I want a good air ratchet, Which one though??

[tomnky]

Impacts, One especially for blade removal and the hard to get loose things!

 

[PineRidge]

<font color="blue"> I took my 1/2" drive torque wrench in for replacement because the head broke and they told me that it is no longer a lifetime guarantee on torque wrenches unless it is the beam type. Mine is a click type and the instructions that came with it clearly state that it is a lifetime warranty. The replacement has paper work that says that it is either 90 days or one year. Don't remember. I asked the department manager and he said that he would exchange it once, but the new one had the new warranty. I walked out and left the rest of what I had picked out on the counter. A lifetime warranty should be just that..... if you change your mind later, it only effects the later customers. No more Crapman tools for me!!!!!
</font>

I think it's a matter of the manager’s discretion on exchanges. If I had that same problem I am sure that I would feel exactly the same way. But have been pleased to date with the performance of the tools in general and the warranty provided me. And no, I do not own stock in Sears.

 

[Bird]

Tom, like gsganzer, my personal all round preference is the IR231; quite possibly the most popular 1/2" impact wrench there is, and what I used for my personal impact. However, Chicago Pneumatic's CP734 probably runs a close second among mechanics and was my brother's favorite primarily because it's so easy to reverse while operating with one hand. There are probably more of those two in use by professional mechanics than all others combined and they're both rated with the same power. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif However, the more recent IR2131 is even more powerful, and easier to disassemble if you ever do need to repair it, and gained a lot of favor with diesel mechanics.

Keep in mind that you're now talking about my personal opinion after working on and using a lot of different brands and models, and also that I got out of the business a couple of years ago and some new products have come on the market since that time that I'm not really familiar with. One I can think of is a newer model Chicago Pneumatic that is a clone of the IR231; don't know if it's as good, better, or the same.

 

[Spencer]

Bird, how about a good air ratchet with more than 50 ft/lbs. of torque? I have the Ingersoll Rand Knuckle Saver and I like it but I frequently find myself wanting more torque.

 

[jimg]

I have CP gotten from the Sears catalog. Very tough tools and to date unkillable.

 

[Bird]

Spencer, you can compare the Ingersoll Rand ratchets here. That IR109XP at 70 ft./lbs. is as powerful one as I know of personally, although more powerful ones may exist that I'm not familiar with. For $100 more money you can get a Snap-On with comparable power. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Of course, the more power it has, or the more you pull manually on it, the sooner you wear out the anvil (or as Snap-On calls it, the final drive). I had one customer who had a Snap-On FAR72 (I think they call it an FAR7200 now) that I replaced the final drive or anvil 3 times on it. He ran a body shop and hired some youngsters to do the disassembly of parts to be replaced and they liked to use it for a breaker bar and would literally break the square drive off in sockets. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[tomnky]

Thanks Bird,
It always helps to hear from those with experience as us with less than average pneumatic skills will attest to.

I find word-of-mouth recommendations to be the best Yopu can get.

Many Thanks !!!!!!!!!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[snapper]

Well i found me one last night. I found a top of the line campbell hausfeld last night at wal-mart. It has a three year warranty, a nice syntheytic grip, and like 55 ft. lbs of torque. It was like 37 dollars. It ought to handle all my needs and the warranty is pretty good to boot. So thanks for the thoughts, i will keep them in mind for later.

Snapper

 

[tomnky]

What do You think of that IR 2131QT ? It looks like what I could go for.

 

[Bird]

Tom, I'll have to plead ignorance on the IR2131QT. I've torn down and repaired/rebuilt a number of IR2131s but haven't actually even seen a "QT" model. I read that they quietened it without any loss of power, but don't know just what the difference is. In the 3/8" drive impacts, they make an IR212 that is quite popular, and for reasons unknown to me, some of them came with a "muffler" and some came without it. I had some customers who complained of a lack of power with their 212s and when I removed the muffler, they were happy. Now I didn't have the high priced equipment to accurately measure the power, so I can't say for sure whether they actually had more power or if it was just because they sounded more powerful. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I suspected it might be like Harley motorcycles; ain't any more powerful than lots of others; just make a lot of noise so people think they're more powerful. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I wonder if Ingersoll isn't using the same fiber muffler in the exhaust of the IR2131QT that they use in the IR212. Since it's just a 2" square piece of fiber material you roll up and stick in the exhaust, it wouldn't be any problem to add it to almost any of the impacts that exhaust through the handle.