Making The Ultimate Track/Targa/Autocross Tool Bag

[rennch]

Recently I embarked on an ambitious project, and since I've documented my whole car build on this forum, I thought I'd share this project with you.

A couple of years ago, I created the rennch™ brand as a DIY tips and gear for vintage Porsche nerds like me, but I'd only created tutorial videos...not a real thing.

I was invited to display my car at the Michelin booth at Rennsport Reunion VI, so I thought I should try to come up with something to display for the (So I thought) 6000 people that would attend. (I was only 76,000 people off.)

One of the biggest challenges I have when I do a track day, an autocross day, or a targa rally, is having everything I need to swap my wheels out (change a tire, put your race wheels on, get the car on a jack stand, etc...) and figure out what it's going to do in the car. I have the blue Harbor Freight jack, as many others do, but you can get fancier jacks that have the same form factor as well.

One week before Rennsport, I decided to make a bag that would house and organize everything I needed to change a wheel on the road. I had a couple of requirements.

1. It should look "period correct"
2. It should be well built...like a Porsche.
3. It should be contain everything I need, so at a glance I can tell if something's missing.
4. It should be "mass produceable".

This bag was going to be Prototype v.1.0, and hopefully with refinement, turn into something I can sell under the rennch moniker.

Now...I've never made a bag before. I didn't know the first thing. But...I knew how to cut cardboard, so that's where I started. I made a cardboard mockup, then a template from that mockup:





Then I made a couple pretty crude drawings, and found a guy who does this for a living on fiverr.com to make up some mockups, and when refined, some technical drawings I could send to a factory to have the bag produced.






I knew I was going to call it "jack in the bag™", so I bought some fabric and had it embroidered at a local embroidery place so I could cut and glue the fabric into "labels".

[rennch]

By some miracle, with just two days left before I had to leave for LA, I found someone to sew the bag up for me. She makes sails for sailboats in San Diego. I won't go into the details of how incredibly crazy the timeline was...but it was unreal.

Here's how I wanted the bag to layout:




Bag Finished, and loaded:




On Display:

[rennch]

Finally, some glamour shots. Obviously, for the prototype I wanted to match my interior. Because I'm a nerd like that.







A few other angles:





I got a TON of great feedback and suggestions at Rennsport, so the 2nd prototype technical drawings are under construction as we speak, and I'll hopefully have the 2nd prototype done in a few weeks. (feel free to add your .02 here as well) My goal is to have a display at Luftgekuhlt.

That's all for now!

[KNS]

Pretty damn impressive - I like!

[TAV]

That’s fantastic, emptyo! Subscribed.

[faverymi]

Love it.

Need pouch for pressure gauge IMHO

[rennch]

Originally Posted by faverymi

Love it.



Need pouch for pressure gauge IMHO

Agreed. Handled already in the 2.0
drawings.




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[RSBob]

Fantastic. Really nice work.

[Trackrash]

Very nice. A great looking product.

I would like to see a wheelie version. Like the wheels on luggage for us old guys with bad backs.

[rennch]

Originally Posted by Trackrash

Very nice. A great looking product.



I would like to see a wheelie version. Like the wheels on luggage for us old guys with bad backs.

Thanks. Interesting idea. Good feedback, thanks.


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[rennch]

Originally Posted by RSBob

Fantastic. Really nice work.

Thanks man. Excited for 2.0!


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[wilnj]

Anything keeping it from moving around in the trunk while driving?


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[rennch]

Originally Posted by wilnj

Anything keeping it from moving around in the trunk while driving?


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Yep...handled in 2.0.


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[nvr2mny]

Very cool. I “assume” you’ll be marketing this? What jack are you using?

[2jmotorsports]

Pretty awesome concept. I only have 2 comments as if I were developing this myself:

1. Make sure there is some good cushion or a durable bag floor sheet insert to prevent the jack casters from digging into the bottom of the bag every time it gets dropped on the pavement. Maybe even something replaceable.

2. If the pockets in the bag lid or walls start to present challenges another option is a kind of separate tool roll for the smaller tools that you could throw in the bag. Would keep metal parts from clanging into each other on bumpy roads.

Good luck and I hope its a success!

[shoooo32]

I saw it at rennsport but you were fiddling with camera equipment and I didn't want to bother you. I use the same jack, but without a great place to keep it in the trunk I threw it behind the passenger seat (not optimal). Subscribed!

[rennch]

Originally Posted by 2jmotorsports

Pretty awesome concept. I only have 2 comments as if I were developing this myself:

1. Make sure there is some good cushion or a durable bag floor sheet insert to prevent the jack casters from digging into the bottom of the bag every time it gets dropped on the pavement. Maybe even something replaceable.

2. If the pockets in the bag lid or walls start to present challenges another option is a kind of separate tool roll for the smaller tools that you could throw in the bag. Would keep metal parts from clanging into each other on bumpy roads.

Good luck and I hope its a success!

I have something in store for the base of the bag that I think is kind of clever. Being very durable is priority number one though. The first prototype was just made of wood, but subsequent ones will be an area of experimentation.


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[7783911]

Nice touch..i have to go a different route because of strut brace..I ve located a photographers bag 30 x 10 x 10 that has pockets for tools and bits/pieces and fits between brace and blower cover....winter project

[chrisbalich]

as much as i like the presentation, i think i'd rather have the individual tool pouches fully enclosed. rattling tools would drive me crazy. i'd be stopping constantly thinking that something on the car had come loose. not to mention the tools beating each other up.

also thicker/padded sides and ends would make it play nicer with any frunk-mates in addition to carrying it. (thinking of road-trips in addition to track trips)

[Porchdog]

Hi Mike!

We chatted a Rennsport. The car and the bag are both great!

One quibble - show the bag with a better brand of tools. I'm thinking that Pelican could step up with a Jack. I expect that I'm not the only person who isn't impressed with Harbor Freight stuff .