Jeep tool question

[hendrix1187]

Does anyone know what a good tourque rating I should get on an impact wrench?

[magoo79]

I would get the most powerful impact wrench you can find or afford. you never know when you are going to need the extra power to break a bolt loose or something. I'm not sure what mine are rated for, I have a couple electrics incase I'm doing work at someone elses house or just need to use it real quick, and I'll use my Air impacts, If I feel like dragging it out. As far as torque settings I use torque sticks. I got turned on to them from shop class in high school. just look at what you want to torque it and use the appropriate color stick. Harbor freight has a set on sale now for 89.00. you can get alot of tools there cheap, and on the plus side they work pretty good too.

Magoo

[bjb]

A good 1/2" air impact will have at least a 250 ft lb rating and a 3/4" air impact should be over a 500 ft lb rating. But since there is no real rateing orgainization you have to trust the manufacture doing its own rateing. The best bet is to spend the bucks and get gun from a quality manufacture. While I have some some HF stuff, it is crap, but will do many things well enough if you don't expect too much.

[4x4not]

250ft.lbs for a 1/2"? Man, that is WEAK :flipoff2:
http://www.arizonatools.com/img/products/I/IR232TGSL.JPG
650ft.lbs baby!

I agree with magoo... get the higher torque rating you can. I have an older IR gun and it is supposed to do something like 300ft.lbs and there are lots of things it can't break free.

[Peter_C]

This belongs in Shop and Tool Talk.
240118
Any other brand just does not stand up to Snapon quality. Try 700ft of torque and more importantly "Anvil stops with release of the trigger to prevent throwing nuts or sockets" My biggest pet peeve with IR guns is they are nut slingers. I have a 1/2 Snapon gun that is over 15 years old now and still works great. Everytime I have bought any other well known brand it has blown up, yet my Snapon stuff has never even been rebuilt and used daily for 15 years.
Impact Gun (http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=yes&tool=power&item_ID=75955&group_ID=19826&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog)

[4x4not]

You are right, this does belong in Shop Talk...

That Snapon gun sure is nice, but $400 is a lot! For now my IR "nutslinger" will have to do :flipoff2:

[crusty1007]

the thunder gun sells for 79$ @ harbor freight.....

as for the snap shit for 500$ they kiss my a$$ i stopped buying snap shit after they kept selling me rebuild kits @ 80 - 150$ every time i smoked my air ratchet or impact... sold that junk to a buddy all wore out and bought an ingersol rand... i also picked up the thunder gun because for 79$ it has more than enough torque ( most of the time) and when it takes a shit i throw it away and buy another for less than rebuilding a snap on.... :confused:

edit:
what i meant was @ 79$ thats 6.3 thunder guns for the price of the snap on.. and if you wear 6 thunder guns out in a yr ull be @ the cost of the snap on... and @ the end of the yr after your initial burn up of your snap on you pay over a 100 DOLLERS to REBUILD it....

about the rating system ive had many a conversation over this with my local snap-on and matco dealer... their take on the theory is that max torque achieved is it being spun on meaning, its not snug then impacted, its (the nut) spun on with speed and impacted (velocity?) ... because usually the breaking torque in reverse is alot less than what they claim max torque....

[aandrew]

if you dont buy quality tools the first time then you end up with two sets of tools. shitty tools and a set of snap-on tools. just my .02

[4x4not]

For $79 you get the Harbor Freight "Earthquake" gun, which is an imitation Thundergun. Get the real deal and it'll last longer. That being said, HF stuff is great for trail tools because you don't care as much if it gets lost, broken, etc.

[00pumpkin]

Mine has a 1000 ft lbs of nut busting torque.........i had to get it just for that statement on the advertisement.

[redwilly]

I have an IR 1/2 inch 19.2V cordless electric impact that sometimes out performs my snap on 6500 air impact. The IR is rated at 350 ft pounds, not sure if its right but it pretty damn strong.

[Rattlecan]

Purchase a good impact, oil it before every use and you'll be able to hand it down to your grand kids...

That said - also invest in PB Blaster, WD, or the like. As much as I like busting nuts loose and getting rust in my eye, it's much easier to hose all of the rusty $h!t down, then break it loose... Good luck with your future purchase.