Impact wrench how much torque is enough.

robj20 · 15 Apr 2021 at 18:29

Looking at getting an impact wrench first glance looked at the Ryobi ones they do a 270nm one the most expensive one and a 400nm one cheapest. I have mostly DeWalt stuff but can easily get an adapter, how much torque do I need to do most things, stuff like taking wheels off and changing brake discs that sort of thing.
Ryobi because it's not going to be used very often.

adam cool dude · 15 Apr 2021 at 19:02

I have a cheapy wired draper stormforce thing that will undo hub nuts with ease which is basically the hardest thing you will ever come across. 1100nm breakaway torque. My airgun is rated even higher but the wired one does the job.

Cookeh · 15 Apr 2021 at 20:08

This?

rodenal · 15 Apr 2021 at 21:01

I have the more powerful Ryobi impact and it's great tbh - however I don't believe the torque rating on it (it's still generally plenty for suspension work including pressing in bushes etc) and am not sure it would undo a hub nut to use the example above. An air impact absolutely would, as would a higher powered 230v tool.

It's pretty compact though which is where the plugin tools can sometimes fall down, I also had a cheapish plug in impact completely fail after a few "good" uses where the Ryobi still seems in perfect condition a couple of years into relatively heavy (for home) use, I've stripped all 4 corners of both my focus and fiesta suspension wise including wishbones and well sized strut bolts, replaced bushes on the rear of the fiesta that need to be manhandled in, plus many other small jobs where it's used to buzz things off.

It's also pretty handy to just have around the house and be able to swap a battery in then build decking, fencing, swing sets, drive into brick (carefully) etc

Gaijin · 15 Apr 2021 at 22:06

If you have mostly Dewalt then why haven't you considered one of these?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-d...r-brushless-cordless-impact-wrench-bare/3399j

It's pretty much best in class spec wise. I bought one for the crank bolt on my Kia, it hasn't failed on a bolt yet.

adam cool dude · 16 Apr 2021 at 04:30

Cookeh said:
This?

Yeah. Unless you really need battery one a wired impact gun is mega cheap and does the job any home mechanic would need. To me at least the two hardest things to crack are crank wheel bolts and hub nuts and mine did both with ease on several different cars.

sovietspybob · 16 Apr 2021 at 08:32

I've got the 400nm Ryobi one and not found anything it couldn't undo yet be it wheel bolts done up by the apes at national tyre fitting centres or suspension and brake parts.

I'm not sure it'd do a hub nut but i've never tried.

paradigm · 16 Apr 2021 at 08:38

I’ve got the cordless Draper StormForce and I personally think it’s a touch weak. It struggles with wheel bolts that have been done up by feel rather than properly torqued.

robj20 · 16 Apr 2021 at 08:54

sovietspybob said:
I've got the 400nm Ryobi one and not found anything it couldn't undo yet be it wheel bolts done up by the apes at national tyre fitting centres or suspension and brake parts.

I'm not sure it'd do a hub nut but i've never tried.

Thanks that's all I need it for, anything more than changing brakes I take it to the garage.

sovietspybob · 16 Apr 2021 at 08:59

robj20 said:
Thanks that's all I need it for, anything more than changing brakes I take it to the garage.

Yeah for me just pottering in my garage i really like it, especially for the £60 or so quid i paid for it a few years ago it's been a god send.

WJA96 · 16 Apr 2021 at 09:40

The main difference between the two is that the more expensive one is brushless and features an auto-stop at 120Nm for doing up wheel bolts.

@Mikey bought the brushless one and I think he was somewhat underwhelmed and maybe he can comment. I have the brushless one (the one with the 7 in the model number) in the car and and I gave one to my parents for changing their tyres if they had a puncture and my dad reckons it's perfect for that.

jellybeard999 · 26 Apr 2021 at 20:31

Gaijin said:
If you have mostly Dewalt then why haven't you considered one of these?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-d...r-brushless-cordless-impact-wrench-bare/3399j

It's pretty much best in class spec wise. I bought one for the crank bolt on my Kia, it hasn't failed on a bolt yet.

I looked at this and it seems quite bulky, but looks good vfm.

I have seen https://www.dewalt.co.uk/products/d...mpact-high-torque-1-2-impact-wrench-bare-unit which is half the power, but is much more compact.

I guess suspension bolts, hubs etc will be my heaviest use case, but my most frequent use would probably be wheel nuts etc.

Any feedback

mikeh501 · 26 Apr 2021 at 21:33

ive got a bosch 18v one and its great for most situations but occassionally i could do with a bit more punch. i think its 300nm. the problem with really high power ones is you can easily break stuff, get thread galling and can bust ratchet drives on the other end. Ive broken 2 wera ratchet spanners and a 3/8" drive using mine.

I also wouldnt use one to put wheel bolts on without using a torque wrench.

SoliD · 26 Apr 2021 at 21:43

Gaijin said:
If you have mostly Dewalt then why haven't you considered one of these?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-d...r-brushless-cordless-impact-wrench-bare/3399j

It's pretty much best in class spec wise. I bought one for the crank bolt on my Kia, it hasn't failed on a bolt yet.

Got this, has made short work of everything I've chucked at it so far. Snapped some disc retaining bolts that were slipping/rounded when trying to undo them with relative ease when I got a bit angry.

Gaijin · 26 Apr 2021 at 21:55

Same, crank bolts, brake carriers, lower shock bolts - nothing has phased it. It might be a bit dearer but i stretched to it in the mentality of having one that can do anything. Access is the only slight issue as it's a chonk, but haven't run into anything a more slender choice would have fitted.

bainbridge · 26 Apr 2021 at 22:28

Gaijin said:
If you have mostly Dewalt then why haven't you considered one of these?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/dewalt-d...r-brushless-cordless-impact-wrench-bare/3399j

It's pretty much best in class spec wise. I bought one for the crank bolt on my Kia, it hasn't failed on a bolt yet.

I've got one of these and it met its match on one of the rear wheels of the Mrs's car

I needed to change the rear pads, 2 years previously she'd had a tyre replaced and the fitter must used an airgun on max setting. On setting number 3 my dewalt didn't move the bolts, it just clanged away and got hot. I had to dig out the breaker bar with steel pipe extension and with much shrieking they loosened.

Gaijin · 26 Apr 2021 at 23:04

On wheel nuts? Wow. They must've been tight.

To be honest if the thread size is meaty enough and there's access i'd be using a breaker and cheater bar if necessary.

You can't really do that on a crank bolt if you can't lock the crank in place (with an SST etc.) as the transmission slop will eat up a lot of the lash and your effort. I even tried the breaker bar/starter motor trick and that failed. The dewalt ate it up after a few seconds. That's where these come into their own - same with hub driveshaft nuts.

bainbridge · 27 Apr 2021 at 07:38

Gaijin said:
On wheel nuts? Wow. They must've been tight.

To be honest if the thread size is meaty enough and there's access i'd be using a breaker and cheater bar if necessary.

You can't really do that on a crank bolt if you can't lock the crank in place (with an SST etc.) as the transmission slop will eat up a lot of the lash and your effort. I even tried the breaker bar/starter motor trick and that failed. The dewalt ate it up after a few seconds. That's where these come into their own - same with hub driveshaft nuts.

Yes I was disappointed, not only because the DeWalt didn't loosen the bolts, but I'd neglected to re-torque them as soon as she had the tyre done. Access couldn't be easier on the road wheel bolts but I like using the impact anyway to save time. I get what you're saying about access, I just hope the DeWalt does the bizz when space is too tight!

Avalon · 27 Apr 2021 at 10:16

I was sceptical about this ‘toy’ impact gun, but wanted something for the back of the car, I didn’t want to be dependant on the state of charge/ageing of a battery and it needed to be compact. I ended up with this:

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/cir13c-1-2in-impact-wrench-kit-12v/

I’ll be honest, I didn’t have high hopes and was half expecting it to struggle with wheel nuts despite its claimed 350Nm. I was pleasantly surprised to find it made light work if everything I threw at it. So much so that when it came to doing a suspension overhaul on a 15 y/o 4x4 with original everything, I figured I would give it a shot before getting the mains or air versions out, again it managed with no drama.

WJA96 · 27 Apr 2021 at 10:30

I think there are two use-cases here.

There are people like my parents who are physically not strong enough to undo a correctly tightened nut or bolt and who would use these battery powered tools to make up for that lack of strength. And for that they’re great. My dad no longer feels useless because he can’t change a tyre.

And there are people who want them for loosening off REALLY tightly done up fixings or fixings that are rusted/corroded in which case the torque and the impact rate are basically too high for a battery powered tool to be capable of, which is why garages typically use air driven devices and, for very similar money to a good battery powered impact wrench you can buy a decent compressor and air powered impact wrench.