I’m replacing my front wheel bearing hub tomorrow. I’ve been looking for a reason to buy an impact wrench and I’ve been told it’s a really good idea for the 1 3/4 inch nut on the wheel bearing hub...

my question is how many ft/lbs of torque do I need to get it off? Furthermore what’s the average ft/lbs of torque needed for most bolts/nuts when working on our trucks?

i don’t want to buy some massive expensive wrench and overkill it but I also don’t want to buy something that won’t get the job done.

any help is appreciated!

There are way to many variables. Most impacts don't give you what is on the box. I had bolts that came out with about 10ft lbs and I had bolts that I needed a 6ft breaker bar

For that nut, a liberal dosing of PB Blaster is needed 1st. Do that a few days in advance of trying to remove the nut to let the chemical penetrate.

As for an impact wrench, an old fashioned Ingersoll Rand 3/4" air impact wrench will typically remove that nut. I've found that type of impact wrench used on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace at very reasonable prices. As was mentioned, you can use a 1/2" breaker bar with a 6 ft piece of pipe slid over it for leverage to break it loose, too (cheapest method).

I bought one of the Harbor Freight "Earthquake" impact guns. So far, I have no found a nut/bolt that it can't take/snap off.

I had one but it broke

I ended up getting the cheap Chicago electric $40 one from harbor freight today and it came off with ease. (I don’t have a big enough compressor for an air one) Luckily I don’t have a ton of rust (yet) so I think that’s what made it easy than most. It was actually a pretty painless process. Now I just need to find the right ujoint (front passenger wheel) cause that needs replacing as well. Suggestions?

thank you everyone for the input!