Thexton THE482 Fastener Removal Tool

I broke down and decided to give this a try after a decade of removing brake screws the old school way(Impact driver). I wish I would have tried one of these years ago! I have not broken/twisted a bit since I swapped to this tool. As long as you have an air hammer, this is the way to go. My impact driver is now a backup tool, and my backup impact driver is at home.P.S. The bit mine came with didnt seem that great, but my Mac impact driver bits work fine and have a lifetime warranty.

It is rare you buy a tool that really works as good as you had hoped it would. I can't think of a single tool I own that exceeds my expectations like this one. It is crazy how easy I can now remove the screws form Honda and Toyota rotors. I used to struggle a little with rotor screws, you know the drill....use two hammers to loosen.... then a manual impact screwdriver.... a few choice words and if I was lucky I would be success in removing the rotor screws withing 5 or 10 minutes. If not I'd drill the heads off remove the threads. Not hard but annoying and time consuming. I rarely use an air hammer and only have a very inexpensive one (think it still only cost $10). I do have a good compressor though. I didn't really think my cheap air hammer had enough power to use this tool. I was wrong. The very first screw I tried was already very stripped and I was about to drill off the head to remove. I figured since I needed to drill the head off anyway, why not give this tool a try. The screw came out in less than 5 seconds. It was crazy. Now I do live in Georgia so I don't have the rust issues like up north, but rotor screws are still a pain no matter where you live. The most amazing thing is I have now used it on other screws that were very rusty and stripped. It has taken every one of them off even when there was almost nothing to grab onto. I find myself looking for rusted half stripped screws so I can use this tool.

Pros:It worksIt is not too priceyIt uses standard bitsIt uses your existing air hammer to break loose rust.Cons:Not an 'impact driver', you use your hand to provide the 'twist',Requires a fair amount of space to use.Summary: It works pretty well for breaking loose rusted screws and fasteners, using your existing air hammer as a power source. The way it works, is you push on the hammer, to engage the screw, press the trigger on your hammer to seat the bit, and then use the handle to loosen the screw/bolt. The hammering of your air hammer does not impart any twist to the fastener, you must do that manually with the handle, which is actually a good thing. If the screw heads are buggered up, you don't have to impart any 'twist' that can bugger them up worse, until the hammering causes the bit to bottom out in the socket. The hammering causes the bit to engage solidly, and the vibrations break loose rust, allowing you to carefully apply force to loosen the screw. If you watch closely (wearing goggles for safety) you can very slowly turn the bit, completely under your control, so it does not slip. I found it works better than an impact driver, for breaking loose rusted screws, because if the bit isn't engaged tightly enough to the screw, even an impact driver will slip, and bugger it up. With this tool, you can actually 'hammer' the bit tightly into the head, before you try to turn it. Keep in mind, the tool is not terribly compact, and when you add the length of your hammer, it requires even more space. Also, it is not practical to use to completely remove fasteners, as it is awkward to turn the handle much more than halfway around at one time (which also takes quite a bit of space to do).However, for the job I think it was intended, which would be breaking loose seemingly rusted solid screws, it does very well, provided you have enough room to work. Once 'broken loose' you are better off putting this tool aside, and using a standard screwdriver, or impact driver to finish removing the fastener. I think where this tool would shine, would be in something like auto restoration, where you want to remove rusted fasteners, and not risk damaging the surrounding finish, like you could, if you just drilled the old screws out.

My last tool similar to this broke and I use this tool at least three times a week

Needed to replace the rotors on a Kia Sportage and found the brake rotor retaining screws were frozen. Tried a hammer impact and had no luck keeping the driver bit from damaging the screws. Stopped after one screw and looked to YouTube for an answer. Found this device and was impressed with the ability to apply vibration while turning the screws. After attaching to my air hammer I had the damaged screw out in 15 seconds. The remaking screws loosened quickly with no damage at all. I used this tool with a 1/4 square drive adaptor to loosen the brake bleeders on the calipers as well. The only con I have is the tool is a little pricey and you will need an air hammer to use the tool. Well worth the money spent considering the cost of a replacement caliper or spending time drilling screws heads off.

It’s a good idea but The bit is suppose to stay in and they are standard bits will break easier Than 5/16 bits

If you do not own one of these, i would highly suggest that you do! I used this tool along with a long barrel vibration damped air hammer to remove a set of very rusty brake rotor retaining screws from a 2005 Ford Five hundred. I live in the salt belt. This tool made VERY short work out of removing those pesky screws. This is a great product. There is another variant of this tool that you would use with impact sockets that works really good too!