Any one use an impact wrench? I hit the wall trying to crank the lock nuts off the differential flange studs with my socket wrench. Went to Lowes and saw some electric impact wrenches, and they were really really BIG! Not cheap either, how often do you use it?

 

"Not cheap either, how often do you use it? "

Hopefully NEVER,,,, Unfortunately, it might be needed to loosen some parts... The proper way is to put everything back using a torque wrench and the proper torque specs...

Some shop have color coded impact lug nut sockets that are suppose to lock the lug at manufacture specs... I do not like Impacts used at all on my vehicles....

I prefer to have my nuts tightened by hand and to exact specs,,,

 

Impacts should only be used to loosen nuts that were put on too tightly by someone else with an impact wrench.

As da count says, anything on such a vehicle on our Jags should be torqued to the proper tension, not tightened by impact wrench.

I have watched guys in shops when something needs to be torqued correctly, use an impact wrench until it could get no tighter, then put the torque wrench on it to hear it click, not realizing that what they have done is to over torque the nut.

I was a quality control inspector in nuclear power plants for eight years, and I used to have to go to witness and document the proper torquing technique on very large valves. There was a very systematic procedure as to the sequence and tension to be applied in a several step process.

One inspector misread the spec and set the wrench improperly and had the mechanics overtorque a few hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment, which had to be replaced when the mistake was found out.

When I had my new tires put on I told them that I wanted to watch them torque the wheels back on the car, which I did.

 

The plot seems to have gotten lost.

The OP is only asking about removing the fastener.

@Skid ... consider using a 2 foot long 1/2" drive breaker bar after several pre-soaks with a good penetrant like Kroil or even Liquid Wrench. Sharp tapping on the fastener with a hammer also helps by encouraging the penetrant to seep into the threads, and breakaway the rust.

 

In situations where a combination of penetrating oil and heat treatment fail and you can't get to the nut with a long breaker bar, an Impact Driver is a useful tool:



These come with an adaptor which holds a variety of bits. Used without the adaptor, it's a plain half inch square drive to use with sockets. Impact sockets are the preferred ones but I've got away with using standard ones.

It works by giving the driver a whack on the end with a club hammer and this applies sufficient inital shock and torque to move most frozen nuts.

Graham

 

My friend is a 30+ year GM worker setting up the line for new models. His training emphasized that the majority of warranty items can be traced back to improper torque settings. They true up each wrench at each shift. Or are supposed to anyway...

 

My solution this time was to take it to my indy shop this morning and have them do it. The tech who did the job showed me his version of the Impact driver and it looked really handy, so I can see getting something like that soon for the DIY jobs for sure.

Who makes that one, Graham, it looks really cool.

 

I was struggling to get the crank pulley nut off my wifes car and got a cheapo impact from O'Reillys I think, it works of the cigar lighter socket. Less then $20.
It's not a professional tool by any stretch of the imagination but for once in a while use it is fine.

 

I've had my impact driver for over twenty years and there's no manufacturer's name on it. However, I found the same thing on Amazon (UK) made by Draper:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-Exper...ob_diy_title_0

And another made by Sealey:

Sealey Impact Driver Set 15pc : Tooled-Up.com

Do a search on either of these names or 'impact driver' + 'bits' and it should turn up something closer to home for you. It's important to look for 'half inch square drive' in the description so it can be used with sockets as well as the bits in the kit.

Graham

 

Bet that impact drive would have helped remove my hydraulic pump plug...instant torque, instead of sustained torque would have prevented my torx bit from shearing off. I ordered myself one from amazon anyway, looks very useful.

 

I have a Craftsman impact driver that I bought in 1973 to take the doors off my 1969 Karmann Ghia. It was one of the first tools I ever bought.

By the time I get to pulling it out of the bottom of the tool box I'm usually in pretty deep with a problem. It's a pretty blunt force type of tool, definately a last resort type of thing.

 

Hi scott I had a Karmann Ghia White/black coupe 1600 I think 1972

Nice looking car enjoyed driving it but slow! but good fun,

I have an impact as well but only use when really stuck.

Al

 

Uh...guys... an impact wrench and an impact driver are two very different tools. Impact wrenches are either electrically or pneumatically powered. Impact drivers are powered by the hammer you strike it with.

 

...and I got a driver. No impact wrench/gun on my lug nuts are allowed.

 

Alag:

If your Karmann Ghia had an engine built by our local VW indy shop, it would have been a rocket. They're known to build the best Bug engines in the U.S.

The owners' personal rail buggy had over 300 horsepower and would only run smoothly between 4000 and 8000 rpm's with giant paddle style tires. The closest place he could use it was western Oklahoma--800 miles west.

You ought to see all the VW speed parts and different engines available online.

I also have a Craftsman impact driver, and it takes a pretty good hit with a heavy ball peen hammer to use it. I bought it to separate motorcycle engine cases.

 

I use a cross wrench to take them off when I'm changing wheels in the garage. Then I use the cross to put them back on snug followed by the torque wrench.

I noticed the other day that the kid at Discount Tire didn't realize that using a torque wrench after the impact driver/wrench does no good. Of course it double clicks, but it's already at a much higher torque value. I checked them when I got home and they were probably torqued to almost a 100lbs. I couldn't loosen them with the cross wrench, I had to use the much larger torque wrench to do that and then re-torque to the proper setting. He also chipped quite a bit of paint with the impact driver around the lug nut openings on my recently painted Hydras. Guess I'll buy my next set of tires somewhere else.

 

Count_Damonee, just for the record, when used correctly, the torque tubes (those color coded lug nut sockets) work perfectly. The correct procedure is using the impact wrench only until it first stops - no rat-a-tat-tat sound. Then use a hand torque wrench for the final adjustment. When done properly, you always have about 1/2 to 1 full turn of the lug nut before the torque wrench clicks. It actually does save labor time in a shop where one person may may do numerous tire changes in a single day. I will agree, however, if you use a cross wrench to "spin" the lug nut on before torquing, the time saved isn't as dramatic.

 

I love my impact wrench. If you watch my transmission pan replacement video you'll see that I would have stripped out the heads of most of the torx screws without it. Since they work by transmitting pulses into the screw or nut, they are able to remove corroded fasteners that would just be rounded off with a conventional wrench or socket.

It's kinda like if you were trying to loosen a corroded bolt by just torquing on it with the wrench, but at the same time someone was pounding on it with a hammer. The hammer blows would help the bolt break free. An impact wrench does the same thing, but it's much easier to use and you don't need a friend with a hammer.

 

"Count_Damonee, just for the record, when used correctly, the torque tubes (those color coded lug nut sockets) work perfectly."

"It actually does save labor time in a shop where one person may may do numerous tire changes in a single day."

Understood. However; I am in NO RUSH and I never Push my mechanics,,, I just prefer to torque everything by hand when tightening things back down...

I have no problem with using an Impact to remove stubborn Nuts... Again I would prefer not to but in some cases it is a neeeded tool...

And with our 2-3 piece aluminum wheels I will only tolerate hand tools ONLY... But again my preference...

 

Would have been awesome but I only had 60 bhp! it was standard except for the exhaust.

I said i had a impact driver what I really meant was a impact wrench that runs off a compressor but have only used it a few times will no doubt be useful as I get more stuck into the XK.
Al