Best New 4×4 and Light Truck Utility Products, Tools and Equipment…
The first week in November, 4WD Mechanix Magazine covered the SEMA and AAPEX Shows. Beyond the glitz and glitter, our focus is always light truck and 4×4 utility products, new tools and useful equipment. Top picks aim at improving vehicle function and innovative tools for maintaining our vehicles.
While many of the 162,000 SEMA Show attendees chased after high performance equipment, custom accessories and concept vehicles, the trend toward enhanced utility has also grown. 4WD Mechanix Magazine coverage at these shows focuses on practical new developments that enhance a light truck’s utility plus tools that enable us to perform safer and better work.
At the Overland Experience, vehicles ranged from more moderate utility 4x4s to $200,000 monster campers. Workshops pitched the virtues of camping and an outdoor lifestyle. Exotic equipment was a centerpiece. For many of us, camping memories center around pup tents and bedrolls, sleeping in a pickup bed or on a granite slab. Contrary to the message at the Overland Experience, camping does not require deep pockets spending. National Forest campgrounds and fly fishing for salmon, trout and steelhead is still accessible at minimal expense.
At the AAPEX Show, OTC Tools brought out the 5295 platform lift with 825 pounds capacity. The lift features fixture holes. You can fabricate brackets to meet your project needs. If your shop does 4×4 powertrain work, this could be the scissors lift you need! The platform can easily support an iron transmission and transfer case as a unit. You can quickly move an entire powertrain across the shop. The lift will raise to 70″ for versatile use beneath a raised vehicle or can be adjusted to work bench height. Here is more information: https://www.otctools.com/products/powertrain-lift.
Niche specialty tools caught our attention. At the SEMA Show, Schley/SP Products premiered its Cummins fuel injector removal tool. Elaborate factory tools require removal of the center cover just to remove an injector. This innovative tool levers off the center cover bolt heads and readily removes an injector with far less work and effort.
AAPEX Show is about the automotive service industry at a global level. While SEMA Show often focuses on consumer “wants”, AAPEX displays useful service products and the latest technology from global OEM and aftermarket parts suppliers. At the 2019 AAPEX Show, Permatex introduced its new “Orange Threadlocker”. Three times stronger than Blue, as strong as the Red rating, this thread locking agent does not require heat to remove treated fasteners. Resistance through the entire fastener removal range provides an added measure of safety for a part that wears or loosens due to fit-up issues.
