decent impact wrench?

Grant, OK, don't go to Boeing Surplus.

Grant

I had a campbell housefield cheapy for years. When it was stolen I decided to upgrade. I spent a fair amount of time shopping on the net and spent about $170 for an Ingersol Rand IR-7132. The old one was rated at 250 ft-lb and would frequently not remove lug nuts. The IR7132 is rated at 700 ft-lb and has only failed to break loose one bolt in the last 4 years. That one ended up with me jumping on a 3/4 drive 2 1/2 foot breaker bar, I weigh about 250 you do the math. I am very happy with the IR-7132, even though it hurt to spend that much at the time.

Carl

Grant I have 3 1/2" impacts. 2 are almost new imports, one is a recognizable name which escapes me at the moment. The last is a scuffed-up dog of a Chicago Pneumatic CP734 that I've had for so long that I don't recall it's origin. At any rate I've been surprised at the fasteners that the newer guns would not budge, but the old CP would spin right off. Recently I needed to change the flywheel on a Mazda rotary engine. The nut on those is torqued to 350 ft-lbs. A friend was helping, he a veteran of many Mazda flywheel changes. Friend was rounding up various tools to anchor the flywheel and apply massive leverage to the nut. I just put a

1/2-3/4 adapter on the CP, added a 1.25 socket, and spun it off. Friend was flabbergasted. So, at about $100 a pop new, a CP734 is hard to beat.

YMMV etc

Rex

Nothing like a CP734. (particularly the OLD american made units - before the british ones. Mine is about 50 years old. (I bought it 40 years ago, and it was far from new then) The "MAC" units from the senenties and eighties were pretty good too - Made, IIRC, by Ingersol Rand. NOIZY but effective.

Chicago pneumatic. Around $100 to $170 depending on which model and where you get it. Very strong, very tough. Stay away from that plastic

800ft-lbs one though. The lightweight guns with absurdly high torque ratings achieve it by whizzing around little hammers reallygoddamnedfast. Works great on really solid joints, but anything with any windup or give will defeat it. And using them with extensions kill your torque output in a hurry. Heavier guns with more conservative torque ratings and fairly high air consumption generally work far better. It's like a zip gun vs. sledge hammer.

On Wed, 09 May 2007 10:29:27 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, Grant Erwin quickly quoth:

It has been 21 years since I was buying air tools on a regular basis, but back then, Chicago Pneumatic (CP, from Chicago, IL) was the best and not too awfully expensive.

Ask the Matco, Cornwell, MAC, and SnapOn guys what's good but inexpensive nowadays, Grant.

Also, tire shop mechanics should know, as well as front end alignment mechanics.

That said, my newest cordless tool, a Bosch Impactor, can probably spin the lug nuts off my F-150; 1,150 in lbs of torque. ;)

- Metaphors Be With You -

I have an Ingersoll Rand 2131 1/2". Works very well, and it's not insanely loud. $200 well spent.

I recently added an Ingersoll-Rand cordless impact wrench to my arsenal. 300ft-lb rating, and it will easily do all the lugnuts on my F-150. If portable is appealing, and you don't need high torques, this is how to live.

Dave

I'm going to agree with everyone else- CP, IR, Aro, go with something good. Again, used quality beats new junk.

John

"JohnM" wrote

And sometimes those high quality old looking tools are sleeping on shelves at hock shops with ridiculously low prices on them.

Steve

Let's keep it specific, guys. What models, what pawn shops? I KNOW you can buy tools in pawn shops fer krissake!

GWE

I have very good luck with an older model Chicago Pneumatic 3/8 ratchet. It looks like this: I used it to put on a receiver hitch and checked with a torque wrench - over 90# (80 required). I had to buy a new part just this week - the throttle control valve ($1.78 each). I've run the tar out of this thing for over ten years and it was well used when I acquired it. I was really surprised when I was trying to read the well worn model number plate to notice it was Made In Japan!!

I also have a similar vintage CP 1/2" impact that looks like this: I haven't had to buy any of those expensive parts for this one yet.

I also happen to have a DeWalt electric impact that actually outperforms the CP on stuff like wheel lugs, etc.

In case you missed the many posts, the guys have pretty much narrowed it down to IR and CP. Many particular model numbers and links to sites selling these exact products have been posted.

As for specific pawn shops, I don't know where you live, so suggest you take the phone book, and look in the yellow pages. If you live in a city, you might have a separate book of yellow pages AND white pages that have people's names. Just look for the big yellow book with phone numbers in it. Go through the alphabet. You know (?) ....... A - B - C ..... and so on. Look between O and Q for PAWN SHOPS. If you have trouble, it will be about

3/4 ways through the book.

If you really have trouble, write back, tell us your home town, and we'll look in the yellow pages on line and get you some phone numbers.

Of course, you might miss those, too, just like you missed the many makes and model numbers suggested already by responders.

Do you have anyone helping you take those meds, or do you just take the pretty ones when you remember? And wine in a box is not a food group.

Steve

CP 734, Mac or IR, preferably American built, British or Irish CP acceptable. Stay away from Chinese, Taiwanese, or other eastern manufactures "clones" - they are not worth the money at HALF the cost of a good used CP. The noisy IR/MAC units have a bit more muscle than a stock CP734.But I still like the 734. It is also about the most copied by the Chinese etc.

Does it have a built in torque regulator (like positions 1, 2, 3 etc)

Here is the link to the current CP724H at their website:

http://212.75.80.201/CPIndustrialSite/Article/Article_Page.asp?ID=T024351 You can get the similar Ingersoll-Rand 231c at Harbor Freight for $119.99. It has an obvious torque adjustment setting on the side. See:

Leon, this is very nice, with the price of about $60 that model 734 seems like a great bargain.

i

My story with a CP-734 is almost identical.

Bought it used - about 40 years ago - from my friendly Snap-On man.

I asked him about rebuilding it in the early '70s when I was using it fairly hard in a truck and car spring shop.

Even back then, stuff had started to cheapen.

He showed me the new hammer he would use in rebuilding compared to an "old" hammer he had taken out of a wrench similar to the one in my wrench, and you could see the differences in material and finish. He suggested that I wait until it breaks, then call him.

Well, after the spring shop it worked daily in various shops and served time in dusty, unpaved pit areas around the Northeast US and Canadian Maritimes, and it STILL hasn't quit!

I just oil it regularly with MMO, and it never fails to do the job.

He's since retired from Snap-On...so, I hope the wrench continues to serve me in in semi-retirement.

What an assinine statement!

Wassamatter?

You get so used to your buddy stealing things like carts from the UPS parking lot for you that you don't know how to do basic research?

You want others to do all the work, then give you an address, price, and contact person?

If I found a good deal on a CP-734 in a pawn shop, you would be the LAST person I would tell.

Look in the yellow pages betweem "O" and "Q".

I know that the Northwest is a bit flaky, but I suspect they are STILL listed as "Pawn Shops" in the telephone book, and not "Used Goods Emporiums"......

OR

See if your buddy will expand his operations to include "liberating" tools from the UPS truck shop............