Question about Air Tools?
Posted on February 8th, 2010 by admin
I sort of inherited a cheap set of air tools from friend of mine who didn’t have the money to buy an air compressor to power them. Imagine my disappointment when I found the half-inch impact wrench didn’t have enough guts to break loose a lug nut on my car. Now, I have a fleet of four cars to care for and an air wrench sure would come in handy. My question is, how much of an air wrench do I need to take off wheels? I looked in Home Depot and found their wrenches had anywhere from 100 to 650 foot-lbs of torque? How much is enough? Also, are there some brands to stay away from? Can I get something from Northern Tool or Harbor Freight or another cut rate place? I won’t be using this tool a lot, but I want one which will do the job when I need it to.
What does the Gallery say?
Thanks,
Sandy
Thanks for all your answers. I did a little research of my own and found the only air impact wrench Wal-mart sells suffers from the same problem as mine.
Harbor Freight has "the classic 1/2" air wrench" from IR for $135. I think I’ll splurge a little and get that one rather than take a chance on another cheap tool.
IR makes great air tools. A cheap impact gun is not worth buying. I own 2 snap on 1/2 inch impacts and they suck. My Mac tools is way better and my graphite IR is the best. A graphite IR 3/8 impact will change a tire.
February 9th, 2010 at 3:18 am
Your vehicle’s owners manual will give you the exact details on how much torque the lugs need. Generally, between 130-170 ft. lbs.
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February 9th, 2010 at 3:56 am
harbor freight tools are junk. the best impact wrench for the money believe it or not is the stanley from walmart. I think only the super centers sell it. it’s about 90.00 and I have yet to have a problem breaking loose a lug nut with it and i do this daily. I am unsure of it’s torque rating, but it’s pretty good.
lug nuts are usually torqued at 100 ft lbs, that’s when the installer actually torques them rather than just putting the impact wrench to them. they do require more than that to break them loose though.
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February 9th, 2010 at 4:27 am
you should have 200 to be safe most wheels are around 100.
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February 9th, 2010 at 5:05 am
hi- i use impact guns every day-our compressors put out a constant 105 lbs – that should do the trick(its also enough pressure to break city streets with a jack hammer
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utility worker/air tool use everyday
February 9th, 2010 at 5:44 am
IR makes great air tools. A cheap impact gun is not worth buying. I own 2 snap on 1/2 inch impacts and they suck. My Mac tools is way better and my graphite IR is the best. A graphite IR 3/8 impact will change a tire.
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20 year mechanic
February 9th, 2010 at 6:31 am
well anyone above 200 lbs of torque would be fine. i got the earthquake 1/2inch impact and i work on cars every day and it works like a champ it cost about 80.00 bucks i hope this helps
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February 9th, 2010 at 6:38 am
Lug nuts shouldn’t be tigtened much past 100-120ftlbs so it shouldn’t take much more than that to get them off(unless they’re corroded). I would be really surprised if any impact wrench couldn’t do it unless you have a fleet of mac trucks. Before you go buy tools make sure your compressor is rated high enough. If you can’t get 8-10cfm at 90psi than you may need a new compressor. As for cheap tools, they work fine as long as you don’t expect them to go all day every day. Keep them lubed with dry air and they’ll usually last for years. Harbor freight often has them for 20 bucks. You could buy four of them for the same cost as one at Home Depot(and sometimes they’re the same).
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