I have a cheap ass pneumatic impact wrench that won’t remove lug nuts even with the air cranked up above 90 psi.

I assume it’s not possible to improve mine, but how much do you have to spend that will remove lug nuts? Thanks.

A 20V Dewalt will do a lot.

I have one of these Cheap about $18 (250 ft/lbs) and one of these Better about $80 (800 ft/lb) at home. Both work well taking off lug nuts on cars and pickups. Have never needed industrial strength such as 3/4" etc.

Traveling I carry this works at about $70 (350 ft/lb) and a 25" 1/2" breaker bar just in case.

Under $200 for an Ingersoll Rand IR231. I've used $400 snapon ones and always went back to my IRs. They just work.

A few drops of Marvel Mystery Oil will go a long way.

Les Schwabb could not break loose the lug nuts on my newly purchased '02 GMC K2500.

My 1/2 inch Earthquake (HF) impact gun would not do it either. But a 3/4 drive breaker bar with a HyLift jack handle for a cheater broke em loose.

I added a little anti-sieze to each lug bolt and a full set of new lug nuts when I went in and got the tires rotated.

4-500 ft/lbs should work for lug nuts. Mines around 1350 and it will twist the axles off I think .

^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^

The womens have Ryobi string trimmers...

I caught a really cheap clearance on 18v 6 amp hour hour Ryobi batteries at Home Depot... bought every clearance battery they had.

Decided to try one of these...



I had been looking at Milwaukee but didn't want to get into a whole new species of batteries (my tools are OTHER brands that Milwaukee).

This Ryobi is a monster... maybe not the monster of Milwaukee, but all I can imagine I will ever need in an impact.

Personally, I will never use air impacts again.

In fact... I will sell my two 1/2 air impacts right here... and right now for $50 shipped... both.

Funny, a Milwaukee 1/2" 18v Fuel would have broken them loose without even breaking a sweat. For the op, buy a Milwaukee fuel 18v and you'll never go back to air. I only use my pneumatic impact for lighter work like my atv wheels, where they require less torque. You got to be careful with the Milwaukee, it is rated at 1,400 ft lbs of torque. If it can't break something loose, it will rip it apart (snap bolts). I don't like using them to tighten stuff down. That is what a torque wrench or ratchet is for.

Depends on who/how they were put on. I've twisted in two many a stud trying to get gaulded lug nuts off.

All that salt on the roads prolly rusted them on there.

I'd try seafoam deep creep and a breaker bar...no need to gorilla torque them 100 ft-lbs or so

Yepp... The Milwaukee will absolutely break them loose... or wring the stud... they are insane.

Friend has the 3/4" version... absurd power. Not cheap

Spray about a table spoons worth or more into the air inlet. Reconnect the hose & blip the trigger a few times before putting the socket on the nut.

If a bunch of dark colored lube comes out the exhaust, repeat the process.

Yep, I used to work on tug boats and barges and a lot of that schidt is rusty big heavy bolts. Even the 1/2" fuels are incredible. The one I use is rated for 1400 ft lbs. Before I bought it, I was trying to loosen an axle nut on my Tundra. They are supposed to torque them on at 173 ft lbs, but even a breaker bar wouldn't budge that damn nut. I broke one of my breaker bars in fact, so I said screw it and bought the same 1/2" milwaukee that I use at work. That axle nut came off so easy, it wasn't even funny. Battery's last a long time too.

I have only heard great things about the Milwaukee 18V cordless impact driver. I may get one down the road.

Along with the pneumatic impact wrench, you have to have a large enough compressor: horsepower, pressure as well as CFM, and also a large enough air hose to get the most out of your impact wrench.

Couple hundred will buy a good half inch impact.

Don't run them at 90 either.

Generally just douche them with wd40.

I MUCH prefer pneumatic over battery powered in my shop for 1/2 and bigger.

The little battery impact in 3/8ths or quarter is nice though....I still prefer air.


If your air compressor says "oil less"......get battery operated.

Yep, any oil is bettern nun !

I have one of these. Tightening up long winded bolts installing a heavy duty anti sway bar on the back of the truck, the Ryobi quit long before the 1/2 inch air did.

Ryobi has much less torque.

Kroil. (First job in a machine shop was in 1967, so you might think I have a bit of experience taking stuff apart and putting it together. I have never, in all that time, found a penetrating oil as good as Kroil.)

+1
Impressive what it will do.

Marvel makes an oil that's specific to air tools...

If the impact wrench has seen a lot of use it can be rebuilt by replacing the vanes.

I have several impacts including various 231's and mac's version of it clear through 3/4 and 1" guns.

The 4 speed ryobi (the poster has the 3) will beat my s&k 1/2" every time (I run 150psi) my 231s cannot set a nut that the ryobi can't pull.....and the ryobi can't set a nut the 231 wont pull.

The battery is essential. It takes the big beast to maximize the cordless.

Unless I am doing a ton of impact work, I will never grab the air again.

An air impact needs volume as well as pressure. If you have a long small hose or a restrictive regulator, it isn't getting power to the wrench.

I bought a 20V 1/2 inch Dewalt a couple years ago and haven't used the air impact since. It has three torque settings and variable speed. Top setting will twist off lugs. I liked it so much I bought the 3/8 version for smaller jobs. Get some torque sticks too for tightening lugs so you can spin them on without overtightening.

Jerry

I used Aircat at work, way less money than Snap-on and would spin off stuff the others would not.

Based on several online reviews I went with the Dewalt 20V XR model DCF899M1 1/2" impact wrench with a charger and 4 Ahr battery.

700# of torque ought to be able to break my wrist.

On sale at Lowes - originally $320 - on sale for $250.

An air impact needs volume as well as pressure. If you have a long small hose or a restrictive regulator, it isn't getting power to them.

Jerry

[/quote]


By far the best reply to th Ops question.



You can have 90psi at the tank and 90 at the tool.
But if you don't have volume flow, when you hit the trigger, you might only
actually have 50 psi flowing to the tool.

Ever see a garden hose move when you hit turn on the nozzle?
It's because the pressure drops in the hose.
Then the hose jumps if you stop?
Pressure jumped up in the hose.

Or, you start spraying, and you get a long stream that weakens.
Pressure drop.
High pressure, lack of flow (volume)

I carry the new 3/8" Milwaukee with the adjustable torque. Works on everything I have, even has more power than my 1/2" snap-on air impact.

Seems to me I read somewhere that the new trucks lug nuts torque requirement is somewhere in the 105-115 ft lbs level. Not sure where I read that but now I know why I struggle to get them off when I'm doing work on my trucks any more...

I've been wanting to get a good battery operated impact wrench for quite a while. This thread is very timely. I have one of the small 1/4" drive Dewalts and I find I use it a lot more than I thought I would . Not looking forward to changing all my tools over to 20V Dewalt from the 18V set I have now, but I'm getting darned tired of replacing batteries in the 18V units...
I do have a Dewalt 20V leaf blower I was given as a gift along with three 5 Ah batteries and I found the 5-6 Ah batteries make all the difference in these tools. They not only last longer but they seem to have a lot more power and hold a charge a really long time...

I have a no name electric impact I bought off Amazon for $65 that's rated at 450 ft/lbs. It's taken off everything I've ever put it on, it's pretty amazing. It even took off my bush hog blades which are notoriously hard to break loose. I'm sure the cordless ones are nice, but for the money I can just pull my small generator out and run it if I can't get a power cord to it. After using this thing I'll never use an air impact again.



My Toyota Tundra specs the lug nuts at 97 ft lbs. for aluminum wheels and 154 if you're using steel wheels. I used to just tighten lug nuts by feel but now I put a torque wrench on them every time. I've found my frozen or loose lug nut problems have gone away after I started using the torque wrench.

Throw that thing in gully with the Curtis Mathis teevee and old tires.

😂😂😂.

Milwaukee fuel 18v for the win.

I generally use a 1/2” 18 volt Milwaukee. It works for most everything. I can’t see dragging an air hose around all the time. Snap On sells a battery impact that will remove the lug nuts on a semi. It is not cheap.
Lowes sells a couple of different pneumatic impacts. There more powerful one was still cheap. Made in China, of course.

Dewalt makes an adapter so you can use your 20 volt batteries on the older 18 tools. Put your new 20 volt batteries to good use.

https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-18v-2...&hvtargid=pla-347787544740&psc=1

Lube your gun and make sure it's getting air. +3 on the electric guns. I rarely take out my pneumatics unless I'm working on heavy equipment.
I've had good results with Aircat and Nitrocat impacts. They either break bolts or ruin Cr-Mo sockets before they give up.

In the trade we routinely used 125 to 150 psi shop pressure...cranked it up from there if a problem arose. 90 psi? Lawyer bullschidt.

Here ya go, Bob.

https://wheelandtireproz.com/lug-nut-torque-chart/

Worth repeating.

During grass cutting season I keep a Dewalt in the truck in case I have a flat on my trailer since I haul it every Sat to cut a place.

It sucks to have the flat spin on you instead of lug nuts breaking loose.

We use IR at work. If you are going to feed oil into pneumatic tools don't use stuff that will evaporate and leave glue like varnish. use the proper oil.
And I second soaking rusty frozen nuts with Kroil. It will creep in and make removing rusty nuts much easier. Don't use it to oil air tools it leaves a hard coating when it dries.

They make oil for air tools so why not use it? Marvel Mystery Oil is just wintergreen scented naptha and WD40 is one of the lubricants that leaves a sticky film (so never use it on firearms especially on the triggers). Kroil is ok but the best penetrating oil for rusty nut/bolts is SeaFoam DEEP CREEP.

Ka Chink! Thanks for the pearl!

Although the torque of cordless impacts are impressive, it’s not the same torque offered with a quality air impact. And if working on a stubborn series of bolts better have a line up of charged batteries.

The SnapOn MG725 and equivalent IR 1/2” drive impacts are the best (although a good compressor is part of the equation) and the SnapOn MG325 3/8” drive will take “most” lug nuts off.

A quality cordless impact will take care of most jobs until a guy starts into chassis and exhaust systems on a pickup or bigger, but the cordless sure is handy.

My Makita 3/8” and 1/2” cordless impacts won’t fit into as small a space as my MG325 will.

I needed to remove a hitch ball nut that was torqued to 450lb. My Milwaukee 18v impact wrench took it right off.