Side Box Must Haves

oil-antifreeze-spare light bulbs for both truck and trailer--half dozen bungee cords
5th wheel grease-5th wheel puller-a few tools--big hammer
couple wooden blocks--white chalk--gloves coveralls--steel toe boots--window cleaner--interior cleaner--couple collapsible load bars---logistics straps--measuring tape--rags--lubricant spray--couple good flash lights--elec wire/connectors/tape
i know i always overpack--but i would rather be kinda prepared--when i moved out of my last truck --i had to throw away stuff--wouldnt all fit in tahoe

 

Duct tape, Vise grips, WD40, Digital camera, small AC inverter to start out so you can charge phone and camara. Small lap top if you can afford it. several good pairs of gloves.

 

A good pair (IE Klien Tool) of wire cutters, Strippers, Crimpers, needle nose, and linemans pliers. As well you are going to wan an assortment of good (Fastenal is a great place to get them) Butt Splices, Spade Connectors, and ring or fork terminals. Get the Yellow, Red and Blue. Also some good automotive wire would be a good idea as well, you can get short leingths of it at any auto supply house in varying colors, id carry #10, #12, #16, #18, make sure it is stranded wire for automotive use.

Also electrical tape, and heat shrink, and Dialectric grease, any time you make a splice fill it with the dialectric grease, it will keep your connections from coroding.

A multi meter and test light would be a #### good idea too.

Also a wrench roll that has sizes from 3/8 to 1 1/4" would be a good idea too.

also a couple of crescent wrenches, and a couple of pairs of chanel locks, one big enough to grab hold of an oil or fuel filter would be ideal, as well you will want to get a strap wrench so you can pull filters with it.

Oh and +1 on the wood blocks, they come in very handy.

Another thing I did not see mentioned was a hard hat.

For a lubricant spray I strongly sugjest this stuff I have found called Micromist. it makes WD 40 look like water when you are talking about lubricating ability.

Also a can of PB blaster for getting loose stuck bolts.

A full socket set in both standard and metric would be a good idea.

I agree on a couple of flash lights, get the LED ones, they are way better, home depot had a 10 pack of them for 16.00 last time I was there.

Oh a roll of duct tape if not more, it will come in very very handy on the road.

I also carried a spare set of airlines at all times, and a spare electrical pigtail, you have no idea how often you will wind up needing them.

 

Hey Schmidtrock, live just done the road from you! (Deleon Springs) who did you get hired on with if you don't mind me asking? Floral carriers? The guys above pretty much hit it! Any of your maintenance stuff for the truck and or tools. I would most definitely carry some GOOD zip ties. Also hose clamps and some assortment of hoses. Another really handy thing to have is an old rubber mud flap or rubber mat. Most of the time you can find in a dumpster. A lot of problems I have had in the past involved hoses, wiring and such breaking loose and or rubbing on other components. Cut off a piece of your mud flaps (the old ones) wrap whatever is rubbing and then zip tie it. A lot of roads are rough and really do a lot of damage on this stuff. Keeping up on it with this simple fix can really save you from being stranded or broke down. On that note at least a gallon of emergency potable water is good to keep in there too. Keep in mind whatever you put in your sideboxes is exposed to the weather. (heat, cold) keeping sodas in there isn't real good. One other thing I can think of is a 5 gallon bucket and a roll of toilet paper. Bucket can be used for many different things but if you line it with a garbage bag it makes a remarkable port-a-potty in emergencies. Believe me you are going to have those days! Good luck to you and welcome to the forum.

 

Sorry, I didn't see any mention about long jumper cables. Especially if your hauling reefer. Mrbeast had some good stuff, pigtail, airlines, glad hand and rubber gaskets that go inside. Especially in the winter. Salt eats em up!

 

sounds like you guys have been looking in my jockey box
a multi tool is good to have--and i used to keep it--knife extended--in the pax side seatbelt clasp--i dont plan on hanging from a seat belt
couple spare glad hands are good as well
also have a coupler that goes between electrical line and trailer--its actually a tester--but you can also use jumpers with it in case you have complete circuits out on trailer and BOOSTER CABLES

 

your make shift prota potty is a great idea,and is cheaper than going to outdor world or gander mt for a small camping toilet!!!!! and yes chompi, i'v had those days where that 5 gallon bucket was a life saver, and it turn out to be a multipupose day out in the middle of no where, not only did it work as a toilet,but it hauled water to the radiator that same day after a leak sprung ont a water inline on the engin,,,,,oh and price wise you cant beat it a new clean buckets like 4 bucks

 

oh yeah a 5 gallon bucket is a must, throw a double bag in it and it can serve as a toilet in a pinch.

Also spare airline fittings are a must, get an assortment of them.

 

I knew I wasn't the only bucket pooper on the catwalk! Two 2x4's make an excellent seat too! Throw in a good desert sunset, now that's luxury!