Garey Cooper

Well after all of these years I finally purchased a real air compressor! A five gallon model and it came with some air tools; an impact wrench and a pneaumatic ratchet. I am so excited, it works pretty cool as well.

But I have a question about the impact wrench. In use the thing spews oil in a mist all over and you have to be careful to fully insert the nut into the socket or you'll round the hex on the nut. The wrench I have is a Campbell Hausfeld. Does anyone have recommendations for a good not too expensive impact wrench with perhaps adjustable torque? I'd like to hear of it.....

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Garey:

You'll never, ever go wrong by buying either Ingersoll-Rand or Snap-On (not the Blue Point line).

Buy it once, but buy it for life (and then some).

togueep3

Whats wrong with the Blue Point stuff?

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

There is nothing inherently wrong with it; the BP line simply lacks the power and doesn't last as long.

sweet9fortyfour

ingersoll-rand 2135ti or 2135tiq $200-250 the tiq makes almost in noise other then hammer mechanism and lots of power and half the weight of others

Ed Newman

The IR ones are the way to go. The NASCAR model is the same but with different stickers and more money, but expect to spend $200-300 for a good one. Also, make sure you have a compressor that can run high pressures if you want to make maxmum torque. May of the guns are rated for 150+ psi. A lot of consumer compressors max at 120.

GUMBALL

The Ingersoll-Rand are probabaly the best impact guns made. But, the IR guns modified for the Nascar crews (sold, I believe as "Thunderguns") or the Dino Paoli guns the Indycar crews use are really "hotted up" with bored out passages, titanium internals, different vanes, etc, etc. Several models are also modified to run at very high line pressure (up to 350 psi)

Unless you are doing wheel changes against the clock they are a waste of money. Also, stay with a gun manufactured to run at a line pressure of 90-100 psi.

Peter R.

CAREFUL : most pro impacts (like the IR) are made to work with a max. pressure of about 95 psi (6 bars) where smale compressors usually deliver up to 10 bars to compensate for the small reservoirs. Also, a lot of people using hobby stuff use 6 - 8 mm supply lines, severely limiting airflow and causing gigantic pressure drops (small internal diameter combined with the hose expanding from the pressure.)

Peter R.

911pcars

As stated, most home-type air compressors max out at 90-100psi. A good impact gun at these pressures makes a difference in the amount of torque it can generate. However, air pressure in the 125-150 psi range can make a big difference in the efficiency of an impact gun, inexpensive or not. Usually, only 2-stage air compressors can produce this amount of pressure.

I find a 1/4" drive air ratchet very convenient, lightweight and maneuverable to spin most fasteners. Use the ratchet manually to loosen and tighten, pull the trigger to get past the grunt work.

Sherwood

GUMBALL

Most air tools are made to run at 90 to 100 psi.
If you run most (non-modified) impact guns at 125 to 150 psi, they will produce more torque - right up to the point where they start breaking hammers, anvils, and crumbling the vanes........

911pcars

Okay, point well taken. My experience is with the impact guns and air pressure I used in a commercial shop some years ago. Apparently, technology has improved the efficiency of current impact guns to produce more torque with less line pressure.

IR recommends 70-90 psi
Other manufacturers recommend 90-120 psi

Operating an impact gun at 125-150 psi all the time may cause excessive wear in the long run. However, there is a positive correlation between increased pressure and more torque. Use it at your own discretion.

Sherwood