When we need to lose or tight the lug nuts, impact wrenches are really important. Considering the impact drivers, impact wrenches have high torque and power. When you buy an impact wrench, you should know whether it is really worth it for you.
An impact wrench is really worth it for tightening or losing lug nut. It can produce more than 1000 ft-lbs torque which the impact driver can’t produce. Hence it is really helpful for high torque tasks. The mid torque impact wrench will cost about 150$-250$ when you buy it.
When we use the impact wrench, we should pay attention to the usage, performance, mechanism, cost, and types of the impact wrenches. So let’s see every factor how affects the worthiness of the impact wrench.
Related Topics
- What is an Impact Wrench? Better Solution for Impact Driver
- Impact Driver Vs Impact Wrench – What You Should Buy?
- Why there is a Difference Between Impact Drivers and Drills?
Impact Wrenches Can be Used in Wide Range
Impact wrenches are with high torque generation mechanism. The high torque is essential for the lug nuts operations. Normally M12 car bolts need 58-72 ft-lb torque for the tightening. But when you release, you will need more torque than you tight it. Because static is always higher than dynamic.
An impact wrench is used sockets for the nuts. But regular sockets cant be used for the impact wrenches. Because the power of the impact wrench will break or crack the regular impact wrench easily.
Normally an impact wrench weight will be 2-3 kg, and it can be easily used with a single hand. Due to the effect of the impact mechanism, it will not force much on the hand. You can operate it with a single hand.
Most of the impact wrenches are powered by electricity. Some are powered by air and hydraulic pressure. Pneumatic impact wrenches are not popular much due to their power source. Due to this, electric, cordless impact wrenches are really easy to use anywhere without a special power source.
In the market, there are many brands of impact wrenches available. When you need to buy an impact wrench, you should know its mechanism, working torque, impact rate, weight, and many more for a worthy purchase.
Advanced Impact Mechanism Use in Impact Wrenches
When we consider the impact wrench, we should know its mechanism for the repair or troubleshoot any time. Normally impact wrench and impact driver is with the same mechanism, but impact wrench torque has increased higher than the impact driver.
Impact Driver Mechanism
An impact driver works with the rotational impact driver mechanism. There is a hammer that is connected to the rotational motor. When the hammer is rotating, the spring is compressed due to the hammer teeth angle. When the spring is released, it punches to the anvil as it moves. When this mechanism continues thousand times per minute, it produces powerful rotational force with high torque than its regular spinning.
Impact Wrench Mechanism
Impact wrench has an epicyclic gearing system. When the gears are rotating, it produces more torque due to the torque multiplier mechanism. The sun gear is driven by the input torque, and the planet gear carrier provides the output torque.
Inthe impact driver rotational speed is low, and it has converted to high torque. As an example, a torque multiplier with a rating of 3:1 will turn its output shaft with three times the torque but at one-third the speed of the input shaft.
Impact Wrench Produce High Torque
Impact wrenches are used for heavy-duty work. So it requires high torque. Normally impact drivers are used to drive screws inside the wood; this is not much power-required process other than operating the lug nuts. Impact driver torque is measured with in-lb, and impact wrench torque is measured by the ft-lb, which is 12 times large scale.
| Bolt Diameter (mm) | Bolt Head Size (mm) Wrench Size | Tightening Torque (ft-lb) |
| 5 | 8 | 5-7 |
| 6 | 10 | 11 |
| 7 | 11 | 15 |
| 8 | 13 | 22-25 |
| 10 | 16-17 | 36-43 |
| 12 | 19 | 58-72 |
| 14 | 21-22 | 87-108 |
| 16 | 24 | 108 |
| 20 | 28-30 | 123-137 |
When we consider the impact wrench torque. They are two types
- Tighten Torque – Tighten torque is the torque for tightening the nut or bolt
- Breakaway Torque – This is the torque for release the nut or bolt.
Break-away torque is always higher than the tightening torque. Because static movements need more force than dynamic movements. And sometimes, there may be rusting due to moisture. Hence you will need more torque than its tighten torque. Having this type of tool at you is really worth it while your vehicle is a breakdown on your way.
1: Optimal Torque – Best choice and best productivity
2: Working Torque – Maximum working torque. Work should be in this range
3: Maximum Torque – Maximum torque that the tool can produce. (continuous use can damage the tool)
When you buy an impact wrench, use the high working torque (2).
Read More About – How Much Torque Does a 3/8″ Impact Wrench Have?
Types of Impact Wrenches With More Power
Impact wrenches are different types with their power source and powered mechanism.
According to the power source
- Pneumatic impact Wrenches – Operated by the compressed air
- Hydraulic impact wrenches – Operated by the oil pressure
- Electric impact wrenches – Operated by the electricity
According to the Powered Mechanism
- Cordless impact wrenches – Powered by the li-Ion batteries
- Corded imapct wrenches – Power cord is used
According to the Powered Motor
- Brushed impact wrenches – Motor is with brushes
- Brushless impact wrenches – Motor is brushless
Among these, the best and the suitable impact wrench for domestic is an electric, cordless and brushless impact wrench.
Electricity is a popular power source. Hence most of the tools are powered by electricity. When you use a domestic impact wrench, you must handle it easily and need enough power to remove or tighten the lug nuts. So cordless impact wrench is really easy to handle, and the brushless motor is more durable and less troubleshooting. It generates more power than brushed ones. So it is really worth it for domestic usage.
Read More About – Is a Brushless Drill Worth It? – Extra Cost Evaluation
How Much Will It Cost for an Impact Wrench?
Normally, you can buy an impact wrench that will cost 150$-250$ with more than 1000 psi forward torque and more than 2000 psi backward torque for your DIY domestic usage.
Investing in an impact wrench is really worth it for the heavy-duty work. But you can use the impact wrench for the impact driver tasks also. Just you need to change the chuck (hex shank) or add the adaptor.
Impact Driver Vs Impact Wrench, What you Will Need?
After considering the, all facts we can summarize impact drivers are really important for driving the screws into soft material such as wood and impact wrenches are really worth it for tightening or losing the lug nuts.
According to your preferences, you can choose the right tool for your task. When you select an impact wrench or impact driver you should check the below facts. Finally for heavy-duty driving or lug nuts works you should use impact wrenches. Else you can use a regular impact driver.
- Type of the task
- Type of the impact wrench
- Power
- Impacts per minute
- Size of internal hammer
- Socket size
- Weight
- Applied angle
Conclusion
When we invest in an impact wrench we should know whether it is really essential for our task. Normally impact wrenches produced high torque and it is used for lug nuts and bolts operations.
Impact driver and impact wrench are the same as its usage but impact wrench is really different from its usage, and mechanism. Sometimes impact drivers can be used for the small torque requirements of impact wrenches. But it can be damaged the tool easily due to high torque. An impact wrench can be used for the impact driver task by using the appropriate chuck or adaptor.
