Switched from impact guns to hand tools for dash work and I'm never going back

Spent 10 years using a 3/8 impact on every interior bolt I could reach. Broke three trim panels last month on a 2018 F-150. Senior guy at the shop told me to try using a ratchet and a stubby screwdriver instead. Took me 20 minutes longer on the first one but zero broken clips. Second one was only 10 minutes longer. By the fifth interior job my time was the same as with the impact. And no more trips to the parts counter for replacement panels. Has anyone else found that slowing down on certain jobs actually saves time in the long run?

3 comments

3 Comments

fionat552d ago

And the best part nobody talks about is how much quieter the cabin is without an impact rattling your brain for hours, plus you actually feel when something is about to strip before it happens (which is huge for those soft plastic threads on older cars).

ryan_hart382d ago

The quiet cabin thing is real. I spent an hour last weekend doing a bolt and didn't even realize my neighbor was mowing his lawn right next to my open window. That feel before a strip is a lifesaver too. I definitely stripped a plastic clip on my old Civic's bumper cover trying to get fancy with a ratchet and no feel. Now I just pretend I'm a delicate surgeon with the hand tools and my wife laughs at me. Who knew being gentle could actually help?

laura_wilson1d ago

Honestly I gotta push back a little here. I mean yeah the quiet cabin thing is nice if you've got a brand new car or something but on my older truck I swear I can't hear jack over the engine knocking anyway. And that whole "feel before a strip" thing I get it in theory but in practice I've had way more luck just going slow with a ratchet and not forcing it than I ever did trying to be all zen about it. Tbh the biggest thing for me is just not being an idiot with the tool, like if it's fighting back you're probably doing it wrong regardless of how quiet you are. Ngl I think half the time people are just making excuses to feel fancy about hand tools when a careful impact driver would do the same job without all the drama.