Impact Wrench

Jez

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
33,075
Hi,

I tried to change the discs on a car earlier this week, i totally failed as i couldn't for the life of me crack the caliper bolts loose.

Am i right in thinking that it would have been a really easy job had i had an impact wrench (if that is even the right term?).

If so, what would people recommend for occasional DIY use?
 
Yeah, even on full lock the spanner was still inside the wheel arch.

Its in a local garage having them installed now, its annoying as its such an easy job. They will have it done in 20mins using their air tools i would imagine. Oh well :)

Firestar - that wrench sounds great, i like the idea of using it to take wheels off too, as they are often pretty solid too.
 
Would have been nice to have done it myself given that it looked so easy, and i do appreciate the advice.

I perhaps should have persevered but you know what its like when you dont *really* know what you are doing and then suddenly get that out of your depth feeling, that forcing stuff might end up breaking more than you bargained for, all to save a 50 quid garage bill :p

I think i will get one of those impact wrenches anyway for future use though..
 
Ha, that would go against my new plan of not spending anything on it as its now not worth anything and just needs to be nursed for work mileage until it becomes so rusty that its an eyesore. The plan was to just give it oil every 15 or so thousand, and nothing else unless it actually breaks down.

This new plan worked for about 3 days, but now it needs a new crank position sensor, new brakes, new tyres, and an MOT. So it looks like i will never get away from its relentlessness.

Joys :p
 
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I dont know, I dont even know what it does :p

I just know that the car has failed to start twice now when left for sub 30mins and still warm, which seems to be a common CPS failure from what i can tell from reading up. I am yet to get a diag to confirm it but i think it will definitely be that as mine is original and the symptoms match perfectly.

I'll get it to the Mercedes specialist in reading for that i think, they will have no doubt seen it 100* before :)
 
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Whats annoying is that i dont even have any interest in the car any more, i have been running a second (well, third between myself and my GF) alongside it for personal/weekend use. The S-Class is purely for work, thrashing up and down the motorway network to customer sites.

All these bills (and moreso the hassle) are just annoying, as i have no real interest as such in it.

Oh well, cars :p
 
As i say, its annoying, but thats as far as it goes. I like the car and i believe that it is still the best possible car i could have for the usage it gets :) There is nothing sub £30k (that being the price of an early used W221 S-Class) which will be better and therefore it makes sense to keep it.
 
Dogbreath said:
If you want a really nice one, you'll be looking at least double that price, and up to £500 or more for e.g. the top end Snap On. It's an awesome bit of kit though.

If you have a compressor, the air impact wrenches are cheaper, smaller, lighter and tend to be more powerful.
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Issue here is that it wont get much use, i wont do most jobs, so its only really brakes and getting wheels on and off. Even then its only like the S-Class as its so worthless which will get any DIY work, anything else i run will be too valuable to not have a fully documented service history.

So to that end, i dont want/need any really high end tools? Thats 240v one linked to would be fine if it is likely to be any good (i have outdoor power sockets on my drive)

Hmm :/
 
NightShadow said:
I bought the cheap and cheerful clarke one:

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/products/217701/clarke_cir13c.html

Use it for wheels and caliper bolts in some cases, not had a bolt it couldn't get off so far, I use it with a battery pack (Halfords jump starter thing) not the car battery. Not tried it with anything more than wheels and brakes and am not likely to wither so can't comment on power other than it has been adequate for what I need.
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I am suspicious as this seems a little too cheap?
 
Ordered one, with a trolley jack too. Should be easy next time i need to get the wheels off at the very least :)
 
Yeah the 12v one appeals, i am going to keep it in the cars tool kit for when/if i have a puncture :)
 
Joshy said:
When it comes to undo *really* tight bolts a air gun/impact wrench is not going to get anywhere close to the sort of turning power a breaker bar with a good amount of leverage will be able to dish-out.
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The bolts in question are inside a wheel arch though, so i was unable to use any form of extension :)
 
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