than you’ll solve. Rather than getting a gas cutting-torch, consider a magnetic induction heater for stubborn nuts and bolts. And a cutting wheel attached to a drill is much safer than a torch when removing exhaust pipes or modifying sheet metal.
Power vehicle lifts are other raved-about accessories that most DIY types can live without. When not in use they take up a lot of space and really only save less than a few minutes of time, if that, versus floor jacks and stands. Besides most home garages lack the ceiling height for a vehicle on a full or mid-sized lift.
Oversized wheeled tool chests may look good, but they’re also an invitation to thieves who might be driving by when your garage door is open. Instead consider nondescript lockers mounted against the wall, (secure them to the floor or wall if you’re really worried), and a hard-to-live-without tool trolley. Trolley trays will get your tools much closer to the work than full-sized chests.
This list barely scratches the surface, but it’s a good start. Happy wrenching!
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