[Shop-talk] Impact wrenches (heavy duty)

[Bill Gilroy]

Judging from your description, “Snowpocalypse(TM) here (that's three inches in this area, for the uninitiated)” I will guess you live in the Seattle area.  I had the same flat tire crap on day one of Snowpocalypse up in Woodinville.  But I did not have some NASCAR pit crew guy stop and help.  It was about 7AM.  Mine was more fumbling with standard old F150 crap scatter about.

And who designed the tire winch, I think I have a scar from where that went wrong.

Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10

________________________________
From: Shop-talk <shop-talk-bounces at autox.team.net> on behalf of Scott Hall via Shop-talk <shop-talk at autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2019 12:53:20 PM
To: shop-talk at autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Impact wrenches (heavy duty)

Oh gosh. I didn't even think about cordless.

So...maybe fifteen years ago I had a whole slew of Milwaukee 18v tools, among them an impact wrench. It didn't suck, but it wasn't impressive either. The batteries weren't anything to write home about and I lost several quickly and was always replacing them and they were expensive. I kind of wrote off the whole idea of cordless except for a (very) light duty drill/driver...which I never need, so I don't have one.

Then, about a month ago when we got Snowpocalypse(TM) here (that's three inches in this area, for the uninitiated) my F250 rear tire just...exploded on the interstate. It was more the cold and the wind than the snow, and while I'm grumbling and crawling around the cab gathering tools (the jack and some of its tools live under one rear seat, other tools live under the other rear seat, the key for the spare wheel hoist is under every insurance card I've ever had--except the current one, of course--in the glove compartment, etc.) Triple-A pulls in in front me.

I hadn't called Triple-A. I was perplexed.

Dude jumps out, snatches a race jack and a plastic box from the back of his truck. Before I can say anything, he says, "looks like you're havin' some trouble, huh?" I nod. He yells, "I do this all day! Why don't you get the tire and I'll get your wheel off!"

I'm already freezing my ass off, so I just grab the tire winch tools and get at it. Literally before I have the handle in the gear, he's got the jack under the axle and the truck is in the air. He pops open the plastic box and it's a Milwaukee Fuel impact and a set of sockets.

My heart sinks--I'm already feeling bad for this guy in the cold trying to help, and how he's going to have to screw with this lightweight cordless impact on the F250--

The wheel's already off. It was like watching a NASCAR pit stop. Seriously. My 2131 can lag a little on those lug nuts before spinning them. The Fuel cordless just ripped them RIGHT THE HELL OFF. Damnedest thing I've ever seen. My jaw dropped.

So now I'm cranking on the winch because we're waiting on *me* and he's got the rim in the bed and is trying not to look like I'm the limiting reagent here.

I get the spare, he pops it on, and the damn thing zips the nuts on just about as fast. No lagging at all. No slow BAP-BAP-BAP as it snugs up. Sounded like a woodpecker, if the woodpecker was ten feet tall and angry at something.

It's freezing, but I'm staring at The Impact Wrench of The Gods, just standing there. He sees me staring, grins, and says, "yeah, I love that thing! Have a great afternoon!"

And then he was gone. The whole thing happened so quickly I was left wondering if it even happened at all.

Anyway, I made a note to myself--which I forgot until now--to go out and buy one of those things, because goddamn was that thing amazing. I have no affiliation with Milwaukee, and I wasn't even aware there was a 'Fuel' line of cordless tools, but I will have that impact wrench. It was UNREAL.

On Mon, Feb 25, 2019 at 9:31 AM Joe Szwed via Shop-talk <shop-talk at autox.team.net<mailto:shop-talk at autox.team.net>> wrote:
I know you said air impact but you may want to look into the Milwaukee M18 Fuel cordless impact.  They claim 1400 ft-lbs of torque breaking and 1000 ft-lbs tightening.  I follow a couple heavy duty mechanics groups and this cordless impact gets high scores with many guys preferring it over their pneumatic.  There is even a 3/4" version available.  I know I plan on replacing my 18V DeWalt with one once I have the spare cash.

Joe

On Sun, Feb 24, 2019, 9:15 PM eric--- via Shop-talk <
shop-talk at autox.team.net<mailto:shop-talk at autox.team.net>> wrote:

> Ok,  I know this is a new religious topic here, but I'm looking for a tool
> recommendation.  Stay with me.
>
>
>  So I ended up buying a new (to me) dump body F350 with a powerstroke
> diesel. It only had one owner, and was well maintained (he gave me every
> single record for it.)
>
> So I am starting to do my "once over" before I put it in service.  One of
> the thing is removing the wheels and checking the brakes.  Well, the
> mechanic that did this last had a really HD torque wrench.  I managed to
> eventually get every nut off, but it made it clear that I need a more
> powerfully impact wrench.
>
> So I come to the experts.  I'm looking for a heavy duty air impact
> wrench.  I prefer 1/2, but I'm willing to listen to any advice on moving up
> to 3/4.
>
> I'm looking for a tool to use when my 'normal' impact can't handle to job,
> so it will not be used a ton.
>
> Any ideas?  Price isn't much of a concern as it seems even the top end
> ones aren't outrageous.  (Note- I'm not a Snap on junkie that likes over
> priced brand names.)
>
>
> Sent from my Commodore 64 on a 2400 Baud Modem.
> Tech Viper
> "Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational
> being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory." Ralph
> Waldo Emerson
_______________________________________________

Shop-talk at autox.team.net<mailto:Shop-talk at autox.team.net>
Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html<https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.team.net%2Fdonate.html&data=02%7C01%7C%7C5925fb08ff9a4cbb8f9a08d69b79ad25%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636867344224801272&sdata=6I%2Faz9r4RerJnsIOiknmHscEMHqxggYYwawSnuYdN6k%3D&reserved=0>
Suggested annual donation  $12.96
Archive: http://www.team.net/pipermail/shop-talk<https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.team.net%2Fpipermail%2Fshop-talk&data=02%7C01%7C%7C5925fb08ff9a4cbb8f9a08d69b79ad25%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636867344224811271&sdata=0RVcVTTfFr9b3gj%2BrKA%2FuqsHtfvohCyjrjxKvK1MD%2B8%3D&reserved=0>

Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/scott.hall.personal@gmail.com<https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fautox.team.net%2Fmailman%2Foptions%2Fshop-talk%2Fscott.hall.personal%40gmail.com&data=02%7C01%7C%7C5925fb08ff9a4cbb8f9a08d69b79ad25%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636867344224821282&sdata=mLUQ4edNivEsqMjbrkP1fgsjDSuPTyOdFlsX9SXgH%2B8%3D&reserved=0>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/shop-talk/attachments/20190226/2572da9d/attachment-0001.html>