Swapped from impact guns to hand tools for interior work last year

I used to blast every bolt off with a Snap-On impact gun inside cars, rattling the whole door panel. Then I did a window regulator job on a 2017 Honda Civic and cracked the plastic trim from the vibration. Now I keep a set of ratcheting wrenches and a T-handle for anything inside the cabin, way less damage and honestly faster for small bolts. Anyone else ditch power tools for certain jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_green696d ago

Hold up man I gotta disagree with you there. Using hand tools for everything inside the car just slows me down way too much on the jobs I do day to day. I use a Milwaukee M12 3/8 ratchet with a low torque setting and it never cracks anything if you're careful. The trick is just feathering the trigger and knowing when to stop, not ditching electric tools altogether. Plastic trim cracks more from people prying on it wrong than from any impact or ratchet I've ever used. Plus when you're dealing with rusty bolts on older Civics or Fords, hand tools can strip out the threads way easier than a gentle impact can.

jennybailey6d ago

Heard a master tech on a podcast say the same thing about feathering the trigger and knowing when to stop. He was talking about how he uses his M12 ratchet on everything from dash screws to door panels and never has issues because he treats the trigger like a dimmer switch, not an on/off button. Said the real skill is feeling the fastener start to bind up and backing off before anything strips. I think that's a better way to look at it than just blaming the tool.