Impact Driver Advice

I am looking into changing the brake fluid in the front lines and have run into the age old problem of rusted screws on the top of the resevoir.

So I am needing a manual impact driver and wanted to know if there were opinions on which brand was golden and their best friend and what brands have let people down.

As of right now I am looking at a Craftsman one, as it looks pretty basic with nothing to break or get in the way. And as a side note, if you have horror stories from doing this yourself, any tips on how not to do it would be appreciated.

Jon

 

I have a budget impact driver - about $6.00 and it has worked fine for years. I think you are fine with whatever you pick up.

 

I have the Craftsman.
It's a great tool to have in the tool box.

My Master Cylinder Screws were rusted-in tight and broke-off when I tried the Impact tool.
Don't worry if they break-off.

There's enough stock surrounding the screws to drill them out the next oversize and tap-in some new threads for new screws.

You have to drill the hole on the cover out to the next size; too.

I replaced the two Phillips Screws holding down the Master Cylinder Cover with a pair of Stainless Steel Cap Screws.
They hold tight and look good with all the Stainless Fasteners I got in a Kit to do the whole Bike.

 

I've run a Walmart Popular Mechanic brand unit without problems for 14 years.

 

Impact tools are simple devices, and the only real difference between the cheap and expensive ones is torque and speed. I've been using a cheapie Cambell Hausfeld for years, and my brother in law won't use anything that doesn't say Snap-On. They both get the job done, but mine cost 20 bux and his was probably about 80. He's a pro and he uses his every day, so the extra cost is worth it to him. I use mine maybe once a month. I think cheap is just fine for a home mechanic.

 

I have a 30-plus year old Wassel that cost around $12 back in the day...but you may want to just "extract" the screws rather than chance breaking them off and the need to drill/tap. I used the Craftsman mini-screw extractor on the one I had ruined with the impact driver and it came right out "as seen on TV" Bob Vila would have been impressed.

 

My screws were stripped off too, but I was able to drill the tops off and pop the cover and use a vise grip on the little stubs left in the housing.

I can't find my impact driver
I got a cordless impact wrench with my rigid tool set about two yr ago...That thing kicks butt!
At first I thought it was a little silly, but man that thing tore my entire engine apart and I didn't break off a single screw...well except the one where it was tightening instead of loosening, but I chalk that up to opperator error!

 

My screws were rusted to high hell, but instead of fooling with the rusty phillips head slots, I dremeled a good sized slot into the screw and turned it with a slot head screwdriver that matched the slot exactly. Later I replaced the screws with donors from a different bike, but stainless would be even better, and is something I never even considered for some reason, thanks!

 

I wish I would have seen this before I sheared off two bolts. I was talking with Mike, and he mentioned his. I had more to remove, so I picked one up.

Oh my gosh!!! This things rocks! I wish I would have known about this earlier!

I would rate this as a 'must have' tool for the box. Especially since some of the bolts for these bikes are discontinued as I found out after I sheared two of them off.

 

Joe most of the bolts are easy to find in a good hardware store. There are a couple of special items.

 

Thanks Bill. The ones I happened to shear off are the oversized chrome button cap hex screws that hold the outside cylinder fins on the X. Have you happened to run across any replacements for these?

 

check with chacal?

 

Yep, chacal was a no go for those. I think I may have found replacements, but I hit the 'bolt lottery' when I sheared those puppies off...

 

Not sure if they are the same but I found button head hex at Ace Hardware that I used on my grab bar. Worth a shot...

 

I'll take a look if the ones I have coming don't work. It's an odd bird.

M6 1.0 x 16mm and the button head is 20mm across.

 

well i bought one from harbor freight worked fine every time i used it.... the fourth or fifth time i dropped it it literally fell apart... they did replace it with no questions.