Essential Car Tools for Women

Car maintenance is not just a job for men. Great women such as Bertha Benz, Beatrice Shilling, Helen Rother, and Charlotte Bridgwood, among others, revolutionized the car industry with their amazing mechanical skills and inventiveness.
In honor of them, we made a list of tools to help women (and men) get involved in the car maintenance world.

Here’s a list of 10 essential tools to help you feel confident and prepared for everyday car care tasks.

1. Car Jack

Most vehicles bring a basic toolkit that includes a scissor-type car jack to install the spare wheel when needed. I’m not the only one who thinks everybody hates them because they are unstable, impractical, and dangerous. If you have some spare space in your trunk, you can carry a portable floor jack; they are far more stable, are easy to use, and require less force to lift your car safely.

Car jacks come in different sizes and capacities and, if you are planning to do some jobs in your garage, make sure always to use jack stands to prevent accidents while you are working underneath your car.

If you are only interested in changing tires, you may want to consider an exhaust jack. These tools are basically inflatable bags that plug into the tailpipe and are inflated by your car’s engine. Some of the pros of these tools are that they are extremely stable, easy to use, and don’t require manual effort. However, they come with some downsides.

If you want to know more about car jacks, please check this link for different types of jacks.

2. Cordless Impact Wrench

Impact wrenches are a must-have tool for effortlessly removing car tire lug nuts. In the market, you will find a wide variety of small, lightweight, and yet powerful impact wrenches with plenty of torque to remove the most stubborn fasteners.

Power tools come in three main types: corded electrical, cordless, and pneumatic. For this list, we decided to go for cordless tools, which don’t require an air compressor. Cordless models are portable, easy to use, and overall quieter than their pneumatic counterparts. You can use a cordless impact wrench in your garage or on the roadside to change a tire in a minute, saving you a lot of time and effort.

Impact wrenches are practical for many car repair tasks and essential for any car enthusiast, weekend warrior, or professional mechanic.

For more info about impact wrenches, please check this article.

Once you have loosened the lug nuts and removed your flat tire, the next tool you need is a torque wrench.

3. Torque Wrench

When you put back the car tire, it is important that the nuts are tightened to the right tension. Over-torquing might cause breakage of the lug bolts while too little tension could result in lug nut getting loosed.

A torque wrench is a hand tool that allows you to accurately tighten the nuts to the required torque. Refer your car manual for the correct torque specs for the lug nuts.

4. Cordless Ratchet Wrench

Sockets and wrenches are indispensable tools for countless car maintenance tasks.

The ratchet wrenches are incredibly versatile, making them perfect for a wide range of car maintenance tasks, from loosening bolts in tight spaces to precisely adjusting fasteners.

Cordless ratchets allow you to remove and install fasteners quickly and effortlessly with more precision than impact wrenches. They are less powerful than impact wrenches but allow you more control, especially when you need to adjust a fastener without overtightening it.

Cordless wrenches are also smaller than impact wrenches, allowing you to work in tight spaces. They are also less noisy than impact wrenches, as they lack the hammering mechanism. If you are planning to work on a project that involves dealing with a lot of nuts and bolts, a cordless ratchet wrench is always the best choice at the end of the day.

5. Cordless Screwdriver

Cordless screwdrivers are ideal for working with smaller or lighter fasteners. For example, they are very practical for removing door panels, speakers, and other components that are held by screws. Also, with a proper adapter, you can use them to drive small sockets and work with small nuts and bolts like the ones that hold the battery terminals in place or other fasteners that need precision.

You will find power screwdrivers in different formats. The pistol-like ones are often more powerful but bulkier, and the pen-like models don’t have as much power but are lighter and maneuverable.

6. Portable Compressor

Keeping your tires properly inflated ensures a safe and comfortable ride, saves fuel, and extends their service life. A portable compressor provides freedom as you can check and inflate your tires anywhere, saving you the hassle of going to a gas station or tire shop to monitor your tire pressure, leaving aside that some gas stations charge you for using their compressed air.

There are different models of portable compressors that connect to your vehicle’s 12V power outlet and have either a digital or analog gauge. All you have to do is to plug it into your car’s 12V outlet, set the desired PSI, and let the compressor do the rest. Most models show the current pressure in PSI and BAR so that you can use the unit that suits you the best.

If you have the bad luck of having a tire punctured and the hole isn’t too big, a portable compressor can help you reach the nearest tire shop without changing the tire on the roadside. Also, you can carry a tire repair spray, which will seal the puncture and provide you with an even better temporary solution.

7. Portable Battery Charger

Thanks to the new battery technology, you don’t need to ask for a jump start if your battery dies. Modern battery chargers are compact thanks to their lithium batteries and can be used in your garage to charge or keep your battery charged or to jump-start your battery, for example, if you left your headlights on.

Another great thing about these chargers is that you don’t need to figure out which are the positive and negative wires; they automatically detect them once you connect them to your battery. Models like the CTEK CS FREE are light and small enough to carry them in your glovebox.

Tip: To ensure your portable battery charger is ready when you need it most, make it a habit to check and recharge it regularly.

8. Electric Rotary Tool

An electric rotary tool like the Dremel 3000 or 4000 is perfect for grinding and polishing small surfaces, cutting plastics, drilling small holes, or sanding sharp edges.

Dremel rotary tools are known for their versatility. They can be used to fix minor scratches, polish metal components, clean hard-to-reach areas, or even cut through plastic and small metal parts, making them a versatile addition to your toolkit.

These tools usually come with a set of different accessories that turn them into a small and powerful Swiss army knife, ideal for doing multiple jobs with one tool.

9. Orbital Polisher

If you are a fan of keeping your car a sleek, showroom-quality shine., an electrical orbital polisher combined with a suitable set of sponges, polishing discs, and waxes is a must-have tool.

Some tools are sold as a kit and are sold with many accessories to properly wash, dry, polish, and detail your car’s paintjob.

10. Foldable Shovel & Snow Blower

Well, technically this is not a car care tool. But I am writing this on a winter and I just have to mention it since it is an essential tool if it snows in your town.

You could also use a leaf blower to remove snow. It’s a very handy tool; the only down side is the loud noise.

While foldable shovels and snow blowers are essential during winter months, they may not be necessary during in warmer climates or if you live in areas with little snowfall.

Ready to Take Care of Your Car?

This list includes most of the tools every woman should have in her toolbox; however, if you like working on your car, you will find out that you can never have enough tools.

When using power tools, remember to use proper protective gear such as gloves, goggles, or safety glasses. Always work as comfortably as possible and take regular breaks to reduce fatigue, which could lead to accidents.

We hope you have enjoyed this article, and we wish you all the best in your automotive projects. With the right tools, you’ll be ready to tackle any challenge your car throws at you.