I was in Crash Rescue at Fort Lewis, WA, in the 60’s. You are never the same… A ten pound dry powder extinguisher is for me minimal. Not for my car, but for anyone who wrecks out in the country. The thought of standing by, helplessly watching while a family burns to death really freaks me out, even though I have never seen it. Yet.
But, my high rel program I have mentioned over the years is the first most important preparation. The Asian cars tend to be the best, because they are designed from the component level to be the best. In the 350,000 miles I have driven in Mexico and the USA since I retired in 1997, we had one breakdown that stopped us, and that was induced. Don’t ask because I am not telling!
If every component on the car is in great shape, there will be few failures, ever.
ERROR!!! I HAD TWO FAILURES ON THE ROAD. THAT DISGUSTING DODGE CARAVAN I HAD BEFORE THE SIENNA FAILED ITS TRANSMISSION $250 AWAY FROM HOME. SOLUTION: ONLY DRIVE TOYOTA!
large and small flat and Phillips head screw drivers
stock jack and bar for lug nuts (on vacation I’ll bring one of our good floor jacks and a jack stand as well as a small tool box with my socket set and some other tools)
extra quart of oil, 50/50 coolant
From Edit Jumper Cables
Simple and sweet. Specifically our first aid kit contains:
Gloves (either nitrile of vinyl, I prefer nitrile as I have rather large hands and they stretch better than the vinyl gloves. Avoid Latex gloves because so many people have allergies to Latex)
large variety of different band aid sizes (again, use Latex Free)
4 cans of sterile normal saline to spray and clean out wounds
I like to carry a tire plug kit. I have used it a few times. I also have a small floor jack and small 4 way lug wrench.
Really it all depends on what car you have and what condition. If it is a newer car, you likely don’t need much. if your car leaks oil then carrying some oil is a good idea.
For my old motrocycles, I have a tool bag with pretty much anything I might need on the road.
When I do my general maintenance, I try and stick to what is in my tool bag, and this will tell me what I need in there. I have everything from multil tool pliers, adjustable wrench, extra 6mm bolts (most used on my bike), 3 feet of wire, small portion of electrical tape, fuses, tire plug, air gauge, tire stem tool, spark plug, spark plug wrench, multi screwdriver… Sounds like a ton of stuff but it all packs in one small tool bag. It is a 45 year old bike and stuff goes wrong along the way. I have repaired my old chopper many times along the road. It’s an old style rigid and the roads are rough here in Oklahoma. The roads not old beat up the driver but also the bike.
besides the basics like jumper cables, flashlight etc. i was always told to have extra set of clothes and shoes in the trunk just in case… there were many times i was caught away from home and lucky i had extra clothes to get warm…as well as a can of some kind of food that wont go bad for a long time… could be useful if for any reason you are having car trouble and stuck without cell service.
I found I could not get enough leverage with a traditional cross X wrench either, so I added an 18" length of heavy plumbing pipe to my “under the floor mat, spare tire well”.
Have never needed it on the road and forgot about it until I stated to get a banging sound near the rear wheel axle. Only sometimes, only turing to the left. Mechanic heard it too and was able to recreate it, to the left also. But could not find any cause!.. We were both embarrassed when I reporting a few weeks later that I remembered the pipe length…
If you plan to change your own tire on the roadside, carry a 1 ft x 2 ft plank of say, 3/4 inch lumber. You may end up with a flat on the soft-shoulder side and can slide the plank under the jack!
Water? If in cold country (Maine), maybe keep in a half-full Nalgene thick wall camping bottle, 500 or 1000 ml.
Otherwise, it will expand when ice, crack the bottle and not only will you not have water, you will have a soaked portion of your car when it warms up. Same for canned foods. Think freeze-dried and water in bottles.
Water-- If in cold country (Maine), maybe keep in a half-full Nalgene thick wall camping bottle, 500 or 1000 ml.
Otherwise, it will expand when ice, crack the bottle and not only will you not have water, you will have a soaked portion of your car when it warms up. Same for canned foods. Think freeze-dried and water in bottles.
All I carry in my tool box for leverage is about a one foot length of square tubing that fits over the handle of my ratchet. You don’t want to bring along so much stuff that you need a trailer though.