decent electric impact gun?

[daniel_buck]

So I a friend of mine and I were putting on some new parts on his 4d JK, and we couldn't get the pinion nuts off the differential and transfer case. (even with a big breaker bar) Tom was nice enough to let us come over and use his impact gun. I'm sold, I've got to have one of these now, haha! :-D

My question though, I don't want to get into a full air setup, I don't have a whole lot of space.

Are there any electric impact guns that are worth buying? I already have a set of deep well impact sockets in 1/2" drive.

[RAT]

By decent I suppose you mean not too expensive? Electric impacts are not near as strong or reliable as their pneumatic cousins but having said that, I've used a couple of different ones that are pretty darn powerful.
This one is the best I've seen, but it ain't cheap- http://www.shopperschoice.com/item_i...FaaDQgodNRMALw

Thing is, the cheaper they are, the less torque. For the work you want to do you need at least 300lb/ft. Anything less and you'll be disappointed. I normally suggest HF for tools, but in this case I think you go with Dewalt and Milwaukee. Ryobi has one but I'm not a fan.

[MyBrokenJeep]

Saw this one on Craigslist... seems like a reasonable price too.

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/tls/3812012446.html

[Jason]

Do you have on-board air? I have CO2 and can run an impact if needed. Can an impact gun or other be run using our on-board air?

[inVERt'D]

Anything short of a York or a CO2 tank, and you'd be better off using a 1/2" breaker bar (which you should probably carry anyway).

[daniel_buck]

I do have a large 3 foot 1/2" drive non ratcheting breaker bar (it's my tire iron, hah!) But for this pinion nut, we just weren't able to get the positioning of the bar to where we could break the nut loose. Either the control arm was in the way, or the bar hit the ground, or we hit the oil pan.

No, I don't have OBA, I just have a little 12v air pump that I hook up to the battery.

I'll see what I can find used, a dewalt or something, maybe I can find something local :-)

Thanks fellas!

[Materdaddy]

Anything short of a York or a CO2 tank, and you'd be better off using a 1/2" breaker bar (which you should probably carry anyway).

Too add to this, even with a York, you'd likely need a hand throttle you could lock at 2500 RPMs or so to get enough air to run an impact.

[curtis]

Buy a small air compressor and air impact. You will have a better setup for the same money.

[aw12345]

From experience Snapon makes a bitching little electric impact, tons of torque but costs tons of money.
For your continued tinkering plans a good compressor and air tools is a hard setup to beat.
You like messing with metal so a plasma cutter might be in the future, guess what you need air .
So the path is clear, go spend money my friend

[daniel_buck]

Yea, I know I'd eventually like air tools, I just don't really have much space right now. Maybe I could get by with a small compressor until I move somewhere that I have room for a larger one?

[aw12345]

a 3 hp 110 volt compressor will get you by, as almost anything bigger is better

[curtis]

A 3 hp doesn't take up any more room than a 5 gal bucket.

[daniel_buck]

I guess the only difference between a small tank and a larger one is that it will cycle alot more often? Or is there a power difference as well?

[aw12345]

It's a combination of tanks size and compressor air volume. 3hp compressor has a barely acceptable duty cycle. 5hp compressor with a 60 gallon tank has a much better duty cycle and the upright models do not take a lot of room

[jonah]

If you decide to get a compressor, I would bite the bullet and get a decent sized upright. Like Art said they have a small footprint. My small compressor takes up just as much floor space as an upright. "I wish I didn't have so much air pressure and volume" are words that have never been spoken! I can't remember, do you have 220 in that garage?