Good Air Wrench

[K2]

Do any of you guys have your own air wrench that you use to rotate your tires or remove and clean the inside of the wheels? I have a compressor and was hoping that I could find a reasonably priced air wrench so that I could do this myself. I figure with the cost of a rotation, the wrench would pay itself off pretty quickly.

If you do go this route, how often do you still have to go in for a balance?

 

[VIPDreamin]

Why not just use a 4 way and a torque wrench?

Air on lugs sometimes is not a good idea.....from experience

 

[MXXN]

I would recommend an IR composite impact gun. Craftsman has the same thing just branded for Sears. I think this is the most current version of what I have ( I own the I/R brand but the craftsman is spec'd the same and a bit cheaper) http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...essors+&+Air+Tools&sName=Automotive+Air+Tools


Get a 1/2 drive. These gun are lightweight and small for the power they make. They will remove axle nuts and some stuff that normal airguns won't budge. Guy use to borrow mine all the time in the Porsche, Audi VW dealerships I worked in. ONe very nice feater is the the direction buttons are on the back of the gun and you can switch directions one handle. Some guns require you to rotate a knob to switch. It is relitivly quite and with 600lbft of reversing torque it gets work done.

You will need a strong air supply to make any airgun run as expected.

 

[K2]

Air on lugs sometimes is not a good idea.....from experience

Details? Why? Strip the lugs?

You will need a strong air supply to make any airgun run as expected.

Good info MXXN --- what kind of pressure are we looking at to power the gun? I may be able to just kill this thread if my compressor doesn't produce enough pressure.

 

[TitanRattler813]

air tends to be a bad idea when/if the lugs end up being too tight... sometimes results in broken studs (I've been there)... also, in an emergency situation, they may be a b! to get off if you have to do it by hand

 

[Stevenredx]

Whats the specs of your compressor?

Also, personally if i was you Klint... i would look around for a decent air tool set/kit instead of just purchasing an impact seperatly.... for the average weekend warrior like you and I, most of the kits will do just fine for awhile and also come with some other air tools that may be useful on down the road. Just my .02

As far using the air gun for the lugs... nice to take them off with and get them started back on but you always want to use a torque wrench for tightening them down... the studs can easily get stripped or broken using an air gun to tighten them down.

 

[Ruffryder]

A good floor jack, stands and the stock lug wrench is all you need to rotate. Tire balance I don't worry about unless I can feel somethings outta whack. Air wrenches are nice if ya have the huge compressor to run it.

 

[VIPDreamin]

Details? Why? Strip the lugs?



Good info MXXN --- what kind of pressure are we looking at to power the gun? I may be able to just kill this thread if my compressor doesn't produce enough pressure.

Stripped lugs and then them being on way too tight.:hmmmm2:

 

[K2]

Okay - well just from these comments, I'm gonna scrap the idea. It was really just a passing thought since I now have a compressor that could probably run the tools. I'll just go the manual route and get a beefy torque wrench. :top:

Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

[TitanRattler813]

Yeah, put them muskles to use :biggrin:

 

[Matt's06]

Blue Point makes some decent air tools for the money. They are made by snap-on. It is their cheaper line of tools. There is nothing wrong with using an impact to put lug nuts on. Just make sure you turn down the knob on the impact.

 

[Yallrun]

Well I just kick the compressor around 120 pounds and if the lugs are being real stubborn I kick it to 140 pounds and my MAC impact gun pops em loose. I've never stripped or broke any lugs out.

 

[5H4D0WD347H]

Some good wheel cleaner and a pressure washer is all you need to clean the inside of the wheels. :top:

 

[rich017]

There is no problem using an air wrench when rotating tires. Just make sure you use a torque wrench when putting the nuts back on

 

[lucke]

impact gun is important for torquing... air ratchets are pretty much useless as you can't quite set tq specs...

if you think about it logically, you should ask what they use at tire shops... their impact guns are set to a specific tq, then they follow through with a hand tq wrench. and they rarely ever have problems...

 

[MXXN]

Its not the pressure as much as it is the volume. A 5 gallon air compressor can make 175psi but the volume of air it can deliver is minumal where as a 30 gal compressor at 90psi would actually get the job done over the high pressure set up.

You can set the air line pressure to high and just destroy the gun. Really anything over 120 is to much. Most air tool rating are at 90psi and based of of CFM for consumption

If your breaking lugs and stripping them then your not using the air tool appropriately so it isn't really the fault of the air tools.

Most guns have no way of setting the torque. They have a control nob that is really more a high medium and low setting since line pressure and volume play a factor. Normally you will use a "torque stick" that is basically an extension that will run the lug into the preset torque at which point the stick will twist and absorb the impacts of the impact gun wich keep it from over torquing the lug. You can run most lugs in with the low setting setting and not overtorque if you dont have a torque stick. Most guys at tire shops don't use torque wrenches. It just depends on the type of tech you are. It never hurts to "click click" on any bolt you ever have to tighten

It isnt a complicated tool. Like all tools it works best with a lil common sense holding on to it :biggrin: It makes life real easy for wheels and suspension type of work.

 

[WCD]

I would recommend an IR composite impact gun. Craftsman has the same thing just branded for Sears. I think this is the most current version of what I have ( I own the I/R brand but the craftsman is spec'd the same and a bit cheaper) http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00919905000P?vName=Tools&cName=Compressors+%26+Air+Tools&sName=Automotive+Air+Tools


Get a 1/2 drive. These gun are lightweight and small for the power they make. They will remove axle nuts and some stuff that normal airguns won't budge. Guy use to borrow mine all the time in the Porsche, Audi VW dealerships I worked in. ONe very nice feater is the the direction buttons are on the back of the gun and you can switch directions one handle. Some guns require you to rotate a knob to switch. It is relitivly quite and with 600lbft of reversing torque it gets work done.

You will need a strong air supply to make any airgun run as expected.

What he said. We use composite IR guns at my shop. They are very nice. Snap On guns are also good, but more expensive.

 

[MXXN]

http://www.asedeals.com/accutorq.html

 

[i_ski]

You can use a impact to put you're wheels back on but you'll want to get a torque stick

http://www.torquestick.com/cart/customer/product.php?productid=33&cat=0

I like the cordless impact a little better because it's faster and you don't have to play with the compressor, though they can be hard to find with a square drive.

http://cgi.ebay.com/14-4V-3-8-Squar...VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

 

[Stevenredx]

I like the cordless impact a little better because it's faster and you don't have to play with the compressor, though they can be hard to find with a square drive.

http://cgi.ebay.com/14-4V-3-8-Squar...VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

thats a pretty good price on that... been thinking about getting me a cordless one :hmmmm2::biggrin: