WHATS A GOOD IMPACT WRENCH?

[escavader]

Ive bought a couple now 10 years ago a sanborn from sams club [useless] and then a ingersol rand from NORTHERN.They never loosen what i want to loosen and i always end up heating something to remove it .I have an older craftsman 25 gallon compressor.Iwant an impact wrench that actually will loosen something.Just recently replaced two axle u joints in my jeep and the 3 bolts i had to remove to pull the shafts should have come out with a good impact,but no...had to heat the ears on the wheelbearing housings cherry red to remove.The bolts didnt even look rusted!!
Is there such thing as a good impact gun i can run on my homeowners compressor?Help please
ALAN

 

[kevinj]

CP734

 

[k0ua]

I have used my cheapie $25 campbel hausfeld, for years and unstuck hundreds of stuck nuts and bolts. on a cheapie horizontal 20 gal. campbel hausfeld compressor. if it fell into pieces today, I have got my moneys worth out of it. Somethings is wrong. Now dont be offended, but you do know there is a knob on the bottom to adjust the impact torque, right? You dont have a restriction in the airflow or something? I am trying to think here, but I have twisted off my share of bolts with this thing. I think it is rated at about 250 ft. lbs.. you can buy good ones in the 550 to 600 ft lbs of torque for about 100-125 dollars. then there are the professional type. I dont understand the problem.. even this 25 dollar tool is really useful to me. I put in a bunch of landscaping timbers and used it to drive a lot of big lag bolts. Best tool for that I can think of. Give us some info, maybe we as a group can think of something.

James K0UA

 

[brin]

A couple of years ago I bought a complete air tool set from Harbor freight..Impact wrech including an air ratchet as well as other air tools...it was aroungd $60.00 and it has worked great..It gets the bolts off of my 5 ft. bush hog blades...and that is saying something..

 

[k0ua]

.It gets the bolts off of my 5 ft. bush hog blades...and that is saying something

Yeah, that was what I was thinking. even these inexpensive import, impacts will do a lot, they may not compare to a good Chicago Pnuematic or something of that class, but they do a lot of usefull work, just might not last as long. or be as powerfull but still usefull.
James K0UA

 

[orezok]

Be aware that the size and length of your hose has a huge effect on the output of a wrench. I once tried to use a 10' but 1/4" hose to tighten some wheel weight bolts and it wouldn't do a thing (one of those spiral thingies). Got a regular 1/2" hose and it rocked!

 

[escavader]

CP734

WHATS THIS KEVEN J?
KOUA,
I have good pressure at the chuck id have to look but i think its 120-130 or so.Ihave no other problems with my other air tools [framing nailer,grinders drills etc.Yes i know i have different settings on the guns.More than glad to take pics of my setup if you really think i might have issues.I m heading out to putter in the garage in a bit ill take the camera
ALAN

 

[escavader]

Be aware that the size and length of your hose has a huge effect on the output of a wrench. I once tried to use a 10' but 1/4" hose to tighten some wheel weight bolts and it wouldn't do a thing (one of those spiral thingies). Got a regular 1/2" hose and it rocked!

MY compressor is in another part of the barn overhead and say 150 feet away from the chuck .Ialso have another take off with say 5o ft of hose.Its all 1/2 or 3/8 .Once its pressurized and doesnt leak anywhere am i good?
ALAN

 

[k0ua]

Well I would think if the grinders and drills work ok, so should the impact. as the grinders and drills are high volume users. more so than the impact. The point the other poster was trying to make is about volume not pressure, you could have good pressure, and low volume due to a restriction. (small hose, too long length, or something like that) I believe the other poster referenced a Chicago Pnuematic model of impact.
James K0UA

 

[k0ua]

Are you saying you have 150 ft of 1/2 and 50 foot of 3/8.. so 200 foot total? if so, that might be part of the problem. each foot of hose adds resistance to the flow of air, just like electricity is impeded by each foot of wire, the smaller the wire the greater the resistance. the same way for "pipe". to make more volume of air flow, increase the size off the "pipe". That said, if you are using a drill or grinder and they seem to have good torque, then I would think and impact would work also. But I have never used more than 100 foot of 1/2
James K0UA