Topic

Hi everyone,
I need advice and suggestions on which impact wrench to buy.
I’m, like most people on this forum, a reluctant mechanic, so I don’t need a garage standard impact wrench as it’s only going to get occasional use.
Bob

Air or electric? Air works best but takes a big compressor. Lots of good tools around secondhand and cheap. Electric tends not to have the sheer wallop of air tools. Mains wrenches are better but big and heavy. Battery ones may not last long but work well for changing wheels. Why do you think you need one? I do a lot of mechanicing and have never really needed one. £20 buys a good breaker bar.

I agree with minimax, they aren't necessary for the reluctant mechanic, i have a nice big breaker bar, if that fails, it's unusual.

I have several Ryobi one+ cordless tools which all use the same batteries so naturally when I wanted an impact wrench I choose when from their range. However I made the mistake of not checking the maximum torque it could cope with and ended up with one that can only go up to about 250Nm. It is just powerful enough to crack off a crank shaft nut and just about managed some of the subframe bolts when I refurbished them.

My advice is to look for one that will produce more than 400Nm, most do nowadays. Unless you plan to use it all the time I wouldn't spend a lot. Machine Mart have a good comparison facility on their website - https://www.machinemart.co.uk/categories/?search=impac&suggest=true&Category=Power+Tools%7cImpact+Wrencheshttps://www.machinemart.co.uk/categories/?search=impac&suggest=true&Category=Power+Tools%7cImpact+Wrenches

I bought one of these, and it's never been beaten.


However it is massive and heavy, but it will spin off a wheel hub nut with no problem.

minimax wrote:

Why do you think you need one? I do a lot of mechanicing and have never really needed one. £20 buys a good breaker bar.

I find best use for impact wrench when it is difficult to get a good "torque reaction" from a breaker bar.

For example the crankshaft bolt, where the crank wants to turn, a bolt on the suspension that wants to lift the suspension as you turn, or a tight bolt on a small component removed from the engine.

Trying to stop something moving, while using a breaker bar can be difficult, but an impact wrench will "hammer" it off.

Dont use one often, but when it is needed it is a godsend...

I have to agree, unless you intend to do an extraordinary amount of work on your car, I'm not sure getting an impact wrench is the way to go. I have both air and electric wrenches but almost always reach for the breaker bar and a can of plus gas along with some decent six point sockets. It can be at times just too much of a faff to get the compressor out or trail a mega long extension cable to my garage. In my opinion, you have a much better feel when undoing those tight bolts etc this way than you ever do with impact guns. As a fallback I have used a trusty old impact screwdriver and wacking great lump hammer which to date has never failed me.

"reach for the breaker bar and a can of plus gas along with some decent six point sockets. "
That's the way to do it.

thanks for your replies,
the consensus appears to be, don’t bother, invest in a good socket set, plenty of WD40 and perhaps go down the gym occasionally!

Plus gas is to be preferred over WD40 as a penetrant. Two squirts a few days apart and even the stubborn ones give up. None of the 25 year old sphere mounting fittings, (sixteen of them) gave the slightest trouble this weekend, having been sprayed a fortnight ago and then again on Friday. Time and patience means you don't need so much of either!

I have @ 8 square drive rattle guns they vary from a little 3/8" drive battery tiddler to a 1" drive pneumatic monster that makes me feel tired just looking at it, let alone picking the heavy bastard up!
Working on cars, I find them the most use on rotating components such as undoing flywheel bolts, crankshaft pully bolts etc. and anywhere there is no swinging room for a long breaker bar.
On the down side you need head room above the bolt head to use them.
I don't bother with mains powered units, none of the convenience of battery power and without the grunt of pneumatic, I see no advantage in them.
I only use Bosch Professional or Hilti battery rattle guns, although I have an Aldi 1/2" drive battery rattle gun which I always carry in the ute for wheel changing (don't care if it gets stolen) it's a little bulky but is much better than I thought it would be, it provides a very good bang for the buck.

Although you can get square drive adapters for impact screw driver guns, the damned things are next to useless for automotive work, better off leaving those things to wood butchers!

Good tip, thank you