Impact wrenches (what do you use)?

[skyking]

I like it because it is just another tool for the toolbox :awe:

 

[mvbighead]

Alright, you guys sold me. Since the deal ends tomorrow, I just went ahead and ordered the ah heck (the wife is considering it my birthday present):

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...2&blockType=G2

Two batteries, a charger, and a 1/2" Impact wrench.

Sounds like I will be getting a smaller AC for the other stuff.

 

[skyking]

Ha-HA!
another 50 bucks and you have the big drill to go with it.
35 to pump up tires
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...9&blockType=G9

 

[sontakke]

When mine was delivered, there was no charge in battery. Surprisingly, 5 minute on the charger, and it seemed to have all the power but I did let it complete the charge before really using it.

When you try it on your lug nuts, get a deep impact socket and use it directly without the included extension or any other adapter. My deep impact set was purchased very cheaply from HF and it does the job. A good idea is to use it straight for removal but add the extension when putting back the lug nut. Obviously THREAD THEM FIRST BY HAND! Make sure you can do all four wheels in a breeze and there is no visible depletion in the battery power.

You will love the new toy!

- Vikas

 

[alkemyst]

IMHO everything should be final torqued by hand and any impact should be used with a torque stick to 10-20% of the final torque value.

 

[sdifox]

IMHO everything should be final torqued by hand and any impact should be used with a torque stick to 10-20% of the final torque value.

usually it's just to take fasteners out.

 

[alkemyst]

usually it's just to take fasteners out.

YEAH...but that's not what others are posting above.

 

[exdeath]

They save time snugging things up too, without overtorquing, but it takes experience with fine trigger control and using your off hand as a brake. It takes some time to learn that the trigger is not just an on/off switch operating at full power all the time. That's a huge advantage with air, I've never used an electric before. Are the electric triggers analog or just simple on off contacts?

 

[Bartman39]

Ex... Most are simple on-off switches... As for a variable trigger I figure they would not work all that great with the hammer part of the tool as it requires a certain amount of spin/torque to operate correctly...?

You guys need to quit messing with toys and get one of these... I have and use one every day... Only need the air impacts for the really bad stuff... To tell the truth for most home users this would take the place of an air impact and the compressor that is required as well...
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...group_ID=19913&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

Also to add if your using a 1/2" drive impact then you should consider its for 3/8ths (or 10-12mm) and up size bolts and of course not hammer on them but most of what I use it on is 3/4" headed bolts... I do also have a 3/8ths cordless impact from Snapon that is much better suited for smaller work and wont destroy things like its big brother... Really though the control is between the head and the trigger finger and a little bit of touch...

 

[exdeath]

Doesn't have to be full power. With an air impact you can squeeze the trigger like 2% and it will still turn the fastener faster than you can by hand while applying almost no torque. When it snugs up it stops because there is no inertia in the hammer, and you can finish by hand. Trigger just controls hammer speed.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Ex... Most are simple on-off switches... As for a variable trigger I figure they would not work all that great with the hammer part of the tool as it requires a certain amount of spin/torque to operate correctly...?

You guys need to quit messing with toys and get one of these... I have and use one every day... Only need the air impacts for the really bad stuff... To tell the truth for most home users this would take the place of an air impact and the compressor that is required as well...
http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...group_ID=19913&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

Also to add if your using a 1/2" drive impact then you should consider its for 3/8ths (or 10-12mm) and up size bolts and of course not hammer on them but most of what I use it on is 3/4" headed bolts... I do also have a 3/8ths cordless impact from Snapon that is much better suited for smaller work and wont destroy things like its big brother... Really though the control is between the head and the trigger finger and a little bit of touch...

Yeah because we all need a $600 impact wrench to swap from summer to winter tires and do one or two big projects a year.

 

[Bartman39]

Yeah because we all need a $600 impact wrench to swap from summer to winter tires and do one or two big projects a year.

I hear ya it is rather expensive but think of it this way as well... Buy the $150 toy and when it wont do the job and your in a 9 line bind on the side of the road freezing cold possibly raining then how much is it worth...? We all pay to much for somethings but in the end quality pays for itself...

 

[sdifox]

I hear ya it is rather expensive but think of it this way as well... Buy the $150 toy and when it wont do the job and your in a 9 line bind on the side of the road freezing cold possibly raining then how much is it worth...? We all pay to much for somethings but in the end quality pays for itself...

my cheapass electric impact wrench was 60 :biggrin: I just use it to swap tires so no need for anything better.

not sure what "in a nine line bind on the side of the road" means, but I am pretty sure you don't truck your gas powered compressor and airtools around :biggrin:

 

[Bartman39]

my cheapass electric impact wrench was 60 :biggrin: I just use it to swap tires so no need for anything better.

not sure what "in a nine line bind on the side of the road" means, but I am pretty sure you don't truck your gas powered compressor and airtools around :biggrin:

Good for you if it does what you need... The "nine line bind" is just figure of speech meaning "in a very bad way"... 2 things with your last statement 1st yes I do take my gas powered compressor down the road (service truck) 2nd I take the Snapon impact any time I go out of town or pull my 33' travel trailer since the impact comes with a nice case its easy to put it behind the seat of my 2500HD Duramax which has 8 lugs per wheel so it works for me... I would not trust a $60 tool like that to tighten the lugs on my truck or even the wife's car... Compare spec's between the Snapon and other cheap versions you might get my point but hey just the same I use it for making a living so it is well worth it and why I recommend it... Again though add up the cost of an good air impact and add the cost of a compressor to match and the Snapon cordless will match it and is most likely cheaper and last longer...

 

[sdifox]

Good for you if it does what you need... The "nine line bind" is just figure of speech meaning "in a very bad way"... 2 things with your last statement 1st yes I do take my gas powered compressor down the road (service truck) 2nd I take the Snapon impact any time I go out of town or pull my 33' travel trailer since the impact comes with a nice case its easy to put it behind the seat of my 2500HD Duramax which has 8 lugs per wheel so it works for me... I would not trust a $60 tool like that to tighten the lugs on my truck or even the wife's car... Compare spec's between the Snapon and other cheap versions you might get my point but hey just the same I use it for making a living so it is well worth it and why I recommend it... Again though add up the cost of an good air impact and add the cost of a compressor to match and the Snapon cordless will match it and is most likely cheaper and last longer...

lulz, pro vs consumer. I don't use it to tighten, just loosen and maybe spin the bolt in. Cars do not like over tightened bolts. I would like to own nice tools but that is just typical male overkill mentality, I don't need them.

 

[jlee]

I hear ya it is rather expensive but think of it this way as well... Buy the $150 toy and when it wont do the job and your in a 9 line bind on the side of the road freezing cold possibly raining then how much is it worth...? We all pay to much for somethings but in the end quality pays for itself...

The tire iron that came with my spare tire will do well enough for that - I'd rather have a usable compressor and a few air tools myself.

If I used it for work, that'd be another story.

 

[mvbighead]

The tire iron that came with my spare tire will do well enough for that - I'd rather have a usable compressor and a few air tools myself.

If I used it for work, that'd be another story.

This was my mentality before conceding to the cheaper Craftsman rechargeable.

If I have something that is really stuck, I have hand tools if the torque of the Craftsman isn't enough.

Any hoo, trying to get the wife to let me buy a $555 torque wrench that'll get used a handful of times each year... not so likely. Heck, the 26 ft (http://www.amazon.com/Werner-MT-26-3...3440332&sr=8-1) multi ladder would've probably been the trade off, and I need that for several projects around the house.

I'd agree with most... if it was my job and I did this stuff every day, I'd have different considerations. But for me and what I do, the 54 or so reviews seem to suggest that I will be pleased with the cheaper product I bought. And, the Craftsman name is made me feel a little better than the cheapo stuff from HF. I'll definitely be getting my sockets from there though.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Yeah if you are using it professionally that's a different story. If I had to spend that much on tools I'd never be able to justify doing the shade tree thing in the first place.

 

[3chordcharlie]

This was my mentality before conceding to the cheaper Craftsman rechargeable.

If I have something that is really stuck, I have hand tools if the torque of the Craftsman isn't enough.

Any hoo, trying to get the wife to let me buy a $555 torque wrench that'll get used a handful of times each year... not so likely. Heck, the 26 ft (http://www.amazon.com/Werner-MT-26-3...3440332&sr=8-1) multi ladder would've probably been the trade off, and I need that for several projects around the house.

I'd agree with most... if it was my job and I did this stuff every day, I'd have different considerations. But for me and what I do, the 54 or so reviews seem to suggest that I will be pleased with the cheaper product I bought. And, the Craftsman name is made me feel a little better than the cheapo stuff from HF. I'll definitely be getting my sockets from there though.

I have that ladder, and it is the closest thing possible to being the right ladder for every situation.

But how do they figure it's a 26ft ladder? Being as optimistic as possible (ignoring overlapped steps), it's 22 feet, in reality more like 19-20.

 

[sontakke]

The Crafsman C3 I mentioned has full electronic analog control including instant stop when you release the switch. By the way, the monster corded HF does NOT; it is all or nothing and it keeps on spinning when you let the switch go.

 

[Bartman39]

lulz, pro vs consumer. I don't use it to tighten, just loosen and maybe spin the bolt in. Cars do not like over tightened bolts. I would like to own nice tools but that is just typical male overkill mentality, I don't need them.

I hear you for sure (sdifox) for most I really would have to say its overkill but it can be kinda of like a desktop replacement for some...? I do depend on my tools every day but do understand for most that have posted here its not the case... Sorry I look at it from a different perspective from being a mechanic for 30+ years... I even buy my dad Snapon tools for his B-day and Christmas otherwise he would just buy Harborfreight but he sure looks forward to those days...:biggrin: BTW am on the job now in Valero PA plant using that impact as I speak...

 

[sontakke]

Bighead - Did you get the impact wrench? And have you tried it yet?

 

[sontakke]

I used to take off front axle nut off my 2000 Maxima. It was original nut and was there for last 11 years. The Craftsman took it off without any struggle. Even my mechanic who uses air tools was impressed when he saw me doing that. He immediately stopped laughing when I managed to take the nut off. Frankly, neither of us were expecting the cordless to budge that one off. Suffices to say we were *very* impressed with it.

- Vikas

 

[sdifox]

I used to take off front axle nut off my 2000 Maxima. It was original nut and was there for last 11 years. The Craftsman took it off without any struggle. Even my mechanic who uses air tools was impressed when he saw me doing that. He immediately stopped laughing when I managed to take the nut off. Frankly, neither of us were expecting the cordless to budge that one off. Suffices to say we were *very* impressed with it.

- Vikas

wait, your tires lasted 11 years?

 

[exdeath]

wait, your tires lasted 11 years?

Axle nut, not lug nuts. Axle nuts are in the range of 250 lb ft when they aren't stuck.