Impact wrenches-Who is Using Them?

I have a IR 2131. Kevlar body so it's light, larger muffler so it's quiet and has TONS of torque. I love it!!!
My advice is to NOT skimp on air tools. They cost too much and you rely on them too much to get cheap crap.

I have an older (6-7 years old) Snap-On cordless impact. It's never met any rusted major suspension bolt it couldn't blast off. Even large lag screws when I tore apart some old deck stairs, which I couldn't budge with a 18" breaker bar! I prefer it to air only because I can take it anywhere (track, friends houses, backyard, etc). that said, air setup gives you alot more options for other tools...

That said, the two batteries don't hold a charge very well anymore, I need to order new ones.

Another vote for the IR 2135Ti. Makes short work of axle and pinion nuts... a life saver at times...

I had a $50 Craftsman that I never used because it wouldn't remove the lug nuts off a MINI... haven't had the heart to throw it away...

A year or so ago I bought one of those Northern Tool 24V cordless impact guns. At first, it didn't seem to be worth crap, but after a few charge cycles, it seems to work better.

Be sure to be a few drops of air tool oil into your air tools every few uses at least.

If you buy the 2132 series of guns, make damn sure you oil them well!

Those things don't seem to tolerate poor maintenance. I used to do quite a few rebuilds on the new style IR guns.

Shawn

Wally wrote: I have the HF electric impact. ($29.99 with GRM coupon) and even using 100 ft of cord it broke the axle nut on the wife's car free easily.

Same here, including the coupon, its too heavy, but other than that I am pleased with it.

And speaking of electric vs pruematic, does any one know where to get a rebuild kit for a CP734? mine has survived nearly 20 years of proffesional use and is getting tired. It seems fairly close to full strenth in clockwise rotation, but its gutless in ccw rotation which makes it kinda useless now.

HappyAndy wrote:

Wally wrote: I have the HF electric impact. ($29.99 with GRM coupon) and even using 100 ft of cord it broke the axle nut on the wife's car free easily.

Same here, including the coupon, its too heavy, but other than that I am pleased with it.

Which issue is the Harbour Freight coupon in? I went back through the issue w/ the race car challenge and still can't find it. Was it an earlier issue? I would like to pick up the electric impact wrench this weekend.

Also look at Air Cat guns.

I loved mine.

mrwillie wrote:

HappyAndy wrote:

Wally wrote: I have the HF electric impact. ($29.99 with GRM coupon) and even using 100 ft of cord it broke the axle nut on the wife's car free easily.

Same here, including the coupon, its too heavy, but other than that I am pleased with it.

Which issue is the Harbour Freight coupon in? I went back through the issue w/ the race car challenge and still can't find it. Was it an earlier issue? I would like to pick up the electric impact wrench this weekend.

The most recent one it is about 20-30 pages in or so. I could go look it up if you need the exact page. My issue is in the "reading room" upstairs at the moment and I am on the computer in my shop at the moment.

Removing struts from our Volkswagens...I don't know of any other way to do it other than impact tools (except for a cutting torch). I fought for hours with hand tools trying to get the top nuts off before a friend brought an air impact gun and had them both off in about 15 seconds.

carzan wrote: Removing struts from our Volkswagens...I don't know of any other way to do it other than impact tools (except for a cutting torch). I fought for hours with hand tools trying to get the top nuts off before a friend brought an air impact gun and had them both off in about 15 seconds.

Yep. The pinion yoke nut on my Volvo was the same way... fought with it for hours attempting to use hand tools... eventually said "eff this..." and drive to Sears and bought the I-R gun... took that nut off so fast I nearly fell over... The DIY-discussion on the boards about how to remove the front axle nuts on my MINI's and VW: car on ground... big lever... so on... But with the 2135Ti - car on the lift, 3 feet off the ground... nut comes off with no drama... didn't even run long enough to make my crappy compressor kick on...

You guys are spending $200+ on impact wrenches??

I just saw a 1/2" Kobalt one with varying impact adjustment, nicely made at Lowes for $29.95. I understand it's no Snap-on, but come on! I could go through 7 of them before paying for 1 $200 version.

I own a Craftsman. It has served me well for 15 years.

+eleventy billion on the hose reels. I've got 3 hanging from the ceiling- they are ALWAYS available. I leave my air blower hanging on one and my tire chuck hanging on another, so I can always find them.

I was lazy and didn't run pipe between the- just connected them with hose. No issues.

I've done the same thing with electrical cord reels.

I've got a very well set up shop- outlets everywhere. I always reach for the cord reels first- the other outlets barely matter.

Once I got a compressor I can't imagine ever going without. I have a IR 1/2" impact wrench that's lasted about 10 years of home use. I've noticed that it's starting to loose some of it's torque but I figure it doesn't owe me anything.

A lot of this stuff sounds familiar. I got the 33 gal. Craftsman compressor a few years ago with the gutless impact gun which is a waste of time. I finally got a 24 v Longacre which is great. I also bit on the Harbor Freight coupon deal for the 110 v gun which is a beast.

My bench is an 8 ft length of bowling alley mounted on top of a reinforced teacher's desk on top of a dolly with HF wheels.

Aside from air tools and impact wrenches. Do you realize the problems your getting into with a '87 944 turbo?? Stick with a non turbo car for that generation. The later ones have alot less problems with the engine management and such, more reliable as a result. As for a impact wrench, snap on is king, it seems like every year they bring out a new gun that has a couple hundred more torque the the previous one. And when working in a junk yard they are king.

Andrew

SVreX wrote: You guys are spending $200+ on impact wrenches?? I just saw a 1/2" Kobalt one with varying impact adjustment, nicely made at Lowes for $29.95. I understand it's no Snap-on, but come on! I could go through 7 of them before paying for 1 $200 version.

I've got a $30 impact, and it works great. The trick is to do like I do and know someone with an IR or Snap-On impact for when the cheap one doesn't have the power needed. I spent an hour trying to get the crank bolt out of my Protege with mine (after breaking a breaker bar) with no luck. Five seconds with the IR and it was off.

A trick to bump the power of your air tool - oil it. It'll temporarily improve the internal sealing and give you more torques.

And of course, there's always the breaker bar/starter motor technique of pulling a crank bolt I guess that wouldn't work on reverse rotation Hondas though.

Dr. Hess wrote: After 23 years of using air tools, I'm not sure I could wrench without them. But, remember that air tools are for taking stuff apart. You put it back together without the air. The big impact guns are great for a few things like lugnuts, axle nuts, flywheel bolts, but an air 3/8" ratchet for $19 or whatever is king.

I second the use of an air rachet. B est thing the world

sachilles wrote: too long to fit where I want it.

that's what she said.

In reply to dean1484:

If you could , I would appreciate it. I have mine in the car today, and will look again when I got take a nap....err moment of meditation and solitude during my lunch break. I really don't know how I missed it twice but its been like that lately.

bamalama wrote:

SVreX wrote: You guys are spending $200+ on impact wrenches?? I just saw a 1/2" Kobalt one with varying impact adjustment, nicely made at Lowes for $29.95. I understand it's no Snap-on, but come on! I could go through 7 of them before paying for 1 $200 version.

I've got a $30 impact, and it works great. The trick is to do like I do and know someone with an IR or Snap-On impact for when the cheap one doesn't have the power needed. I spent an hour trying to get the crank bolt out of my Protege with mine (after breaking a breaker bar) with no luck. Five seconds with the IR and it was off.

Well, that's my point. I generally don't lend out tools and I don't ask to borrow them either. I don't care how cheap the tool is, if it doesn't do the job, then what did you save? I had a cheap impact wrench. It never had the power to do what I bought it for (even when it was new...), so I never used it... and just used hand tools... it wasn't until I absolutely had to get a good one to do a particular task (and only after fightling like hell to avoid it - thus wasting a crap-load of TIME I DON'T HAVE TO GO BEGGING FOR TOOLS), did I cough up the dough for a pro-quality tool.

Just hope that your buddy with the good tools doesn't see this thread... or he may give you the big "F.U." the next time you're in a bind and your $30 gun doesn't have the power... or he says,, "yeah... sure... but I'm a bit busy right now... how about a week from next Tuesday?"

In reply to dean1484: I found it just now. Thanks!!

Keith wrote: A trick to bump the power of your air tool - oil it. It'll temporarily improve the internal sealing and give you more torques. And of course, there's always the breaker bar/starter motor technique of pulling a crank bolt I guess that wouldn't work on reverse rotation Hondas though.

That's actually how I learned some Hondas were reverse rotation.

My starter wasn't strong enough. Using a 4' length of pipe broke my breaker bar. I guess whoever did the timing belt before me didn't own a torque wrench.

Lookie what I bought!

I already have a rebuild kit, trigger assembly, and hood on the way

I like my 1/2" craftsman impact, but I think 3/8" is so much more useful when doing things that aren't as easily accessible.

Now I just need to save up for a nice set of impact swivels.

I guess I'm one of the out casts here, I despise using an impact wrench when I'm working on my car. If I were making a living working on cars, or if I were at the track and my session was coming up, I'd use it. There are two main reasons for this.

I can't stand the noise of the impact gun (both electric and air). I enjoy working on my cars, and I find it very relaxing. I'll often find myself using a fixed wrench instead of a ratcheting wrench or ratchet just to avoid the ratcheting noise.

And the other is that I really like feeling how a bolt or nut comes off. If it's dragging a lot I can tell that I need to go smoothly on it and not rip it off for fear of stripping the threads or the bolt off. And I also like to loosen all the bolts and finish taking them out by hand. I don't like letting anything fall out of place as I unbolt it.

I guess these are side effects of the whole ADD thing. But, when you do need one, it is an invaluable tool. And I would recommend any serious auto do-it-your-selfer to have one at your disposal. I just like to reserve it as a last resort.