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[hankcah]

My old body can't handle tightening/loosening wheel lugs.

Looking for recommendations for a ratchet that will easily loosen 88-90 lb torque from lugs and the occasional brake job. (I'll manually re-torque.)

[2010 M Sport]

I use a Craftsman lithium ion impact gun (200 ft lbs). I use it more to loosen the lugs and then lightly tighten with it.

[floydarogers]

I have a Dewalt 120v impact wrench for 1/2" sockets. Works fine, but:
1) insert bolts by hand for a bit - you don't want it driven on cross-threaded
2) torque by hand (as you said.)
3) Some sockets (Kobalt) won't handle the impacts and break. I got it replaced, but ...

[mojobmw_e90]

I own a snap on 18v impact.. 668lbs trq. Not really needed but works.. Also own a snap on ratchet 3/8th and 1/4,love all of them and helped me many many times. Sometimes I forget how to use a regular ratchet

[hankcah]

Originally Posted by floydarogers

I have a Dewalt 120v impact wrench for 1/2" sockets. Works fine, but:
1) insert bolts by hand for a bit - you don't want it driven on cross-threaded
2) torque by hand (as you said.)
3) Some sockets (Kobalt) won't handle the impacts and break. I got it replaced, but ...

Which model is your Dewalt?

Thanks for this. I'll be sure to stay away from the Kobalt sockets. Gosh I'm so excited to not spend 25+ minutes per axle, turning bolts the old fashioned way.

Speaking of Old Fashioned, is it Friday yet?

[hankcah]

Originally Posted by 2010 M Sport

I use a Craftsman lithium ion impact gun (200 ft lbs). I use it more to loosen the lugs and then lightly tighten with it.

Is this the one you use? And it will loosen the bolts from the get go, as in I don't have to pre-loosen them? Does the battery last for all 4 wheels, uninstall and re-install? Thanks!

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-c...p-00939019000P

[hankcah]

Originally Posted by mojobmw_e90

I own a snap on 18v impact.. 668lbs trq. Not really needed but works.. Also own a snap on ratchet 3/8th and 1/4,love all of them and helped me many many times. Sometimes I forget how to use a regular ratchet

I'll have to look into it. Wow 668? Does it have slow, medium, high impact? Or do you just start it out, and then whip out the old torque wrench?

I like the impact for wheels, but may pick up something like this for brakes and sparkplugs. http://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-ARW120.../dp/B00729O2HY but still doing my research.

Thanks for the reply

Yeah, it's called a breaker bar...in other words, you need a longer wrench.

Are you really swapping wheels that often that you require a power tool? Hearing impact wrenches around wheel lugs gives me the chills; stripped threads for days.

[floydarogers]

Originally Posted by hankcah

Which model is your Dewalt?

Thanks for this. I'll be sure to stay away from the Kobalt sockets. Gosh I'm so excited to not spend 25+ minutes per axle, turning bolts the old fashioned way.

It's older, similar to a 293, I believe.

FYI, the real old-fashioned way is to use an x-shaped multi-headed lug wrench. It's pretty fast; almost as fast as an impact wrench. Lay the outer arm on a palm and spin the 90-degree ones with the other: one spin usually has enough momentum to spin a bold completely on.

[hankcah]

Originally Posted by FCobra94

Yeah, it's called a breaker bar...in other words, you need a longer wrench.

Are you really swapping wheels that often that you require a power tool? Hearing impact wrenches around wheel lugs gives me the chills; stripped threads for days.

I've been using the breaker bar. And I agree about the stripped threads. But I usually end up using the breaker bar and then sitting down to loosen the bolts (which I could then use the impact to do) and then catching the wheel. It's so tedious to sit there undoing the bolts.

It's just a different kind of workout that I never look forward to. Seems I'm halfway tired just by taking the wheels off. Sad I know. I'm in good shape too.

The frequency is in March/April swapping to Summer wheels. Then in December, swapping back to the Winter set. But the random halo rings going out, require one of the front wheels. Maybe doing a brake job, which requires the wheels to be off. Back in the fall, I had to do the fuel charcoal canister but the rear driver side wheel had to be taken off. That's 5 instances. 2 of which are all 4 corners.

Just like any tool, they sit for some time before they are used.

[gavronm]

I use the Milwaukee Electric M18 1/4" Hex Impact Driver. Not as violent as a 1/2" impact and incredibly versatile for all kinds of other home improvement tasks. Drives screws like a beast. All my cordless tools are Milwaukee and I absolutely love them. You can buy a pretty reasonable kit that includes the driver and a really nice hammer drill with a charger and two batteries.

It just barely can't break them loose. My technique is to jack the wheel to take off just a bit of weight, brake the lugs with a breaker bar, and then jack the car up the rest of the way and run them off with the driver.

Going on I start them all by hand and then hit them with the driver. A couple impacts consistently gets them just shy of 90 ft lbs. Lower the car and torque them down with the wrench.

I think its perfect.

[GATORB8]

For such infrequent use, HF's corded 1/2" impact isn't a bad deal at $50.

If you're going cordless, the best deal would probably be the bare tool 1/2" (or even smaller) cordless that you can use your existing drill batteries on.

If you're willing to use the breaker bar, you can just throw a 1/2" socket male adapter into your standard cordless drill or 1/4" impact and it will spin them right off.

[gabylonfive]

Originally Posted by gavronm

I use the Milwaukee Electric M18 1/4" Hex Impact Driver. Not as violent as a 1/2" impact and incredibly versatile for all kinds of other home improvement tasks. Drives screws like a beast. All my cordless tools are Milwaukee and I absolutely love them. You can buy a pretty reasonable kit that includes the driver and a really nice hammer drill with a charger and two batteries.

It just barely can't break them loose. My technique is to jack the wheel to take off just a bit of weight, brake the lugs with a breaker bar, and then jack the car up the rest of the way and run them off with the driver.

Going on I start them all by hand and then hit them with the driver. A couple impacts consistently gets them just shy of 90 ft lbs. Lower the car and torque them down with the wrench.

I think its perfect.

+1 for Milwaukee tools. I have a bunch of their FUEL tools and they are all amazing. I have the 1/2 and 3/8 guns and 3/8 ratchet and they see a ton of use in my garage. The 3/8 is probably my most used, makes easy work of lug nuts. Used it on an axle nuts and things like that too without issue.

[MichaelP]

Originally Posted by hankcah

Is this the one you use? And it will loosen the bolts from the get go, as in I don't have to pre-loosen them? Does the battery last for all 4 wheels, uninstall and re-install? Thanks!

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-c...p-00939019000P

I've used this one for a while and it works well but you need to use the bigger battery or else it doesn't have the same power.

It will break a lug nut off no problem. The only time I run into issues is when they have been over tightened or on all winter

[hanzery]

Originally Posted by MichaelP

I've used this one for a while and it works well but you need to use the bigger battery or else it doesn't have the same power.

It will break a lug nut off no problem. The only time I run into issues is when they have been over tightened or on all winter

Do you mind if I revive the topic years later?

Can I recommend it for the models you use?