School Me On Impact Wrenches

[Lanse]

Goodevening, everyone!!

Hope its been a good christmas all around the internets, I've really enjoyed mine. I got a few bucks from relatives and decided I want to put that towards a new Impact wrench for my shop.

When I got my first air compressor in 2007 or 2008 or so, it came with one of those cheapie impacts you can get anywhere... It was kinda useless (remember having to jump on a 1/2" Craftsman ratchet in order to break most things loose) but I thought it was the coolest thing ever and had a blast with it.

Anyway, I've had a few instances where I really wished I had a good impact, its not something I'd use everyday, but one of those things where when you need it, you need it...

And I've decided to go get a nice one.

I'm looking for something with some power, more than my cheapie one of years gone by, and somethings thats pretty durable.

I don't know a lot about air tools, mostly just use my compressor to power the plasmas, so I figured I'd ask on here...

From what I gather, Ingersoll Rand makes some fine units, and the 231 series is a pretty nice wrench. Any feedback? What other nice impacts could I find in the $100-$200 range?

Lowe's sells a kit, with a 231G and an air ratchet for $150 that I'm leaning towards now, I've heard good things about the 231, but I guess I'm just wondering what else is out there.

I'm not really looking for anything "composite", I want the least amount of plastic possible on a tool... I won't be using it 8 hours a day so the weight-savings wouldn't be a huge deal for me... Same with bright yellow/ridiculous graphics lol

Anyway, any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated... Enjoy the last few hours of christmas, everyone
 

[XRogerX]

IR, or CP tools. Hard to go wrong. Most air compressor company branded tools like Comp-Air or Atlas Copco are also pretty good quality. Snap-On, Blue Point, Mac, ARO, all good stuff. I'd be leery of any 1/2" gun that claims 1000lb/ft though. Never had a whole lot of use for an air ratchet, except putting con rod big ends onto compressors before torquing them to final spec. Knuckle busters most of the time. I'd rather have a decent 3/8" impact or a butterfly impact instead. 1/2" gun gets tiring if there's lots to do and you don't need all the torque.

Most Campbell Hausfeld stuff isn't that good, but their bigger 1/2" impact worked ok for me. It's a decent budget tool.
 

[Formerly PaMike]

I have an older(10 year) IR gun. It was in that price range when I got it. Its a good gun BUT they like PRESSURE to run well. My compressor kicks on at 80 psi and off at 100. You really ought to have over 100 psi to really get that tough bolt out.
 

[Jonak]

My son gave me a Craftsman 9.2 volt battery powered impact. I have not yet used it, but did put it on a nut and pulled the trigger. Has lots
more torque than I would have thought. So we will see,looks to be very handy!!
 

[JD Seller]

That Ingersoll Rand 231G is a pretty good common impact wrench. They are advertised at 500 ft.-lbs. of reverse torque. I would say that the deal you found at Lowes is a pretty good deal on a fairly good impact.

Here is another Ingersoll Rand Impact Wrench Model# 231HA it has Max. Reverse Torque of 600 ft. lbs. It is on sale at Northern Tool for $139.99.

The best High torque I have, bang for the buck, is a Ingersoll Rand Titanium Air Impact Wrench Model# 2135TiMAX. These are advertised at 780 ft. lbs. of torque. I like them because they are lighter. I have wrist troubles them being lighter makes a real difference by days end. You can usually find them for around $300.

Have several MAC high torque impacts but they start at $500 and go up.


Some thing to remember Lanse is that these are rated at 175 PSI air supply and will use 20-25 CFMs while working. So if your air supply is at a lower PSI the torque will be lower than the rated torque. They will still out perform the one you had/have but will be less than what you may have used at a school shop or etc.

Also if your shop is unheated and you are going to be using them in real cold weather. Take them in the house and let them warm up an they will work better. When they are real cold they will freeze up when the cold air gets going through them.

Have fun the one you have listed would still be a big jump up for you and would make things fun to get apart. Just a little heat from your torch and hit it with your impact.
 

[Bob Huntress]

What size of compressor do you have? Do you know the CFM rating on it? What impact wrenches use is compressed air volume, and lots of it. If you have a small tank or compressor, you will not have the volume of compressed air to loosen anything. They should be fine with a 7hp 80 gallon tank, but that is about as small as you should think to run an impact on. You may get some limited use with a 60 gallon tank, but if you get any smaller, you will only loosen the bolts that weren"t that tight to start with. That may be the issue with your current impact. I can loosen some very tight nuts with my IR, but even the cheapies will get most nuts with sufficent volume of compressed air. If you can not get any appreciable use from a brand new, allbeit cheapie, impact, I"ld start looking at your air compressor capacity.
 

[redtom]

I turn wrenches for a living and for years relied on my IR 231, an expensive one, CP used to be "THE" name in air tools but I feel they've gone cheap china now. I have a Snap on 1/2 inch now that was the best one they had about ten yrs ago at work now. I just got an IR titanium 3/8 drive cuz the ole wrists get sore. It was expensive too. Quality in air tools is directly proportional to price-cheap equals junk.
 

[S.Crum]

If I were in the market for a good impact, I would check e-bay and see if I could find a decent old IR gun. Even if you had to put 15 or 20 bucks into rebuilding it. The new IR guns are just China junk assembled in the U.S. And some of them not. IR also made MAC and a few others. Assembled in the U.S. doesn't mean Made in the U.S. but then they can still us the Made in USA sticker. IR or any of the others are no better than a $30 Walmart Campbell Hausfield these days. I've killed a few.
 

[GarrettFields]

IR 2135TI. I dont recall how much but there pretty spendy, and worth every penny. Got one in the shop, and one in the service truck.
 

[bill mart]

Lanse,dont rule out the electric version of Ingersoll Rand. Been using a model 8049 for years.Only has around 300 ftps of torque but its strong enough for what I need it for. Bill
 

[whizkidkyus]

Lanse ,


In my opinion every good shop need at least a 60 gallon 220vac air compressor or bigger and a good 3/8 , 1/2 ,3/4 and and 1" drive air impact wrenches as well as an assortment of other air tools . I have two 1/2 inch drive air wrenches - a Deviblis(?) and a Campbell Hausfield as well as a 3/4 drive by Farmhand ( TSC ) . Don't have a 1" yet or a 1/4 drive , but will someday . I also have a small assortment of other air tools. When running a shop of anykind , especially on a farm , you'll eventually find a need or use for them and more .

Whizkid
 

[OHReader]

+1 on those thoughts. Also +1 on the thoughts about an electric impact.
 

[Justin SE IOWA]

I have a bluepoint thats probably 15 years or so old. I have had it rebuilt once but its a nice gun!
 

[RodinNS]

As a general rule... the guns that offer the most torque for their class are better then the lower torque models. I/R, Bluepoint, Jet and CP all make good guns. Specifically I'd stay clear of Sanborn, Campbell Hausfeld and Craftsman. They may have some that are good... but on balance they will be on the lower end.

Rod
 

[glennster]

lanse, my three guns i use the most at the shop are my snap on mg725 1/2 gun, snap on mg 325 3/8 gun, and i have an older blue point at321. also have an i/r 1 inch drive long barrel for big truck tires. the 725 will set you back about 460 dollars. the 325 about 400, and the 321 about 230 dollars. the 725 has about 1100 lbs break out force, and about 850 pounds torque typical. its gonna either loosen the bolt or break it off. the i/r would be a decent gun for general work in your price range. also, check some tool trucks to see if they have any trade in/rebuilt guns for sale. use a good quality air tool oil, and put a few drops in the gun each time you use it. you can also set up a hose whip with a line oiler on it.