Is there and adapter I could get for my cordless drill so I can change my wheels easily? Or what tools are others using to swap rims out?

 

I used a cordless drill and socket adapter for several years to make wheel changes go quicker at autocrosses, but my wife got me a Dewalt cordless impact for my birthday a couple of years ago, and that works even better. You'll still need a breaker bar (or the stock lug wrench) to loosen the lugs and a torque wrench for tightening them down, but a drill-socket adapter can make the job go a lot quicker. The 1/4" hex to 3/8" or 1/2" square (socket) drive adapters are about $5 at any hardware store.

-Keith

 

What do they need to be torqued down to?

Do you think this is a waste of $$?
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...+impact+wrench

 

I'm not sure what the factory service manual calls for, I usually torque mine down to 90-95 ft-lbs with a torque wrench.

If you already have a decent cordless drill, it would likely be a lot better for swapping tires than that JC Whitney cheapie 12V impact. You'd still probably need to use a breaker bar to loosen the lugs, and you'd definitely need a torque wrench to tighten them.

-Keith

 

Get yourself a 4-way lug wrench. I can take off all four lug nuts faster than an impact driver.

Steve

 

Thanks guys!!!

 

i just use a sears long handle 1/2" drive ratchet. you can use it to
loosen the lug (without a breaker bar) and then fold the neck so you
can turn the lugs while holding the ratchet straight toward the lug without
any ratchet action. very fast.

 

Really? I can remove all four of mine in 30 seconds or less with my cordless impact driver. You must be really quick

 

I can change two tires, including jacking up the car in about 5 minutes.

Steve

 

You can use a cordless drill or an air gun (really quick) and you'll need a drive adapter for the cordless availible at the hardware stores. I torque mine to 101 Nm and out of sixteen lugs I've had one loosen an 1/8 turn in three weeks of driving and track day combined, at least once a week I go around the car and check all my tire pressures and tourque the lugs. It still takes me 5 min to get the car jacked up (I need a new jack soon) but I can do four tires (less the jacking time) in about 2-3min with just the torque wrench. I imagine an impact wrench would cut that down to 45sec-1min.

 

Not bad My average time for swapping all four wheels/tires at an autocross is 10 minutes (from start to finish, including jacking), but I've been known to do it in 8-9 minutes if bad weather was threatening. A stud conversion would take another minute or so off my times (wouldn't have to line up the holes), and if I'm in a real hurry, I'll just torque them with my cordless impact driver (it takes them to 80-90 ft-lbs) instead of a torque wrench, that saves me another minute or so. I used to not worry about using a torque wrench to torque them to spec, and if you skip that step, you can use a 4-way lug wrench to loosen, remove, and tighten the lugs.

-Keith

 

Jeez guys, slow down and smell the rubber.

 

92 lbs is what I've seen here and what I do.