I've been looking at buying a electric Impact wrench, just as i think it would be a nice little investment,working on my drive. Just from a quick scout around i came across this one with 100NM Max torque which i thought would probably do me, But i then came across this one at the other end of the market, which can 'generate' upto 350NM Torque, but hen reading customer comments and the review, they say 'Its good for wheel bolts' Surely it can do more? 350's Loads, but from 12V, not so sure on this?

I realise your paying for quality and the more expensive one will probably last alot longer, but surely it would make sense to go for the cheaper option? Can anyone shedany light on this for me? Thanks

i've got the RAC one, its quite good. I expected it to be du du du du du drrrrrrrrrr like the air powered ones but it's more like du..........du.........du

what have you done with it? just wheel bolts?

yeah, never needed to tighten anything else...

Tightening isnt where it comes in handy IMO. undooing stuck things is what it helps with.

Mate had one, did some shocking stuff that we could do with a breaker

does it have enough grunt to do much more? i suppose thats what I'm trying to ask lol

that you could do with a breaker?

So waste of money?

I got one like that RAC one and I found it was rather crap. Wouldn't shift wheel bolts and if it did it was quicker to use a bar.

I now have the clarke one http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/...impact-wrenches

Its much better and it will shift most things :)

Ahh!

How good is that one? what have u used it on? sorry for all the questions..i just want to be sure

cheers people!

Its very good. The only thing it struggles with (that I've tried) is drive shaft nuts and the crank pulley nut.

Cool,nice one mate, may have to look at getting one after i forkout for road tax :(

so reckon it could whizz lower arms? struts? that sort of thing off?

Cool,nice one mate, may have to look at getting one after i forkout for road tax :(

so reckon it could whizz lower arms? struts? that sort of thing off?

Yeeerp if you get a good one I would advise buying proper impact sockets tho if your going to be using a gun spend some more & buy a snap on one !! There proper Torquey impact guns

I've got one and there fantastic!

Top mount bolts off without holding onto the strut.

Flywheel bolts off without having to brace the other end of the crank.

All sorts.

Tightening with it is abit excessive though. Torque wrench or a ratchet for most things on cars. If you swinging on a breaker to do your wheel bolts up then your doing it all wrong! (with exception of mk3 polo head bolts) lol

If i'm honest i just use it for the stuff that refuses to budge cos you run out of hands holding onto something to stop it spinning.

There a handy item for a garage mind.

you got the clarke one neil? i dont want it for wheel bolts, thats what the torque wrench is for

yeah, i have some impact sockets, just odd ones i have collected

Thanks

that you could do with a breaker?

So waste of money?

Meant couldn't dude.

We've been through 4 of them, the lower power ones were horrendously useless, one couldn't even undo wheel bolts and another ended up being replaced by a bit of scaffold on a torque wrench to crack the head bolts on a rover v8

Got a 400Nm one now and its fantastic, hasn't been defeated yet, wasn't cheap mind, but it's so useful, especially useful undoing flywheel bolts and things where you'd normally need to try and stop the thing turning, also a lot less danger of shearing the bolt when using one of these compared to a breaker bar

Just found the model number - DeWalt DW059K2 18V Impact Wrench

Edited 26 April, 201115 yr by AMD_Man

I've only used snap-on... I would recommend that but very expensive.

I've got a makita impact wrench 18v 140nm of torque ,its not really man enough i always tighten them fully with a bar

Tightening isnt where it comes in handy IMO. undooing stuck things is what it helps with.

x2

came in very handy with my moped!

if you want one worthy of undoing tight things you need upwards of 300Nm.

it sounds like a lot but its an impact gun, so it only shocks at its max rating for a split second then goes off and back on again, its not like it can hold that force like you can with a bar, this is what people get confussed with!

my air gun at work is around 400Nm but wont budge some wheel bolts that are over tightened or rusted in!

the only ones worth buying are a lot of money for obvious reasons.

if your intending on wheels on off quickly then yeah buy cheap, but if your doing heavy work then you can only consider going for a big name make, snap-on, mac tools etc as youll get the lifetime guarantee with it!

also the shearing the bolt idea, i kind of agree as they shock bolts loose, but you dont have any feel like you do with a ratchet or bar, and if the bolts ready for snapping it'll snap with either!

plus they arent ment for re-fitting with which most people use them for which must cause more thread stripping or cross threading than anything else!

matt, where the hell did you come from

also the shearing the bolt idea, i kind of agree as they shock bolts loose, but you dont have any feel like you do with a ratchet or bar, and if the bolts ready for snapping it'll snap with either!

plus they arent ment for re-fitting with which most people use them for which must cause more thread stripping or cross threading than anything else!

True, if it's that knackered either will snap it off, but personally I've found the 400Nm impact driver a bit more forgiving than a breaker bar due to the shock loading rather than a continuously applied torque

Yeah I wouldn't use a high torque impact driver for re-fitting, you'd have completely destroyed the thread before even realising it wasn't lined up square... Normally crack out the air ratches after doing a couple of turns by hand

Tightening up your wheel bolts with an impact wrench is a horendous idea...

Try using a torque wrench and the correct torque.

Tightening up your wheel bolts with an impact wrench is a horendous idea...

Try using a torque wrench and the correct torque.

Seriously? Am i the only person that just stands on a wheelbrace?

Tightening up your wheel bolts with an impact wrench is a horendous idea...

Try using a torque wrench and the correct torque.

Seriously? Am i the only person that just stands on a wheelbrace?

Nope your not alone olly always a wheels brace or my breaker bar (no need to stand on the latter tho). I've never even seen anyone tighten a wheel nut with a torque wrench before