Wheel Nut Gun

[Moley RUFC]

Any advise on a good quality wheel nut gun please. Won't be long until I'm changing the two cars over onto the winter wheels and I'm tempted to make the task quicker.

I'm also in the market for a set of axle stands and a trolley jack so I can lift the front/rear in unison for a slightly easier session too if anyone can advise.

[mrmr96]

Electric (mains or battery) or air line?
What kind of budget?

Whatever you get I would suggest getting a torque limiting socket or coupling. For example, this is a torque limiting coupling, and 3 regular sockets (they don't limit torque, they just have a nylon sleeve). You put the socket on the coupling and the coupling on the gun. Then you can whiz the nuts up and they will stop at about 100Nm so you can then finish them off with a manual torque wrench.

[Moley RUFC]

Thanks, don't want to spend too much so anything up to £200 I would guess.

[Matt Seabrook]

We remove and refit dozens of wheels a day and still use wheel braces and torque wrenches. I don't like impact guns.

[DVandrews]

Amen to that, just fixed the brakes on my nephews car, the wheel nuts were so tight it took all hi strength and a 4 foot bar to move them and when they went it was with a loud crack, they must have been 200lb/ft or more. Can you imagine trying to get the wheel off at the road side with the 6 inch brace the manufacturers give you? Neanderthal numpties at his local tyre centre wreaking havoc.

I always do mine with a regular socket wrench and torque wrench.

Dave

[BritishRacinGrin]

You're doing the job twice a year and you're willing to spend 200 quid to make it 5 minutes quicker? Blimey.

My Caterham's wheels used to be on and off like a wes drawers, Still it was a wheel brace and torque wrench for me.

[Richyvrlimited]

I have a cheap ALDI air gun. (circa £35, however its air source was well over x10 that cost).

set to it's lowest setting for whizzing nuts on - I put a few threads on by hand first to ensure the thread isn't crossed - then finish off with a torque wrench. Max torque setting for whizzing the nuts off.

It's miles quicker than by hand.

I wouldn't spend £200 to just take wheel nuts off tho...

[dblack1]

I agree with the idea that you should be doing it by hand, unless you just got all kinds of money or plan on using the impact gun for something else as well.
The torque limiting stick is a good buy, even if you don't have an impact gun. The torque limiting stick will prevent (to a degree) you from over torquing with the impact gun. They are also good for use on the torque wrench, they don't stop you from over-torquing, but they do prevent snap torquing and give a more even and accurate torque.
The whole 200 ft/lbs thing comes from 2 things:
1. People frequently over-torque using impact guns if they don't use a torque limiting stick.
2. Corrosion will cause a wheel bolt or lug nut to stick and makes them very hard to remove (usually this is why there is a pop or snap and it is considerably easier to turn the lug nut).

I should also mention some other things:
-I can remove wheel bolts and lug nuts with a 2 foot breaker that most impact guns (not being ran overpressure) cannot remove.
-A lug nut or wheel bolt can become cross-threaded even beyond the first few threads, and it is a lot harder to detect with an impact gun vs by hand.
-If your socket slips off, you will probably scratch your wheel.
-Over-torquing can have terrible consequences and permanently damages your studs/threaded hub/ wheel bolts.

[ShaunTheSheep]

Go on then, i'll throw some dissent into the mix :-) An impact gun is the most smiles per £££ spent you can buy as a home mechanic. Nothing beats the feeling of zipping off a corroded nasty looking nut while thinking "i remember the days and days of plusgas, wire brushing only to finally round off the nut with a breaker bar".

The £50 Clarke mains powered gun is pretty decent. Especially in the VAT free sale at Machine Mart. I had one of those for ages then i flogged it on ebay when i upgraded, for, wait for it... £45. I definitely got more than a fiver's use out of it!!

Comes with a case, spare carbon brushes and 4 impact sockets which are reasonably narrow. Because it's bulky a selection of medium sized impact extension bars will mean you can use it in more places, like suspension etc.

[joe_90]

The Clakes one is quick good, It took off a bmw hubnut without me even tapping out the locking bits.

I just use a normal drill to buzz on the nuts (with socket adapter), then tighten with a wrench, I do this quite a lot on track days with no issues.

[TheRealFingers99]

For air driven ones you'll be looking at close to £200 for a decent compressor. The guns themselves are cheap.

[Richyvrlimited]

dblack1 said:

I should also mention some other things:
-I can remove wheel bolts and lug nuts with a 2 foot breaker that most impact guns (not being ran overpressure) cannot remove.
-A lug nut or wheel bolt can become cross-threaded even beyond the first few threads, and it is a lot harder to detect with an impact gun vs by hand.
-If your socket slips off, you will probably scratch your wheel.
-Over-torquing can have terrible consequences and permanently damages your studs/threaded hub/ wheel bolts.

Point 1 and 4 seem to contradict each other a little bit If you need a breaker bar as the impact gun can't get it off, I doubt that a gun put it on.

I can't figure out how a socket would slip off either.

[mauld]

This cordless looks good although expensive.

http://www.dewalt.co.uk/powertools/productdetails/...

[dblack1]

Richyvrlimited said:

Point 1 and 4 seem to contradict each other a little bit If you need a breaker bar as the impact gun can't get it off, I doubt that a gun put it on.

I can't figure out how a socket would slip off either.

When installing the wheel, you should use a torque wrench to do your final tightening. If your doing this by hand, it is a lot harder to over torque (because you should be using a torque wrench once it is tight). If your using an impact gun, it can overpower the torque limiting stick (if you don't have it set up properly) and still over-torque. I'm not saying you wouldn't use the torque wrench with the impact gun, I am just saying that if you don't have the impact gun set up properly, it will be over torqued before you get to the torque wrench.
Next time your in a parking lot look at peoples wheels, it isn't uncommon to see scratches near the middle of the wheel (too high up for a curb). These scratches are usually from the socket slipping off.

[dblack1]

ShaunTheSheep said:

:-) An impact gun is the most smiles per £££ spent you can buy as a home mechanic.

I agree with this...