Ready Ratchet Self-Storing System
Tools are necessary both on and off the trail; unfortunately, carrying them usually means lugging around a heavy bag. These Ready Ratchet tools have been in our glove box for over 2 years now and we can't tell you how many times they have been used. The sockets for each ratchet store inside the ratchet's handle eliminating the time usually wasted fumbling around the tool bag looking for the right size socket. We also have the screwdriver and allen head tools as well, both offering multiple sizes. They take up little space, are easy to use and inexpensive. These tools are only available through select online dealers, but we found ours on Amazon.com.
King Jack
If you own a race vehicle, prerunner or buggy, finding a perfect spot to jack up your truck at all four corners can be tough. Our King Jack has come in handy on numerous occasions. We welded pin receiver mounts all around our old Tacoma prerunner to accept the jack and kept an 18-volt impact wrench handy, which is all that's needed to achieve lift. The only thing about the jack we don't care for is the cost. Most online shops sell it for about $900, so this product won't be within reach of everyone's budget. It has stayed in working condition the entire time we've had it.
Cornay Joint
Jim Reel at J.E. Reel Driveline made us up a driveshaft to replace the two we had already busted out of our K5 Blazer. We were using a Cornay joint in place of a standard CV joint this time around. The beauty of the Cornay joint is not that it can reach a steeper angle (than a typical CV) without binding, but that it can remain at constant angles (up to 30 degrees!) and have a long life without premature failure. We figured we could hammer this driveshaft off our Blazer like the rest of the driveshafts-every one of them exploding at the CV joint. To date, this driveshaft is still holding smoothly and was still fairly tight when we pulled the 'shaft off to check.
Sway-A-Way Coilovers with Camburg Uni-Ball Upper A-Arms
This front suspension has been on our '05 Tundra for over 3 years and it's still going strong. Before ending up with this kit, we previous went through a few other bolt-in coilover setups that failed in comparison. Without naming names, we'll tell you the two others we tried both sagged over time and provided a very rough ride. A bolt-on system like this should work well out of the box and be designed for each specific vehicle. But some companies actually advertise, "Some shock valving may be necessary."
Aside from some occasional creaking in the upper A-arm uni-ball, the kit is still running smooth.