Hi all

Gearing up to do my Centric brake change and replace one last ball joint. Also want to retorque my shocks as I don't think they are to speck I'm tired of dealing with people so my buddy and I are tackling the jobs. I wanted to get an impact vs a torque wrench so I found a killer deal on a highly rated one. 350 ft/lbs and very very reasonable. It's 149, then I redeemed some points from my bank for $30 worth of Lowe's giftcards and paid 128 OTD with sales tax. I did the free in store pickup so it's all paid for, just need to grab it tomorrow. It's the highest rated one I've seen and I've been looking for a long time now.



Kobalt 350 ft/lb Impact

It should allow me to get the hub to the required spec and torque down the shocks so I'm at ease... pretty sure they are loose. I'll write up what I think of it if anyone's interested. I'm going hit Harbor Freight tomorrow when I pick it up and grab the impact sockets and torque limiting sticks I'll need so I'll be ready for Friday's projects.

Hope this encourages more DIY'ing! I

 

Sounds good! I too am tired of dealing with people and shops . . .

 

350 lbs is good for and electric I guess. My IR air impact is rated at about 600. Its real rare it wont take off a bolt or break it when it wont cutting tools usually come out..

 

Yup, if my IR air impact from forever ago can't get somethin loose I bust out the smoke wrench.

Adrianspeeder

 

Cool find. I don't like dealing with people much anymore.

 

I love dealing with people ..... it's the stupid ones that irritate me

Nice pickup on the Impact OP! The shop across from my work has the Snap-On electric impacts and boy are they nice! Quite and strong and super portable as they are powered by batteries not cords. I'm sure they cost a pretty penny though haha Snap-On everything they got!

 

John. skip the torque sticks and spend the money on a decent torque wrench because in my limited experience the torque sticks are really hit and miss. I've got a big Snap-On pneumatic that'll twist off the head of a 1/2" diameter bolt if you'er not careful and I just bought a DeWalt 1/4" 18V Impact driver that I'm really impressed with so far. I used it to put the rear stabilizers down on my 5er and it was strong enough that it started to lift the 9,000# trailer .

 

Thanks for the feedback guys

Dave, I do plan on doing that still, I'm gonna check harbor freight today for the 300ft/lb one. I'm trying to watch the $$ as I have school bills

 

Harbor Freight's torque wrenches are really inexpensive. I bought my 0-70 lb one for like 15 bucks. I was tempted to buy the rest of them up to the 300# just because they're so cheap and I'd only be using them sparingly so I'm not worried about em breaking

 

What I'm getting at John is that they are not always able to get the specified torque you are looking achieve with them. They have either been over or by quite a bit under from my experience my friend that owns a repair shop has a set on his wall the does nothing but collect dust. I know you're watching every dollar but why spend money twice on tools when you don't need to when you can spend it once and be done with a quality tool that'll serve you well for years. I have Snap-On tools that were my grandfathers when he worked at a Hudson dealer in Houghton that I'm still using today including a torque wrench as well as my own Williams torque wrench that I got in 94 when I went to college to be a mechanic. I'm not saying go buy Snap-On, Matco, or Cornwell tools but spend your money wisely on guality tools once and be done.

 

I just need 295 ft/lbs for this job. I see your point, but I need to make sure this job goes ok. My tools will grow over time, just more conerned about getting this task completed at the moment.

 

Then just go with the Guetentight or Kractwice method because neither of them have ever failed me when I was in doubt about how tight to get a nut or bolt.

Disclaimer: I have twisted the head off a 3/4" Grade 8 bolt with a 1/2" breaker bar and socket using those methods. The above user has been warned use at your own risk!!

 

I'm gonna use the impact gun for it, but I just printed the 20% HF coupon so I'll get the 300ft/lb wrench even cheaper than $80

That method is always a backup

 

Don't parts stores have torque wrenches in their tool loaner kits?

 

I agree with the other posters. An impact driver is NOT a susbstitute for a torque wrench! They're used for entirely different purposes. An impact driver is used to take OFF stuborn fasteners (nut, bolt, stud, etc) and should RARELY if ever be used for INSTALLING them! (DESPITE what the tire shops do!!!) A torque wrench on the othe hand is used to tighten a fastener to a SPECIFIC pressure and should RARELY be used for removing fasteners. An impact driver has LITTLE or no ability to control the torque (and hance the pressure) on a fastener.

Note, that I use the term presure when talking about torque wrenchs because that's actually what you're trying to get. When you apply a torque to a helical thread (a SCREW thread) the thread translates that to a equivilent amount of clamping force or pressure. The pressure on the fastener slightly distorts by a CONTROLLED amount and that is what keeps the fastener from coming out or coming apart. If you use a impct driver you have NO crontrol over the torque and you might as well be using a hammer to beat on a piece of pipe stuck over the handle of a wrench! Over tightening a fastener can be just as bad as under tighten it. If you over tighten enough you will exceed the yield strengh of the fastener and depending on it's mallability (the ability to stretch) if will break or it will stretch permanently. A permanent stretch will release most or all of the clamping prssure on the fastner and it will vibrate off justs as an under tightened fastener would.