Sometimes things go wrong, and having some basic tools and survival items can make trips in your motorhome easier and safer. Here are some suggestions for a basic kit, divided into two categories: Emergency Road Kit and Basic Maintenance Tools. Customize the list to fit your needs.
Emergency Road Kit:
- Jumper cables
- Cellular phone, charger power cord, along with a list of emergency numbers
- Flashlight or spotlight with extra set of batteries
- Road flares and/or warning triangles
- Rain suit or poncho (brightly colored)
- Safety goggles or glasses
- Disposable work coveralls
- Fire extinguisher
- First-aid kit
- Hose-patch kit for emergency repairs of coolant hoses
- Epoxy patch kit
- Battery-powered air compressor
- Roll of duct tape
- Wheel chocks (place under the wheels to prevent the motorhome from rolling)
- Funnel for pouring liquids
- Extra fuses (refer to your owner’s manual to determine amperage sizes needed)
- Mechanical or elastic tie-down straps
- Roll of heavy-duty paper towels or rags
- Pair of work gloves
Basic Maintenance Tools:
- Hammer
- Oil-filter wrench
- 3/8-inch basic socket-wrench set, including sockets (SAE and metric sizes)
ratchets, extensions, adapters and spark-plug sockets - Torx sockets or bits
- Combination wrench set
- Hex-key wrench set (commonly referred to as Allen wrenches)
- Flare-nut fitting wrenches (used to prevent the rounding-off of brake-line fittings
and fuel fittings) - Carpet scrap for working under coach
- Basic screwdriver set
- Test light (for checking voltage and ground-in circuits)
- Multimeter with readings of voltage, ohms and amps
- Slip-joint, groove-joint, needle-nose, electrical and locking pliers
- Torque wrench
- Tire-pressure gauge
- Radiator hydrometer
- Penetrating oil such as WD40
- Soldering gun & rosin-core solder
- Waterless hand cleaner