How dangerous is an impact wrench?

But since those wrenches aren't accurate, we still have to put them together with hand torque wrenches.

Can you "get away" with using an impact wrench on lug nuts? Lots of folks do. Doesn't make it a good practice though.

Let the pros do it, if for no other reason than then it's their baby when something fails. Then, when the lawyers have their techs on the stand, let them convince the plaintiffs attorneys that they have calibrated ears...

You're playing with fire. Just my 2 cents worth.

Anyway, want to know why he's dumping it? Turns out that Jiffy Lube used an impact wrench to tighten the fill plug on it--cracks all over the place, chewed up threads, rounded over plug head. The kicker for me was that "DO NOT USE IMPACT WRENCHES" in huge letters was cast into the side of the housing! The good part was that they apparently paid for the replacement, but still...

Another reason I do my own work.

Three years ago, my wife had new tires put on her truck. Several months later, I did the rear brakes and found 3 nuts on one side and 2 on the other side had been cross threaded when they were put back on. To get the wheels off, I ended up breaking the 5 studs. The owner of the tire shop blew it off, saying that he didn't think he had caused the problem.

About a year ago I had work done on my F250, at a different shop. The ever present impact wrench was used to remove and replace the lug nuts. When one of the rear nuts bottomed out against the rim, the operator (sure can't call him a mechanic) kept going and spun the nut on the stud. Something had to give and it was the threads on the stud. Several weeks later, I was on the side of the highway at night, in the rain, with a flat. It took quite an effort to remove that nut. The shop manager did make good on replacing the lug, but it was still me that was in the rain having to deal with the problem.

These are only two incidents of many that I have been involved in either directly or indirectly over the years.

Impact wrenches are good tools if used properly. But in the hands of an operator that is inexperienced, in a hurry, or just plain careless they are very dangerous. There is great potential for causing damage and injury.

mdm

You aren't going to be doing a lot of wheel work on your own motorhome and that IR-2131 is about the best tool in it's class. I have one and love it but it doesn't quite make it when pulling my motorhome wheels.

I would suggest you bust the Budd nuts loose with a long bar and use the impact wrench to buzz them off and put back on. That will protect your Aluminum rims too.

If you do any other work and could use an impact wrench, the IR-2131 is as popular as the Stihl, Farm Boss, Chainsaw. I wouldn't know what to do without either of them.

Most tire/mechanic shops, myself included, use 1" drive 1200+ ft/lb guns for 19.5" and larger wheels. Care must be taken with AL wheels because you can damage the wheels themselves relatively easily. If anti-sieze compound was not applied to the lugs, you could run into frozen ones that are going to be a %$#@*& to remove. Unlike steel wheels, heating lugs on AL wheels with a torch is risky business and more often than not ends in the destruction of the wheel. Steel nuts and AL wheel just don't like each other especially when water and road salt are added.

You must also protect the wheel from damage caused by the socket. There are backer pads made from various plastics that fit over the lugs and allow the socket to rid on the plastic rather than the wheel. Special inner nuts with an allignment shoulder are used on AL budds. Care must also be taken that you don't damage the wheel from excessive torque when putting both inner and outer nuts on.

In all honesty, I have never once used a torque wrench on wheels of any type. There is a feel to the gun that one gets to know when the nuts are tight enough and not too tight. I know people like doing things themselves but when you factor in all the variables of AL budd wheels and add in the cost of you possibly damaging one, you're better off having a good tire shop do it. That way, if they damage the wheel, they pay for it, not you. They also will have the proper tools and experience to do a proper installation as well as removing the liability from you should something go wrong. AL wheels are ugle animals that require a good working knowledge of what to look for, how to take action on it and so on. This is one area where I have no choice but to say, "let the pro's handle it".

--->Paul