10 Cool Tools from Jegs to Make Your Hot-Rodding Life Easier
Your mean machine is only as good as the tools you use to build it. Jegs proves they don’t need to be expensive.
How many times have you worked on your hot rod only to stare at it in surrender with the frustrating thought, “If I only had the right tool to do that job”? You won’t have to think about it long to realize it happens a lot. Building a car might be fun, but it’s also work, and the balance between the two matters if we’re being completely honest. As our experience grows, tools become a more important part of our automotive life, and Jeg’s Automotive has been making the hot-rodding life better since 1960. Sixty-five years later, Jegs (the apostrophe was dropped years ago!) has stepped into the quality tool arena. There’s no big surprise there, but you’ll be heartened to know Jegs tools are of the caliber professional mechanics demand, they’re affordably priced, and many of them focus on making many DIY car-building tasks much easier. The passion for car building is alive and well at Jegs, as we discovered when we explored its tool selection.
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Discover 10 affordable, pro-grade tools from Jegs that simplify hot-rodding. From garage must-haves to specialty gear, these picks make car building easier, safer, and more fun—delivered right to your door.
This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article
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Here’s 10 cool tools that caught our eye, and we’ve chosen them for a few reasons. Some are must-haves for every garage that represent a great value relative to competing products. Others are highly specific to building a hot rod that you won’t typically find elsewhere. And the last group (as an old guy, my favorite!) includes those that take the physical pain out of working on cars—and some are a combination of these. Just know that there are thousands more cool tools at Jegs, all of which can be delivered right to your door at fantastic prices. Let’s take a look.
Under-Dash Creeper, Part No. 555-81153, $94.99
Jegs’ under-dash creeper isn’t the name of a scary horror movie, but it is a godsend for anybody who’s ever screwed up their back while working on a whole host of hard-to-get-at junk under the dash. Wiring harnesses, fuses, infotainment systems, steering columns, master cylinder swaps, or an ignition or EFI system installation—there’s a long lists of jobs you’ll curse without a Jegs under-dash creeper, but seeing a chiropractor won’t be one of them. This one is on my personal list, and it’s also one of Jegs’ top sellers.
High-Top Creeper, Part No. 555-81166, $227.99
High-top creepers aren’t anything new, but they can be hard to find, and good ones like the Jegs unit are typically more expensive. If you work on trucks or anything tall or lifted, this one is a lifesaver. Like I said, nobody likes back pain, and a tool like Jegs high-top creeper (another one of Jegs top sellers) can turn a back-breaking job into something more akin to a relaxing nap. It’s rated for up to 400 pounds, after which you might need two of ’em.
Fender Roller, Part No. 555-81730, $85.99
If you want larger wheels and tires on your hot rod—and who doesn’t—then a fender roller is the right tool for the job. You can chance this critical clearancing job by using an old baseball bat, but why risk cracks in your paint or kinks in your sheetmetal just because of bad meatball surgery? A fender rolling tool is the way to go, because it takes the uncertain outcome out of the equation and makes the job, well, fun. If it needs to be done nicely, Jegs’ high-quality unit is a great price, and it’s yellow, so it’ll never get lost in that black hole lurking in everybody’s garage.
110-/220V Plasma Cutter, Part No. 555-81545, $348.99
Ready to jump into car building at a deeper level? Maybe you want to dip your toe into some minor fabrication jobs on your own? Of course, Jegs has great deals on a variety of MIG and TIG welders at great price points, but we were surprised to see a dual-voltage plasma cutter up for grabs. Why put up with the frustration of an angle grinder or a saw when you can cut steel (up to 3/8 inch thick) like a hot knife through butter in a fraction of the time? Just hook it to your air compressor, plug it into the wall outlet, and let it rip!
Auto Rotisserie, Part Number 555-81241, $899.99
Doing your own bodywork in your home garage is a time-honored tradition at HOT ROD, but unfortunately, so are the aches and pains that come with long hours of working in a contorted position. Don’t let your love for cars turn you into a crippled hunchback. Instead, put your muscle car’s frame or unibody on a Jegs rotisserie, which can hold up to 2,000 pounds. Rolling castors allow moving your project anywhere, height adjustments on both ends provide for convenient work positioning, and working on the bottom of your hot rod’s body from an ant’s view is a thing of the past when you can clock it in any position you choose.
HVLP Pro Spray Gun & Detail Kit, Part No. 555-81224, $107.99
The high-volume, low-pressure (HVLP) spray gun is the principal tool used for auto body paint work, and despite our past admonition that real men use a roller and bucket, please don’t unless you’ve got senseless money to throw away. This Jegs HVLP kit has everything you need to start painting your car at home—all you need are the prep supplies, paint, and an air compressor. If you’re starting out, you’ll love that the Jegs kit has a variety of guns for different flow rates and viscosities, allowing you to do fine detail work, heavy primers and coatings, color coats, and clears. When you’re done, keep it all stored in its impact-resistant road case.
Steel Welding Cart with Drawers, Part No. 555-81641, $217.99
Whether you already have a welder or plan on getting one, you’ll quickly discover you want a cart for it and all its attendant accessories. Jegs makes it easy to put your welder’s controls within easy reach while making it portable at the same time. This attractive steel welding cart is built to last and has a great price to match. You’ll be glad not to drag a heavy bottle of shielding gas around, and thanks to its easy-gliding drawers and many hooks, you’ll have easy access to your welding helmet, tools, and spools. When you’re done, moving your welder around the shop to make room for new arrivals will be that much easier.
Deluxe Auto Body Damage Repair Tool Kit, Part No. 555-81532K, $242.34
Calling this a “damage repair” kit, while technically correct, doesn’t really impart the cumulative importance of its included tools to the fabricator, restorer, or artist in you. No doubt, there are some dirt track racers among you who look at a hydraulic porta-power ram jack kit or a dead-blow hammer and try not to salivate, but these are also the essentials of metal shaping for the most exquisite hot rods. Included are a four-ton ram jack, seven-piece hammer and dolly set, nine-piece dent puller, two dead-blow hammers (16 oz and 24 oz), and five-piece pry bar set—all for one swinging price of $242.34.
3-Shelf Shop Cart, Part No. 555-81424, $119.99
Every home shop ought to have a utility cart, and that’s probably why there are so many of them. Jegs red powder-coated, all-steel three-shelf unit is a rugged one with a 200-pound capacity, 3-inch swivel casters, a tool tray, side racks, rubber-lined shelves, and an easy-glide top drawer. You’ll fall in love with its utility as you make short work out of tall jobs (it measures nearly 32 inches wide), but nobody will suspect you only paid $119.99.
Mechanic's Tool Box Set [170-Piece], Part No. 555-85325, $197.99
We leave you this no-brainer of a 170-piece tool set with included toolbox for one reason: They’re quality, basic mechanics’ tools at a discounted price. If you’re young, just starting out, taking courses at a trade school, or building a business of any kind, having good basic tools that don’t walk away on their own (and don’t require taking out a mortgage to buy them) is a solid investment. Are you a racer who’s tired of going to the track with expensive tools only for them to grow legs? Then stop buying tools that hate you. Keep one of these 170-piece kits in your race trailer or truck’s lock box for emergencies—you’ll be glad you did.
Source
Johnny Hunkins, born 1963, grew up mainly in Greensboro, NC. Attended Southeast Guilford High School (Greensboro) and graduated in 1981. Received a BFA degree in Art with a concentration in Design from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-G) in 1985. The son of a music teacher and a music composer, began playing guitar at age 6, meanwhile harbored companion interests in muscle cars, model car building, NASCAR racing, and drag racing. During and after attending UNC-G, worked as an auto service writer at Montgomery Ward Auto Express. Bought a Ford Mustang LX 5.0L in 1987 which he began modifying immediately, then started contributing freelance stories to Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords (MM&FF) in 1991. Moved to New Jersey from North Carolina and became fulltime MM&FF tech editor in the fall of 1992. Helped create, then became editor of GM High-Tech Performance (originally High-Tech Performance) magazine in 1995. While at MM&FF, invented the popular “True Street” drag racing class used by many sanctioning organizations. Moved to California in 2003 to become editor of Popular Hot Rodding magazine. In July of 2014, became editor of Mopar Muscle magazine for the rebranded TEN network. Previous and current magazine projects cars: 1987 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 (Project Excalibur), 1989 Ford Mustang LX 5.0, 1987 Buick Regal Turbo-T (2 of them), 1993 Pontiac Firebird Formula (Project Thunderchicken), 1989 Pontiac Firebird Formula 350 (Project Magnum TPI), 1994 Chevy Camaro Z 28 (The Grape Of Wrath), 1976 Chevy Camaro (Project g/28), 1968 Chevy Chevelle (Street Sweeper), 1975 Chevy Laguna S-3 NASCAR clone, 1968 Chevy Nova, and 1968 Plymouth Valiant. Other interests include fine cigars, writing and recording rock music (Hunkins is an artist on the indy label Grooveyard Records), and mid-century modern architecture and design. Hunkins lives in Desert Hot Springs, CA.
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