Impact Driver

[nikux]

Any suggestions on which impact driver to buy?

I went to sears, these - http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00947641000P?pid=00947641000 -  are on sale for $20, but looked liked the bits are too big. Can I use the standard bits instead of the ones that come with the impact driver set?

[erbilabuc]

if you are going to use this set for the soft factory screws then yes it will work. I have the same thing and I dont suffer from stripped screws any more

[ben2go]

Harbor Freight had them cheaper so did Northern Tool.Dunno if they were on sale or every day price.What do you need an impact driver for?I never had to use one on a GS. 

[yamahonkawazuki]

and since you said that, NOW you will

[Jared]

and since you said that, NOW you will

^^^^  Yep. ^^^^


I have the Sears version...works great...

Yeah Harbor freight is cheaper... never used theirs...can't say good or bad...but for as often as you  might need it it's probably ok.

[nikux]

Wow the Harbor freight Tools is really cheap - $6 - http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93481 and they also have a #1 philips head. I think i'll go for this one.

The Northern Industrial one slightly more expensive - $10 - http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_36882_36882

I need it for removing the three screws below the clutch hub and the brake fluid cap screws.

[scottpA_GS]

I have a Motion Pro I got at work. It came w/ some sockets as well. I have used it on the GS to get the rear sets off w/o stripping it out 

[Ronin]

Harbor Freight had them cheaper so did Northern Tool.Dunno if they were on sale or every day price.What do you need an impact driver for?I never had to use one on a GS. 

Ditto that it's about 6.oo bucks and is bulit like a sherman tank.

[Pelikan]

If one gets the j.I.s. screwdrivers, will an impact driver still be needed?

[Big Rich]

Only if the Jis screws ever get stuck.

You may have to deform the jis heads so the Phillips bits will work.

[ramennoodles]

I have the other harbor freight one with the red handle.  http://www.harborfreight.com/impact-screwdriver-set-with-case-37530.html

used it on my gs to break loose a screw that had the philip head getting stripped.  One strike with a rubber mallet and it broke loose.  Also used it on a stubborn Harley triple clamp torx bolt that was also starting to strip and it worked. Hasn't broke yet and was less than $10

[tt_four]

Don't bother with the cheaper one from HF. If you're gonna get one there, get the nicer one. It's one of those tools that I saw 2 of, and thought "why would I ever pay more for this?? " It worked great on the carb screws, but I was helping a friend work on his bike it stopped working right. It was only the 2nd time I had used it. I must have jammed something in where the spring is because the tool wouldn't spring back out how it should. We still got the stuck screw out, but after every time I hit it I had to take pliers and twist the screwdriver bit back out.

They have one at home depot for about $20 I'm going to pick up. I guess logic would say that anything with moving parts that you're going to hit with a hammer, isn't the kind of tool you should cheap out on. Now the $20 one from home depot is going to end up costing me $26 after I factor in the $6 I wasted on the broken one!

[GSnoober]

I bought my Craftsman impact driver in 1979; more than thirty years of occasional use without a problem. I'll pass it on to my grand-nephew when the time comes; he's only four years old right now, so I don't expect him to need any hand tools for a while yet...

Cheap tools have their uses, but I now consider them disposable. Years ago, I didn't hesitate to loan my tools to friends and family, but I learned the hard way that good tools get "lost", or damaged, even when they're being used by people we trust enough not to lose or damage them. I've lost a small fortune in tools that way, so the lesson here is that I've learned some hard lessons about loaning my tools to others.

The fact is, I still let other people use my tools, but not until I make sure the borrower understands that I expect them to return the tools in the same condition, without exception. Anything that gets damaged or "lost" must be replaced with the identical tool. Some might think that Craftsman hand tools aren't "heirloom" quality, but that isn't the point; the point is, they're MY tools, tools I worked hard to pay for, tools I use to accomplish things, and someday, I will pass them on to another generation. In fact, I expect them to be passed on for the next few centuries, even if most of them are nothing more than curios or museum pieces by then...

Buy good tools; use good tools; pass them down so that others can learn to appreciate them as you did.

[tt_four]

Hate when you let someone borrow a tool and never see it again 

I but a lot of stuff from HF but they're all definitely tools that I know I'll only need a few times. If it's something I want to hang on to for a long time, you've gotta spend the money on the good one. You'll spend more upfront but save money in the long run. When it comes to some of the more specialized tools that I doubt I'll ever use more than 2-3 times, it's definitely a good idea to buy the cheap one so I don't feel bad when it gets stuffed to the back of a shelf and never touched again.

[The Buddha]

I have a husky, I like it a lot, however you do have to be careful, yes the tips are big, but the business end is good for most phillips screws, that isn't the big concern IMHO, they have to be machined in such a way that as they bite and deform the screw head, they sink deeper ... like the cross section of the tip has to not be a + but similar to a Nazi swastika - the curved kind - I dunno what its called, or what wing of the nazi machinery used it, but each prong looks like an axe. The thing also should have a slight twist in the anti clockwise direction going toward the tip as viewed from the hitting end.  Namely it should bite into the screw head and sink deeper. Not get pushed out. If your screw is going to still strip, it should look like it has been drilled partially.
Cool.
Buddha.