Battery Powered Impact Wrench
 

After soaking in PB Blaster, I use one of these, works every time.
IMO, a powered driver would tend to round out the screw and you will be drilling them out ;)

Advantage of the driver is that it applies pressure and a twist to break the screw loose.

https://www.protorquetools.com/5-wil...BoCEG0QAvD_BwE

Dave K

Better off using a hammer impact screw remover. I did this same job two weeks ago. Worked great on frozen rotor screws without ruining the head.

lol Beat my reply by a minute Dave.

Just agreeing with the posts above. I use a battery powered nut-driver and impact wrench on lots of car projects, but removing the brake rotor screw is not one of them. I have rounded them off before, only to have to drill them out.

I cut deeper grooves in the screwhead with a Dremel and cutting wheel.

Yep. Usually one hit does the job.

an impact *driver* will do well here if the screw head is in good shape and you have a fresh bit.

an impact *wrench* will ruin the screw.

Make sure you use anti-seize on that screw when it goes back on... that is if you haven't mutilated it taking it off.

In case you need one immediately...

You used to be able to get an impact screwdriver at Home Depot (that's where I got my Husky 47200, which I got a long time ago for exactly this task), but they don't stock any impact screwdrivers in the stores anymore. However, I see that Lowe's generally stocks one: the Kobalt 89971. Only about $15.

Follow the directions with the driver (if it has them...). The key is that you are holding the driver barrel with some slight twisting pressure counterclockwise on the bit in the screw. With the loading in that direction, the blow from the hammer will twist the bit and loosen the screw just as the hammer pressure is keeping the bit seated in the screw head. I've watched a couple folks using the tool just hitting it, and it wasn't working. Turning the barrel to get things loaded in the right direction is critical. And --- use impact-rated drivers and bits. Cheap ones won't stand up to the work on seriously tight fasteners, and in the process may damage the fastener you are trying to remove. When reinstalling the rotors and stuff, make sure that the mating surfaces are clean and rust-free. The screws are there just to keep the rotors from coming off the hub face when changing a tire, so they get tightened just to snug and no more. Enough that they won't fall out. Think six lbs/ft or so, the same tension you don't want to exceed when installing water pump bolts. That's 72 pounds/inch on the 1/4"-drive torque driver. With copper anti-seize on the threads and the tapered faces.

If you mean remove lug nuts, I used a friend's 1/2" Snap-on electric impact wrench to remove some really stuck lug nuts. They were so bad I bent the Volvo lug wrench with a cheater bar trying to get them off. His Snap-on took them off with ease. I couldn't believe it.

Depends on the impact.

My 20v Dewalt will just barely take off lugs tightened to 96 ft/lbs. It will maybe take the ones that are 118 ft/lbs on the Cayenne. But usually one or two per tire will not come loose with it.

However, a friend's 1/2 drive Milwaukee electric impact will take off just about anything. I used that monster to take off my crank bolt. Worked like a charm.