Milwaukee surprize

[tcianci]

A month or so ago, my daughter wrecked her 98 Ranger. I needed to replace the bed and rear bumper. I got parts from a bone yard. As I was putting it back together, I decided to use my Milwaukee 1/4 inch hex impact driver with a square drive adapter to run the bolts in. When I went to change the rear bumper, I grabbed my HF Earthquake impact to remove the four 18mm bolts that hold it to the truck. Then I looked over and saw the Milwaukee with the square drive adapter. I threw an 18mm impact socket on the Milwaukee and had at it. That thing spun out those bolts that had been in there for 19 years like they were installed yesterday! I also assembled the bed to the frame, the tailgate hinges and front bumper bolts with the Milwaukee. She had to take the truck this afternoon but next time it's here I'm planning to take a torque wrench to the installed bolts and see how tight they got. I know that in the process of fine tuning the front bumper I had loosened some of the bolts I installed with the Milwaukee and then I checked the tightness of some of the bolts I installed and they seemed to be hauled up pretty good.

I never thought a small gun like that would be useful for this type of work. Retiring the Earthquake for a real Milwaukee 1/2 inch impact is looking pretty good about now.

 

[Farmall450]

Yeah, you might want to tighten them down a bit more yet, kinda critical components there. The little guns are surprising but it is hard to judge "tight enough" like you would w/ a ratchet.

 

[tcianci]

I hear ya, like I said, the ones I did check with a combination wrench felt fine, but It might be fun to get an actual torque reading of what that thing can do. I certainly won't be trusting any lug nuts to a small tool like this.

 

[ItsNemo]

I hear ya, like I said, the ones I did check with a combination wrench felt fine, but It might be fun to get an actual torque reading of what that thing can do. I certainly won't be trusting any lug nuts to a small tool like this.

You don't do final tighten with any impact wrench...


That said, I use a 3/8" cordless for everything I can before pulling out the air tools. You get a good sense what it will and won't handle after a while. The bigger 1/2" cordless guns tend to be too bulky/heavy for anything but pulling lug nuts, I much prefer using a good 1/2" air impact if I'm underneath pulling suspension or exhaust or similar.

 

[Skin]

You don't do final tighten with any impact wrench...

. Critical tightening sure but nobody is torqueing every bolt unless they're enjoying a labor of love.

 

[T45]

. Critical tightening sure but nobody is torqueing every bolt unless they're enjoying a labor of love.

depends on your application, but you don't need a torque wrench on everthing...granted

 

[ItsNemo]

. Critical tightening sure but nobody is torqueing every bolt unless they're enjoying a labor of love.

I meant lug nuts...

But I usually do torque wrench on anything safety related (suspension, brakes, drivetrain, etc)

 

[tcianci]

Of course there are torque-critical situations, I don't consider bumper mounting bolts to be one of them. I have been wrenching for almost 50 years now, automotive, machine assembly etc. Never had anything break, never had anything fall off. So far so good.

 

[tcianci]

You don't do final tighten with any impact wrench...


That said, I use a 3/8" cordless for everything I can before pulling out the air tools. You get a good sense what it will and won't handle after a while. The bigger 1/2" cordless guns tend to be too bulky/heavy for anything but pulling lug nuts, I much prefer using a good 1/2" air impact if I'm underneath pulling suspension or exhaust or similar.

Maybe a 3/8 cordless impact would be the perfect middle ground between power and size. Then there's always the 'quake for the big stuff.

 

[tcianci]

What's everyone's view on torque sticks? That's what I use on lugs.

 

[jumbojak]

What's everyone's view on torque sticks? That's what I use on lugs.

There's a certain shop I know of that had a spat of wheels coming off after using torque sticks. If I remember correctly it was attributed to a worn out impact that wasn't putting out enough power to make the sticks effective. Either way, I wouldn't use torque sticks without performing a sanity check with something else. They make it quick to get the lugs back on but I could never trust them completely.

 

[kctyphoon]

The Milwaukee stuff is great. Take a look at the new 1/2" mid torque model.. pretty sure the bed won't fall off if you don't use a torque wrench.

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/power-tools/cordless/2860-22

The 1/2" high torque is just incredible.. the 3/8 model is nice too.. they have a big following on here for a reason..

 

[tcianci]

I just kinda answered my own question... The Milwaukee web site says that the 1/4 inch hex impact (Fuel) will crank out 133 foot lbs of torque!

 

[tcianci]

I have been snooping around online. I think I'm going with the Fuel 3/8 impact. I have my big gun for really tough stuff but the size of the 3/8 gun sure looks inviting. I also looked at the HF 3/8 drive impact sockets but they only sell a set that has 1/2 inch sockets too. Then I found the Tecton (did I spell that right) sockets on Amazon. I think that's the ticket for me, the 3/8 impact and the Amazon sockets

 

[Ruger_556]

What's everyone's view on torque sticks? That's what I use on lugs.

I use 475 ft-lb torque sticks to put truck wheels on, they get close and there's a 50 ft-lb range in the spec. I do put steer wheels on with a torque wrench though. Also anything automotive I just grab a torque wrench, only takes an extra 2 minutes.

 

[lightning02]

was this the m12 or m18 version?

 

[tcianci]

M-18.

I just went back to Amazon and ordered the Gear Wrench 3/8 drive SAE and Metric impact socket set. It includes standard and deep and 3 extensions and a universal. Need to order the M-18 3/8 Impact wrench now.

 

[tcianci]

The impact wrench arrived yesterday. Its the same body as my 1/4 inch hex impact driver with a bigger nose. I'm going to assume that the hammers in the 3/8 wrench are bigger and that's where the torque difference comes from. Sockets should be here tomorrow. I'm looking forward to using this in lots of places where the 1/2 inch pneumatic gun simply wouldn't fit.

 

[dnschmidt]

OK Milwaukee fanboys. BIG RED is currently introducing a new FUEL impact wrench that delivers 450 ft-lb and isn't much bigger than the current FUEL 3/8" drive 200 ft-lb models. So far only available in 1/2" drive in either pin retainer or hog ring. DATA AVAILABLE on Milwaukee's Website. I've got one on order along with their new FUEL leaf blower. Should be killer.

 

[Ign]

OK Milwaukee fanboys. BIG RED is currently introducing a new FUEL impact wrench that delivers 450 ft-lb and isn't much bigger than the current FUEL 3/8" drive 200 ft-lb models. So far only available in 1/2" drive in either pin retainer or hog ring. DATA AVAILABLE on Milwaukee's Website. I've got one on order along with their new FUEL leaf blower. Should be killer.

Yep, they were discussed in the Milwaukee Addiction Thread a month ago:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6209665&postcount=6494