Hey all,
I have an old Discovery and Audi 80 which keep me fairly busy in terms of maintenance and I'm sick to death of spending 3/4's of the job time just trying to undo that pink fluffy dice of a nut/bolt. I'm thinking a decent impact wrench will help ease the pain but there are loads of models out there and I was hoping for some advice.
I need the wrench to be fairly meaty, ideally, i.e. capable of doing more than wheel nuts but I don't have much money so the closer to £100 the better, and I won't turn my nose up at 2nd hand goods...couple of key questions I have:
1. Air, corded 240v or cordless; which is the best balance for power, cost and convenience?
2. If air, what specifications would you need as a minimum on the compressor for it to work the wrench i.e. capacity, horse power, psi etc. I know the air impact wrenches are cheap but obviously u need a decent compressor to drive it.
3. Whatever the option what kind of power do I need the wrench to be, i've seen NM and lbs per sq inch or something, what do i need to make it useful for most tough nuts?
4. Any brands to stay away from, I know everyone talks about the good ones i.e. snap on but they're a bit beyond my budget. There's loads of other brands, Rolson, Boschmann etc. kicking about; false economy?
5. And of course, any recommendations on impact wrenches used.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 23/04/2009 at 14:48
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You could get one of these :-)
tinyurl.com/d8r3d3
(Turn your sound on first.)
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mmmm flames
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150 litre tank
3 horse power motor or if you need a bit of steam to move a tight bolt a smaller tank loses the impetus
to be honest i wouldnt waste my money on electric unless its up to a snap on standard and i wouldnt buy s/h because its either nicked and promoting scum and their mates or its worn out and as much use as a dead parrot
keep to the breaker bar and ratchet and plenty of duck oil
spend the £100 in the pub---------mines a double glenlivet
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what a monster! Haven't looked up the price yet but I assume it's in the £500 mark. Worth a £100 less than my Audi so maybe not in this lifetime....
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 23/04/2009 at 20:09
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I've always found my tiny hand-held one I hit with a hammer surprisingly effective.
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Most air-impact wrenches on the market-whatever the sticky label says-are identical-even Snap-On offer them in their budget range.
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Most air-impact wrenches on the market-whatever the sticky label says-are identical-even Snap-On offer them in their budget range.
>>>>>>>>>> give up man i just spit coffee everywhere
identical in looks only------
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I think a lot of the cheaper ones are identical but for the sticker, and all equally carp.
If the OP wants to have air, then, finding a wrench which can produce a reasonable torque (Nm) at 100 psi is worthwhile. Ideally, you want 500Nm or more.
IME, good brands are Chicago Pneumatic, Ingersoll Rand, and Snap On.
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I have a snap-on electric impact wrench & its brilliant. I have dismantled a complete engine from top to bottom without so much as a re-charge.
Wheel nuts are like a hot knife with butter. There are different versions so don't buy a cheap s/hand one as they do vary.
I can remeber stopping for a man in a suit on the M3 in pouring rain when he couldn't remove the wheel nuts on his jackled up BMW & I just happened to have the tool in the boot & I had the wheel off in the time it took him to walk around the car! I have never forgotten how astounded he was, I just put his spare on & jumped in back in my car & off I went before he even had a chance to say thanks & just left him to wind the jack back down.
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I've always found my tiny hand-held one I hit with a hammer surprisingly effective.
That's an interesting one, I've seen them as 1/2 inch supplied with screwdriver bits. So they work with socket sets as well then? Have you tackled big and bad bolts with it before?
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That's an interesting one, I've seen them as 1/2 inch supplied with screwdriver bits. So they work with socket sets as well then? Have you tackled big and bad bolts with it before?
The thing that holds the screwdriver bits pulls off to reveal a 1/2" square drive !!
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If a nut or bolt is incapable of being removed with a normal spanner, or a socket with an extension bar or torque wrench (and you are not abnormally weak) it's probably seized and the thread will ultimately become stripped (without the aid of something like Plus Gas dismantling spray) whatever method of removal you use.
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For tough jobs, I have a Snap-On breaker bar which is about 18" long.
As L'escargot says, if something like that won't shift it, you've got other problems.
For anything found on a car, my breaker with a well-fitting socket will either undo the nut or sometimes strip the thread.
If something's really seized, the most likely outcome is to twist off the head of the bolt, or shear off the nut with the bolt still inside it.
The other advantage with using a bar is that you can feel the fixing give which means you are less likely to damage it.
As regards the hand impact tools, I dunno why, but they seem to work better with screws and bolts, rarther than nuts.
They shock the thread, and a similar effect can be gained by tapping the end of an ordinary screwdriver with a hammer while twisting the handle.
A typical application would be the set screw that holds a brake drum in place.
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Assuming you can get a bit of a swing with a hammer, I've always found the manual Impact Driver more than sufficient for getting out difficult bolts, esp Philips screwheads.
On nuts they can be of use but a good quality socket/spanner plus leverage will normally do the trick. The manual impact driver can help if the nut is 'welded' onto the bolt through age/corrosion but always soak with penetrating oil first.
Typical: www.justoffbase.co.uk/Impact-Driver-Set-15pc-Seale...8
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Any thoughts regarding my above post? It is something I am very interested in having more information regarding.
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Which Forum would be useful regarding advice for impact wrenches?
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Hi
Can a backroomer recommend a battery powered/ mains powered impact wrench of any description. I have a list above, but I wonder which is the favourite one to go for?
Thanks
Greg
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