Air Impact Wrench

DelMN

Member
What would be a good 1/2 inch air impact wrench to get for removing lug nuts on cars and pickups? I'm already committed to air because of compressor, hoses and the like. How many foot pounds are needed?
 
Removing 200 to 250. Installing just to snug, 20 Ft/lb max. Lugs are torqued to tighten. I like Ingersol Fand or CP wrenches. Jim
 
My air gun rarely comes out anymore.
Of course it was just some med priced cheap one
then I bought the $300 3/4 CP or something that was pathetic without a big hose and PRESSURE
I'm using 20vmax dewalts 1/4 3/8 and 1/2
 
Everybody working on cars was using the CP up until about 1981 or so,that's when Ingersol-Rand came out with that 231.I could twist off a 3/4 inch wheel stud on a Mack unless I was careful with it.It's all I use for a small gun.I do have a long shank 1 inch drive CP,but I really don't have much use for it anymore.I have a half dozen half inch drive assorted makes,Snap-On,CP,Rodac,Blue-Point,Sioux,Sears,but I don't even have air fittings in them.They are just laying on a shelf having birthdays.They all work perfect,but you just want to throw rocks at them after using the Ingersol-Rand.I haven't had any experience with the plastic,or composite bodied one.
 
I have an IR composite air impact also but rarely use it since I got my Milwaukee 1/2 and 3/8 M18 battery impacts. No more dragging around hoses!
My son has an IR battery impact but you have to be careful with it or it will twist off 1/2" bolts. I like it to tear things apart but not to put things together.
 

I mostly use my electric now, but my harbor freight $20 impact is still in the drawer after over 30 years, and would remove anything but the most rusted lug nuts.
 
the ir 231 is a good unit like the other guys said. i have the snap on mg 725. 1200 ft lbs torque. you must wear ear muffs when you use it. it is spendy about 500 or so.
 

Bar none Ingersoll Rand is the best one will last me 10 years and that's using it daily... I am fond of the composite models with the push button switch on the back of the head... I gladly pay for a lighter tool as you age a few lbs does make a difference...

Google Ingersoll Rand 2235TiMAX Drive Air Impact Wrench, 1/2 Inch

The 231 is OK I would ware one out in 2 to 5 years... I have had Snap on junk air tools they are not worth the extra $ I never got much more than a few years of service out of them before they needed major repairs. About 3 to 5 years ago snap-on did change up there junk air tool line they claim they fixed all there issues if you can believe THAT!... I ask what am suppose to do with the junk you use to sale I can not eat it. I did trade one of the S.O.junkers for a new model so far so good it still leaves a bad taste tho... I still had to pay what a good I.R. would bring to trade it out..

Air cat does have a good fowling I have never seen much of anything bad said about them...
 
I have an 18 volt Bosch with Lithium batteries impact gun. Works very good. Use it on my pickup and car.
 
I like the red 1/2 inch and black 3/8 Ingersol composites, bought both new on Ebay, black one was about $80 ,red one was around $55.
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I spent 22 years owning a tire shop. You have 2 choices if you use them every day, Ingersol Rand 231 or a whole lot higher priced Snap On. The 231 is a great gun. Health issues forced me to sell the tire shop, I bought a 231 before i left. I expect it will last me the rest of my life. If you are doing tires, get the extended shank. Get yourself some flip sockets too.
 
May I throw in here. Had a couple of the cheap 25 dollar ones and they were for just now and then stuff. Just for giggles went and splurged on the 99 dollar HF double hammer. Boy that sure does work nice. Now for the warning. Don't EVER put automatic tranny fluid in a air gun. All of the rubber o seals swelled up and it trashed a hundred dollar gun. Use real air tool oil. Least what I have found.
 
Harbor Freight Earthquake XT. If you can't bust the nut with that, she ain't gonna be busted.

Air tools aren't high tech, no use spending $500 for tool truck brand.

Grouse
 
All my air tools are IR brand or derivative and use them daily. The 231 is a great gun but I like the composite/titaniums, they are a lot more powerful than the 231, use less air and are real lightweight.

Also for another good gun that has plenty of power is the ultra compact. I love these, they are real light and fit in a lot of tight places others wont. 3/8 and 1/2 are on the same frame.


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I use an old CP that I picked out of the scrap bucket at a place I used to work. It had never been maintained properly. I took it home, took it apart and cleaned it up, lubed it, put it back together and have been using it daily since sometime in 1986.

If I had to buy one it would be a CP based on my experience with the one I have.
 
As the Goose said there is absolutely no reason to spend big bucks for a pro quality air gun when it only sees occasional use. The upper end Harbor Freight units work great for any use up to every day all day, just dont buy the cheapies they sell. I have an IR 231, great tool but since we discovered battery impacts they see 95% of the work in my shop.
 
Been using a HF red and black colored, ?" 450 ft-lbs, 100 PSI air pressure, for at least 20 years. Never a problem. One rule of mine is to keep it lubed. I bought a quart of impact tool lube when I bought the hammer and the nozzle fits into the air intake. Just turn the can upside down, give it a squeeze, remove, hook to air, gun it several times to blow out the excess and get after it. Cost was somewhere around 60 bucks......sure beat what the name brands cost. While you are at it they have a full set of Deep Impact sockets to go with it for about $60 too. Still have the same set of them.

Impact tools are a gotta have for me. A neat thing about them is on things like flywheel nuts. Grasp the flywheel in one hand impact in the other, give her a punch of the trigger and wala....nuts off! Lawnmower blades, same thing.....grasp the blade in one hand impact in the other hit the trigger and wala, bolts out.

On lug nuts I run them down and watch the socket while hammering. The socket will run down fast then almost stop but turn slightly...continue watching it and when it stops turning while you are whacking, at the instant it stops turning, about half a dozen whacks more and stop. Have the pressure setting on the highest number and air compressor no less than 90 psig..........has worked for me for as long as I can remember on any vehicle with lug nuts.

On lawn mower blades, when reinstalling, same thing but when the speed abruptly, essentially, stops, half a dozen whacks and then stop on it.....never a problem with a loose blade for as long as I can remember.
 
After trying lots of different guns, ended up with the ir composites. As I do tractor work, and the bolts have been on for 40 to 60 years, I found they do the trick much much much better.

Did I say they will work where others dont? My 1/2 will bust loose nuts that my 3/4 inch cheapers wont touch. I have a 3/4 and 1 inch IR also but use them sparingly.

SO... buy better!!!!!!! if your doing this type of work. For occasional removing wheel nuts and such, something cheaper may work very well for you.
 
I have both air and electric impacts.. usually go to the electric for some reason.. Dewalt electric.. ingersal air however its spelled..
 
I like the red 1/2 inch and black 3/8 Ingersol composites, bought both new on Ebay, black one was about $80 ,red one was around $55.
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Sorry, never tighten lug nuts/bolts with an air wrench. It is not legal to do it in a tire store, and your method with my wrench would twist off every nut/bolt instantly. Each vehicle has a specific torque that is required to be used for the wheels to hub connection. You could spin them to aligned, but torquing is done with a calibrated wrench. In the past, torque bar "extensions" were used, but even these limiters were inaccurate with different air wrenches. I have been a rider in a vehicle that lost its duals on one side from over tightened lugs. It was not fun. Jim
 
Have ingersoll rand on the truck but also a big Milwaukee 1/2? cordless and a compact 1/2 Milwaukee. I grab the cordless hands down every time. That being said I was working on an old rusty John Deere 230 disk for about 4 hours last weekend and that was the most I had used an air impact for 10 years. I was pleased with the IR gun. Not sure what the model is but it was off the shelf at rural king. The 12 years I spent with a large water and sewer install company we used air guns to bolt up mechanical joints on large water lines if I remember right a12? fitting has 10 bolts that squeeze a rubber gasket and 8 restraint bolt and every gun they ever got us was ingersoll rand. Those things took a beating like you would believe thrown around under water, in the mud just brutal and I never seen one fail so I am pretty sold on IR
 
(quoted from post at 14:21:01 08/31/18) Been using a HF red and black colored, ?" 450 ft-lbs, 100 PSI air pressure, for at least 20 years. Never a problem. One rule of mine is to keep it lubed. I bought a quart of impact tool lube when I bought the hammer and the nozzle fits into the air intake. Just turn the can upside down, give it a squeeze, remove, hook to air, gun it several times to blow out the excess and get after it. Cost was somewhere around 60 bucks......sure beat what the name brands cost. While you are at it they have a full set of Deep Impact sockets to go with it for about $60 too. Still have the same set of them.

Impact tools are a gotta have for me. A neat thing about them is on things like flywheel nuts. Grasp the flywheel in one hand impact in the other, give her a punch of the trigger and wala....nuts off! Lawnmower blades, same thing.....grasp the blade in one hand impact in the other hit the trigger and wala, bolts out.

[b:ef1642bf9f]On lug nuts I run them down and watch the socket while hammering. The socket will run down fast then almost stop but turn slightly...continue watching it and when it stops turning while you are whacking, at the instant it stops turning, about half a dozen whacks more and stop. Have the pressure setting on the highest number and air compressor no less than 90 psig..........has worked for me for as long as I can remember on any vehicle with lug nuts.[/b:ef1642bf9f]

On lawn mower blades, when reinstalling, same thing but when the speed abruptly, essentially, stops, half a dozen whacks and then stop on it.....never a problem with a loose blade for as long as I can remember.

I sincerely hope no one takes this advice.
 
Not the way it's done around here. Every, that's every tire shop uses not only an air impact but usually a ? drive or up. To get them installed by hand you have to go to a family owned tire store and ask for it specifically. Been driving since 1955 and doing my wheel nuts with a ?" impact tool for at least the last 40 years and never had a problem with a loose wheel on anything. Never came back and retorqued the wheel nuts. Never found a loose nut when rotating my tires every 6k miles......not against the law in Texas apparently.
 
Mg725 rated for 1200?
I think mine laughed at me for trying to unscrew a nut that was run down with a Milwaukee cordless.

Ended up with the extended anvil 1 inch Ingersoll on it, and then it stil took some hammering.
 
Chevy steel wheels will cut a groove in the lugnut doing it like that.

Many oem you will damage the threads on both the stud and lugnut. 07 Cummins I did a brake job on took all new wheel studs. Old Isuzus you will stretch the stud enough the lugnut won't turn all the way down it.
 
Milwaukee 18v 3/8 high torque. Good for 600 ft lb. Use it anywhere.

If you don't do anything but your own tire changing, just about anything will do. Even the 19.2 volt crapsman is sufficient for such limited use.

I'd go to Napa and get a torque wrench though. Use the impact to run them down snug and then torque them properly. Many oem studs and nuts are soft enough you'll stretch the studs or strip the nuts overtorquing them.
 
(quoted from post at 11:05:46 09/02/18) It's "THEIR" not THERE"!

Be careful there friend. If you're going to start calling out spelling and syntax errors on this site you'll be using a lot of bandwidth!
 
I bought a CP 734 1/2" impact about 35 years ago. Still works fine, like you I finally bought the compressor to run air tools, 7-1/2 hp 80 gallon, 25-26 CFM. @ 165 psi, pressure regulator air filter/dryer. Got several die grinders, nibblers for cutting sheet metal, sanders, etc.

Bought SON an IR #232 Thunder Gun impact, it's twice, maybe 3 times the impact my CP 734 is. Bought it and matching IR deep well impact sockets from Northern Tool. He has 5 hp 80 gallon 175 psi compressor.

Couple guys didn't read your question, and suggested cordless battery impacts. SON bought a Milwaukee 20V FUEL 1/2" impact. It's his second most reached for tool, the Milwaukee Fuel 1/4" hex shank impact driver is his most reached for tool. 1/4" is good up to roughly 80 ft/#.
 

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