Battery powered Impact WRENCH or Impact DRIVER?

Bobbo wrote:
This impact wrench is the one I use, but I have a lot of the tools that use that same battery and charger. It claims 300 ft-lbs of torque.

I use the same Ryobi 1/2" impact driver for the lug nuts on truck and trailer. They come off easily with that tool, and when I put them back on, I only snug them with the driver, then torque them properly with a torque wrench.

For those who complain about noise, these impact drivers don't make any hammering noise unless they're put under a pretty severe load. Running stabilizer jacks down isn't going to make them go loud until you actually take the weight of the camper on the jack. Even then, it's probably not as loud as your idling diesel truck engine, or your radio, or your open-frame contractor generator, or your drunken friends, or your free-range children, or your barking mutts. :)

An impact wrench with 700+ ft. lbs. of torque...
Good grief, as you lower your stab. jacks it will also lower and raise 5 others trailers without even leaving your site...and will drown out the noise of a 767 flying 100 feet over the campground....

Not necessary.
For stab jacks any basic driver drill will work just fine..
As others have posted, get a decent torque wrench for the lugs. I use my torque wrench lots more than I do my monster impact wrench.

"Any mechanic worth anything will run the lugs on and then use a torque wrench to finish."

This is very true, but good mechanics are not the ones removing and refitting the wheels, that would usually fall to the grunts.

rjxj wrote:
I just searched Makita and found this 325 ft lb. Now you got me wanting one. :)

OH WAIT! I found this monster. When the stabilizer reaches the end of it's travel it would just rip it right off the rig! lol

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

At end of travel, it stays stationary

YOU revolve

Bobbo wrote:
This impact wrench is the one I use, but I have a lot of the tools that use that same battery and charger. It claims 300 ft-lbs of torque.

A fellow camper was using that RYOBI on trailer stabilizer jacks. Told me he actually bought it to use on his fleet of lawn service trucks and trailers. Said it does well on those (roughly 1/2" diameter) lug nuts.

I have a RYOBI Drill Motor, and a RYOBI Impact Driver. That Impact Driver won't do Lug Nuts. Not sure it'd do Stabilizer Jacks.

Since we have an onboard genset, I have a $49 Harbor Fright 120-VAC 1/2" impact wrench. Rated only 230-ft-lb but... With a HF Deep Impact (sounds like a movie title!) socket, it'll handle the lug nuts on our E450. The E-Series dually wheel nut spec is 140-ft-lb. Daughter has a DeWalt electric impact that looks like my HF one, and its rating is 345-ft-lb. Pretty strong tool.

If I had it to do again, just might go with the RYOBI. I have the circular saw along with Drill and Driver. I've been pleasantly surprised with their performance.

BUT BUT BUT!!! Don't store LiON Batteries in Extreme Temperatures! Daughter lost two RIDGID batteries in a cold garage in AK. I left my RYOBI in the sun for half an hour while I did some table saw work inside. Battery never worked again.

NEW PLAN: Wait'll Ryobi goes Brushless on that Impact... They've already gone from 200-ft-lb on P260 to 300 on P261, and P261 still has brushes. That Kobalt brushless is powerful, but I really don't want to buy into another tool/battery/charger system.

Unless... RIDGID!!! I'm seeing a RIDGID that looks like the Ryobi but $149 for Tool, 4A Battery, and Charger! Register w/HD for Lifetime Warranty INCLUDING Batteries... For THAT, I'd add a brand...

EXTRA WARNING: The old NiCd batteries are awful, compared to LiON, but they give a little warning when they run down. Not much, it's almost a level line, dropping off a little, then a lot. You might get a last "grunt" from the tool. NOT LiON. Those guys are On/Off. Doing good, then nothing. So the "fuel gauge" that's on some of them isn't a bad idea. A good idea? Always a second battery...

I am anti-impact for stabilizers.
I am a fan of Home-Depots Rigid tool line. You can get a good 18 Volt drill driver there and the best warrantee you will find. Lifetime on the drill and the batteries.
I could understand having a separate impact driver for removing lugs but I would caution against over torqueing them on install. Any mechanic worth anything will run the lugs on and then use a torque wrench to finish.

Ahhh, there's nothing like the sound of impact wrenches echoing through the campground from fellow campers lowering their stabilizers. It's almost as serene as nails on a chalkboard.

Never seen the point for an impact wrench to do this, a good quality cordless drill will work fine and not rattle the campground.

Ok, I feel better

You're going to have to spend some big bucks on a cordless impact to remove the lugnuts. And with any kind of luck you'll never have to use it. Pretty silly to spend a couple hundred bucks for something you'll use rarely, if at all. My 3/8" Dewalt 20v impact will not loosen the lugnuts on my Dodge dually. So you're looking at a good 1/2" impact, which will run you an easy $200-$300+. Save your money and just buy a 24" breaker bar with an extension and socket to fit your lug nuts. And a torque wrench to tighten the nuts to proper torque. FWIW I've never had to change any of my truck tires out on the road. At home I use my 1/2" drive air impact.

Then get a 12 volt cordless drill motor to raise and lower the stabilizers. IMO using any kind of impact driver is going to kill the stabilizer gearbox/mechanism.

jesseannie wrote:
I work at Lowes part-time in the tool dept. and if you are going to use it for wheel lug nuts I would consider the new Kobalt 24 volt impact wrench. BUT you need the highest amp battery in the lineup you may have to buy it separately but it is worth it.
This is a powerful tool.
Jesseannie

This is what I have, and use it regularly. Very powerful breaking torque for removing stubborn bolts, and makes removing wheels a breeze. I do use it to tighten lug nuts, but just a single squeeze that gets the nuts to around 80 ft/lbs then I tighten with a torque wrench to spec.

Use it to break them loose. Use a torque wrench and pattern to tighten