For those terrible times when you cannot undo those overtightened wheel nuts or have to change a flat tyre ona hot day and find the process exhausting, consider getting a Ryobi One+ 18 Impact Wrench (gun)P/N BIW180G
It has 265nm torque and can undo the most stubborn wheel nuts, as well as do them up.
Can also be used to lower the legs on the caravan.
The Ryobi One+ system uses the same batteries for the drill and other do dads.
Wouldn't travel without ours.
Dusty
-- Edited by Landfall on Tuesday 7th of February 2012 09:19:45 PM
I have had one of these impack wrenchs for a couple of years. Its great for the navigator. She does not have to grunt.
Went to use it over Christmas to undo the wheel nuts on a mate's caravan and bloody thing gave up the ghost. It would do up the nuts but would not undo them. Had the vehicle running well above idle for extra charge but to no avail.
Had a quick look at it, couldn't find any problems. I suspect it may be the direction switch.
-- Edited by Smokeydk on Wednesday 8th of February 2012 08:58:55 AM
i use 1 like that too smokey, but i changed the power cable to 6mm and adapted it to fit the anderson plug, i found that the standard power cord got hot
I'm like you Chichi. Even if I could undo the nuts I couldn 't do much else so would be ringing RACV if able or getting on my UHF and calling for help.
You're dead right. I got sick of my mechanic setting his rattle gun up past 200 lbs and took the ute in and told him to undo it with the standard brace. Two of them could'nt turn it. I have found that a cross brace with a length of pipe (or similar) will give you the required torque. But you've got to have the pipe. Another option is a tyre weld product. There are various brands in large pressure cans and they attach to your varlve in the normal way. You press the button and a gas/rubber mixture goes in, inflates the tyre and seals the puncture. For best results take out the nail or other foreign object and get the hole closer to the bottom, but not parked on it. These will fix punctures up to about 5mm (nail, screw etc). Once inflated, take to a servo to adjust the pressure. They are meant to be temporary repair but I did run one for over 20K (forgot about it) with no problems. I carry a couple for rainy days (don't want to get wet) or when the nuts are too tight. About $15 depending on where you go.
NEVER replace your wheel nuts with the unit as when it is time to remove again you probably will not be able to. Plus if you tighten tooo much you will stress the threads. Use the normal wheel spanner to tighten the nuts up and ALWAYS recheck after about 50 Ks.
I use a paint pencil when I am sure they have settled I put a line from a nut flat onto the rim. This makes it easy to see if a nut has moved.
Also any sign of rust on your rim coming from a nut is a sign that that nut is loose and the wheel is moving and causing the rust. Remove the nut and clean and then replace and then retention after the 50ks.
I have also been advised that when replacing wheel nuts to add a small dob of engine oil on the thread. Remove the dip stick and just touch the thread where it was in the oil. Of course the thread should be clean as we don't want rust particles in your motor.
I use a geared wheel wrench to remove my wheel nuts. No power required and you can feel the pressure to a certain extent. Heavy to carry but I can remove nuts that even the tyre places had problems with.
Regards Brian
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11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again