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Rant: impact wrench vs hand tools on a rusty 2009 Silverado ball joint, and I was wrong about one of them
Honestly I always figured a good impact wrench would blow away hand tools on suspension work, so when a 2009 Silverado rolled into my bay in Greensboro with a shot lower ball joint, I grabbed my 1/2 inch impact and went to town. That thing spun the nut down to the last few threads and then just sat there hammering, doing nothing, for probably 40 seconds while the joint laughed at me. I switched to a breaker bar with a cheater pipe and it broke loose in about three solid pulls, which honestly humbled me a bit. Turns out the impact was just rattling the rust instead of breaking the torque, and the slower steady force from the bar got the job done. I still use the impact for tear down and speed, but for anything that has been sitting under a truck for 15 years with road salt, the hand tool wins. The difference was torque delivery, not raw power, and I think a lot of young guys in the shop get that backwards. What do you all reach for first on old rusty suspension, gun or bar?
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the_vera9d ago
Calling it torque delivery vs raw power is close but it's really the hammer action, an impact only hits maybe 400 to 600 ft-lbs per smack and a cheater pipe lets you lean your whole body into it. Your gun was probably a mid torque too, a good 1/2 high torque would have walked that nut off.
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