Automotive electrical work.

How many people ran for cover? Even among tech-savvy Toolmongers, electrical work can be a big, hairy monster, partially due to the confusing nature of electrical diagnosis, and partially due to the wide variety of tools needed to do the work properly. Fortunately, one of the most common styles is pretty cheap.

Mac Tools retails a crimper designed to properly attach Weatherpack connectors, but there’s a nice bonus. Many different terminals can be secured with this crimper, even if they aren’t designed for it. Deutsch and Yazaki terminals work nicely in Weatherpack jaws, which isn’t a bad trifecta for $35. Unless you’re a pretty neurotic type-A personality, this will do nicely for occasional repairs. Anyone who’s used one of these before will probably note that this plier-style crimper isn’t as precise as a torque-sensing type, but careful use will navigate nicely around those issues.

Weatherpack Crimper [Mac Tools]

For every nut, bolt, and fastener on your car or truck, the factory probably recommends a specific amount of torque to tighten it down to.  Mac makes two models of adjustable 1/4″ torque screwdrivers — the TSM4-22 and the TSM16-88 — that measure torque from 4 to 22 in./lbs and from 16 to 88 in./lbs respectively.  With these little guys you can torque down even delicate fasteners without winging it.

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Mac Tools, embracing its role as a NASCAR sponsor, just released a limited-edition Hendrick Motorsports tool box set with racing logos and graphics on the door lids. The set consists of a cart and an MB1000A base box with a newly configured top hutch for added storage — they both feature Casey Mears in the No. 5 Carquest/Kellogg’s Chevrolet; Jeff Gordon in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet; and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 AMP/National Guard Chevrolet.

For the diehard NASCAR fan, this is hotness on casters.  But if you just want a sturdy place to keep your tools, or if you’re satisfied with the current setup in your shop that already has 300 logo stickers plastered all over it — you might feel the need to skip this one.  If not, you can call it in and have a truck drop it right at your shop’s door.

Mac Tools [Corporate Site]

When you don’t want to lug your entire toolbox out of the garage just to work on your neighbor’s lawnmower, you need something like the Macsimizer Utility Cart from MAC. It features a deep well up top for sockets and a tray up top that slides open for more tool access — plus three drawers, screwdriver storage, and space on the bottom for bigger items.

I loaded up my cart with screwdrivers, sockets, wrenches, my most-used air tools, and some other miscellaneous stuff — which means that anytime I want to work on something outdoors, I just wheel out the cart and get after it.

For pricing, you’ll need to visit your local MAC distributor. Or, if you don’t want to pay MAC prices, there are cheap-ass alternatives.

Macsimizer Utility Cart [Mac Tools]

Auto techs who’ve heard the above from customers, rejoice! This week Mac Tools announced a car data recorder that plugs into vehicles’ OBDII data plug and records the entire OBDII data set in a continuous 24-hour loop. Jack this sucker in, send the customer out for a drive, and when they come back you’ve got software access to everything the car knows about the issue.

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MAC Tools is partnering with Challenger Lifts to produce a range of “professional grade” two-post lifts priced just right for newly-opening shops — and low enough to tempt even an amateur like me.

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It can happen to the best of us: one moment of inattention results in a cross-threaded spark plug hole. You can either install a helicoil and hope for the best, or send it out to have the whole shebang re-tapped. Now you have another option. The Back-Tap can fix that cross-threaded hole from the inside — without pulling the head.

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Body workers know that there are two kinds of dollies: one kind has wheels and moves boxes and the other kind moves sheet metal.  Mac’s new multi-dolly is the latter type, and offers three different faces — adding up to many various curves — in a compact hand-held package.

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Mac announced this week that they, too, will soon ship a 10.8V lithium-ion driver to compete with the industry-first Bosch PS20 and Milwaukee’s recently-launched 12V sub-compact. Mac’s calling theirs a “screwdriver,” though, claiming 90 in-lbs of torque at an unspecified RPM.  (Bosch claims 80 in-lbs at 600 RPM and Milwaukee claims 100 in-lbs at 500 RPM.) 

Standard features include a forward/reverse switch, a 10-position clutch, and an LED work light. The new “screwdriver” will ship in kit form, including a single battery pack, a charger, four two-inch driver bits, all wrapped in a blow-molded case.  We’ll pass on more about pricing — and performance — when we can.

We’re a sucker for specialized tools here at Toolmonger, and MAC Tools sent us information on a really, really specialized tool we thought we’d share with you.  Though we’re poor and have never owned a Mercedes, we hear that adjusting their mirrors is a bitch — they’re T20 tamperproof torx for starters, and they’re the adjustment is buried in a hard-to-reach place. 

Enter MAC’s new “5 Star Mercedes Mirror Tool.”  It’s designed specifically to fit in the cavity in which the German engineers buried the adjuster.

As always, you’ll need to contact your friendly local MAC truck guy for pricing, but if you do a lot of Mercedes work, this might be worth whatever they’re asking for it.

Even shade-tree mechanics own a set of 1/2″ to 3/8″ drive (and visa-versa) adapters, and hard-core tool guys even own a set of universals.  But as anyone who’s used a jointed adapter knows, it’s tough to keep the adapter attached when you’re working it tight spaces — you know, like you always are with universals.  MAC recently released a set with a locking collar that keeps it attached.

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Mac tools announced an addition to their line likely to please the auto-body crowd: a 5″ wet-sanding block with a 14′ supply hose and a valve that allows you to control water flow right at the block.  They’ll also offer larger versions.  As always, check out their website — where it’ll appear soon — for details, or better yet contact your local truck-based distributor.

MAC’s spherical sockets sport a unique shape that grabs 6-sided, 12-sided, splined, Torx, square, and even 50% rounded nuts and bolts — and now MAC is offering them in a 15-piece 1/2″ drive set and a 13-piece 3/8″ drive set as well.

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Ever cross-threaded a spark plug?  Trust us, it sucks.  You generally have to heli-coil ‘em since you can’t re-tap it because you risk dropping bits of metal into the engine — until now.  These expandable spark plug socket rethreaders from MAC Tools slip past the damaged threads then expand to engage them, allowing you to “chase” the threads from the bottom up.  Debris comes up and out with the rethreader.

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MAC Tools announced today a new line of tamper-proof and five-star socket sets featuring universal joints — a great idea when you consider that these type of fasteners aren’t always found in the mosy easy-to-reach locations.  The line will include a variety of sets to handle Torx, hex, five-star, and even size T8H to T55H tamper-proof socket heads.

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If you’ve been thinking about picking up a high-end die grinder, MAC’s offering a pretty nice deal right now: they’ll give you a free standard-duty 1/4″ mini die grinder with the purchase of a heavy-duty angle head mini die grinder for $75.  If you’re actually in need of both tools, that puts ‘em almost down into the Harbor Freight price range.

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Dazrin writes: “These are the long-reach version of the Craftsman mini-pliers I saw here a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve found them to be much more useful than the mini-pliers themselves.  I own the Craftsman version — that no longer appears to be made — of the tools listed.  These from MAC seem spendy, but Amazon is a great reference.”

These indeed look quite useful, especially for tight automotive dash both inside the dash and under the hood. 

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