Roadside Emergency Kit

[Notifier]

I wanted to come up with a set of supplies to have on hand in my DeLorean for roadside emergencies or incidents. Or even if I was out on the road and needed a simple tool or item for something not particularly related to the vehicle (or even to help someone else out).

The criteria I had in mind:
1.) Needs to be as compact and basic as possible. Want most of the parts to fit into a single bag, not rolling around loose the vehicle! Also want to avoid having that "parts department" on wheels.
2.) Designed for the "quick fix" scenario. Not really looking to spend time/effort replacing let's say a water pump on the side of the road, but if you can rig the pump to work to get you home, that's fine. Anything that would be more involved, time to call the tow truck.
3.) Low maintenance - need to check it often, but don't want to have to remember to replace batteries every month.
4.) DeLorean specific, but at the same time could be used for any vehicle.

Keep in mind this is an automotive emergency kit, not a survival kit. In other words, if you're going on that long drive or in winter stormy weather, there are another set of supplies you should have on hand (i.e.: blankets, water, etc.).

So anyway, this is what I came up with. Anything I should add/delete/change? Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated!

Kit.jpg
(click on picture for larger view)

First Row:
Single warning triangle w/case*
Small personal first aid kit
Fire Extinguisher - ABC 2.5lbs*
"Fix-a-flat" tire sealer
12" tool bag (everything but "*" fits in the tool bag)

Second Row:
Wire cutters
Needle nose plaiers
Slip joint plaiers
Mulit-tip screwdriver
Muffler bandgage
Hose tape

Third Row:
Shop rags
Tire gauge
Electrical tape
Bag of spare fuses
Utility knife
Flashlight (Dorcy LED dynamo flashlight - needs no batteries)
12V electrical tester
Socket set (English & Metric)

Fourth Row:
Towel*
Work gloves
Jumper cables
2 24" bungee cords
8 gallon trash bag
2 chemical "glow sticks"
2 jumper wires w/male spade ends (for jumping out bad relays)
2 jumper wires w/alagator clip ends
Notepad & pen
Diagram of fuse/relay block
Diagram of electrical system

[jawn101]

Great idea to share what's in our kits, I like it. You have all the right ideas in there but a couple suggestions:

- I like to have individual screwdrivers instead of a multi-tip one. Bits can get lost, drop out, etc - and are no good for prying. A 99 cent flat bladed driver can do wonders to help you adjust a tensioner, remove a belt, or do any kind of general prying.
- A multimeter. Harbor Freight gives them away for free with coupons or you can suck it up and pay 3 bucks for them. They aren't great, they aren't super durable or accurate, but it's worth having!
- A spare relay or two. If you've updated your relays and still have the old ones, there's no reason you can't carry the old ones just in case - as long as they were working. I keep 2 standard ones, 1 lambda configured one, and an RPM relay just in case
- V-belts. Definitely worth keeping in the car.
- A spare spark plug (or as many as you've got room for) and socket

[thirdmanj]

I've been told that if one uses "fix-a-flat" in a tire, said tire will have to be replaced and is not repairable. Anyone else hear about this?

[Patrick C]

Spare relay, spare belts, spare fuel pump and you're good to go.

[mluder]

That's a nice kit.

Me? I carry a set of jumper cables, extra 50/50 collant, clutch fluid...
Most importantly, I carry my AAA card. The best roadside kit available.

Steve

[Jonathan]

This was to be part of my justification for buying one of the Tablets for sale nowadays. My intention was to have with me all my technical files, schematics, troubleshooting guides, reference pictures, etc. in case I ever get in a pinch. That being said, to fix the problem you might have the solution for, I would carry many of the tools and odds & ends mentioned above as well.

I haven't made my mind up on which Tablet will be best for me for this and some other uses. Ideally I would have every file I have ever amassed on the memory of the Tablet. Maybe even a 3G model to perhaps log into the fourm on the fly. Add to that I was hoping to display certain things at car shows, like some of the clips on YouTube either from other owners, from movies, or some of the fun BTTF stuff out there.

My hope would be to cut down how many binders or paper copies of certain things I drag around in the trunk. I have a pretty dynamite little roadside cheat sheet one of the vendors sent me a while back that I keep in the car for emergencies. I was asked to not post it publicly online, so I'll honor that unless told otherwise.

Anyone else make use of a particular Tablet computer for this kind of thing?

[jawn101]

Anyone else make use of a particular Tablet computer for this kind of thing?

I never go anywhere without my iPhone 4, which can do it all... but I also carry around my Kindle Fire a lot too. No 3G option on that, but I also have a MiFi hotspot that I sometimes remember to toss in my pocket. Not often though.

[stevedmc]

I pretty much carry every tool I have ever used to work on the Delorean with me at all times. No offense but the only stuff that looked useful in that kit was the fire extinguisher and the jumper cables.

[mluder]

I have an iPad with 3G and it's pretty handy. I have some of the docs as PDF files in iBooks but not the entire workshop manual - although it migh not be a bad ide but it will take some time to scan all those pages if a PDF version doesn't already exisit.

Steve

[Jimmyvonviggle]

I carry a cell and my CAA card (AAA to my American friends)
Of course Some duct tape never hurt.