Off-road spares kit

In addition to what was already mentioned, and in no particular order:

• Universal drain plugs
• Universal battery hold down kit
• Emergency valve stems (they can be mounted from the front, without having to dismount the tire)
• Some way of re-mounting a tire that pops off the bead
• Tire plugging kit
• Some way of inflating a tire (I use a Ryobi One+ 18V inflator...$20 for the tool-only during Black Friday and sporadically throughout the year. I own two and I can air up faster than my buddies with their fancy on-board air and/or compressor + manifold setups, and I have very little to un/re-pack).
• Jump starter (lithium ion or LiFePO4)
• Floor jack (small one with cribbing blocks is still way better than a scissor jack. Alternatively one of those three-ton all-in-one jackstand/jack combos.)
• Socket set (I suggest Harbor Freight 62664)
• Wrench set (I suggest those double-ended boxed ratcheting wrenches from Harbor Freight)
• Pliers set
• Some sort of knife. Pocket knife, folding knife, heck even a nice box opener with spare blades.
• Mini sledge hammer (3lb)
• Pliers wrench. Works way better than an adjustable wrench. I use the Vise Grip brand.
• Breaker bar (extendable one if space is a concern)
• Lug nut "flip" sockets (way better than using a lug wrench, can help others too)
• Some way of cutting wood (folding saw, Mikwaukee Hackzall, axe, etc)
• Shovel
• Bailing wire (I prefer "tying wire" that's used to secure rebar together)
• Zip ties
• Hose clamps
• A foot or two of fuel injector hose. Diameter doesn't matter really. I capped a leak in a hard fuel line with a piece of hose that I slit down the middle and secured with hose clamps. Held so well that I forgot it was damaged until the next oil change.
• Electrical wire (a 20-foot roll of 4-conductor trailer wire is fine. Need more than that and you probably aren't driving out, regardless)
• Crimp-on electrical connectors (like those sets with the yellow, blue, and red ones)
• Assorted metric nuts and bolts from M5 to M12. I wouldn't carry anything larger than brake caliper bracket bolts.
• Starter
• If you have a factory e-locker, the bypass mod (helps if, say, your 4WD goes out, you can still use the locker)
• First aid kit (I'd highly recommend assembling your own. You can use premade ones as a template, but the included supplies generally suck)
• Toilet-in-a-bag (or at least some toilet paper)
• Lighter (and waterproof matches as a backup)
• Emergency food ration bars (they are shelf-stable for years and can be subject to hot or cold conditions, just the package is hard to open and they taste pretty bland, but it's better than going hungry)
• Garmin InReach or similar satellite communicator, preferably one that uses multiple satellite networks (GPS, Glonass, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou)
• Cell signal amplifier (WeBoost or similar)
• Phone numbers to local off road recovery companies/volunteers
• Personal Locator Beacon (PLB)
• Not a "must-have" but a "nice-to-have" is some way to weld.
• Telling someone when you're leaving, where you're going, and when you expect to be back
• Knowledge and practice of using any of the stuff you chose to buy and carry along. It's only good if you know that you have it, can get to it, and know how to use it. Yes, all those conditions apply.

California Gator said:

For a 2017, I doubt you'd need a spare starter anytime soon.

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I agree, especially if you're just fire-roading it and being reasonably cautious. Heck, this Prius wheels harder than most Jeeps.


It'll take longer and you'll get stuck more, but that's part of the adventure. I use 4WD and the e-locker as get-myself-unstuck switches.

The list I posted is pretty exhaustive, but all that stuff can fit in two 12-gallon crates with room to spare. It's also pretty generic, so the equipment listed can be transferred or used in different vehicles. Late-model vehicles likely won't need spare parts. The amount of stuff that can leak, break, bend, or be missing and have the vehicle safe enough to at least drive back to pavement (if not civilization) can be surprising to someone who never ventured into the dirt.

If I had to dwindle the list down to the essentials, they'd be:

• Water
• Food ration bars
• First-aid kit
• Cell repeater/booster or satellite communicator
• Multitool (I prefer one with a pocket clip)
• Pen-style high-power flashlight
• Zip ties
• Tying wire
• Hose clamps

The first three are no-brainers. The fourth is a nice-to-have even on Interstate drives. The last five I've used on every trip in some capacity. Flashlight works way better than your cell phone light, especially for figuring out where gravel is rattling or checking to see how bad something is leaking. Zip ties, tying wire, and hose clamps can be secured using a multitool. I haven't needed to zip tie, wire-tie, or hose clamp anything on the Frontier itself, but more for what I was carrying/brought along to mess around with (pit bikes, RC cars, camping gear, etc).

Everything else on my first list I've virtually never used while wheeling in either Frontier. It was all just carried over from when I went more hard-core wheeling with my F-250, which was also a lot less reliable. I carried a bunch of spare parts in that truck.