The dumbest tools you "own".

[Dirtman]

Like to hear some of the ghetto nonsense tools you guys have made or own for doing one time jobs.

I have a dirty sock filled with 3 pounds of fishing stinkers to align shift cable linkage. Never seen an actual tool for this but the book says to hang 3lbs of weight from the shifter before setting the cable.

I have several cam tools made from just random milled peices of metal. A block of wood for doing range sensors. A insane bracket made to time a 2.3 sohc to give timing marks when you have no backing plate. I throttle plate wedge made from a door stop to set rpms. A ghetto case spreader for a dana 70... theres more but I gotta dig through my old stuff.

What crazy ingenious redneck tools do you have for dumb single time jobs?

 

[sgtsandman]

I have several 90 degree angle brackets from a set of running boards bolted together for a make shift pinion flange holding tool. That's the only thing I can think of off hand. I may have others that I'm not thinking about.

 

[Snoranger]

I have a cigarette lighter tester... It a lighter plug with a LED light. A buddy would tell me at least once a week that his lighter wouldn’t charge his phone. Every time I checked it, it was fine. So I made a tester for him to plug in as soon as he had his issue.
Turned out he was an idiot and just couldn’t plug his phone in all the way.

 

[Uncle Gump]

A drawer full of distributor wrenches... computer controlled carb tools.... choke angle gauge... float weight scale and a carb stand. Haven't used any of it 20 years or so.

 

[Dirtman]

A drawer full of distributor wrenches... computer controlled carb tools.... choke angle gauge... float weight scale and a carb stand. Haven't used any of it 20 years or so.

Wtf

 

[19Walt93]

I've got a long flexible tool that I used in the dark past to adjust the points on GM's, a 2 foot long Snap On phillips screw driver to aim headlights without your hand getting in the way of the aimers, a Snap On hook tool to stretch the springs that held round headlight buckets in place, a pair of Snap On special pliers to remove the obnoxious spring clamps Mopars used on their hoses, a couple of 12mm wrenches bent at odd angles so I could change the timing chain tensioners on too many Couriers, a driveline angle gauge that has a bubble level built into it with a 60's Ford ID number, and a valve guide driver for air cooled VW's. I bought the valve guide driver when working at a gas station because I rebuilt over 80 of those P.O.S.'s. I also own the valve seat grinding equipment that my former dealer bought in the 30's or 40's because the new owners were going to throw it out so one of the techs grabbed it for me.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Wtf

What? You asked what the dumbest tools I owned were. I told you.

But back in the day.... I used them everyday. Everything ran like shit back then and people just lined up to give me money. It was a beautiful thing.

 

[Snoranger]

But back in the day.... I used them everyday. Everything ran like shit back then and people just lined up to give me money. It was a beautiful thing.

Yup... They don’t build them like they used to.

 

[Josh B]

I have a $1.50 bubble level under the hood of my truck. After getting it leveled in any way I can, usually with a 4ft level on the bed rails and somewhere under the hood best as possible.
Push it into a blob of high temp silicone to where it shows level and let it cure.

Then no matter where it is parked I can know with a glance where the highest corner is at
And that's just to get a good reading when checking the oil

 

[pjtoledo]

manufactured on my Unimat mini lathe about 30 years ago

one end is an alignment tool to lock the gear on the front of an '82 VW diesel pump.
the other end is for removing & installing a starter bushing on the same engine.
the brass cap had the threads removed.

no shop is complete without a Krikit.

 

[Uncle Gump]

OK... what do you use a krikit for?

 

[pjtoledo]

let's wait on that one


hell, Google takes the fun out of knowing who can ID it.
it's a belt tension gauge.

 

[97RangerXLT]

I have a 1/4" Craftsman Screwdriver that I filed a notch in the middle of it in order to wrangle drum brake springs more effectively. works better than the actual brake spring pliers that I have.

AJ

 

[Curious Hound]

I'm hearing a lot of home made ingenious/smart tools and not too many "dumb" tools.

I have a 3ft piece of 2" angle iron shaped and drilled on one end to bolt to the pinion flange of an 8.8 so I could hold it while torquing the nut. A 4" piece if rubber hose for removing/ re-installing spark plugs on a 4.6l in my F150. A pair of open end wrenches with about 2.5" off set handles for valve adjustments on a Mercedes OM617 turbo diesel without removing all the injector tubing. A 15/16" impact socket about 6" deep for setting tension on a cable on a corrugator (the machine that produces corrugated cardboard). A t-shaped tool made from 2x4's for holding the brake pedal when bleeding brakes on my F150 because the vacuum bleeder doesn't seem to do well on the rear passenger side. Several air Chuck's with pieces of 1/4" pipe between the chuck and the quick connect fitting so that the thing has a built in handle for easier use.

Those are just the ones that come to mind quickly. Anyone who does much "diy" stuff will have a fleet of home made self invented tools.

 

[Bgunner]

A small Screw Driver with a purposely custom bent tip to get under tire studs to pop them out easier. I've used this thing twice, once when made about 11 years ago and just recently after snow flew this year. Yea a strait driver works but a slight bend helps pop them out once under them.

Dumb enough? The rest of my home made tools have a really useful and multi purposes except this one.