Help me pick out tools for removing wheels.

Q

quebert

Member
I want to take my wheels off so I can really get them clean. Here`s what I`m looking at, this is for a 2008 Saturn Sky Redline


Tekton 15355 1/2-Inch Drive x 15-inch breaker bar

[h=1]GearWrench 84946 Metric High-Strength Wheel Protector Impact Socket Set, 3-Piece[/h]
Tekton 2433 1/2-Inch driver click torque Wrench

Craftman programmable digital tire gauge.

Pittsburg 1.5 ton compact racing jack


I don`t have any tools of these sorts atm. I don`t need Snap-On or anything close, but I`d like to get a decent setup going.

suggestions? thanks
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How about a cordless impact driver to remove the nuts to make the process a whole lot faster?
You could try HF for inexpensive fast lifting full-sized floor jacks.
 
I would recommend an electric impact, saves a lot of time, I got the one from Harbor Freight, it`s cheap but works great for taking off wheels. You can also use any regular impact socket I just put electrical tape on the outside, but if you want to spend the extra money those impact sockets you are looking at are great.

I have the same jack at home, works great. I would recommend getting jack stands though, you can never be too safe.

Don`t forget about a 1/2" torque extension bar, most of the time lug nuts are recessed into the wheel and you need some extension, so you don`t hit the handle of the torque wrench/breaker bar on the wheel or paint of the vehicle.
 
nice thread. I was thinking about taking some of my detail money coming up and buying the stuff that allows me to do wheels off details as well

definitely some good money in that process

subscribed
 
impact wrenches save SOOOOO much time. Well, when you swap wheels as much as I have. I used to swap them at least monthly for autoX. I started by hand. It sucked. I then bought an adapter to use a standard drill. I would break them loose by hand, then use the drill to remove the lug nuts. Better, but could still use improvement. Finally invested in impact wrench for use on wheels as well as suspension work. Life changer. Wheel swaps is way faster now.

as Jesse pointed out, get some jack stands. I know a guy who didn`t bother with them for many years...until that one day came that changed his mind. Luckily the damage to his car was not that bad. He was lucky!
 
Get the CDI torque wrench. They`re snap-on quality with affordable pricing! You need a torque wrench to properly torque your wheel back. Well, you could get away and just come to Firestone tire shop and just ask them to check the torque on your wheel real quick and it`s free! However, if you`re thinking to take your wheels off quite often, say for rotating the tires, it`s a must to get the torque wrench as well.

All in all, get a breaker bar, a cheap one is ok. Get a ratchet, find one that has a high-gear ratio, you can use it for lots of other things. A used snap-on on craigslist is affordable enough anyway. Get a decent socket for your lug nuts. Get a torque wrench to torque your wheel back properly! That`s all!
 
TTBear said:
I agree! I have a CDI, and it is built extremely well.

+1 regarding jack stands. I have seen the effects of NOT having them, too often... :(
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Yep, my gf saw a random spinning wheel+tire on a HIGHWAY one time. The whole people in the car were laughing until they found out that it`s actually theirs :D
Good thing that they`re able to walk away.
 
JustJesus said:
impact wrenches save SOOOOO much time. Well, when you swap wheels as much as I have. I used to swap them at least monthly for autoX. I started by hand. It sucked. I then bought an adapter to use a standard drill. I would break them loose by hand, then use the drill to remove the lug nuts. Better, but could still use improvement. Finally invested in impact wrench for use on wheels as well as suspension work. Life changer. Wheel swaps is way faster now.

as Jesse pointed out, get some jack stands. I know a guy who didn`t bother with them for many years...until that one day came that changed his mind. Luckily the damage to his car was not that bad. He was lucky!
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ditto to this as i had a customer who was under his with out stands and he is unable to learn from it now so i`m very adamant for people to use jack stands
 
I never did get an impact...keep thinking I`ll get a Milwaukee some day.

For now I just use a Speed Wrench after I`ve done the initial loosening with the Breaker Bar. After decades of doing it this way I do still think about the impact though.
 
Accumulator said:
I never did get an impact...keep thinking I`ll get a Milwaukee some day.

For now I just use a Speed Wrench after I`ve done the initial loosening with the Breaker Bar. After decades of doing it this way I do still think about the impact though.
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Get an impact, get the Harbor Freight cheapo one, I`ve had it for 3-4 years still running strong. You`ll thank me later lol.

The Milwaukee impact is nice though! I`m looking to get one of those one day.
 
Agree with the electric impact comments. If you get protective socket built for impacts, you`ll save yourself much time. Of course you would only use a ratchet, speed wrench or whatever and a torque wrench to put them back on.
 
Jesse@Autopia said:
Get an impact, get the Harbor Freight cheapo one, I`ve had it for 3-4 years still running strong. You`ll thank me later lol.

The Milwaukee impact is nice though! I`m looking to get one of those one day.
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Maybe I`m just stubborn, but I keep doing fine without the impact. Don`t even think of it until something like this thread comes up. Note that besides changing multiple sets of wheels regularly (heh heh, a few times annually for 40 years!), some fasteners on my Crown Vics take nearly 200#ft ;) So I get the whole "it`ll make things go faster", but still...

I always think of how the Mallett brothers built all those cool cars without lifts, impacts, or other modern stuff...eh, maybe I really *am* just stubborn! You know, like..."I`m not getting old, I`m still OK with doing everything the hard way" or some [nonsense] like that :D
 
Accumulator said:
Maybe I`m just stubborn, but I keep doing fine without the impact. Don`t even think of it until something like this thread comes up. Note that besides changing multiple sets of wheels regularly (heh heh, a few times annually for 40 years!), some fasteners on my Crown Vics take nearly 200#ft ;) So I get the whole "it`ll make things go faster", but still...

I always think of how the Mallett brothers built all those cool cars without lifts, impacts, or other modern stuff...eh, maybe I really *am* just stubborn! You know, like..."I`m not getting old, I`m still OK with doing everything the hard way" or some [nonsense] like that :D
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Props to ya for taking your time. It isn`t really frowned upon, everybody likes doing things their own way. Like my dad says, "There is always more than one way to skin a cat!" So if you don`t necessarily need an impact or want one, or any tool/product, you don`t have to get one.

It still amazes me how people can build things so great and jaw dropping without the modern tools we have today. People are awesome!
 
Accumulator said:
...eh, maybe I really *am* just stubborn! You know, like..."I`m not getting old, I`m still OK with doing everything the hard way" or some [nonsense] like that :D
Click to expand...

I get this, if you want to cut down a tree you can use an axe or you can use a chainsaw. Both will get the job done and the tree will lay on the ground either way. That said, other than being set in ones ways, in my opinion there is no downside to using an impact other than the fact that you have to buy gun. I`ve removed tens of thousands of lugnuts over the years, given the right socket there just isn`t a down side. This becomes even more true when someone has over torqued a wheel when putting it on.

Just for enlightenment which Crown Vic fasteners are you suggesting are torqued close to 200 ft-lbs? Wheel torque specs as far as I know, even aluminum wheels on full sized Fords have been somewhere between 100 -115 ft-lbs since the early 80`s. I`ve had 5 Town Cars over the past 30 years and they`ve all fallen in that range. If you`ve got a Crown Vic with a lug nut spec beyond that I`d trully be interested in knowing what it is? Ford trucks get up to 150 ft-lbs but I haven`t seen their cars in that range. Of course, what I know is quite limited and I`m farther and farther from the industry with each passing day, you should always follow the manufacturers spec.
 
GearHead_1- The high-torque fasteners I was thinking of are part of my next project on that car, something that worked out great on my previous one- The Watts Link Stud and the nut that holds the WL on it. Fortunately I only plan to do those twice! Came to mind when I was, uhm...trying to justify not needing an impact (I`m not really a Luddite or anything like that...).

As you were thinking, AFAIK lugs never oughta be all that tight, think even the Tahoe is only ~140.

And yeah, I hear you on the overtorqued lugs, I once snapped one clean off with a breaker bar (on the Tahoe).

Jesse@autopia- Thanks, and yeah I sorta like the process of doing things like wheel swaps the manual way...feeling exactly what I`m doing and how the fasteners are responding to it. The few times I`ve used an impact I missed "the feel" for what was going on and I can`t help thinking that it`s less likely that things`ll go sideways if I do it manually.

And yeah#2, it was a eye-opener seeing how Mallett Cars built my C5, let alone their more exotic offerings. "Low tech/high concept"...something that generally works well for me in all sorts of endeavors. It impressed me so much I didn`t even consider a lift for my current shop (though I do sometimes miss the one I used to have).

And I had to chuckle over your chainsaw/axe analogy as I`m all about powertools when it comes to my landscaping chores :D Haven`t touched an axe in decades, haven`t touched my chainsaw for a few weeks.
 
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