Tire/wheel change on the road

Harbor Freight Bauer impact wrench 1000 ft/#s
About $90

Do you have an air compressor?

We have a small portable unit and in a pinch, I could power it with the generator. A $30 pnuematic impact wrench should do the trick.

I like my 120v impact gun for removing the wheel lug nuts at home. Need a generator or large inverter for power on the road. Many swear the battery impact guns work great. Still need a way to charge that battery if it happens to be low when needed (always my luck).

On the road I use an old, vintage 1970s, torque wrench to both loosen and tighten the lugs.

FWIW, some torque wrenches are not designed to be used to loosen fasteners. Make sure whatever you use doesn't have an issue with loosening.

I'm with the camp that uses the 25" breaker bar from HF. If you have a cordless or corded, be sure to try them out at home just to be sure they work. The lug nuts on my Dodge are supposed to be torqued to 160 lb.ft., and a 1/2" air impact running 120psi won't break them loose.

Don't take those torque numbers too seriously, remember the marketing department puts their spin on those specs. :)

Durb wrote:
My 3500 lug nut spec is 140 ft-lbs. Nuts are easy to remove if torqued correctly to begin with. I use a Proto 6014 250 ft-lb torque wrench which is long so I use it to break the nuts and retorque correctly. Tire shops almost always over torque the fastener. Best when you get home from the shop is to loosen the fasteners and tighten correcty so you won't have issues on the road.

Sorry, I didn't bother to look up your suggested items.

I would never use a torque wrench to loosen a fastener I could think of no better way to mess up the calibration of the wrench!
I carry a 24” breaker bar, but also have a pneumatic impact wrench along with a VIAIR on board air with a 2.5 gallon tank.

Lwiddis wrote:
"Last time I had a flat I couldn’t break the lug nuts loose."

Get a breaker bar with a longer handle. It won't have a battery issue when you need it most.

I pushed speed dial "CoachNet" and was on my way in 30 minutes after a young guy showed up. That's what I pay roadside insurance for.

If the issue is getting older then ditch the breaker bar idea. Break them loose and then ratchet them off by hand? Screw that. Get an electric impact. Cheap or expensive. Dont have to trust their claimed torque rating but got to think its ballpark. Good enough to compare models.

rhagfo wrote:

Durb wrote:
My 3500 lug nut spec is 140 ft-lbs. Nuts are easy to remove if torqued correctly to begin with. I use a Proto 6014 250 ft-lb torque wrench which is long so I use it to break the nuts and retorque correctly. Tire shops almost always over torque the fastener. Best when you get home from the shop is to loosen the fasteners and tighten correcty so you won't have issues on the road.

Sorry, I didn't bother to look up your suggested items.

I would never use a torque wrench to loosen a fastener I could think of no better way to mess up the calibration of the wrench!
I carry a 24” breaker bar, but also have a pneumatic impact wrench along with a VIAIR on board air with a 2.5 gallon tank.

Torque wrench mentioned is +/- 3% clockwise and +/- 6% counterclockwise, full range. Set the wrench to 250 ft-lbs and apply torque counterclockwise. If the wrench clicks (which it wont if the lug nuts were torqued correctly) then try something else. No stress to the wrench. Whats more, once the wrench clicks it functions as a breaker bar so you can apply more torque. This particular wrench will go until a tooth on the ratchet wheel breaks and do no additional damage to the wrench nor affect calibration. This point is at 386 ft-lbs. The wrench meets federal specs and will go 30,000 cycles at full scale without calibration drift.

wopachop wrote:
If the issue is getting older then ditch the breaker bar idea. Break them loose and then ratchet them off by hand? Screw that. Get an electric impact. Cheap or expensive. Dont have to trust their claimed torque rating but got to think its ballpark. Good enough to compare models.

Old?
I’m 48 and unless it is actually a tire change somewhere where I don’t have any tools other than the lug wrench in the vehicle, I use an impact. Off and on.
I did recently teach my son about proper torquing by hand, but ever since I got a decent impact in about 1997 from my parents as a Xmas gift I’ve been using it.
Now one needs to have some experience and understanding of what the gun is doing, but you can always use the impact to remove and reinstall, snug up good then just giver a bit with the torque wrench to finish it off if that’s what one is comfortable with.

And fwiw if you anti seize the lugs, the whole process takes less effort and doesn’t hurt a thing. That, and a big 4 way lug wrench for side of the road work.

Durb wrote:
My 3500 lug nut spec is 140 ft-lbs. Nuts are easy to remove if torqued correctly to begin with. I use a Proto 6014 250 ft-lb torque wrench which is long so I use it to break the nuts and retorque correctly. Tire shops almost always over torque the fastener. Best when you get home from the shop is to loosen the fasteners and tighten correcty so you won't have issues on the road.

Sorry, I didn't bother to look up your suggested items.

Good points! All one NEEDS is a long handle TQ wrench. I have a nice Proto that I actually used yesterday. I used a long handle ratchet wrench with a flex head. Once I broke the nuts loose I use it almost like a speed wrench to loosen and tighten the nuts.

I highly recommend carrying a TrailerAid Plus.