The awards, selected on the level of interest and enquiries generated by PMM’s 60,000+ readership, are a great reflection on those manufacturers and suppliers that have made a real difference to the independent garage technician’s ability to maintain the high standards expected of modern day servicing and repairs – whether this is in the form of innovative parts or tools, fault-finding equipment or garage aids such as technical data, posters and literature.
The winners in the ‘Tools & Equipment’ category are as follow:
Ring Automotive – RPP900 Powerpack
A conventional PowerPack traditionally contains a standard lead acid battery, which can make the units big and heavy. Ring, however, has shown that good things come in small packages with its lightweight and compact RPP900 Lithium ion PowerPack.
Capable of jump-starting cars and LCVs with a petrol engine size up to 2.0L, the hand-held unit provides a source of power for emergency starts or breakdown assistance. One major benefit is its ability to perform multiple jump-starts before needing to be recharged.
Knipex – Circlip Plier Range
Perfect for accessing tight, awkward and obstructed areas to reach and mount circlips, Knipex’s Circlip Pliers range is available with straight or angled tips to make working with circlips a much easier task – even at the trickiest of angles.
Forged from chrome vanadium steel, the Standard and Precision versions of the pliers cater for applications that include internal work in boreholes and external work on shafts, with the Precision range featuring a number of additional high quality features.
Sealey Tools – Brake Pad Thickness Gauge
Sealey is well known for its time-saving tools, and the VS058 Brake Pad Thickness Gauge has proved one of the most popular solutions to be added to its extensive portfolio in 2015. The product is small enough to slip into your overall pocket and can measure the thickness of all regular 6mm lined brake pads, without having to remove the road wheel.
Thanks to its slim design, the tool is able to locate the rear of the pad backing plate, allowing the probe to measure the distance between the underside of the backing plate and brake disc.
Darwen Diesels – Injector Extraction Kit
The removal of heavily seized injectors can be a pig of a task for workshop technicians, but this need not be the case following the introduction of the Govoni Universal Common Rail Injector Extraction Kit to Darwen Diesels’ product range earlier in the year.
Suitable for use on numerous models of injectors, the kit can be used directly on the vehicle, with the engine mounted. Its mechanical operation allows it to be used in tight spaces, while the hydraulic application helps to overcome situations where an injector is strongly seized in.
