Good Impact Wrench

[AABEN]

You must oil them, or they lose power. I use a Chicago Pneumatic Composite 1/2" impact and love it! Very light, quiet and strong. For bigger nuts, I use an Air Cat 3/4". Weighs a ton, but is also the quietest air tool I own. When the Air Cat won't do it, I break out the Torque Multiplier "Nut Cracker". Uses a hand crank and gearing that multiplies your power X 58!!

Look it up on YouTube. Type in "torque multiplier". Works exactly as shown.

I have had good luck with the Chicago Pneumatic it is 20 years old and has had the s--- worked out of it, You do need to oil it and keep water out of it.

 

[DMather]

Always had decent experience wit CP and Craftsman but recently I had a major major rust bucket disassemble and decided to splurge and get a new impact.

Decided on the IR 2135 Ti MAX.

As my daughter would say OMG! What a difference. The 2135 was only needing short bursts to do what all the others took 15-20 seconds to break loose.

Have a drawer of impacts that won't be used anymore..... ;-)

 

[GOlsen]

I love those titanium IR's. Their 1/2" guns rival the power output of most 3/4" ones.

 

[BLNRAY]

I HAVE A CRAFSTMAN PROFESSIONAL,it is a IR2131 1/2 in,mine is 10 yrs old,used almost daily. works great never a problem. bought a 2nd one ,also have a 3/8 version.

 

[Alan Reagan]

The Thunder Gun works great. Did a brake job on my wife's car last night. Instead of what I'm used to, which is standing on the trigger for several seconds to break the lug nuts loose, the TG took about two seconds to break and remove.



Not only that, with my old gun, the compressor would have to turn on two to three times to remove all four tires. Last night it turned on once and that was when I was installing the last tire. Sweet. Oo.

 

[mwilson]

The Thunder Gun works great. Did a brake job on my wife's car last night. Instead of what I'm used to, which is standing on the trigger for several seconds to break the lug nuts loose, the TG took about two seconds to break and remove.



Not only that, with my old gun, the compressor would have to turn on two to three times to remove all four tires. Last night it turned on once and that was when I was installing the last tire. Sweet. Oo.

Glad to hear that you are happy with it.



Now don't forget what you have in your hand while tightening those wheels because you could wind up with a handful of nut and broken stud.



Be vewwy, vewwy careful until you get used to it.



Mike.

 

[Alan Reagan]

Glad to hear that you are happy with it.



Now don't forget what you have in your hand while tightening those wheels because you could wind up with a handful of nut and broken stud.



Be vewwy, vewwy careful until you get used to it.



Mike.

I know what you mean. As soon as the nuts tightened to the first stop, I checked them with a torque wrench and they were at 90 lbs. It was pretty consistent on all four. I always torque the lugnuts and just wanted to get a feel for where they. Now I know. If I had stood on the trigger, I would have had some bad ju ju going on.

 

[DMather]

Glad to hear that you are happy with it.



Now don't forget what you have in your hand while tightening those wheels because you could wind up with a handful of nut and broken stud.



Be vewwy, vewwy careful until you get used to it.



Mike.

But nobody would use a impact wrench to tighten lug nuts... . that's what torque wrenches are for... . except by the 'mechanics' at Farm & Fleet. They think you can calibrate an impact wrench to a specific torque. . ooooooookay.

 

[mwilson]

But nobody would use a impact wrench to tighten lug nuts... . that's what torque wrenches are for... . except by the 'mechanics' at Farm & Fleet. They think you can calibrate an impact wrench to a specific torque. . ooooooookay.

I should have said "snugging the wheels" rather than "tightening the wheels".



I "snug", then torque as well.



I was afraid the "snug" with the Thunder Gun might turn into "SNAP" if you were not expecting it.



Mike.

 

[DMather]

I should have said "snugging the wheels" rather than "tightening the wheels".



I "snug", then torque as well.



I was afraid the "snug" with the Thunder Gun might turn into "SNAP" if you were not expecting it.



Mike.

Oh, I feel much better and can sleep soundly at night now that I know those poor studs won't be abused. :-laf:-laf:-laf



When I first got my IR I set up a little test of all my impacts by tack welding a nut onto a bolt (1/2" bolt). Then I started playing with all the wrenches to see if any of them could break it loose. 5 impacts... only the IR broke it loose. So I started increasing the size of the weld. When I got to 1/4 of the way around the thread... . the IR broke the bolt off.



I figured that the IR was a 'keeper' at that point.