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A couple of months ago my car battery died. I was in the city and it was no big deal to get a jump with the cables I had and drive to the auto store and buy a new battery. At the time I didn't have the portable jump starter. If the same thing happened while I was out in the woods or during a disaster I would be out of luck, especially if I was out of cell phone range. With potential problems like that on my mind I wanted to share the contents of my emergency roadside kit.

This kit doesn't include any first aid or other preps. Just stuff that I would need to get the car moving again. Those other preps are included but not in the kit below. I have the contents in an old duffel bag and that allows me to take it with me if I'm going to use another car. If' y'all have any suggestions let me know.

Flat Tire Repair

Tubeless Tire Repair Kit
Portable Compressor

Dead Battery

Booster Cables
Portable Power Bank and Car Jump Starter

Stuck in a Ditch

Tow Strap x 2
4-Ton Power Puller
 
Looks good. I also try to cover these scenarios. This is small stuff I cache under the trunk.

Downed Tree
Sven Saw
550 paracord

Engine Problems
Leatherman SuperTool
QuickSteel Epoxy
Duct Tape (folded)
1Q motor oil

Stuck in Snow
Collapsible Snow Shovel
E-tool
Work Gloves

Ran out of Gas/Coolant
Spare gas can
Siphon tube
Gallon of water

Flat Repair
Spare tire & jack
Fix-a-flat can

Don't Get Run Over
Weighted Hazard Triangle
4 LED signal lights (way better than flares)
2 flares
2 yellow safety vests
1 yellow ANSI reflective parka
1 streamlight

Other
5W Baofeng and repeater list
Oregon road map
Tire pressure gauge

Got an extensive emergency kit too, this is the stuff for getting back on the road.
 
Aaa card or roadside thru your insurance for those times you cant get going again. Aaa plus membership is a hundred bucks a year and covers 100 towed miles per breakdown. Premier gets you 200 miles. Basic members are only covered for 3 miles (7if you break down outside your home state.)

Have a decent jack for changing you tires. If you have locking lug nuts make sure the keyed lug wrench adapter is with the car.

A sockeg or box wrench set that has 8, 10, 11 and 13mm wrenches will cover most bolts you find under the hood of modern vehicles. Would also include 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 9/16 to round out the bunch.

A lot of the battery issues we see at work are from loose or corroded connections and unless the battery is old or damaged - they will usually be able to be jumped and recharged. Before dropping $$ on a battery make sure your cablez and terminal ends are tight and free of corrosion. Baking soda and water, one of the afore mentioned wrenches ,and a small wire brush can take care of most of those problems.

Wheel chock or wood block to help secure the vehicle if u gotta chg a tire. Cars fall off jacks. As a tow monkey I have had it happen to me and I have responded to help when it has happened to folks changing their own tires. Some of thosr a chock would have made the difference. Others were due to bad location (incline) or crappy jacks that collapsed. Know you cars jacking points.

Road flares or triangles - if you break down near a curve give approaching traffic advanced warning so at least some drivers down and drive w/ caution.
 
Couple of things. Tools specific to your car. Many new cars use Torque style bits so having a set you can use with your socket set is a must. 2nd 1Qt of oil is an absolute minimum. Traveling off road carry a gallon. Third carry a map specific to the area your traveling. State map is great for highways, but once you are off of them your screwed. If your going into the forest get a map for that area of forest. Lastly and most importantly, KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. AAA, the police or friend can't help you if you don't know where you are.
 
So I drive long distances pretty regularly, in older vehicles, and for whatever reason I've had a spate of car problems, nothing terminal, but each could be a big deal if not addressed immediately. Also, I'm into expedition offroading, so my vehicle bears some specific modifications for that purpose

What do I carry?

Vehicle mods:
Radios: I have a CB, 65W 2m mobile and 25W 10m rig, plus handhelds.
Tires: Rather than opting for the biggest I could get, I went with the goodyear wrangler radial 235/75R15 I have yet to find a tire store that doesn't carry these, typically I can get them installed for about $100. My jeep is rigged up to carry two spares, one on a rear tire carrier, the other inside the vehicle as the normal stock config. My camping trailer uses the same 5 on 4.5 wheel pattern, so it uses the same tires. and it also carries two spares.
Gasoline: Always carry a spare 1-gal, or 5L jerry can of fuel. I often try for max mileage and my gas gauge isn't the best in the world, so I run out of gas rather frequently. When traveling long distance, I usually carry 2 20L jerry cans. You also need something to put the gas in the tank. The two best options I have found are either the super-siphon, or a large long transmission type funnel. I've found the funnel works best.
Filters: I have put accessory filters on everything, transmission has a filter (this extends service intervals), coolant system also has a filter on it, as well as I swapped the stem so I can use the more common Fram PH8A, Wix, 51515 filters, rather than the previous metric and rather meager PH3985 (this is a metric version of the PH16). Gasoline filter has also been swapped out to use a much larger spin-on filter.
Lights: I've slowly been swapping out all the lights on the car with LED bulbs, these typically put out more light, and use less energy than their incandescent cousins. I'm waiting on the price of LED headlights to come down for the moment.

Every-day stuff (this lives in a milk crate in back):
LED battery powered droplight, tool bag 2qt ATF, 2qt SAE 30, spool of wire, jumper cables, funnels, shovel. about 20' of 3/8" fuel line, 10' of 5/8" heater hose.

Trail gear:
Hi-Lift jack (60")
Recovery bag - hi lift ORK, extra chain (about 40' of 3/8" very heavy), tow strap, snatch blogs, extra clevises
Winch - fits into 2" trailer receptacle
2 large canvas tarps
Junk Box - Contains spare sensors, spark plugs, fuses and other things that commonly fail

Always:
2 2400kcal solas bars
4-2L bottles of water
Emergency blanket (just an old wool blanket)

So while this may sound overkill, nearly everything in here is something I have used, most things I have used many times. The hi-lift ORK has pulled both of my vehicles out of the ditch twice (in both cases, there was no help coming without a massive payout), which is why I bought the winch.

ATF and oil... a while ago I blew a transmission cooler line coming over mt Ashland at about 1Am, I was able to have it fixed in about 10 minutes (because I had spare hose and the tools to do it) I also had a few quarts of ATF to put back into the transmission.
 
I've been stuck on I80 a few times in my toyo yaris back in nv. I've learned from those occurrences and have built a good kit bag for each vehicle since. Not only is each kit suited for each vehicle they are also suited for each of us, my wife and I.

I'm going to ramble off what I can remember is in each, sorry for the lack of order in my list.

Mine: (Toyota yaris)

Tow rope, jumpers, 12v tire pump, full metric socket set, breaker bar for lugs, full size spare, crank radio, crank flashlight, emergency bivy, Mexican blanket (can't think of actual name), full tang combat knife, pharoah rod, 2-3 bic lighters, pack of steel wool, full set of frogg toggs (added since move to OR), 2 rolls duct tape, spare serpentine belt, pair of rubber boots, gloves, extra 9mm for CHL, 2 MSR 30oz bottles filled with treated high octane gas, spare 1 gallon gas can empty, 1 nalgene bottle, 5 emergency water packs, water treatment tabs, 4 cans beef stew, can opener, spair pair of old prescription glasses, first aid kit, 2 qts oil, rolled up backpack, various maps of Oregon, Washington, and Nevada, compass. That's all I can think of without going through the car. I'm probably forgetting some stuff. I took out my cables since I don't think I'll really need them up here any more.

Hers: (ford ranger)

8 ton come along, 2 30' tow ropes, 2 full size spares, breaker bar, full set standard and metric socket set, full set frogg toggs, empty 2.5 gallon gas tank, 4 MSR 30oz bottles filled with treated gas, 4qts oil, extra serpentine belt, emergency blanket, extra lady stuff, change of rugged clothing (she works in an office), extra prescription medicine, extra prescription glasses, rolled up backpack, 10 high calorie energy bars, Nalgene bottle, 10 emergency water packs, jumper cables, emergency tire pump, sleeping bag, rolled up backpack, 1 roll duct tape, crank flashlight, pair of boots (office attire usually), pair of wool socks, collapsible scooter, I'm lost for what else is in her truck right at the moment.

You'll be surprised how little space all this takes. Also that that space may never get used for anything else so why the hell not have everything you need in it. You drive your car to work or play all the time. Might as well have a moving tool chest, arsenal, commodity station as well, right?

I'm always adding stuff to my pile of junk in the trunk to. Already got some good ideas from this post!

Thanks everyone!
 
As always, AMProducst is spot on, I must know how you carry the high lift jack, I have an Aussie OME suspension on my 81 Land Slug and live in fear of changing a tire away from home. I need a stable storage solution, as I travel with my two Rotties in the back, a flying jack would upset the natives.
 
Some really good stuff in this post!
Roadside stuff is far more likely to occur than SHTF type stuff.

I actually didnt think to add some of those listed items in my vehicle kit.
Thanks for the post.
 
As always, AMProducst is spot on, I must know how you carry the high lift jack, I have an Aussie OME suspension on my 81 Land Slug and live in fear of changing a tire away from home. I need a stable storage solution, as I travel with my two Rotties in the back, a flying jack would upset the natives.

my jeep has the lame stock roof rack, typically I tie it up there using a pair of trucker knots. I've been giving consideration to building a roof rack and going all camel trophy on it. But I'm not terribly excited at the idea of adding all that weight up high. Currently I'm considering designing a mounting plate that I can weld onto the spare tire carrier. I designed a set of hooks that fit the hi-lift for a buddy of mine that are square on the bottom (so it fits the main rail) and then has a round section above it (that fits the handle) once covered in tool dip and tied down with a ratchet strap it was a nice-no rattle solution.

For the LC you might want to go with a bumper mount, using a pair of angle brackets you can just put a bolt through it lock it off with a nut, and then put a big wing-nut on the end. Most people use 1/2" bolts for this purpose.

Generally, the place most people mount the hi-lift are in front (doesn't work for me due to my push bumper and extra lights), on top with a Roof Rack (which I don't exactly have) or on the back as part of the tire carrier (which I have, but havn't decided on yet).

Personally I think the Camel Trophy Range Rovers look totally bad A, but I realize how inefficient it is to carry so much weight up top. I recently picked up another XJ, that's going to be a serious expedition rig/support vehicle for a buddy of mine's racing team. I'm thinking about extending the rock rails around the side quarter panels, and putting mounts where I can carry tools, water, fuel, turn the whole thing into mule.

Oh, one thing I totally forgot to mention: sand ladders... if you're going anywhere soft (this includes both mud, sand and snow) sand ladders, snow socks, snow chains, and mud mats are all things that are worth thinking about.
 
A lot of the battery issues we see at work are from loose or corroded connections and unless the battery is old or damaged - they will usually be able to be jumped and recharged. Before dropping $$ on a battery make sure your cablez and terminal ends are tight and free of corrosion. Baking soda and water, one of the afore mentioned wrenches ,and a small wire brush can take care of most of those problems.

I threw in an extra battery terminal clamp a while ago after have to use vise grips to clamp on a broken one.
-vise grips
-zip ties
-radiator hose (save the old one when you replace them(if they didn't blow))
 
iPhone
Leatherman
GPS
4 way screwdriver
Channel locks
Needle nose pliers
10"crescent wrench
Jumper cables
Zip ties
Budgie cords
3" Nylon tow strap
Electrical tape
Duct tape
Super glue
Water
150 piece craftsman tool kit
Hammer
Pry bar
3/8"x 20' chain
Plumbers tape
Flashlight
Flares
Fire extinguisher.
 
OK, I also carry, 3x20litre Spectre cans on gas, JAGMTE gas fill nozzle, gas can opener, strap wrench, 20 litre water can, huge home made squad level First Aid Kit, case of MRE's, tarp, paracord, axe, sven saw, 100 mph tape, several qt's of oil, sheets of cardboard, tow chain, maps, knife, full LBE rig, Rifle, camo net, pistol, battery powered Makita "master key", USGI folding shovel, colapsible snow shovel (this has saved no butt SO many times) , USGI woobie, USGI 100% wool blankets, boots, BDU/TRU, gloves, belt, USGI GoreTex Jacket with liner, bungee cords, colapsible dog dishes (silicon), dog leashes & collars, HAM - family talk - Marine radio's, long wire antenna's, cam lock snares, small traps, big honkin tool kit.I think that that is all of it
 
So if you are looking for vehicle storage call Kevin Rowland ar Wagongear in Eigene OR, his hidden'ish vehicle storage solutions rock the house. None of this stuff is visible from outside the vehicle
 
I threw in an extra battery terminal clamp a while ago after have to use vise grips to clamp on a broken one.
-vise grips
-zip ties
-radiator hose (save the old one when you replace them(if they didn't blow))

One thing you might want to consider is upgrading your existing terminals to marine terminals... this is a mod I do on my vehicles, and have done for many friends. It tends to cut the weak lead on lead bond between the battery and the vehicle electrical system. Also using a good preservative on the terminals makes them last much longer.

I'll post some pics later tonight.
 
I see some of you have flashlights, and even a drop light. Consider tossing a headlamp in....they are cheap, but well worth it when changing a tire at night by allowing you to see what you're doing while having both hands free.
 
Bar soap rubbed on a cracked/holed and leaking gas tank (it happens) will get you down the road.
Some gas proof goop would probably be way better though.
 

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