What did you do to your 4th gen. Legacy today? Vol - 10

My dad got me an electric impact years ago, and I've been pretty damn happy with it. It's bulky and I'll need to use a breaker bar for tight spaces, but works well for anything I can get it seated on.

I think it depends on the tool itself, in either case. I've had an a cheap basic air impact that way underperforms a nice electric gun, and I've used a borrowed IR big gun that blows most any electric away. Really think it's a question of how much you want to spend.

 

A few years ago I would have said that the pricepoint will favor the air tool, until I used the 1/2" Earthquake XT that Harbor Freight sells for like 200 bucks. That thing has plenty of chooch.

I have a Milwaukee M18 1/2" impact that I've been satisfied with for basic tasks.

 

My dad has a similarly rated pneumatic Craftsman impact wrench with a 30 gal tank and it definitely has more ass behind it.

 

Long term, I'd go with a pneumatic. I'm also not sure how well the Milwaukee M18 will age but the pneumatic should out last me with basic maintenance.

I don't have a lot of experience with air impacts. I was going to buy air but by the time I priced up a comparable air wrench (torque-wise) with a tank and hose, an electric IR was a no-brainer. It is a bulky gun and can get awkward to use sometimes but extensions and universal joints make it work in small spaces just fine. The Milwaukee may be even nicer from what I've heard. Once I own a house with a garage I may upgrade to air but the IR is holding it's own just fine.

 

There has only been 1 time it couldn't get the job done; rear lateral arm cam bolts. Those things can burn in hell.

Edited March 13, 2020 by amm203

Your choice in compressor will make all the difference.

 

If your compressor cannot produce the requisite CFM, the pneumatic impact cannot produce maximum torque.

 

I nice sized compressor can be used for so many other things too. (if you need help justifying the initial investment.)

 

I have an 1/2" IR impact at work that has thoroughly impressed me. Most fasteners at work are rusted and/or covered in concrete and it has never failed me.

Yea, if I were to start over, I would have an electric impact. Would have been nice but I don't have a huge need for it immediately. I'm going to be doing some (likely terrible) car painting on my e30 dumpster fire and figured I'd get enough of a tank for that. Most likely used.

 

Hence the thought about air impact. They also seem much slimmer and usually I really only need that help on hard to reach bolts. If I can get to it easily then I can also put my 200lbs on my 2ft breaker. I mean I had to JUMP on it to get one wheel bearing with someone on the brake pedal but... I got it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've got the first gen Blue Point 1/2" air impact from when I worked in the shop years ago. I run it on a husky air compressor now with no issue, not much I have trouble with I use heat otherwise and it's all good

My mechanic friend said the IR 7150 was awesome, his normal go-to air impact is a Nitrocat. Take that for what it's worth.

I had a Snap-on electric impact that could handle anything on any Subaru. Had it for roughly 10 years and now the batteries aren't holding their charge. Replacement batteries are in the $400 range. Yeah, that Harbor Freight Earthquake thing is looking pretty good for whenever I need one again. But realistically, the only thing I've used an impact on has been lug nuts and axle nuts. Otherwise, I'm fine with hand wrenches. Oh, and undoing top bolts on a strut/coilover. But how often are you doing those things?

Whatever generic harbor freight corded version has been working fine for me for a few years. Lug nuts, axle nuts, clutch bolts, nothing super serious I guess, but I've appreciated not gearing up for war for some of the bigger jobs.

 

I haven't done much to mine lately, and I kinda need to. It's slowly fallen from it's former glory over the last two years. Most of it cosmetic which is usually the least important and most expense to fix. It's been slowly weighing on me.

 

Then I realize the role the car plays in getting amped for work in the morning, and unwinding on the way home. It's being a good machine for now. Smiles all around. I think the next fun thing I do will be an STi rack to replace the leaks I have now.

 

Then suspension, then cosmetic, then clutch and blast plates, then cosmetic, then bigger turbo and fuel, then cosmetic, then

Edited March 13, 2020 by seanyb505

You need a new pedal ass.

 

 

what's a pedal ass, Walter?

what's a pedal ass, Walter?

 

I think he just misplaced the comma.

 

You need a new pedal, ass....

Gentlemen, clearly this is a pedal ass.

Gentlemen, clearly this is a pedal ass.

 

Or perhaps the world’s oldest profession — to peddle ass.

Thanks guys I needed this.

Thanks all.. yeah having sold the fun car, the LGT is now also the "fun" car.. and how often do I work on it? Not that often.. so I think to upgrade my electric impact with another electric will be right the answer. My current one is a two-hundred dollar piece from Cambodian Tire, but that IR model looks pretty feisty.

You can get impact wrenches in almost any torque in both electric and air. I have a Coleman 15 gallon compressor and several impact wrenches. One is quite good for just about everything, another is the same size but nowhere near as much torque and I have a small butterfly torque wrench that is useful for getting into tight areas but is also relatively weak. Princess Auto, which is the Canadian equivalent of Harbor Freight in the US, has a sale starting next week of an 1180 ft-lb impact wrench for CDN$179.99 which is probably enough to break your wrist anyway.

 

One advantage of air tools is that there is no electricity so you can use it where there are fuel leaks with the confidence that it will not start a fire.

 

Air tools also have the advantage that the power source is elsewhere so you only carry the weight of the tool.

 

The experience I have had with most battery tools is they work for two to five years then things go wrong with the battery and replacement is not a trivial expense.

 

Air tools of all kinds can be used with a compressor whereas not many manufacturers have battery-operated multi-tools. I have several paint sprayers, 3/8" and 1/2" ratchets, die grinders, a drill, a cutoff wheel, a panel crimper, a punch and flange tool and a few others that I have forgotten. I doubt any battery-operated combinations like that exist.

Edited March 15, 2020 by amptramp

Something worth mentioning.. electric impact gun batteries can be rebuilt, and usually end up performing better due to advances in battery tech.

 

Local to me, we have Interstate Battery retail locations. Most of them also rebuild those impact batteries. Something for y'all to look into...

 

Scotty

Oh yeah? I didn't know that! I'll call a battery shop, thanks for that!

 

Installed the JDM spats and strakes and grabbed some pics. So much better than the RokBlokz mudflaps even though they aren’t as functional. No regrets at all.

Oh yeah? I didn't know that! I'll call a battery shop' date=' thanks for that![/quote']I went through this years ago. I had an older IR gun, to replace the batteries it was in the 200 buck range. Rebuilding was 45bux.. then again this was 10 years ago......

 

Scotty

I went through this years ago. I had an older IR gun, to replace the batteries it was in the 200 buck range. Rebuilding was 45bux.. then again this was 10 years ago......

 

Scotty

 

I was able to find replacement batteries for my Craftsman on ebay. They were something like $45 for a pair and allowed me to have one on the charger with the other one in use.

Well gas pedal or ass pedal, looks like I need one. Yesterday morning went out shopping with my daughter and car went in limp mode just pulling out from my spot on store's parking lot. Coasted to the other end of parking lot and had to restart the car couple of times before engine ran properly again.

 

Not a good feeling with a kid in the car. Also it was 47 degrees while before it would only do it when it was around freezing temp.

 

Car is sitting in the garage and I will drive wife's Tribeca until I get the part. Interesting how long will it take with this coronavirus business.

Rotated the tires and while it cleaned the wheels inner and outer sections. Changed the oil and rear differential fluid. Giving Mobil Delvac 75w-90 a shot.

 

Debated using Delvac 75w-90 in the transmission but chickened out, lol. I'll research it further and make a decision soon.

 

Thank God I've worked on cars long enough to know you remove the fill plug before removing the drain plug because the sucker was on super tight on the rear diff.

Edited March 16, 2020 by Gabo

Rotated the tires and while it cleaned the wheels inner and outer sections. Changed the oil and rear differential fluid. Giving Mobil Delvac 75w-90 a shot.

 

Debated using Delvac 75w-90 in the transmission but chickened out, lol. I'll research it further and make a decision soon.

 

Thank God I've worked on cars long enough to know you remove the fill plug before removing the drain plug because the sucker was on super tight on the rear diff.

 

 

Rear diff drain plug might have been me. No air used, but I made sure they were not gong to leak. I have had stripped ones come from the factory and have seen cracked covers from the plug being inserted too far (air possibly). So I was always careful and used the correct tools, but I had long bars and the cars were over head.