impact wrench

[badgolferman]

This past weekend my friend and I replaced the rear brake pads on my

2002 Honda Goldwing GL1800. It was quite a chore and much harder than either of us anticipated, but isn't every job that way?

We ended up having to take the rear wheel off and that's no easy feat. In order to get the lug nuts off we still had to jack it up in order to spin the tire from one lug nut to the next. It's not like a car where you undo the nuts before jacking it up, the saddlebags block access to everything. Unscrewing the nuts would have been impossible with a manual wrench, but luckily he had brought his DeWalt 20V impact wrench and that was strong enough to get the job done.

I've decided I need to get an impact wrench for times when I want to get the tire changed. It takes far less time and cost to take the tire in rather than the whole motorcycle. I already have a Black & Decker

20V cordless drill so I'm thinking of getting this impact drill. Do you think this is strong enough to undo lug nuts tightened to 80 ft lbs? How can I tell if it has reverse? What's the name of the bit which will let me attach a 3/8" drive 19mm deep socket? What other bits should I get? Anything to look out for?

[Dean Hoffman]

The forward/reverse switch is just under the body of the wrench. You can see the direction arrow right by the selector. Push the button in from either side to change direction.

Consumer Reports has these listed. Standard size Flex FX1351-2A $99. A smart buy. Score 90 Flex FX1371A-1H $299. Score. 84 DeWalt DCF887D2. $199. Score 83 Makita XDT19T $429. Score 80 Greenworks ID24L1520. $140. Score 77.

Compact impact driver. Milwaukee 2850-22CT $149. A smart buy. Score 85 Makita XDT16R. $369. Score 82 Milwaukee 2553-22 $224. Score 81 Kobalt (Lowe’s) KXID 1424A-03. $134. A smart buy. Score 77 Hercules 56531 $130. Score 70

[rbowman]

Disclaimer: I've had good luck with it so far, but YMMV

I needed an impact wrench when I was adding a cartridge emulator to the Harley's forks and picked up a corded impact wrench at Harbor Freight. It got that job done and has handled several others including breaking loose the lug nuts Godzilla at the tire shop installed.

They also have cordless but make sure the battery is included. Sneaky that way. There's a Harbor Freight about a block from where I work which makes life easier.

Terminology: impact driver: really meant for driving deck screws. Takes a 1/4 hex male so you probably could get to 3/8" square male with some adapters. Whether it would get the job done on really tight lugs is questionable.

impact wrench: 1/2 square spud. Use a 1/2 socket directly or adapt down to 3/8. For my tire job I did not use a impact socket, just a standard. The impact socket was too fat to fit the counterbore on the American Racing wheels. Definitely get the job done.

[Dennis Kane]

I would not buy a battery-operated 1/4" impact wrench/driver. For those times when I need an impact driver, it's usually tough duty. For the few times that I need one, nothing less than a corded, 1/2" square-drive will do for me. I have an older corded Makita impact driver that has enough torque to twist my arms off. In the same price range as the cordless B&D, there are good corded options available. One such example is:

It comes with 4 heavier-duty sockets, including 3/4" (~19mm). If you need deep sockets, be sure they are rated for use with an impact driver. I have no experience with Genisis tools; it's simply one suggestion to consider.

For infrequent use, you might consider something from Harbor Freight.

A set of these are handy, impact driver or not:

Good luck.

[Thomas]

If it is only going to used once a year get corded. I have a dewalt half inch with impact rated sockets that I rarely use but when I do it kicks ass. Stainless nice and shiny sockets might crack. OTOH, if you plan on small jobs often why not. I really do not see 20v doing much but maybe times have changed.

[trader_4]

+1 If you need an impact wrench you want it to be one that's reasonably strong. And in my usage, which is very occasional work on a vehicle, cordless isn't a significant advantage, it's a disadvantage. Cordless, the battery may not be charged when you need it, those batteries don't last and need to be replaced. I can't recall a situation where cordless or smaller size one have been an advantage. I have a 60 year old 1/2" Ingersol Rand here, it still works fine. I agree HF is worth looking at for this. If I needed one that I was going to use every day or weekly, I would look elsewhere. But for something needed a few times a year, I've found their tools to be fine and they are cheap. The only exception was when I bought some snapbring pliers, the tips were made of such soft metal that instead of opening the snap ring they just bent. I returned them, no problem.

[rbowman]

I bought a HF cordless drill for a couple of projects out in the woods a long way from electricity. It works, so far, and beats the hand drill I was using.

The only thing I've returned to HF was a machinist's vice that was just too sloppy to use. How you can screw something like that puzzles me. I have a pancake compressor that blew the guts out of the regulator but I plumbed around it. I use it to inflate tires and didn't need a regulator.

The sockets and wrenches aren't too bad. I put together a tool kit for the bike with them. If it gets ripped off I'm out a lot less.

[badgolferman]

You were right. I bought the 1/4" drive Bauer 20V impact driver and it couldn't remove the 21mm lug nuts tightened down to 80 ft-lbs. I took it back and bought the corded 8.5 Amp Bauer impact driver instead. I haven't used that one yet but it likely will work fine otherwise it will go back too.