I bought an impact wrench

[Sad, little man]

I was really struggling to remove the axle nut on my van. A breaker bar with about a 4 foot pipe on the end of it wasn't doing anything, and I was getting scared that something was going to snap, and cause injury or damage.

So I decided to buy the very largest impact tool that the People's Republic of China has to offer. The manufacturer suggests that it's ideal for bus/semi/train maintenance, and bridge construction. It weighs 45lbs. With a sufficient supply of air, it can supposedly produce 4248ft lbs of torque. I am a happy customer, now confident that I will never again struggle to remove a hub nut.

I've never been to China, but I can't help but revere and be slightly frightened of a people and a culture that can create an amalgamation of cast aluminum and forged steel such as this, and happily sell it to any unsuspecting consumer for about the price of a modest barbecue grill. In a cordless world powered by lithium ion batteries, this tool still yearns to be plumbed directly into the grid. The nearest I can tell, this was manufactured by a company called Taizhou Lizhou Pneumatic Tools Co. Info about them on the internet is sparse, perhaps it's for the best. I like the idea of this monstrosity appearing out of the ether, a mysterious fever dream birthed out of a coal fueled, frenzied economic expansion where the overriding sentiment is to ask what could be done, but rarely stopping to question if it should be done.

My trusty IR 231 impact gun for scale.

https://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=4189&d=1696089684

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[JoshInKC]

Goddamn. That's serious business.

[Crazed_Insanity]

The great wrench of China!

[Random]

The best part is that you can buy torque multipliers for those, for when a nut is really​ stuck.

[JoeW]

Honestly if something is that stuck then just throw the whole thing away.

[Rare White Ape]

Next best option is melting it

[George]

You unlocked the BFG! :eek:

[Phil_SS]

So how much torque do you think you were using to get the nut removed from the axle?

[pl8ster]

Just about every damn bit of it.

[Cam]

Did you successfully remove the nut you wanted to remove?

[Sad, little man]

Yes the nut came off immediately. No idea how much torque it was using. But the nut was just about too hot to hold when I got it off. So that shows you how much energy was being imparted into it to remove it. And I had not heated the nut beforehand when I tired the impact on it.

Actually, full disclosure, through a mixup in ordering this impact, and because of the fact that they make a very similar looking, but somewhat smaller impact, I actually first ordered that smaller one, and used that impact to get the nut off.

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But, not being one to do things at half measures, I flipped that impact on fb marketplace and ordered this larger impact. I look at it kind of like nuclear weapons... I hope I never have to use it, but I'm prepared to if I have no other choice. Actually I probably will whenever I decide to replace the knuckle on the other side.