Aldi Rattle Gun / Impact Wrench

[sam_d]

I've not been to my local Aldi but noticed the other day they are selling 12v Rattle Guns / Impact Wrenches.

They boast 400nm force and are currently $50.

Would this be a worthwhile addition to my small (but growing) tool box or a waste of time/money? Would 400nm be sufficient to undo the wheelnuts after my local mechanic has tightened them?

I'm only wondering since last time I had to try and undo wheel nuts on my Disco it was a near impossible task using just the wheel brace and I was in the comfort of my own car park space. I wouldn't like to have tried to this out in the coutryside.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Nothing beats a rattle gun as a tool to make life easy,,,
I use a Kingchrome when racing and its a set and forget policy, fully charged batts, do'em up once, forget em, no breaker bars bull****.
The trick with wheel nuts is use the same tool to do'em up as you will to undo'em. and the same set of arms!!

will 400nm be enough??
beats me.
someone will know though

[waynep]

I have had a couple of the 12V ones over the years - they both packed up after a while due to the stress on the metal castings. For the occassional use they might be OK.
I wouldn't bother with another 12V one- the air driven ones would be the go - but then they're not exactly portable.

[moose]

I would imagine 400nm would be more than enough to tension wheel nut, however breakaway (un-doing) torques can sometimes be very high, especially if the mechanic has been a bit keen with the rattle gun.
I would suggest it's probably not a bad idea for an addition to a tool box to save time, but you would want to "break" the nuts first with a bar, and checking them afterward with the bar (or better still a torque wrench!) to ensure tension and avoid stressing the poor little cheap tool!
Bottom line, if you're expecting to be able to do it all with a this tool, you'll be disappointed, but if you're just using it to run-up the nuts it should be fine.

[Barefoot Dave]

G'Day, Sam.
We have one of the same, here at cheapskate central. $50 beats $100 for a KCI with less torque.
You will need to purchase a 1/2 drive 27mm socket, though. Set only goes to 23mm. As pedro said, I would ALWAYS had tighten the nuts to ensure they will come off when you need them to.
Dave.

[Tank]

I've not been to my local Aldi but noticed the other day they are selling 12v Rattle Guns / Impact Wrenches.

They boast 400nm force and are currently $50.

Would this be a worthwhile addition to my small (but growing) tool box or a waste of time/money? Would 400nm be sufficient to undo the wheelnuts after my local mechanic has tightened them?

I'm only wondering since last time I had to try and undo wheel nuts on my Disco it was a near impossible task using just the wheel brace and I was in the comfort of my own car park space. I wouldn't like to have tried to this out in the coutryside.

My advice is go and have a look at the Aldi product, I was going to buy one for my Son, but the Quality and feel of the product turned me off, the insides actually rattle side to side, looks to be very poor quality, but that's my opinion, Regards Frank.

[sam_d]

Well, thanks for the replies all - I was only thinking about getting this to try and shirt the wheelnuts when they've been done up too tight but having thought about it I now might just go and buy an extension for my existing wheel brace.

I don't change wheels often enough to warrant the money and space for this thing to use it just as a time saving device. I think a length of steel pipe might be what I need!

[catch-22]

Wheels nuts only have to be done up to 100 - 120 NM when cold.....

[leeds]

For occassional use a 3/4" (20mm) 2 foot (600mm) breaker bar works wonders with a 27mm socket. I would not use any of the smaller wheel wrenches.

Regards

Brendan

[Kandy]

I've not been to my local Aldi but noticed the other day they are selling 12v Rattle Guns / Impact Wrenches.

They boast 400nm force and are currently $50.

Would this be a worthwhile addition to my small (but growing) tool box or a waste of time/money? Would 400nm be sufficient to undo the wheelnuts after my local mechanic has tightened them?

I'm only wondering since last time I had to try and undo wheel nuts on my Disco it was a near impossible task using just the wheel brace and I was in the comfort of my own car park space. I wouldn't like to have tried to this out in the coutryside.

Yep, bought one myself and works a treat ---drop the hints for a chrissie present. Tested the tightening force and when tightened to 3 clacks of the gun ( the max recommended by their enclosed doc.) the nuts are done to the recommended torq-- 140nM ( 103 ftlbs). Dont tighten up to this immediately as it will misalign your wheel and probably the brake rotor (a common cause of brake probs.). I hand tighten diagonally pretty tight and finish off with the gun. Ideal for those ( myself included soon) doing 5000k wheel rotations.
Steve