John, there are many, many CP and IR clones around and I doubt that CP and IR made those cheap ones. I used to have a Central Pneumatic 1/2" impact myself, and it worked just fine for many years as long as you didn't need more than about 210 ft./lbs. And it was a CP734 clone. However, when you open them up, they even have "similar" parts, but are certainly not interchangeable. And I quickly learned that in many cases, parts are simply not available for those cheap ones, and in other cases, they can be found, but would cost more than just buying a new tool. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif But, yes, they have the same basic design and are to be lubricated the same. Some of those with oil in the impact assembly call for 20W oil and some call for 30W oil, but since it gets hot in Texas, I just put 30W in all of them. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Now of course CP and IR do make tools and put many other names on them, but they're usually not much cheaper than the ones with their own names. For instance, you can buy a Craftsman 19905 impact at the same price as the IR from Northern Tool, or you can buy a Matco MT1759, and they're the same as the IR2131 and parts are interchangeable. They'll do things like the reverse buttons being red in the IR and black on the Matco, or the gasket you can see between the handle and the impact housing may be white or may be blue, but they're the same tool otherwise.
