ribs

Well...tomorrow is finally the big day. I think I have all of my problems with electricity sorted out (I am going to draw from two different circuits at the storage space I rented instead of just one, as before I blew the breaker twice at night and had no way to access it since it was in the locked office). I have no class until 5:30, so I am going to wake up early and get cracking.

As I am about to start taking all of this stuff apart, I was thinking about how much faster it will go since I have a full compliment of air tools, nice impact sockets, and a nice compressor. Then I started thinking about how many bolts I am going to destroy with my impact wrench because I am probably not supposed to use it on those bolts.

So...does anybody have any general guidelines for what to use and what not to use my air tools on for my big project (rod bearings, oilpan gasket, motormounts, belts, hoses, entire ignition, replace shocks/struts with koni yellows, all suspension bushings, and a few more things)? Any specific no no's when using air tools? It is my first time using them, so please bear with my ignorance. TIA,

keith

just use them for removal and you'll be fine.

you need to torque when replacing, anyway, right?

*eurospeed951*

You can use them on most anything,but DO NOT FORGET TO OIL THEM BEFORE AND AFTER YOU USE THEM! Good luck.

Tabor

[quote]Originally posted by *eurospeed951*:
<strong>DO NOT FORGET TO OIL THEM BEFORE AND AFTER YOU USE THEM!</strong><hr></blockquote>

Are you in reference to the air tools, or something else?

ribs

[quote]Originally posted by *eurospeed951*:
<strong>You can use them on most anything,but DO NOT FORGET TO OIL THEM BEFORE AND AFTER YOU USE THEM! Good luck.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Heh. Yeah...I realized that "oil" hole in my impact wrench was probably used for something. No fear...I bought a quart of air-tool oil a couple months ago...I just haven't used it yet (haven't used my air tools yet either).

Thanks for the replies so far...any other opinions and such?

What if I use my air ratchet to screw the stuff back in (not all the way...thats what my torque wrench is for)? I wouldn't imagine that it would be any worse than a regular ratchet, just with less arm work. And of course I will use my torque wrench to tighten everything back down properly (I sure am glad I got that shop manual CD...I have the torque settings for almost every bolt I will remove listed on there).

Lemon Yellow 87 n/a

I just hope your torque wrench aint messed up in some way.

"What do you mean 250ft/lb?!?! I coulda sworn it said 250nm!"

billybones

You can use an air ratchete or gun to put in bolts till they are seated.. but start all bolts by hand for a few threads.. If you don't you WILL cross thread something... Thus the name I give to young maintenance guy's I work with, cross thread... If things get tight before seating imediately remove it and find out why.. There is no thread designed to be tight till it is seated.. good luck!

jim968

Just a chime in to agree with BillyBones... when reassembling, start the threads by hand, use the air rachet (not the impact gun) to run 'em up just 'snug,' then tighten with the torque wrench. A lot of fasteners can be tightened with just a rachet, no torque wrench, but only when you're "good" at judging how tight is right. In aluminum, that's risky for us amateurs.

Ain't many things more sickening than that ol' "it just keeps turning" feeling....

Jim, "Levon, hand me down my tap & die set!"

Hans

Hi Ribs
[quote]...what not to use my air tools ... <hr></blockquote>
You can take off everything you want with that air tool but...
Everything with INTERNAL hex or cheese head is MANUAL only!!

Whenever you use the air tool, use the correct (metric) sized six sided sockets, not the standard 12 sided ones from your tool kit.
Fair chance you wreck the hex head with them
As for tightening: see above: billybones & jim.
I have learned this the hard way.

Take Care

bs

as most of the good advice on this topic has already been dispensed, i'll just chime in with agreement and one last caveat:

be careful when you undo something with the air rachet... it's not like a torque wrench which applies fast pulses of torque which are abrubpt enough to act against the intertia of the tool itself and will not push hard on your hand. the air socket driver applies continuous torque and will try to spin out of your grip if whatever it's on is stuck. in other words: it can't apply more torque than you are applying to it to hold it in place.

once youve had your knuckles smashed a few times this gets real easy to remember.