I keep breaking 1/2 ratchets on my lug nuts.

[LightningCamaroGuy]

A half inch ratchet in not the right tool. Go with a 3/4" socket set or impact.
I suspect you used a cheater bar.

Absolutely. A proper 3/4 setup is a whole different ball game. Kind of like with a tractor you're better off having the right tool for the job. If you're looking to plow 600 acres worth of fields then you're 55 HP tractor isn't as ideal as a 400 HP tractor, but if you're looking to maintain your pond, then the 55 HP tractor is going to be more ideal. You're not going to buy a .22 LR to hunt whitetail, but you might if you want to kill some tree rats.

If you want to go with a pneumatic setup, and don't want to pend big bucks on a badarse compressor setup that gives you a lot volume, and at a lot of pressure to bring out the potential of a good 3/4 pneumatic impact:
-Get an extra trank.
-Use at least 1/2 hose.
-Keep the hose short. (4' is often recommended)
-Attach the hose directly to the tank with no regulators, or couplers.
-Use high flow fittings for your tools and a quality coupler on the other end of your hose. (3/8, not 1/4, which most 3/4 impacts and 1/2 hose will be setup for 3/8 fittings anyway)
-Charge the tank to 125-150 PSI if your compressor will get you there.

This should give you a lot of reverse torque, but in short bursts. Then you will have to recharge the tank. Or you can invest in a industrial type compressor setup. Or you could go electric. I don't have a large electric impact, but I'm sure they're out there, and are strong.

 

[AndrewT]

everything above 1) buy a 3/4" Breaker Bar, middle to good quality not Harbor Freight junk, 2)get a good quality 1/2-3/4 adapter Impact grade.
Better yet buy narrow wall 3/4", 13/16" and 7/8" deep 3/4" drive sockets. 3) also use anti-seize or moly grease on studs and seat area around the hub. (coating threads of your wheel studs are a must do if wheels are exposed to weather/ mud/dirt/ salt) 4) torque your wheels to spec with a torque wrench everytime ! and re-check a few hours or 60 miles later if a road going vehicle.
and lastly don't use 6 foot cheater bars on ratchets, it gets expensive after a while lol

 

[Davenj4f]

harbor freight and craftsman have broken on me getting lug nuts loose. I am rough with them using a 6 ft pipe.

I do have a impact driver maybe that will work better.

Presuming you are using impact sockets...

 

[JsJs]

Used a breaker bar on a 2000 Durango wheel lug. Twisted the stud right off with nut still in tack. Impact wrench ever after with no problems.

 

[aircommuter]

If you torque something to a given torque it will usually take more to break it loose. Second thing is if you’re going to work on cars trucks or tractors you need to learn the ability of tools and their proper use. Ratchets are not a tool for a pipe cheater for example. Previously stated.

 

[EBGwd59]

harbor freight and craftsman have broken on me getting lug nuts loose. I am rough with them using a 6 ft pipe.

I do have an impact driver maybe that will work better.

Like I told my son, when he was 17, I’m not impressed that you can break it. Work smarter.

harbor freight and craftsman have broken on me getting lug nuts loose. I am rough with them using a 6 ft pipe.

I do have a impact driver maybe that will work better.

 

[Gord Baker]

harbor freight and craftsman have broken on me getting lug nuts loose. I am rough with them using a 6 ft pipe.

I do have a impact driver maybe that will work better.

You should know better than to use a 6' bar. Try an impact gun first, sometimes it takes a 3/4" drive gun. Put Never-Seize on the tapered end of lug nuts (NOT the threads).
The lug nut and wheel set up a galvanic cell being different materials.

 

[Bill601]

Try a breaker bar.

How is a breaker bar different from a pipe on the wrench?

 

[Chewwy]

How is a breaker bar different from a pipe on the wrench?

The OP was using a 1/2 ratchet. Pipe and wrench or pipe and anything is jury rigged.

One can break anything with a long enough pipe.

 

[5030]

The OP was using a 1/2 ratchet. Pipe and wrench or pipe and anything is jury rigged.

One can break anything with a long enough pipe.

Or bend the pipe.....

 

[Loaderman22]

Or bend the pipe.....

Or spin the bolt itself.

 

[Deanes]

Maybe time for a new wheel. Not sure why you are having to deal with lug nuts so often? I did have that same issue and actually nearly lost a wheel. From having gotten loose, the holes in my wheel wallowed out and no amount of tightening would keep them from loosening. ( the shoulders on the nut had little to grip against.) I got a used wheel from a tractor junk yard. A little paint and replacing the wheel and no lug nut problems for two years now.

 

[Rebeldad1]

harbor freight and craftsman have broken on me getting lug nuts loose. I am rough with them using a 6 ft pipe.

I do have a impact driver maybe that will work better.

either you have a really big tractor or you have way over torqued the nuts.
would recommend you get a torque wrench to torque to factory specs and a 3/4" socket set.

 

[aircommuter]

How is a breaker bar different from a pipe on the wrench?

Your kidding right?

 

[5030]

Always keep in mind that with steel wheels, the lug nut holes are 'coined' or stamped in the wheel and overtightening them will distort the coined in flange and the deformed flange (from over torquing the lug nuts) will prevent the lug nuts from achieving a secure contact with the raised portion. Why it's imperative to only tighten the lug nuts to the specified (in your owners manual torque value) and that also applies to a motor vehicle as well, in fact any stamped wheel on anything. That really applies to alloy wheels. Lug nuts on any wheel are always torqued DRY and not WET torque and by wet torque I mean no never seize on them. When torquing any wheel, always do the final to torque setting in a staggered manner.

 

[5030]

I never use a cheater pipe on anything. I always use one of my impact wrenches to loosen the nuts. If my Thor 1/2" drive impact won't loosen them (1400 foot pounds breakaway torque), my Ingersoll Rand 1" drive impact will (2200 foot pound breakaway), will. In fact I use the IR on the fixing bolts on my shredders when replacing the swing blades. Both impacts can twist off weak bolts in a flash and destroy non impact rated sockets as well and some of the imported 'impact' sockets will also split.

Why fiddle around with cheater pipes and ratchets that are not designed for additional force other than your 'armstrong' power.

Little heat on the offending nut works as well.

 

[Dennis Mohn]

Now comes the question, has anybody used a torque wrench?....

Do not use a torque wrench to take something like that apart if you ever expect it to work when you are putting something together. A torque wrench may have a ratchet head , but it is not intended to be used in place of a ratchet or breaker bar.

 

[Dennis Mohn]

Of course.

The next question though is, has anybody calibrated their torque wrench?

When I worked equipment repair I used three different size torque wrenches. Each was recalibrated at least once a year, and I kept the certification slips in the box with the wrench incase anyone if it had been calibrated.

 

[5030]

I 'calibrate' my own using a digital torque meter or should I say 'check' them regularly. If you store a torque wrench in the 'relaxed' position, with the value at zero, there is no internal pressure on the mechanism, consequently, the torque values indicated on the wrench stay pretty stable. When you store a wrench with a torque setting dialed on the wrench, that is when the values change and Every new wrench I've ever seen, in the instruction manual it always states to store it in the 'relaxed' position, not that anyone bothers to read instructions anyway....

 

[Dennis Mohn]

Just to make sure it is clear, a Torque Wrench is not the same thing as a Torque Multiplier.
A Torque Wrench is used to make sure that a bolt is as tight as you are supposed to have it, and a Torque Multiplier is used to loosen nuts and bolts that are too tight to get loose without breaking your ratchet or having to use an extension to increase the force. A Torque Multiplier uses a planetary gear system to use a smaller force to increase the torque to loosen a nut.
David from jax

multipliers can also be used to tighten and final torque on very high settings , such as crane swing bearing or swivel pin settings where the torque requirements may be over several hundred to thousand pound requirements.