Impact Wrench question
Race Director
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 19,610
Likes: 778
From: Forked River NJ
You only need about 75 to 80 ft lbs to put them on but to take them off could be a different story. I have a 250 ft lb air Impact and it struggles on some lug nuts. It depends on who put them on and how long they have been on. I would never torque my lugs with a gun while going on. I always run the nuts in then get out the torque wrench.
To answer the question I would say a minimum of 250 ft lbs. for a 1/2 inch impact
To answer the question I would say a minimum of 250 ft lbs. for a 1/2 inch impact
Racer
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 354
Likes: 0
From: Fredericksburg Va
Gordon is right you never want to use the impact to put your lugs on. I finger tight them on making sure the lugs center themselves in the hole and use a torque wrench. The torque wrench ensures each lug is on tight with even pressure and keeps the rotor from warping when it heats up.
The impact wrench comes in handy everywhere to take stuff off like caliper bolts, Lug nuts, nasty rusted exhaust hardware etc...... You will not need a breaker bar ever again. Just hold on to it tight or it will take you for a ride.
My air compressor impact wrench is rated at 450 ft/lbs. I also have a 3/8" drive impact as well. You want to get the electric equivalent impact with the highest rating you can find.
Rd
The impact wrench comes in handy everywhere to take stuff off like caliper bolts, Lug nuts, nasty rusted exhaust hardware etc...... You will not need a breaker bar ever again. Just hold on to it tight or it will take you for a ride.
My air compressor impact wrench is rated at 450 ft/lbs. I also have a 3/8" drive impact as well. You want to get the electric equivalent impact with the highest rating you can find.
Rd
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 3,268
Likes: 2
From: Minnesota in the summer, Las Vegas in the winter
I have an 18 volt DeWalt cordless impact wrench. I think the torque rating is 300 ft lbs but not sure. Too dang cold to go out to the garage to check.....(-15 degrees here earlier).......But I use it to remove the lugs on all my vehicles. Works very nicely!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,669
Likes: 3
From: Kingston Ontario
If purchasing the impact wrench to install wheels, money is better spent buying a torque wrench.
If purchasing to remove stud nuts, then buy the highest rated horsepower you can find/afford. Some are also adjustable torque (great feature).
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 992
Likes: 56
From: Baldwinsville, NY
Impact Wrenches
I learned a long time ago, if you enjoy your working with tools, learn to use tools. My hobby has turned into fixing, restoring, and driving my vette. That said, I enjoy working with hand tools.
Impact wrenches should never be used on lug nuts, experienced mechanics use special torque limiting sockets.
Impacts might be useful to undo things, but they sometimes do more damage than time saving. When you need to make money at this hobby, you may need to learn impacts and buy the correct sizes and accompanying sockets.
My 2 cents
Impact wrenches should never be used on lug nuts, experienced mechanics use special torque limiting sockets.
Impacts might be useful to undo things, but they sometimes do more damage than time saving. When you need to make money at this hobby, you may need to learn impacts and buy the correct sizes and accompanying sockets.
My 2 cents
Racer
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 396
Likes: 3
From: Buffalo New York
Look for one that has adjustable torque settings. The GOOD ones will have more reverse torque than forward torque, for stubborn bolts. If you have a compressor, get a pneumatic wrench. At any rate, it should have at least 400 ft/lbs to be useful for old cars.
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Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
Likes: 230
From: Orange Park Florida
Putting on ANY wheels with a torque wrench is a time waster, been doing automotive wheels for some 50 years now.....allways used an impact, never bothered with any torque extension bars either....
once you get familiar with your tools you know when to stop....
steel, aluminum, vette, goat, mopar, mutso, ford, don't matter....
the studs get a dap of grease, the nuts get tapped down snug at first to center the wheel up nice, then tap each in the star pattern/crossover for 5x each I use a Ingersoll 1/2 impact on 125 psi.....
never an issue in pushing a million miles now...not once....
all this over torqueing to 100 ft lbs or whatever for aluminum wheels is a bunch of horse hockey.....
do what keep you happy, I know the truth.....
once you get familiar with your tools you know when to stop....
steel, aluminum, vette, goat, mopar, mutso, ford, don't matter....
the studs get a dap of grease, the nuts get tapped down snug at first to center the wheel up nice, then tap each in the star pattern/crossover for 5x each I use a Ingersoll 1/2 impact on 125 psi.....
never an issue in pushing a million miles now...not once....
all this over torqueing to 100 ft lbs or whatever for aluminum wheels is a bunch of horse hockey.....
do what keep you happy, I know the truth.....
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,883
Likes: 11
From: North Easton Mass
The Craftsman air impact wrench that I use has 1 reverse with (I think) ~450 lbs. torque and 3 forward settings. I never use more than the 1st forward setting to tighten anything. It speeds things up but doesn't put much torque on the bolts.
Rick B.
Rick B.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 7,831
Likes: 5
From: Austin TX
Putting on ANY wheels with a torque wrench is a time waster, been doing automotive wheels for some 50 years now.....allways used an impact, never bothered with any torque extension bars either....
once you get familiar with your tools you know when to stop....
steel, aluminum, vette, goat, mopar, mutso, ford, don't matter....
the studs get a dap of grease, the nuts get tapped down snug at first to center the wheel up nice, then tap each in the star pattern/crossover for 5x each I use a Ingersoll 1/2 impact on 125 psi.....
never an issue in pushing a million miles now...not once....
all this over torqueing to 100 ft lbs or whatever for aluminum wheels is a bunch of horse hockey.....
do what keep you happy, I know the truth.....
once you get familiar with your tools you know when to stop....
steel, aluminum, vette, goat, mopar, mutso, ford, don't matter....
the studs get a dap of grease, the nuts get tapped down snug at first to center the wheel up nice, then tap each in the star pattern/crossover for 5x each I use a Ingersoll 1/2 impact on 125 psi.....
never an issue in pushing a million miles now...not once....
all this over torqueing to 100 ft lbs or whatever for aluminum wheels is a bunch of horse hockey.....
do what keep you happy, I know the truth.....
The stories of snapped lugs and warped rotors abound...
I torque my wheels in three stages like a cylinder head or whatever.
