JHM Butt can be your one-stop shop for vehicle repair tools and supplies. Ensuring your workshop and mechanics have the correct tools for the job is incredibly important. From socket sets, impact wrenches, tool chests, torque wrenches to battery support units, we can provide it all at competitive rates.

Thanks to our considerable warehouse space we’re able to get your automotive supplies to you within a 24-hour delivery if ordered before 4pm (Monday – Friday). JHM Butt can also supply vehicle repair tools for electric vehicles. For instance, we supply insulated tools kits, hybrid vehicle tool kits and multimeters to ensure your workshop is EV ready. However, you may ask yourself what tools do I need to ensure I’m ready for any vehicles that come my way? Please see what we recommend.

Of course, this all depends on the budget you have however we will assume you are wanting a professional set up in order to give the best possible car repair experience to your customers.

1. Impact Wrench

First of all, you need an impact wrench. What are these used for? The main use for impact wrenches is for tightening/untightening screws or lug nuts. Professional mechanics may use them when carrying out work on the wheels of the car. For instance, you’ll need to get the wheel off to change or balance a tyre. We supply different brands of impact wrenches however we do recommend a Kielder impact wrench, they’re not too pricey and are of great quality. For instance, the batteries last a long time, they stop immediately and their current doesn’t drop. What more do you need? Please consider this type of garage equipment when carrying out repairs.

2. Combination Spanner Set

A must have automotive tool or car garage tool for carrying out straightforward repair and maintenance jobs, the compressive kit products by JHM Butt will prepare you for all sizes of nuts and bolts you’ll encounter.  The JHM Butt combination spanner set is amongst the great car workshop tools category.

3. Brake Feeler Gauges

These can help you identify brake pads that need replacing. Magnetic and high quality to ensure than you can store them easily in the workshop. One of the common car repair tools that allows you to carry out a professional job. How do you use these?

• Starting with red, insert a single feeler gauge between the calliper and the bracket
• Assess the movement available in this area, if you have plenty of room move on to the yellow gauge and then repeat for green if possible
• You’ll then to repeat this for the second area between the calliper and the bracket

4. Digital Micrometer

An Automotive Digital micrometer supplied by JHM Butt are used to provide accurate measurements of objects. The structure consists of an anvil, frame, spindal, lock and two grips. The most common micrometer size for automotive applications include 25mm – 50mm and 0mm – 25m. Applications for the automotive industry include work such as building/re-building engines.

5. Tyre Tread Depth Gauge

A must have automotive tool. A tyre tread depth gauge is used to measure the tread levels on your tyres. This is a basic vehicle repair tool that you would expect all mechanics to have.

 How do I use a tyre tread depth gauge?

• Firstly, check the tool is calibrated properly. For instance, the tyre tread depth gauge should read 0 when it is at its lowest position.
• Ensure your wheel is fully locked so it is an outward position. This way you can see all the tread.
• Take your tyre tread depth gauge and press it against the inside groove of the tyre.
• Repeat this for all grooves across the tyre to check tread and ensure it is equal.
• If it is uneven this can mean you have wheel alignment or tracking issues.

1.6mm is currently the legal minimum requirement on car tyres. This needs to be in a continuous band around the central three quarters of the tyre. For vehicles over (3,500kg gross vehicle weight) there must be a minimum of 1mm tread depth over a continuous band covering at least any three-quarters of the breadth of the tread around the entire circumference.

6. Antifreeze tester

You’ll need this automotive tool if you want to ensure your customer’s vehicles can withstand extreme temperatures. The coloured discs inside the antifreeze tester are used to give you an idea of whether the engine coolant or antifreeze is suitable for environmental conditions. For instance, in the UK 3 discs would indicate that the engine coolant or antifreeze is in the right condition. This of course assumes you are using the antifreeze tester in the picture below.

7. Battery Charger

During those extreme temperature you’ll want to be able to charge a vehicle’s battery. Car batteries are well known for poorer performance in the winter months and when they haven’t been used for a while. A professional workshop will have a good quality battery charger in order to rescue customers or to de-sulphate batteries. The benefit of de-sulphating batteries is that it stops lead crystals from hardening. If the crystals harden then the capacity of the battery is reduced. The Sirius charger below is an example of a great automotive battery charger offers the de-sulphation of batteries and is a 25 amp charger.

 8. Booster pack or Jump Pack

A must have vehicle repair tool. Customers vehicle’s battery condition may be in such a poor condition to the point where it won’t even start. A professional booster pack will alleviate all issues when it comes to jump starting a battery. Always consider the peak amps or a more reliable measurement, cold cranking amps (CCA) when choosing a booster pack. A professional salesman who understands the vehicles you are looking to jump start will be able to provide you with an appropriately sized booster pack for your requirements.

A pro tip – find a booster pack with curved clamps and a LED light. This means that if you have to jump start a vehicle in the dark you can see what you’re doing. The curved clamps will also allow you to easily clamp on to the terminals.

2^nd pro tip – Keep your booster charged, if you allow your booster to run out of charge it’s likely the battery will degrade faster. The faster the battery degrades the more you will have to spend on parts and repairs.

All our suggestions on automotive tools above are designed to allow the reader to get the relevant garage equipment to ensure they give the best possible car repair service.