Some Trunk Essentials

Hey everyone, James here from The Digital Garage. One thing you can do to improve piece of mind on the road is make sure you have some basic essentials in your vehicle somewhere. This is most usually the trunk. Even if you have a service that will come to your aid it is important that you have some equipment in your vehicle. Why? What if your cell phone is dead or has no reception? What if you are off the beaten path and cannot wait for the potential hours it would take for help to arrive? Not a fun situation. This will be a short list of some items you should have in the vehicle and some that you may want to add. Keep in mind that you also need to understand how to use these items or they are practically useless to you.

Some Trunk Essentials:

1. Spare Tire (Or the "donut")

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Your vehicle should already include some form of spare tire. Either a full size spare or the infamous donut spare. Think about your vehicle for a moment. Do you know where you spare is? Even if you do it is a good idea to check it and make sure that it is still road worthy. If you have a full size spare make sure it has enough air in it. If you have a donut make sure you understand that it is NOT meant to be driven on for a extended period of time. If you do not have a spare in your car for whatever reason make sure you get one.

 

2. Car Jack

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Chances are your car may come with some form of jack in the event you have to change a tire. locate it and if it does not then make sure you invest in one. It is important to invest in a quality car jack that is rated to lift whatever vehicle you have so make sure it is rated for the weight. I personally am not a fan of the jack stands but they are also an option.

 

3. Lug Wrench

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This is another tool that should be included with any car but if not it will be essential for changing your tires. Often called a tire iron the lug wrench along with the 2 above mentioned items will be needed to change a flat tire.

 

4. Emergency Car Tool Kit





Image taken from the web

 

 

It is always a good idea to have some tools on hand that are tailored to a vehicle. There is no need to keep a entire service center's worth of tools just the essentials. Great thing is a lot of companies make an emergency tool kit for cars which will usually include jumper cables and some tools that will be of the most use for you. If you shop around you may even find a kit that is made for your type of car (Truck, SUV, Car, etc). This is a great asset but make sure you are knowledgeable enough to use it.

 

5. Roadside Flare

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The last thing I will cover here is the roadside flare. The Flare or even a high visibility cone is situational but helpful. If your car is stranded in the road or off to the side and your lights wont work for whatever reason these will get you seen. The Flares will be marked with how long they will last. People may not take notice of hazard lights on a car but they will take notice of a flare. Take care in use and in storage of a flare as you do not want to burn yourself or set your car on fire. They make flameless flares and some people deem the flare optional because of the safety concerns.

 

And that is all for now. These items of which 3 of them may already be in your car can lend you piece of mind on the road. Now there are more items that you could add to this list and there will be more to come but regardless of where you live or what you drive these 5 items should find a place within your car. Be safe and make sure you understand how to properly utilize whatever tools you keep in your vehicle.

 

See you on the road.