Air Compressor and air impact wrench

[whey13]

Hello all I am in desperate need of some help! Sorry for the long post and lots of questions but I need lots of help! haha

I have to take the lugs nuts off an International truck. I've tried with my Neiko, Craftsman, Husky air impact wrenches but failed miserably. They are all 1/2" air wrenches. I connect it to a DeWALT D55168 Heavy-Duty 1.6 HP Continuous, 200 PSI, 15 Gallon Workshop Compressor. I've also tried using WURTH Nut Buddy, and each lug nut took about one hour to take off with the nut buddy. I am in need of some powerful help!

Do I need to upgrade my air impact wrenches or my air compressor? Or both?

I am currently looking at 3/4" Ingersoll and Aircat wrenches because it seems to put out the most torque. Is there significant power difference between 1/2" and 3/4" ? All the googling led me to believe that most people who work on commercial trucks use 3/4"

If I do upgrade my air impact wrench to 3/4" would I need to upgrade my air compressor or can my DeWalt handle the 3/4" wrench?

Here are the specific details for the 3/4" Aircat wrench I am interested in.
Drive (in.) 3/4
Speed - No Load (RPM) 4500
Average Air Consumption (CFM) 7.8
CFM at Load 7.8
Operating PSI 90–120
Working Torque (ft.-lb.) 200–1200
Max. Torque (ft.-lbs.) 1400

Upgrading both impact wrench and air compressor is costly so I was hoping to just upgrade my air impact wrench. But as of now it seems like I would have to upgrade both. But if anyone has any suggestions please let me know!

 

[Tenex]

As the white girls say, "I literally can't even."

I don't know where to start except to tell you to do some reading. A 15 gallon compressor is a joke if you think you're going to be running impact wrenches. By the time you upgrade your compressor and guns you might as well purchase a high-torque, cordless, impact wrench from either Dewalt, Ingersoll Rand, Milwaukee, or Makita.

 

[jallyn]

Look into a bigger compressor for sure. Get a 5-HP, 80-gallon if you are serious about big lug nuts. This is big money. If you are on a budget there is Craigslist, Harbor Freight, and maybe Menards in your area.

Then after you buy the compressor it won't be as hard to buy a better impact wrench.

 

[bcradio]

A 15 gallon compressor is a joke if you think you're going to be running impact wrenches.

Not at all! Unless of course your trying to do production work, which it sounds like he isn't. Compressors will pretty much act the same until the pump kicks on. I used to use an 8 gallon just fine with my impact for many years. The only down side was having to wait a little for the pump to catch up, but I was in no hurry.

You will want to upgrade your impact wrench and possibly the air hose and fittings on your compressor. Assuming the max psi on that compressor goes high enough and you have the regulator set high enough that is.

good luck

 

[DBendr]

Buy a 40" Breaker bar, the socket you need, and break them loose.Spin off with your gun. Any of them.

 

[scw1991]

to run an impact you need air volume and lots of it. I had a 1.5HP (true HP) and a 12 gallon tank years ago trying to run my IR-231 impact and actually had a few lug nuts strip themselves onto the stud because of heat generated trying to break the nut loose.

 

[hangfirew8]

Upgrade all your fittings to hi-flow like Milton V. In my case one HF quick disconnect stood between my tank and my impact's full potential.

-HF

 

[theoldwizard1]

Buy a 40" Breaker bar, the socket you need, and break them loose.Spin off with your gun. Any of them.

By far the most COST EFFECTIVE solution !

That little compressor would work with a 3/4" impact, but you will be stopping a lot to let it catch up.

When putting the lug nuts back on, what are you torquing them to ?

 

[99LeCouch]

Upgrade all your fittings to hi-flow like Milton V. In my case one HF quick disconnect stood between my tank and my impact's full potential.

-HF

This. In addition to getting a larger impact. Should be $25-30 for all the bits. CarQuest should have all of it, and for a decent price. Female fitting on the compressor, male fitting on the compressor end of the hose, female fitting on the tool end of the hose, male fitting on the tool.

 

[JJThrasher]

Depends on how heavy duty the truck is and how often you want to remove them. If you have the nut buddy I'd use that to break them loose and run them off with the 1/2" gun. For big trucks at home I use a 60 gallon compressor, 1/2" lines, and a 1" impact. At work its the same except dual 80 gallon compressors because of higher volume. I wouldn't try to run a 3/4" or 1" gun off of a 15 gallon you'll **** the tank dry in no time flat.

 

[Loscaldazar]

Make sure your tool is receiving 90 PSI of air pressure when it is running at full tilt. There should be 90 PSI with the trigger pulled at the inlet of the gun, not 90 PSI at the gauge before the restrictive hose and fittings an without the gun running (otherwise when the gun runs, it may only be getting half that depending on a few factors).

High flow fittings help reduce PSI drop too, although with 200 PSI to work with, you could also just turn up the pressure at the regulator to compensate for that.

An IR2235 or the aircat equivalent (about 1200-1300 ft-lbs) of torque in 1/2 drive should work, but a 3/4 drive gun would also work too. Know anyone with those that you could borrow to test out?

 

[Bondo]

and each lug nut took about one hour to take off with the nut buddy. I am in need of some powerful help!

Ayuh,.... A 3/4" ratchet, extension, socket, 'n 4' cheater pipe is how I changed truck tires for years,....

 

[hosz]

Could the lug nuts be rusted on? How long has it been since the lug nuts were removed? I'm surprised any impact would have a problem removing lug nuts. Have you tried soaking the lug nuts in liquid wrench or Kroil then using the big red wrench?

I have a 110 psi 12 gallon 1/2 hp compressor and IR 2135Ti and its zipped off crank bolts. Only thing it had trouble with was rusted suspension bolts but still got them off.

 

[Greg85mcss]

That compressor is 5scfm@90 psi. Depending on the gun rating & torque of the lug nuts it might not be enough. I had a craftsman gun that was rared around 6 & struggled on shop air. Went to a ir composite & it would knock off car lug nuts on my dad's 25 year old 4 gallon no problem. The hoses & fittings would probably help & be good to have anyways for the cost. Carquest does have good fittings as mentioned above.


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[just a noob]

That nut buddy is supposed to be 2950 ft lbs output, if you're having trouble breaking the lugs loose with that I don't know if a 3/4 gun will do it for you.

 

[firebox40dash5]

Not at all! Unless of course your trying to do production work, which it sounds like he isn't. Compressors will pretty much act the same until the pump kicks on. I used to use an 8 gallon just fine with my impact for many years. The only down side was having to wait a little for the pump to catch up, but I was in no hurry.

^ Pretty much this.

Get yourself some V (or other high flow) fittings, and a real 3/8 hose, if you're trying to use a 1/4" hose. Find the tank outlet and figure out its size. If it's 1/4NPT, get a 1/4 tee, if it's larger bush it to 3/8 and get a 3/8 tee. Slap all the other stuff that was in the outlet on the straight run, and put a coupler right on the angle run. Use said coupler for "real" work, not running nail guns.

I have a similarly small CH/Speedaire 2hp ~30gal, it quite respectably runs every air tool I've tried, at least for a bit. Die grinder, 2135ti, air chisel, I was surprised how well it did with all of them.

 

[gdocktor3]

I bought a 30 gallon craftsman horizontal with 5hp motor for $200 used. Run a 3/8" hose with 3/8" body automotive couplers and plugs. The couplers and plugs can be bought from Grainger or similar companies for cheap. Hose can be bought anywhere really, but Ebay has cheap Goodyear and Flexzilla hoses. Then I bought a quality impact wrench. First was a new old stock Snap On IM6100 from ebay for $160 I think. Upgraded to a 4 month old MG725 off Craigslist for $150. Most recently I bought a 6 month old 3/4" Aircat 1600-TH for $125 shipped off Ebay and run a 1/2" hose straight from compressor to hose. It is killer. I am not a mechanic and don't make money with tools. I just like good stuff and doing my own repairs. If you take your time and look around you can find great deals. All that stuff I mentioned cost less then a new name brand 3/4" impact wrench.

Side note - for an additional $50 the MG725 came with 4 month old 1/2" Snap On metric and sae shallow socket sets with only 1 or 2 sockets used from each set. I already had Sunex and Craftsman impact sets, but couldn't let that deal pass lol. And FWIW Sunex impact sockets are absolutely, positively the best bang for buck impact sockets. Here is a pic of the Sunex and Snap On sockets I mentioned. The Sunex is the newer looking one, but they are identical.