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Red Eye Garage Tip #4 September 30 2013
Don't you hate it when there is a stubborn bolt and while you're cranking hard on the wrench, the bolt suddenly decides to loosen? Usually your knuckles end up smashing into whatever was in front of them and the neighborhood kids receive an impromptu vocabulary lesson. An easier way to do this is to create a ghetto impact wrench with a wrench and a mallet. I like to put the box end of the wrench on the bolt and then hammer repeatedly on the other end with a mallet. I prefer to use a rubber-coated dead blow hammer over a metal hammer because it doesn't bounce after striking, doesn't shoot off metal splinters, and is easier on the wrench. It works well on allen wrenches too, since it is usually hard to get leverage on them. I don't recommend using this technique with ratchets or ratcheting wrenches because the gears inside will get chewed up.