If you’re planning to take your vehicle off-road, you’ll want to be properly equipped; after all, depending on your destination, you may be miles and miles from any help! Rather than leave your beloved motor out in the wilds while you trek for aid, a proper repair kit and a bit of know-how will get you going again even out in the back of beyond.
Tools
Think carefully about what you really need when you’re packing your toolbox; you don’t want to be carrying extra weight, particularly if you’re going on a long off-road trip, but you do want to be sure that you’ve got all the essentials covered. You want to have the kit to be able to disassemble, repair, replace and reassemble whatever might break, so you can get back on the trail.
A good kit will include:
- Air pressure gauge
- Allen wrenches
- Baling wire
- Crescent wrenches
- Electrical tape
- Grease
- Hammer
- Assorted nuts and bolts
- Open end or box wrenches
- Pliers – standard, needle-nose, channel lock, vise grip
- Utility knife
- Screwdrivers – Philips and standard
- Socket set
- Superglue or epoxy
- Wire and wire cutters
Spare Parts
That may look like quite the list already, but that’s just the tools; a few spare parts are likely to be essential, too. Tires are the most obvious, but depending on your vehicle a few others might be necessary. Some say that the part most likely to break will always be the one you don’t have a spare for; well, you still can’t carry a spare for everything, so you’re going to need to prioritise.
Take a really good look at your vehicle, and consider every part; can you fix it by the road if it breaks, or will it leave you stranded? The ones you can’t fix are the spares you need to carry. Pay particular attention to anything that’s broken twice before – chances are, it’ll go again.
For the parts that you can fix by the road, make sure you have the equipment you need to do so.
Packing right is just as important as packing the right things; make sure that everything is neatly and safely stowed, so it won’t shake loose and knock you on the head when you go over a particularly big bump, and make sure that your vehicle is stable when it’s packed – if you’ve got too much weight up top, you’re making it easier for your vehicle to roll over.
Most importantly, make sure that you’ve got the repair manual for your vehicle, so you know exactly what you’re doing!
At CWS 4×4 we stock a wide selection of Range Rover parts and other 4×4 bits and pieces, so you can easily check off everything on your list before you set off on the offroading adventure of a lifetime. For more information, contact us on 01458 834930 today.