I only trust AvE.

an Ingersol Rand got me out of a sticky situation once. I was changing the timing belt on a Honda Prelude. Could not get the crankshaft pulley bolt out even w/ a 3' pipe on my 1/2" drive breaker bar.

The IR wouldn't do it either, so being the schemer that I am, I figured out a way to use a scuba tank with the IR for more power, must say 3000 lbs. through that impact was a Godsend, broke that bolt loose like it was only in there finger tight!!!

Milwaukee Fuel. I sold off my IR air impact after I bought my Fuel, it's so much nicer not having to drag a hose around and your compressor probably isn't enough to do an air impact justice. Weight comparison is pretty close between the Fuel and a good air gun.

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
an Ingersol Rand got me out of a sticky situation once. I was changing the timing belt on a Honda Prelude. Could not get the crankshaft pulley bolt out even w/ a 3' pipe on my 1/2" drive breaker bar.

The IR wouldn't do it either, so being the schemer that I am, I figured out a way to use a scuba tank with the IR for more power, must say 3000 lbs. through that impact was a Godsend, broke that bolt loose like it was only in there finger tight!!!

Indeed; when brute force isn’t working, you’re just not using enough.

(Saw that line on a shirt at Battlebots back in the pits… Loved it)

I had an el-cheapo air impact I purchased from Home Depot years ago and that worked pretty well, but I've got a 60 gal tank on mine. When that wore out, I purchased the 20V 1/2" Dewalt. It's really nice not to have to drag that hose around and I can bring it with when I need it elsewhere (friend's house, daughter's house...).

Don’t wanna beat a dead horse but Milwaukee M18 Fuel is a beast. Just got one for myself and I have to say that it was money well spent. Got mine from Northern Tool.

I’d look at whatever brand of battery tools you currently have.

You say light auto work, then even the Ryobi 18v would be fine. I have one, it has neve failed to remove a lug nut or some suspension bolts. The only thing it didn’t get done was the crank pulley nut on a Sienna. We had to do oldschool and wedge a bar against something solid and crank the engine.

The Ryobi 18v 1/2” hasn’t failed a normal job yet.

Unless you plan to upgrade your air supply, go with corded or battery electric. I have multiple air impacts in various brands, sizes and capacities and a handful of various electric choices for yard work or road service calls. Since the shop has a huge air supply, almost everything is done with air. If I can't reach the job with air, my M18 Milwaukee is the go to tool.

The DeWalt 20V MAX XR is Made in the USA...Just Sayin'

With that limited of an air supply, I'd just go electric. I'd like to recommend the Milwaukee Fuel half-inch, but mine didn't hold up under my hard use. It will probably do OK for your light duty. For that matter, unless somebody seriously overtightened the lug nuts, a corded impact gun from DeWalt or Makita should be adequate.

I'm going to answer from a different perspective - if you don't have a need to use it now, wait until you need something, then rent or borrow from a local auto supply store. Buying something that might not be used for quite a while only allows the unit to age in the toolbox.

I'm going with the crowd on this one. I have used multiple air impacts with limited success. After getting wheels put on from the tire store, my air impacts couldn't generate enough oomph to get them off. My mechanic friends all suggested electric, so I got the big milwaukee cordless. HOLY torque! Nothing stops it now, and mostly I have to back down to keep from destroying the nuts, 3 level on the 4 point scale.

I never realized how bad my air impacts were until I tried the electric. I finally got it. Plus no dragging the hose around, and now I carry the electric impact in my truck when I haul my camper so I always have it available.

Get the electric, you are gonna spend nearly the same amount on an air impact that is worth anything. The cheaper air impacts will just frustrate you in the end due to their lack of torque. Spend the money on the electric impact, you will be much happier in the end.

I have a 6 gallon Rigid compressor that handles my Kobalt 1/2" impact just fine. The compressor is 150 psi and I run the impact on about 125 psi. I do have an empty 50 pound Freon tank I can piggy back with the compressor but have never needed to.

Also plan on buying impact sockets. The sockets that are used with a breaker bar or ratchet can and will eventually shatter if used on an impact gun. Normally they just split but I have once seen one shatter which could cause injury, especially eyes.

Last month I bought a Milwaukee M18 impact driver and I like it a lot. It was on sale at Home Depot for $179. That included a hard shell case and two batteries. Heck of a deal.

Bought a Makita half inch drive and it works great so far.Used it to change blades on my Land pride finish mower.Be sure and get a decent set of impact sockets.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Last month I bought a Milwaukee M18 impact driver and I like it a lot. It was on sale at Home Depot for $179. That included a hard shell case and two batteries. Heck of a deal.

Not to be confused with an Impact Wrench though.

Milwaukee's 1/4" hex bit impact drivers are very nice. I actually "downgraded" to an M12 Fuel Impact Driver and Drill for the reduced size. Still handles everything I throw at it, which admittedly isn't a whole lot. In fact, I just cut a hole for a water filter through a quartz counter top yesterday using a diamond tipped hole saw using my little M12 drill.

I have all the options up to and including 1" pneumatic IR guns since I own construction equipment with big bolts. But for the average person a high quality 1/2" electric or battery will get most work done. I'm able to do at least 95% of what I need with a battery one.

The guys at one plant in my company can teardown an entire midrange diesel engine with Milwaukee battery impacts. They love them. Strong and relatively inexpensive.

Panasonic's line of battery pulse tools are impressive but probably a lot more than you want to spend.

For air tools, Uryu (Japanese) pulse tools are pretty much the standard in industry, but we don't use air tools in production much anymore.

For sockets, only use purpose made impact sockets. Apex is pretty much the industry standard in the US, and Koken (Japanese) is good too.

Don't forget the impact sockets.

My pneumatic impact wrench gets the most use pulling lug nuts off. The truck has 10 per wheel. When putting the lug nuts back on, I hand thread them then hit them with the wrench until they start to snug up. I use a torque wrench for tightening them the rest of the way.

I really haven't needed it for anything else. The brake rotors are held on by the wheels on my vehicles except maybe one screw that holds the rotor to the hub until the wheel is installed. I used it on a few bolts holding caliper brackets, but there wasn't enough room on some of the bolts, so I had to use a breaker bar for those.

I wouldn't worry too much about moving an entire vehicle properly on stands while using a breaker bar unless you're built like the Hulk.