Do you know that with the right accessories your impact wrench can a lot more than tightening and loosening fasteners?
Just owning a tool like an impact wrench on its own can be extremely useful, but if you truly want to take your tool game to the next level, then you need to start expanding what your impact wrench can do. The perfect way to do this is by investing in some of the many impact wrench accessories that are out there. These accessories either enhance or completely revolutionize the way that your impact wrench operates, and many can drastically increase the number of jobs that you can accomplish with your impact wrench.
If you aren’t familiar with the wide array of options available to you when it comes to impact wrench accessories, then this article is for you. You are going to see what some of the most impressive and useful impact wrench accessories can do for you.
Impact Wrench Adapters and Accessories
Let’s see some of the most popular impact wrench accessories that are actually useful to you.
Impact Sockets
This is a must have accessory. If you want to really make sure that your impact wrench is equipped to handle just about every kind of job, then you need to invest in some impact rated sockets.
See, a regular chrome socket is going to crack when used with an impact wrench. If not right away, after just a few uses, you are going to start to see some serious damage to your chrome socket. This is due to the fact regular chrome sockets are made from hardened by fairly brittle material and their cross section is thin. They simply isn’t designed to stand up to the intense amount of impact load that a good impact wrench is capable of putting out.
- Learn more about impact sockets vs chrome sockets here
Thankfully, high-quality impact sockets are extremely easy to find. If you got into any hardware store or onto any tool site, then you can easily find some decent quality impact wrench sockets for fairly affordable prices. There are impact wrench sockets from most major brands, including DeWalt, Makita, and more. So, if you want to make sure that the socket that you buy comes from the same brand as your impact wrench, then you can do that, even though it is not necessary.
Impact Wrench Extension
Although it doesn’t happen often, depending on the sort of work that you do with your impact wrench, you may find that a certain bolt is actually out of your reach. Normally, this would mean that you can’t actually do the job, or you would need to find some way of reaching the bolt (which can be quite tricky with an impact wrench in your hand). This is where an impact wrench extension becomes absolutely key.
As you might be able to guess just from the name alone, an impact wrench extension is an accessory that drastically increases the reach of your impact wrench. They come in all different sizes and they are a lifesaver when it comes to reaching out of reach bolts.
Impact Wrench Adapters
Mainly, there are three types of accessories under this category.
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- Right angle adapters and
- Drill bit adapters
- Socket Adapters
Let me explain these two adapters in detail.
Right Angle Adapter
An impact wrench right angle adapter (or extension) is an accessory to extend the drive head perpendicular to the normal axis of the impact wrench. These adapter accessories work in much the same way that impact wrench extenders do. You simply attach the adapter to your impact wrench, and it lets you reach bolts at angles that would otherwise be unreachable.
In my experience, DeWalt tends to make the best impact wrench right angle adapters, so this is something to keep in mind when shopping. When compared to some of the other accessories that you have seen so far, right angle adapters are definitely going to be a bit more on the niche side.
If you are professional running an auto repair shop where you regularly come across such situations, then investing in a power ratchet is a good idea. For occasional use, get an extension which is cheap when compared to a cordless ratchet.
Many of you would probably end up using a straight extension more often than you would use a right angle adapter. Still, it doesn’t hurt to be over prepared and they don’t cost that much, so it might be worth adding it to your toolbox just in case.
Impact Wrench Drill Adapter
Again, this is another attachment where the name pretty much gives away what you can expect from the attachment.
Can you drill with an impact wrench? You can use an impact wrench as drill with a drill bit adapter. An impact wrench drill adapter allows you to turn your impact wrench into what is essentially a power drill.
As you might be able to guess, this adds a lot of utility to the tool. With the correct drill chuck adapter in place, you could potentially turn your impact wrench into two tools in one. As with many of the other attachments that you have seen so far, DeWalt makes a great drill adapter, so give that some consideration.
Should I buy a Drill Chuck Extension?
To be honest I would recommend you to go for an impact drill/driver than a drill chuck adaptor which converts your impact wrench into a drill. They offer lot more control.
In fact if you are searching for a power tool that can drill and change your car tire an impact driver may be the right tool for you.
Socket Adapters
Over the years I have seen manufacturers coming up some clever socket adaptors that can extend the usability of your tool. Here are the three most useful socket adapters for impact wrench.
Size Conversion Adapters
These are square adapters that help you to change the size of your impact wrench drive head. The two most commonly used ones are,
- ½-inch to ¾-inch square reducing adapter
- ¾-inch square to ½-inch square adapter
Square to Hexagon Adapters
Do you have ¼ inch hexagonal shank drill bits and accessories lying around? You can use a ½ inch square to ¼-inch hexagonal adapter to use your impact driver bits on the impact wrench.
The above square to hex converter allows you to use 1/4-inch hex bits. Did you notice that holes on both ends of the converter are female sockets?
Converters
These are often special purpose adapters for impact wrenches that are designed for specific use.
The universal joint adapter seen in the above image allows you to use your impact tool in tight spaces where you cannot position the power tool properly.
Final Thoughts:
If you have an impact wrench and you don’t own at least some of these attachments, then you are really missing out. They add great versatility to your impact wrench. Also, given that so many of these impact wrench accessories can be had for so little, they are also pretty cost-effective.
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