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********* The difference between and impact gun an a powered ratchet is that an impact gun has hammers and an anvil. The hammers strike or impact the anvil, which turns the shaft, and the blows from the hammers striking the anvil generate more torque than a motor or turbine spinning the shaft. The difference is basically the same as the difference between a hammer drill and a rotary drill.

Pneumatic impact guns used in automotive applications generally come in one of 2 configurations. One looks like a drill and is the one used most often on wheel lug nuts because the handle allows for a more comfortable grip, and the other looks like a rectangular box with a paddle on one surface. Pushing the paddle one way or the other allows easier changing of direction, and the box without the pistol grip allows reaching in tighter spaces. The torque generated by an impact gun depends on air volume, air pressure, and the size of the hammers and anvil.

A powered ratchet does not generate as much torque as an impact gun, and when the fastener is tightened, the ratchet has a tendency to spin in the opposite direction, something the impact gun doesn't do.

I bet you saw a technician using an air ratchet to run the lug nuts down to the wheel since the air ratchet doesn't generate enough torque to over-tighten the lug nuts, and then tightening the lug nuts with a torque wrench.

I bet you are fanaticizing again in order to make excuses for lousy dealer service.

Built Well was describing what he saw at Wal Mart, not a dealership, and the tool he was describing sounds more like a ratchet than an impact wrench.

He also described what he saw at a dealer.

I stand corrected. Dealers do get things right once in a while ;-)

only one problem with this - retorquing an already torqued bolt will probably add more torque to it. Engine parts are not recommended to be torque checked this way.

For lug nuts, it's fine.

This is assuming of course, they're checking the manual for the right torque for the car they're working on. My truck takes a lot more torque per nut than my Subaru.

Ray

This will put the fear of God in Built_Well. After reading this, I think he will take his car to an Express Lube:

Man crushed by dump truck

By Katie Humphrey | Sunday, November 25, 2007, 02:38 PM

One man died Saturday evening after getting caught under a dump truck he was working on in Southeast Travis County, officials said.

The 46-year-old man was working on the dump truck at a garage in the 4200 block of Burch Drive at about 6:40 p.m. when it rolled, catching him underneath, said Roger Wade, spokesman for the Travis County Sheriff's Office.

Another man who was at the garage was not injured, Wade said.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His name will not be released until the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office confirms his identity, Wade said.

"Right now, it looks like a workplace accident," Wade said.

The sheriff's office and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration are investigating the accident.

Your kidding, aren't you?

99.9999% of the time drain plugs are tightened without a torque wrench. Just make sure it is tight, but not so tight that you can't get it off next time. If you do happen to damage the drain plug or washer, get a new one at your dealer for a few bucks.

I can't speak for others, but I don't think I will be rebuilding an engine or transmission anytime soon, and since BUILT_WELL lives in an apartment with no garage, I don't think he will be either.

Since I starting buying Hondas and Toyotas in 1986, I have never had a valve cover gasket leak. My 98 Camry doesn't leak anywhere.

Now Ray, you are going to spoil it for him.

This is turning into the most elaborately planned and expensive oil change in the history of the automobile.

There is not a enough bandwidth available on the internet to handle the newsgroup traffic he will generate if he decides to do those things.