Spare fuses to keep with you in case of emergency

In another thread about emergency preparedness someone asked for some recommendations on which brand/size/selection of fuses people would recommend and nobody answered. I'm wondering the same thing so thought I'd just post a new thread.

 

Pop open your fuse panel and take note of what you have then go pick up some spares.

 

^^^ this, plus the tools needed to swap any larger fuses like for the starter and alternator.

 

Go to Harbor Freight, buy their fuse kit, it has about every fuse you need for way less then anyplace else. They are in a nice little plastic box.

10 each of 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 amp blade fuses. So 60 fuses for around $10 in a plastic case a bit bigger then a cig pack you can toss in your glove box. I tossed in a couple 7.5's because I have something that takes them but those are kind of hard to find in multi amp fuse packs.

 

Look under the dash, too, near hood release. Several fuses reside there. At least in 2nd gen.

Also get one of these and keep it with your kit.

$22 AWBLIN Automotive Test Light 3-72V DC Digital Light Tester with Voltmeter, Heavy Duty Auto Circuit Tester with LCD Backlight Display and LED Indication, Electric Test Pen with Illumination

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BFN8GT9?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 

I bought an assorted mini fuse kit on Amazon and carry a voltmeter. Any brand should do the trick to get you home. Luckily, I haven't had to use any yet.

 

On one of my trips to a pick-n-pull junkyard for something else, I got spares for all the fuses and relays for free. Fuses, relays, light bulbs, plastic clips, and hardware are "free samples" at the pick-n-pull. I pay for my actual parts but that kind of crap just goes in a cargo pants pocket. So now I have an Altoids tin full of genuine Toyota fuses and relays in that little cubby to the left of the steering wheel (2nd gen).

For the record, the first couple of times I walked out with a pocket full of these kinds of smalls I showed them to the checkout guy and he just looked at me like I had a pecker on my forehead and said something along the lines of "we ain't worried about that crap". I haven't even bothered asking since.

I re-used a higher amp fusible link on the heavy gauge wire I ran back to the bed of the truck cap to feed a secondary fuse block back there to run various aftermarket electrical doodads.

If you want to be charitable I'm helping save the environment by re-using waste product. If you want to be FACTUAL I'm just CHEAP

 

Brb ripping off pick-a-part

 

Oh FFS y'all trip me out

Do whatever you want. I really don't care. If I were to (try to) smuggle out ECM's or something things would be a bit different. We're talking about used fuses, relays, plastic clips and shit like that. The first couple times I actually asked about paying for them but they acted like I was a complete jackass for even asking. Maybe y'alls pick-n-pulls are different but ours definitely have no fucks to give about this stuff.

But then OP doesn't even know what kind of fuses to put in the truck or how to figure that out, so I doubt they'll be frequenting a pick-n-pull yard anyway so the point is probably moot. Ask the kid at Auto Zone they'll help you figure it out.

 

When it comes to fuses please at least choose a real brand and not some no-name Amazon junk. Some cheap Chinese factories produce the same amperage fuse for everything and just alter the color/labeling to save cost, which is obviously a hazard.

https://youtu.be/B90_SNNbcoU

 

Make sure you have the correct size/small plastic r&r tools as well. The current spade mini fuses keep getting smaller and smaller and without you prob aren't going to be able to remove a blown one with just your fingers.

Even with the correct sized puller, I had a hard time removing (and installing) one of those tiny ones in the lower dash cubby to the left of the steering column of my 2014.

 

Which brand did you get?

 

I haven’t bought fuses off of Amazon. If I were to, I’d look for littelfuse, bussman, waytek, etc— any real US-headquartered company, and not some random made up, vaguely English-sounding brand name that only exists to sell on Amazon

 

Why would anybody be concerned about blowing fuses? I would address what causes the concern beforehand. Not to say it is a bad idea they are small and take up little to no space but.

 

One day my USB just quit working. I didn’t buy a fuse when I was in town, I had a multi fuse kit I bought 25 years ago and used 2 fuses out of it.

Doom on me, fuses got smaller….