13 replies to this topic

[Gaz66]

Does anyone have any experience of the lower end air impact guns? Clarke etc
Are they up to the job?
I have seen they are advertised as having a maximum torque of blah blah blah which is useless info.
Are these upto the job of wheel nuts that are on FT?
A mate of mine got a lidl battery one and it undid four wheel nuts then wouldnt touch the rest!

[bikewiz]

I think if you got one like the Clarke X-Pro 1/2" air impact (rated at 650ft/lbs) or similar and had a compressor that supplies the required pressure and cfm it would easily remove a set of mini lugnuts and most likely just about any other lugnut you would run into. The big question is does your compressor supply 90psi at 6.5cfm (the rating for the Clarke)? If it doesn't it wouldn't matter what gun you had it won't  get enough air to do the job.

 

My cheap pneumatic 1/2" Ingersol Rand (rated at 700ft/lbs) never had a problem removing the 24 lug nuts from my truck when I'm switching from snows to summer tires, the torque rating for the lugnuts is 150ft/lbs. I now use a Milwaukee cordless 1/2" High Torque impact model 2767-20 (rated at 1400ft/lbs) it's way more powerful than the IR and way more convenient.

 

Although he's US based check the Torque Test Channel on You Tube he tests tons of tools it may give you an idea of what you may need.

[imack]

No experience of clarke impact guns, but the cheap no name ones are useless, they'd struggle to remove a mini wheel nut let alone anything that's tight.
I've got a 20 year old Ingersoll Rand at work (I forget the model number but its a titanium and composite model) it's battered but still more powerful than the Snapon guns, and quiet - unlike the Snapon ones.
As mentioned above, you need a compressor that can maintain the appropriate supply pressure and cfm.
Also, the hose you use makes a huge difference. The coiled type hose ore the type that roll up in a reel absolutely kill the power of a even decent gun.
Absolute minimum is a good quality 1/4" hose but you'll get better performance with a 3/8" bore hose even though it will still have 1/4" fittings for the gun and compressor. Keeping the hose as short as possible also improves gun performance.

[Midas Mk1]

From experience at home and work, save up and get a milwaukee fuel 1/2” impact, you’ll wonder why you bothered with cheaper amazon specials / air guns.

Edited by Midas Mk1, 16 April 2023 - 08:20 AM.

[PoolGuy]

Are you certain that you want air? If not, have you already ‘subscribed’ to one of the many battery systems available? I started buying Ryobi stuff a good few years ago, it was cheap (don’t want to be dropping a £800 Bosch in a pool) and on the whole they did the job properly. Since then Ryobi have really upped their game and the batteries and tools are very good for the money, not Milwaukee level but plenty good enough. My impact driver (R18IW7-0) hasn’t failed to undo anything that’s been thrown at it. 

[stuart bowes]

I bought a clarke mains powered one because it was reasonably cheap and I'm never far from a mains outlet when doing the work, there's nothing it hasn't managed to undo yet

 

can probably get better ones sure but it was far better than the air line one we have which didn't undo anything at all, possibly due to air line setup, I dunno

 

anyway an extension lead is easier to manhandle than 20 meters of air line and there's no battery charging to add into the equation

 

horses for courses I guess

Edited by stuart bowes, 16 April 2023 - 08:47 AM.

[absx2]

Same here, we don`t use the air ones anymore as the cordless stuff from Makita is awesome and you can use it at the side of the road.

Even the baby model is pretty dam good but the favorite is the DTW1002Z 18v but it`s not cheap.

 

[Gaz66]

The reason I'm going for an air one is..
They are cheap as long as you have a compressor and as the compressor is at most 10ft away from the job theres no issue with running air lines to the street etc.
When I got the compressor I made sure it would be up to the job of powering air tools.

[sonscar]

I have an RAC badged set bought as a present as I have air.Had it for years and works well.Steve..

[nicklouse]

I bought a cheap set of air tools years ago. The impact was often loaned out to people who needed a a bit more than they had.

[DeadSquare]

Air impact guns don't like long or narrow pipes,

 

Quite modest ones with 10' of 1/2' hose can work amazingly well on a fully charged cylinder.

[MiNiKiN]

I have a Hazet impact gun -. loosened yet anything that could be undone. Cost me 160€ on Amazon special offer - worth every Cent (or Penny)
Often the bottle neck is the hose - I suggest at least 12mm ID (i.e. 1/2" or so)

[ac427]

I have a Makita 3/4" drive impact gun. It's brilliant.

[Tomm]

Personally, I’ve found the air guns regardless of price point to be ok.

However since going over to battery I don’t think I’d go back to air, despite having a cab full of them. I find the battery far more convenient, a lot easier to use, lighter, can get them into tighter spacers due to the lack of hose and fitting, can knock the torque settings down for smaller fittings very easily… I just love them.

Yes, the battery’s can drop down quite quickly but brand dependant spare battery’s can be had for not too much. I have a range of the same brands tools so always have a few batteries on charge. Some properly hefty fixings I will crack with a breaker bar initially anyway.

Another selling point for me using the battery powered at home is due to them being a lot quieter than a compressor and an air gun.