Almost everyone has needle-nosed and slip-joint pliers (see Figure 2-13); if you rummage through the family toolbox, you’ll probably discover that you have them, too. Both types of pliers are useful for auto repair.
If you have to buy pliers, the very best kind to get are combination slip-joint pliers. You can adjust these general-purpose tools to several widths with a sliding pin. They usually have a wire-cutting slot built into them as well. If you’re the only person on your block who doesn’t possess these, by all means rush out and buy them before dark. Again, they needn’t be expensive. Just make sure that they work easily, are made of forged hardened steel, and seem to be well finished.
Figure 2-13:
Needle-nosed pliers and combination slip-joint pliers.
If you’re really into tools, you may also want to buy the following pliers, but you can easily get along without them:
Robogrip pliers are a useful variation of slip-joint pliers that automatically lock in position when you have a grip on the part that you want to manipulate.
Adjustable vice-grip pliers are useful for persuading recalcitrant stuff to loosen or twist — if, for example, you round off the edges of a nut so that normal tools won’t loosen it. When set properly, the jaws lock onto a metal part very tightly, and you can pull, push, or twist almost anything with them.
How to use pliers
A couple of notes on the use of pliers:
It you’re working on electrical wiring and don’t want to get shocked, make sure that the handles of your pliers are covered with rubber to insulate them If the handles die naked metal, slip length of rubber hose over each handle, leaving the hose in one piece. Doing so not only insulates the pliers,
but the rubber also straightens out when you release the pliers, causing them to spring open quickly.
Never use combination slip-joint pliers on nuts and bolts—they round off the corners, making them harder to replace Besides, nuts mid holts are what you have all your lovely wrenches for
