Cordless tools are great, handy, easy to use. There is a darkside, the advent of their use has made careful pattern and torque parameters obsolete at most garages. I now contimually hear from friends about leaks/rattles that are appearing after work at dealerships etc. Can you say stripped fasteners?
The best and worst evolution in tools ever.
- Thread starter sloinker
- Start date
I'm not aware of any such issues in the dealerships I've worked at since cordless became more popular. In fact I'd think there has been less issues as the lubies don't trust their cordless stuff to hammer down a wheel like they did old pneumatic guns and actually check them with a torque wrench. You know like they were always required to do by company policy anyway.
Cordless tools are just an alternative to air for many jobs, before that air ratchets and impact guns of all sizer were used, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, etc plus butterfly types. Spinning fasteners by power is nothing new just a different hammer.
"Impacting to spec" has been a common practice for a long time.
In the last week a Chrysler minivan with stripped and broken pan bolts after a transmission service utilizing a local muffler chain and a belly pan that started dragging after a free dealer oil change. Stripped and missing fasteners. For every decent mechanic with skills and integrity there are at least a thousand others that shouldn't be allowed near a vehicle. I my be too kind with that ratio.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
I have seen people damage many things with both power and air tools and impacts. A certain oil change place put my friends drain plug on with an impact and dented it up really bad because they wanted to make him think it was already damaged but he caught them and they had to replace it free. Their remarks were “oh you are supposed to replace your oil pan every 100,000 anyway to make sure it doesn’t warp like it did here”. He never went back to that place. Personally I’ve always been an air impact guy but when dealing with wheels or anything I don’t want to tear up I use a torque stick then double check with a torque wrench. At the shop I used to work at we couldn’t use power or air tools on anything on the interior, spark plugs, brakes and a few other things too. They didn’t want us to use them on axle nuts but they quickly realized we had too because most were so tight you couldn’t get them off otherwise. All because the people who aren’t careful were tearing up things. I can see not wanting air tools inside a vehicle because having to drag that hose across seats and everything but power tools that is kind of a little much if we had to take something apart it took forever with a screwdriver when we could of used a cordless one and been done much faster. I feel you need both because both have their place. Like you will never convince me that an electric hammer has more strength or power than an air hammer so I will always use an air hammer and same with impacts too I use my Earthquake impacts daily and they are amazing even use them at home with my compressor. Now all these are so powerful you can tear up things very easily with cordless or air impacts. But like I said both have their place.
There are very few good mechanics or other tradesmen for that matter these days and the ones that are are well sought after.
I use an impact for getting wheel nuts on, but I've stopped impacting before the nut bottoms out, it's only to save some time getting the wheels tight enough to put the car on the floor.
but I have seen that I use impact much less than the rest in general.
but I have seen that I use impact much less than the rest in general.
When I requested that my local auto shop use torque wrenches on my lug nuts, they said they use something better. The manager described it as some kind of rack or assembly that makes sure the lugnut is threaded square with the lug and torqued exactly to spec. OK great. Well, next time I got a flat and had to swap the spare, two of the lug nuts jammed and broke the stud off when trying to remove the flat. That sucked hard.
About evolutions in tools...
I think click-style torque wrenches should not have torque settings so low that you can't hear it click. I was trying to teach my sister how to work on stuff when she broke a couple bolts because the torque setting was so low that the wrench did not make a clicking noise. That was an expensive mistake.
About evolutions in tools...
I think click-style torque wrenches should not have torque settings so low that you can't hear it click. I was trying to teach my sister how to work on stuff when she broke a couple bolts because the torque setting was so low that the wrench did not make a clicking noise. That was an expensive mistake.
I like the option on Milwaukee to stop as soon as the fastener makes contact. Keeps down on the excessive ugga duggas.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
Another thing too is when someone uses something on the threads and doesn’t reduce torque. I have my tires done at Sam’s since I don’t have access to a tire machine and their policy is to use copper anti seize on the threads and I have broken some in the past because they don’t reduce the torque on them and usually drive them down with an impact it makes me so angry.
I see it as the ultimate result of perfected exploitation of the workforce. The dealers and garages are now getting exactly the value of work they are paying for.
If you can even find anyone interested to do the work seems it’s becoming harder and harder to get bodies even. It’s sad some of the workforce
That is the truth! Extremely hard to get people to go through an apprenticeship and become a journeyman in a skilled trade. Most people want to skip the 4 years and go directly to the CEO's chair. Seems like nobody wants to actually do any type of physical work where you run the risk of breaking a sweat or getting a little dirty.
Also very hard to find people who want to work in the parts department that are worth having. You get some management who think just anyone can do parts, and only offer minimum or slightly higher. However a competent parts department with actual good staff is invaluable to a dealership.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
Parts people in my area are crazy. Most of them have no clue about anything I had one ask me the other day what an ABS Tone Ring was and asked if it was an engine part. I’m not saying all are like that but most are. I know the ones I deal with most are not and bdcardinal is an excellent one to deal with on here always gets me what I need. The dealership people around here are clueless too but I walk in with the parts numbers and they type it in and give it to me without asking questions. As he stated above it’s hard to find anyone worth anything that goes for Mechanics too.
What really makes me mad is when I go into a dealership with a bad OE part that I just physically removed from a vehicle and they ask for the VIN number, which I supply. Then after about 15 minutes of dithering around on the computer they lay the bad part on the counter in front of me and say it doesn't go to the car I removed it from. I say, just look up the part number on the part and give me one. They always look shocked and I get nasty after they waste my valuable time. I endeavor to order my parts online and cut out the dealers altogether but once in a while I am forced to use them. As often as not they don't have the part and it is actually quicker for me to order the part and get it delivered to my front door than to order and pick up at the dealer. Car dealerships are going away in the next few decades along with the ICE. Parts and repair will be handled by generic entities and that is probably a good thing.
Why would they want to? Most dealerships in my area start out lube tech/tire changers at $12/hr and expect them to bring their own tools. I was in the Mobil station the other day and they had a sign up $13.50 to $15 an hour depending on the shift for counterperson, no tools needed just work appropriate clothing and good attitude.
