Automotive

Things You Should Keep in Your Car at All Times

If you have looked at social media or turned on your television in the last week, you probably noticed that the world is a pretty sketchy place at the moment. With a potential apocalypse on the horizon, many people are coming to the realization that they have no idea what to do in an emergency. Luckily, the Clever Dude is here to ease some of that worry with a few things you should keep in your car at all times. 

For those of you who are new here, I am a former Porsche technician with over 15 years of professional experience repairing and modifying cars. Until a little over a year ago, I spent the majority of my life fixing things and making machines go fast. 

Things You Should Keep in Your Car at All Times

During my travels as a mechanic, I have come across a few things that I believe are essential to keeping your family safe and on the road. Without further ado, here are two things you should ensure are in your trunk at all times. 

Tire Repair Kit

Everyone with a driver’s license knows that getting a flat tire sucks. You’re just going about your day, minding your own business, then boom you’re sitting on the side of the road. In the olden days, you would just calmly pull the car over and change the wheel. Now, that’s not so simple.

The first problem is not all cars come with spare wheels anymore, and if they do, chances are it’s a shoddy space saver. The reason for this is that car wheels have gotten much larger and they simply won’t fit anymore.

Another issue I found is that not everyone knows how to change a tire anymore. Simple repairs and basic maintenance used to be common knowledge. I can not count the number of young people who had their vehicles towed to my shop because they had a flat tire. 

Of course, learning to change the wheel on your car is good knowledge to have but sometimes knowing how to use a tire repair kit is better. Most tire repair kits come with a set of plugs and a couple of hand tools. The first tool is called a reamer and is used to rough up the inside of the hole so the plug will stick to it.

The second tool is called a tire needle and it is used to insert the plug into the tire. To successfully plug your car’s tire all you have to do is remove whatever caused the puncture. 

After you have cleaned up the hole, thread the plug through the needle and push it into the hole in the tire. Getting the plug into the tire will take quite a bit of force especially if the tire is completely flat. It helps if the tire is somewhat inflated, which leads us to the next thing you should keep in your car at all times. 

Air Compressor

Having a tire repair kit in your car is kind of useless unless you have an air compressor to inflate the tire once you’re finished. You can pick up an air compressor that is small enough to fit in your glove box at most auto parts stores. If you don’t want to go outside any more than you absolutely have to you can find them on Amazon as well. 

A tire repair kit and an air compressor certainly aren’t the only things you should keep in your car at all times but they are a great start. A few other good items to have are a selection of hand tools such as a ratchet, sockets, screwdrivers, and pliers. That only really scratches the tip of the iceberg though. Comment below if you’d like for me to cover more things you should keep in your car!

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Drew Blankenship

Drew Blankenship is a former Porsche technician who writes and develops content full-time. He lives in North Carolina, where he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children. While Drew no longer gets his hands dirty modifying Porsches, he still loves motorsport and avidly watches Formula 1.