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Which is easier on a stuck bolt, impact wrench or manual ratchet? Or are they about the same?
I had four tiny corner welds on a nut fail removing the below bolt, irritating but not really a problem, just put the nut back with a lockwasher, but it would have been nice to prevent it. I could have hit it with PB Blaster and let it soak, but the failure torque seemed to be very slight.
While you run the risk of breaking the bolt in either case, I've had good results using an impact driver when removing such fasteners.
Impact is better. It vibrates and reverse hammers in between each hammer (weakly). This helps break up corrosion that may freeze a nut in place.
