Here is a subject I actually know something about.
Twelve years ago, I bought, from the local Snap-On dealer, a used Black & Decker
(B&D) impact gun that clipped on to your car's battery's terminals. Just like
jumper cables. Some of you have seen it/me rattling around New England and
Nationals with it. Great tool. It would spin on about 60 to 70 pounds of torque
consistently. A year or two later, we are at a Blacker & Decker outlet store in
Maine. They have a basket full of these things. I should have bought them all. I
could have sold them three times over.
The one I have still works well, but parts acquisition is becoming a problem.
B&D has discontinued most of the spare parts for the thing. I was trying to
build another one or to from leftover parts (Dr. FrankenMurray, I presume?).
When my B&D was having problems two years ago, I started to look into a
replacement. Makita and DeWalt listed a 14.4 volt cordless impact with a half
inch drive. The DeWalt was about $180. and the Makita was $270. through Home
Depot. I do not know if either company actually built the gun. I was able to
repair my B&D impact gun. At the end of this past year, the brushes had finally
worn down to the wires that connected to the metal block of the brush material.
I contacted an electric motor repair place and found brushes that were a very
close match. A little filing, a little solder, and bingo it's up and running
again. I continue to search local tag sales to find another one. Bupkis so far.
Only nine years of looking. :-(
Toyota's spec for lugs on my Corolla GT-S and MR2s were 65 to 70 pounds. This
thing was perfect. Now that I have advanced to Porsches, I need 94 pounds. I
have to break the lugs off and then re-torque them after I put the stock wheels
back on. I use the 70 pounds that the gun puts down for running in between stock
tire removal and reinstallation; i.e. those ohhh so fine Hoosier Racing Tires.
Most of the stuff in Danmark/JCWhitney catalogs are pretty useless in comparison
to the Black and Decker.
richj50@bit-net.com wrote:
> Just a clarification on my earlier question: I have seen many people use
> the cordless drills to spin the nuts on and off once the torque has been
> broken, but I'm wondering about an actual impact wrench that could break
> the torque too.
> Rich Johnston
--
Matt Murray
mailto:mattm@nassau.cv.net
mailto:mdmurray@gwns.com
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