Before you start, you'll need safety equipment:

1. A decent pair of gloves
2. Clear eye protection
3. Ear protection

An impact wrench replaces your ratchet and breaker bar, making the removal or tightening of nuts and bolts a much speedier process.

With that in mind, they require a lot of power. They are often air powered from your air compressor (you can find them in our range of mechanic's air tools), or battery powered like this ToolPRO 18 volt impact wrench from our range of power tools, a popular choice for quick jobs.

Your impact wrench is a simple power tool featuring a forward and reverse switch, a trigger, which may be variable speed and in some cases and a switch or dial for multiple levels of torque.

Your impact wrench should always be used with impact sockets designed for this purpose.

Impact sockets are often distinguished from regular sockets by their thicker walls and flat black appearance, which is a result of their hardening process.

Always be wary of the power offered by an impact wrench as it is more than enough to snap smaller fasteners.

On the other hand, never rely solely on an impact wrench when using it on torque sensitive fasteners such as wheel nuts, a torque wrench should always be used to apply the final tension to these jobs.

Due to the high impact nature of the impact wrench, safety glasses should always be worn to prevent eye injury should any component fail under pressure.

Used in the right situations and with a bit of care, an impact wrench will save you plenty of time and effort on every job.