Bird
Rest in Peace
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( an air ratchet is still a ratchet and can be used just like a manual one to bust bolts loose )</font>
Yep, Michael, but like Bob (have blue) said, ratchets, whether air or manual, are really not made for that purpose. Of course a lot of people use them for that purpose, so I sure have repaired many, many ratchets as a result. In some cases, the ratchet pawls dig into the head leaving little grooves and a head kit is required. In other cases, the head loses its tension, which may be provided by a couple of small springs, with or without ball bearings, or may be provided by concave washers, and in some cases, the anvil is broken off the head. Incidentally, what all the other manufacturers call a "head", Snap-on calls a "final drive". One of my customers was a body shop who hired youngsters to remove damaged parts. They broke the anvil out of Snap-on's best and strongest 3/8" drive air ratchet 3 times within a year. I sold him the parts (genuine Snap-on, of course) and did the work the first two times. The third time, he bought a new "final drive" from the Snap-on truck and installed it himself and then when it wouldn't work, he sent it to me to do it right. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif It's not that hard to do, but there are some tricks to it. And of course Snap-on parts cost a lot more than the other brands.
My point being . . . if a nut or bolt is very tight, break it loose with something else first, then use the ratchet the rest of the way and you'll save yourself some money. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I used a cheap, but stout, Central Pneumatic 3/8" air ratchet from Harbor Freight for years myself and never had a problem with it, but I also knew that I probably could not get parts if they had ever been needed. I really do like the IR111, or its predecessor, the IR110, but they aren't cheap. They are interesting to work on, too. They have all the usual parts of an air ratchet, plus a tiny hammer cage, hammer pins, extra bearings, etc. between the air motor and the crankshaft; i.e., both ratchet and impact.
Yep, Michael, but like Bob (have blue) said, ratchets, whether air or manual, are really not made for that purpose. Of course a lot of people use them for that purpose, so I sure have repaired many, many ratchets as a result. In some cases, the ratchet pawls dig into the head leaving little grooves and a head kit is required. In other cases, the head loses its tension, which may be provided by a couple of small springs, with or without ball bearings, or may be provided by concave washers, and in some cases, the anvil is broken off the head. Incidentally, what all the other manufacturers call a "head", Snap-on calls a "final drive". One of my customers was a body shop who hired youngsters to remove damaged parts. They broke the anvil out of Snap-on's best and strongest 3/8" drive air ratchet 3 times within a year. I sold him the parts (genuine Snap-on, of course) and did the work the first two times. The third time, he bought a new "final drive" from the Snap-on truck and installed it himself and then when it wouldn't work, he sent it to me to do it right. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif It's not that hard to do, but there are some tricks to it. And of course Snap-on parts cost a lot more than the other brands.
My point being . . . if a nut or bolt is very tight, break it loose with something else first, then use the ratchet the rest of the way and you'll save yourself some money. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I used a cheap, but stout, Central Pneumatic 3/8" air ratchet from Harbor Freight for years myself and never had a problem with it, but I also knew that I probably could not get parts if they had ever been needed. I really do like the IR111, or its predecessor, the IR110, but they aren't cheap. They are interesting to work on, too. They have all the usual parts of an air ratchet, plus a tiny hammer cage, hammer pins, extra bearings, etc. between the air motor and the crankshaft; i.e., both ratchet and impact.
