Decent 1/2" Impact Gun?.

[not done it yet]

I'm not even in the trade and family have phoned me to go fit their spare wheel at roadside.

A breaker bar is good enough for 4/5 bolts/nuts, surely? Generally, the tool supplied with the vehicle should be adequate? The off-chance of undoing 4/5 fixings is not, IMO, justification for purchasing a power tool!

 

[moleb]

Facom NS1600F here. Gets into tight spaces, more torque than my Makita electrics but less than tyre industry fave Ingersoll Rand Titanium (why your wheel nuts don't come off).

 

[JOEPRO]

A breaker bar is good enough for 4/5 bolts/nuts, surely? Generally, the tool supplied with the vehicle should be adequate? The off-chance of undoing 4/5 fixings is not, IMO, justification for purchasing a power tool!

Don't call me surely!

OK you're right bud it was a bad suggestion. Breaker bar for the win.

 

[sako243]

A breaker bar is good enough for 4/5 bolts/nuts, surely? Generally, the tool supplied with the vehicle should be adequate? The off-chance of undoing 4/5 fixings is not, IMO, justification for purchasing a power tool!

You've obviously not had tyres fitted by a local garage then . Missus' car went in for new tyres last week and the chap who fitted them said he had to break out the 3/4" impact to remove them they'd been done up so tight previously. I have seen stretched studs as well due to people doing them up way too tight.

 

[Ho55]

I had a cheap-ish air gun and it was a bit pants, then bought a 230V Clarke one which was much better, but now have a Ryobi battery one, and i cant fault that, way more powerful than either of the previous, and not need to cart my compressor around.

 

[Joe 90]

Any garage I worked in air guns was always supplied. You just brought your own hand tools.

 

[JOEPRO]

Keep an eye out on gumtree etc. I picked up another m18 Impact yesterday. Really nice condition hardly used at all for £140



This particular one retails for around £450.

In my mind the rapid charger and 2no extra genuine batteries meant the impact was free. (Shhh I have to justify it)

Too cheap? Stolen? Hell no. I asked the right questions and the guy is a businessman and Makita fan. I was at his premises and have a business card etc. People sometimes just underprice stuff and you have to be ready to go get it.

 

[MetalMonkey]

A breaker bar is good enough for 4/5 bolts/nuts, surely? Generally, the tool supplied with the vehicle should be adequate? The off-chance of undoing 4/5 fixings is not, IMO, justification for purchasing a power tool!

Very rarely is the supplied tool adequate in my experience, even if the nuts have been torqued to factory specification, which they seldom are.
Usually they are seized on pretty good and have been uga-dugged on by the tyre monkey until they either stopped turning or snapped whichever comes first.
Plenty of times I've had a long breaker bar, with a piece of gas pipe over the handle and my fat ass bouncing on the end to get them free - not something you want to try and do at the side of a road with the included wheel brace.

I think, if he already has the impact, there wouldn't be a good reason not to take it with him if he gets called out.
I'd probably take both the impact and a breaker bar, and a decent jack too - last thing you want to do is be going back and forward for tools, especially if you are trying to fix something at the side of a road.
Impact can have the advantage over a breaker bar, especially if the car is on grass or mud or in a tight spot or already partly jacked up.

 

[Bobupndown]

The off-chance of undoing 4/5 fixings is not, IMO, justification for purchasing a power tool!

No justification for buying tools? Nope you've lost me there....

 

[Trevorleach]

He has a list of tools to buy from college but to be fair his boss is really nice and has lent him use of his tools.

He took his toolbox from our work, has quite a good selection but more motorcycle orientated than car.

If there's any long 1/2 ratchets left on the van next week I'll get him one of those next.

The long flex head clarke ratchets from machine mart are not bad at all, I use one as my general service ratchet as I do not mind chucking it across the floor etc, about 35 quid.

Ps good choice on the mg725, excellent guns, available 2nd hand for about a ton, it is all in the anvil, if the square is still square and has the chamfered corners it has plenty of life left in the gun.

 

[Keithmac]

The long flex head clarke ratchets from machine mart are not bad at all, I use one as my general service ratchet as I do not mind chucking it across the floor etc, about 35 quid.

Ps good choice on the mg725, excellent guns, available 2nd hand for about a ton, it is all in the anvil, if the square is still square and has the chamfered corners it has plenty of life left in the gun.

Yeh the one I bought was £100, looks barely used so will see when it turns up.

 

[Ubique]

Personally I find battery impacts & ratchets cumbersome compared to the air equivalent - yes, you're restricted to the workshop with them but that's where an apprentice will be for three years at least. Air tools also seem to have the edge undoing stubborn fixings - where I work there's a mix of Snap-on, MAC, Dewalt & Milwalkee battery tools, but it's always the 1/2" air impact that comes out when access is tight or there's as crank bolt / wheel bolt that won't shift. I have a Facom NS1600 for tight access and a NS3500 for 'tight stuff'. Air ratchets are also great for restricted access - stripping engines in situ for example, where you just can't get in with a battery tool.
Prime tools is a good place to get the stuff you see on tool vans without the inflated cost. www.primetools.co.uk

 

[Trevorleach]

Yeh the one I bought was £100, looks barely used so will see when it turns up.

Even the MG shaggers still work okay.
Initially people were selling the MGs cheap to move onto the newer snap on air gun PT models I think? then I heard stories and noticed at the same time the newer guns selling for less than the used MG models, make of that what you will!

 

[Trevorleach]

Personally I find battery impacts & ratchets cumbersome compared to the air equivalent - yes, you're restricted to the workshop with them but that's where an apprentice will be for three years at least. Air tools also seem to have the edge undoing stubborn fixings - where I work there's a mix of Snap-on, MAC, Dewalt & Milwalkee battery tools, but it's always the 1/2" air impact that comes out when access is tight or there's as crank bolt / wheel bolt that won't shift. I have a Facom NS1600 for tight access and a NS3500 for 'tight stuff'. Air ratchets are also great for restricted access - stripping engines in situ for example, where you just can't get in with a battery tool.
Prime tools is a good place to get the stuff you see on tool vans without the inflated cost. www.primetools.co.uk

The snap on cordless 1/2 impacts are pretty chunky and heavy, their cordless ratchets do seem nice, but the newer Milwaukee high speed ones look to have a smaller head.

 

[JOEPRO]

Personally I find battery impacts & ratchets cumbersome compared to the air equivalent - yes, you're restricted to the workshop with them but that's where an apprentice will be for three years at least. Air tools also seem to have the edge undoing stubborn fixings - where I work there's a mix of Snap-on, MAC, Dewalt & Milwalkee battery tools, but it's always the 1/2" air impact that comes out when access is tight or there's as crank bolt / wheel bolt that won't shift. I have a Facom NS1600 for tight access and a NS3500 for 'tight stuff'. Air ratchets are also great for restricted access - stripping engines in situ for example, where you just can't get in with a battery tool.
Prime tools is a good place to get the stuff you see on tool vans without the inflated cost. www.primetools.co.uk

It's true the high torque impacts are quite large and heavy. It's never been an issue for me but I can see how for some people it could be.

I also have a little m12 stubby cordless impact which is very light and compact for brake or valve cover jobs etc.

So really you need 2 or 3 cordless impacts for high levels of usage/ comfort balance.

 

[Keithmac]

I prefer my M12 ratchets for engine work, my M12 Short 1/4 drive gets used almost all the time now.

Nice for running fairing fasteners out as well.

 

[bert]

I've got a CP air and it hasn't left the tool box since I bought a milwaukee m18 gun. Yes it's heavy ish but it's not failed to undo a bolt and one setting 1 does bolts up to 45ish ftlb

 

[armalites]

A breaker bar is good enough for 4/5 bolts/nuts, surely? Generally, the tool supplied with the vehicle should be adequate? The off-chance of undoing 4/5 fixings is not, IMO, justification for purchasing a power tool!

You should see the tool supplied with a Discovery 3, it's a total joke.

 

[ATGNI]

Does anyone really want air tools these days. Not trying to start an argument, but I have the set of dewalt brushless from big to large impact. Never really needed the large impact even when changing truck wheels for the local farmers.

 

[Ubique]

I use them, other than battery drills and a gyroscopic electric screwdriver, all my power tools are air. I think if I was buying them now, it'd still be a split between the size, longevity and weight benefits of air and the portability of battery power - I'd still have a big air impact (and a suitably sized airline to run it on) and a 3/4" breaker bar for 'those' jobs.
It's not just impact / ratchet drivers, it's reciprocating saw, disc cutter, die grinder etc. Air drills are, and always have been, cr@p compared to electric.