Not being a mechanic in any sense the word, I was wondering about impact wrenches.

I was having a turrets couple of hours with a bolt in which was sprayed repeatedly with PB Blaster and yet, no go. I was thinking had I an impact wrench life may have gone as I had hoped it would go with the removal of my OEM gas tank skid. (04 XE)

I have Shrock armor now and want to get it on. I also wanted to go back to front on the install. The first three bolts of the fuel splash guard came off with some muscle but the last one kicked my ass. The one nearest the passenger rear wheel. Maybe I should just go to the local garage and have them use a impact on it... I may well do that...

Question is; If i wanted to get one for my home use for such things -what is your suggestion?

Thanks for reading.

I assume you already tried a breaker bar? That had helped me out many time. Don't know anything about impact wrenches though, sorry.

I'm guessing you'll want a cordless, electric option. I always trust Makita tools. Mine is a BTP140, which is actually a combination drill/driver/impact driver/hammer drill (I can drill through anything, then put a screw into it!), but even Home Depot carries a few decent models. Get a Li-ion model - the charger costs as much as the drill itself but it's super computerized and it will give an optimized charge based on tool use. Also can be swapped onto your future Makita drill purchase

DeWalt has some nice impact options too.

You can also buy a manual impact driver, which you strike with a hammer.

My shop air impact is an ingersoll rand. Definitely recommended, though kinda pricy. Has a lot of nut.

My trail gun is from harbor freight (chicago pneumatic or something). Not the strongest but works great run off of my powertank. Makes changing wheels a breeze. It was only like $30 on sale so i am not worried about losing it.

I don't personally own one but I have used the DeWalt 1/2" drive 18 volt impact wrench in the past and it has been great.

A friend owns/drives a rally car and I'm 1/3 of the pit crew. We usually end up using that cordless one over the (cheapish) pneumatic one even when we're wrenching on the car in the garage. Nice tool, but not inexpensive.

If you have a compressor, air is the way to go IMHO. I had an IR cheapie at first which worked okay, but I have since upgraded to a Snap-On MG725 and it's a world of difference.

Appreciate all the feedback. I sure have information to digest. Thank you!
If anyone has any more I'd love to read what you have to say.

Snap On cordless impact guns are awesome, not cheap though. I have a 3/8 drive that works great for lug nuts and skid bolts. The 1/2 drive is a monster!

I'm leaning towards a corded 1/2 drive kit at Lowes. For my garage use this Kobalt may be a good fit for me.
http://m.lowes.com/mt/www.lowes.com/pd_ ... ifications

Edit: I got it. Now I can get back to the skid war.

Skid war? I think you're bringing an M2 to a knife fight, now.

As long as I can get the old stuff off and the good stuff on I don't care. Rusted bolts ruin my fun.

That Kobalt looks a little low in the torque department. Remember, the more torque the better. I've got a Craftsman with probably comparable torque, and there have been a number times I needed to use breaker bar because the impact gun won't break it free.

Time will tell. This weekend will be that time. If I get that bolt I'll be happy going forward. That sob taunted me for a few hours.

i have a ryobi 18V 1/2" cordless...if you have the batteries already the gun is only $60 or so online

its a good gun and has plenty of power when the batteries are charged, though the standard NiCad batteries drain fairly quickly...if you used one of the more expensive Lithium Ion batteries it would probably be substantially better, though one battery will run you $75 or so

for a cheap alternative just for home shop use, try the harbor freight 110V 1/2 impact...its got plenty of loosening torque (though not much tightening torque for some reason)

Impact wrench, FTW. Spun that bolt with no problem.