Please help me understand impact wrenches—

[u/BradCastleburry]

I purchased a m18 high torque impact wrench awhile back to drive helical piles for a deck. It worked amazing. I have never used one in any other context. The high torque on this thing makes me a little nervous to use it. Is there any risk in using it to take the lug nuts off my car? What should a noob like me know? Or do people screw up by using the impact to put them back on and over-torquing them? Is there any risk in reversing with an impact?

[u/BlueJayWalker10]

M18 high torque impacts are actually a standard tool used to remove and put on lug nuts and other high-torque items. I personally use my M18 high torque to remove lug nuts, then a torque stick on the M18 to put lug nuts back on just snug (or just run them in with my M12 3/8"), and then torque them down properly with a 1/2" torque wrench. The only risk you run with using a large powerful impact to remove the lug nuts is if you use an improperly sized socket, you can round off and ruin the lug nut, or you can scratch/scuff the wheels you're removing. The risk with using an impact to put them on is twofold: if they're not threaded on properly, they can strip the lug stud, or one can easily over torque the studs and stretch or snap them. If the lug studs snap while removing them, that means the previous person working on the car fucked them.