Used and Abused by an Eagle Talon

[BigTyla]

Gloves also keep your knuckles safe from cuts and gouges in the event you are wrenching on a bolt and it lets go.

Yep. My hands have loved me ever since I got my first pair of gloves. The only bad thing about them is when I want to get my fingers on a bolt to loosen or tighten. If I ever need to do something like that it's as easy as taking the gloves off for a minute.

[93STLTH]

A ratcheting breaker bar can be one of your best friends...

[Roybatty]

Brute force... eh. It can be helpful sometimes, but other times I find it causes as many problems as it solves. (Broken bolts, stripped heads, etc.) Far more important than force, is simply having the RIGHT TOOL for a given job. I can't count the number of times in my life where I've tried to remove a bolt from some awkward place or something, using the tools at my disposal, and it'll be a complete bitch. Then, after struggling and swearing for awhile, you hop in the car, head to autozone, buy the right tool, and it takes two seconds to get the job done.

^^This +1, but you can also rent tool, or try Harbor Freight. Or simply do what my wife does and get your husband to take care of it!

[DocWalt]

Brute force is awesome. Had a seized rear toe bolt on the VR-4... The guy at the alignment shop broke his fancy-pants snap-on box wrench in half. I took it home and brute forced it with the two wrenches trick. Brute force also cost me a few hours on a turbo pull because I broke off turbo bolts...

[UTRacerX9]

^^This +1, but you can also rent tool, or try Harbor Freight. Or simply do what my wife does and get your husband to take care of it!

My problem is that I always think to myself, sure, I could go rent the tool... But I just KNOW I'll need one of these again someday...

[Granny]

I can definitely say that I am thankful for my strength when it comes to wrenching on cars. Makes things a hell of a lot easier for sure. Were you wearing gloves? I've found that mechanic's gloves are very helpful when you need to apply a little more pressure with your hands.

No, I need a pair of gloves but it's been hard finding a pair that fit the way I want. I guess I just need to stop being so picky.

I use my lower body strength as much as I can when working on cars. I honestly can't even explain my own strength at times.

If I could use my foot and legs to break everything loose I wouldn't have no problems. LOL

Im with Tyla. When it comes to brute force, I like being a big guy. When I was changing my engine mounts, my M18 Milwaukee 3/8 impact couldn't break the top mount bolts free (driver side). I put a tire-iron on them and broke them free by hand. There are the times that the brute force has broken shit too tho.

I have a Bosh 1/2 inch impact driver but sometimes you can't get that baby in where you need it either. The other night I couldn't use it because the frane was bent towards the bold head and I couldn't get the socket on.

I don't even use wrenches, I break that shit loose with my fingers.

Of course you can..you are the Green-Lantern.

i did build an engine whith a broken hand and the heads were a pita. i also cracked a rib breaking loose a flywheel bolt.

I really don't want to break bones either. OUCH!

[Granny]

Brute force... eh. It can be helpful sometimes, but other times I find it causes as many problems as it solves. (Broken bolts, stripped heads, etc.) Far more important than force, is simply having the RIGHT TOOL for a given job. I can't count the number of times in my life where I've tried to remove a bolt from some awkward place or something, using the tools at my disposal, and it'll be a complete bitch. Then, after struggling and swearing for awhile, you hop in the car, head to autozone, buy the right tool, and it takes two seconds to get the job done.

I'm still learning about what tools to use when but I'm getting it quickly. Work smarter not harder!

Yep. My hands have loved me ever since I got my first pair of gloves. The only bad thing about them is when I want to get my fingers on a bolt to loosen or tighten. If I ever need to do something like that it's as easy as taking the gloves off for a minute.

That's my problem with the gloves. I want to be fingering everything while I'm working on it. I will have to make an effort to put them on when I need to.

A ratcheting breaker bar can be one of your best friends...

We have one at the shop but it dosen't ratchet...Christmas list!

^^This +1, but you can also rent tool, or try Harbor Freight. Or simply do what my wife does and get your husband to take care of it!

Hubby isn't around to help out here and I don't want to keep getting DJ to help me because then he has to stop working on what he's doing. It kind of defeats the purpose of me helping out.

[EZnTn]

I want to be fingering everything while I'm working on it.

Must resist temptation .. must resist ......

Seriously .. I decided long ago, if you need the tool, get it.
Sure, I have some I'll only use once in a blue moon, and thankful it was in the tool box to find.
But once I got it .. so much more better
Breaker bars are my best friend at times
That, and an impact driver

I hate stripped, broken or rounded fasteners.
They so badly slow your progress
If its stuck, lube it with 50/50 acetone & brake fluid
Take a breath, lube it again & will it off

[stealthee]

This thread could digress quickly. First Granny is talking about fingering, now EZ is talking about lube.

[green-lantern]

I can do cock push-ups also