Is 3/8" Pneumatic Impact Still Relevant?

[speed bump]

I don't own a 3/8 pneumatic gun and at work (cement plant) the only 3/8 air gun we have has been sitting in a drawer for 4 years. That might change if I was making my living as an auto mechanic though.

 

[ecotec]

I would like to note that I do not really use my 1/2” pneumatic impact much anymore. If the cordless will fit in the space and do the job… I am not running an air line and listening to the compressor.

 

[Retired dozer fixer]

The greasy and oily complaint about cordless is legit. I agree taking apart transmissions all day will destroy the rubber overmolds on cordless tools relatively quickly. For purposes like this the air impacts are clearly superior. Even Garcky's butterfly impact is a great way to go if removing 30 bolts from valve bodies all day.

If you work out of a truck in the sunshine garage most of the time like I did battery tools just don’t hold up. They really don’t like rain or snow. Warranty’s won’t cover weather damage. Yet the job must still get done. Air tools don’t care if they get wet or oil soaked

 

[Chance]

Not sure where you shop, but you're paying too much. Interesting that you quote $450. Every store is 1/2 or less that much currently.

I bought the kit (tool, battery, charger, bag) for $139. I thought it was a bargain.

We're all free to spend our money as we wish.

Where'd you get your DCF921 for $139? Best I can find right now is HomeDepot $179 for tool, battery, charger. Most places are over $200 for the bare tool.

 

[DemoFly]

I actually find my 3/8ths compact pneumatic fits in more tight areas than most cordless, and it's more powerful.

 

[Chance]

Deleted

 

[rsanter]

My snap on 3/8 impact was my go to power tool for many years.
Now I grab my Dewalt instead.
I have the big Dewalt 1/2 dr and two of the 3/8 drive units

 

[yellowbox]

All the time.

Interested how much that run ya ?

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Interested how much that run ya ?

Astro Pneumatic 1833 3/8" Nano Flex-Head Angle Impact Wrench - 400ft/lb , Black​

$140 on amazon. I've had it a year or so? While you're at it, but the .498 shank "shake 'n break" adapter astro sells too. Thing is a beast.

 

[Jgaz]

My well used 3/8” IR. Bought it over 20 years ago and used it daily until I retired.

I’m heavily invested in quality pneumatic and heavy duty, corded, power tools.
Yes, they require an air hose or a cord but most of my work is in the shop or garage so no big deal.

I have some battery powered tools ( mostly drills) and I probably wouldn’t spend much to repair my air tools if they broke down.
I don’t wrench for a living anymore and I have more time now as well as more important (to me) things to spend my money on.

 

[crewchief888]

havnt used my 3/8" dr air impact since i switched over to cordless around '05 when i went out in the field (const eq dealer field mechanic)
milwaukee fuel stuff is going on 8/9 years old.

 

[RedneckWelder]

A 3/8 Pneumatic is absolutely still relevant, especially in the format of the compact, yet still quite powerful impacts such as the Astro Nano that started coming to the market in the past decade.

I have an Aircat one with a ball swivel whip hose that gets used heavily once I’m into tight quarters since it will go places nothing else will.

 

[tyyost]

Every time I read these threads the GJ crew falls into two camps. Nearly every time those users who have seen air power as connected to wrenching as electricity and drop lights and those who either didn’t come up that way, or work in shops where cordless power makes sense.

I‘ve used air from small or noisy compressors most of my life. I dream of a nice big 80 gallon compressor tucked away ready to go when I am, but my past and current living situation has limited me to 110v compressors. Cordless impact wrenches have literally changed my life, and have allowed me to do complex work without trying to overcome the limitations of smaller air compressors. Simple jobs, like checking brakes before state inspections doesn’t require much more than a jack and cordless impact to pull the tire. If I need to be portable, it goes in the toolbox and does the same thing along the trail 100 miles from home or at my buddy's garage.

Pneumatic tools will always have their place. Air is incredibly important for many jobs. We have threads here that beat that to death routinely. The wide variety of cordless impacts has changed the market dynamics, but for those that air is available it will always make sense to take advantage of it.

 

[Jgaz]

Every time I read these threads the GJ crew falls into two camps. Nearly every time those users who have seen air power as connected to wrenching as electricity and drop lights and those who either didn’t come up that way, or work in shops where cordless power makes sense.

I‘ve used air from small or noisy compressors most of my life. I dream of a nice big 80 gallon compressor tucked away ready to go when I am, but my past and current living situation has limited me to 110v compressors. Cordless impact wrenches have literally changed my life, and have allowed me to do complex work without trying to overcome the limitations of smaller air compressors. Simple jobs, like checking brakes before state inspections doesn’t require much more than a jack and cordless impact to pull the tire. If I need to be portable, it goes in the toolbox and does the same thing along the trail 100 miles from home or at my buddy's garage.

Pneumatic tools will always have their place. Air is incredibly important for many jobs. We have threads here that beat that to death routinely. The wide variety of cordless impacts has changed the market dynamics, but for those that air is available it will always make sense to take advantage of it.

Absolutely! In our shops at work the preference was very much a generational thing.
Guys like me that were hired in the 80’s were using personal air tools.
The younger guys hired about 2010 favored the battery tools.

Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

 

[Garcky]

If you have shop air handy, then sure. I got more use out of a 3/8" butterfly impact wrench, though. The 1/2" impact got used in most other situations, though. I could have lived without a 3/8" impact, though.

If you don't have shop air right there, though, all pneumatic tools are a PITA. But, in every shop I worked in, there was an air hose nearby, whatever I was working on. No-brainer.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

I have a Snap-on MG325 I’m trying to sell because I don’t use it. I have it listed here and eBay and no one has responded so my guess is most people don’t use them these days. Lol. I use my Milwaukee 3/8 it’s so light and easy to use so much more convenient than an air tool. That’s why I’m trying to sell the Snap-on one. I use the heck out of my Milwaukee but I don’t see a use for air. We have a couple old school guys at work who strictly use air tools but that’s what they like so no harm there. I love my 1/2 air as it’s much lighter than my Milwaukee 1/2 but I rarely use it too.

 

[Badgerstate]

I did a quick search and didn't find anything specifically addressing this, so here goes...

With the advent of compact, and what I would consider full-power, 1/2" drive pneumatic impact guns; Is there really much of a place for the 3/8" impact guns and sockets these days?

Since I picked up my Aircat 1055-TH, I almost never touch my 3/8 impact gun any more, and mostly use it out of nostalgia when I do.

What are your thoughts?

They certainly have their place in lower torque situations where a small gun is nice to have.

 

[AEAdam]

I think outside industry and specialty automotive repair places (transmission shops, tire places) air is dead.

My only use for my air compressor is running my last pneumatic framing nailer, rarely hvlp. That’s about it. The battery guns do everything air guns used to do.

 

[Sneezer]

DIY home gamer here. I still use air, and a couple cordless tools. I have no Milwaukee stuff though - price point is above my budget. Most of my air tools I got on clearance over the years, a mix of Craftsman, Kobalt and HF. Just this weekend I was working on a camshaft and lifter repair on my truck, and my 3/8” Kobalt impact was a huge help on those head bolts. My 3/8” cordless impact was not strong enough, and was too bulky to fit in some spots as well.

I just have a lowly 26 gal 110V compressor, but it is quiet compared to my old Black Max 20gal it replaced. I hope to get one or two of those nano impacts this year, as I see a definite need for them given my last couple repairs. I think the flex head and straight stubby would be fine additions.

I use air primarily for air hammers and impacts, both 1/2” and 3/8” - I do have a couple air ratchets as well but they don’t get as much use since I got that little 12V Husky 3/8” ratchet. It has done a great job spinning stuff off once they are broken loose, and is a pretty small ratchet as well.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I think outside industry and specialty automotive repair places (transmission shops, tire places) air is dead.

My only use for my air compressor is running my last pneumatic framing nailer, rarely hvlp. That’s about it. The battery guns do everything air guns used to do.

LOL air isn't dead.

Homeowner air setups mean cordless is a massive step up. Go to a shop running 150psi static and 1/2 line, and you'll laugh at a cordless impact. Most home air setups, 110v, 50gallon tank, god forbid a regulator, couldn't even properly spool up my IR2235. It sounded muted and choked, and made no power.

Air is cheaper, chemical resistant, and more compact. Electric is more convenient by far, especially for ratchets. Both are valuable. When the shop has "real" air, they're comparable to cordless, if not stronger for their size. With homeowner air many tools cannot produce their potential.

 

[Schurkey]

Given a D-I-Y proclivity for under-sized air compressors, a 3/8" pneumatic can have as much or more power than a 1/2" pneumatic impact wrench. This is not reflected in the rated power, but is a fact-of-life when the air supply is choked with tiny compressors running through too-small air hoses.

The lower air demand of the 3/8 makes lots of sense for lots of people.

If a 3/8 impact isn't getting the (automotive/light truck) lug-nuts loose with ease and lots of reserve power, there's something wrong. May not be adequate for heavier suspension work.

 

[bcschief]

I feel the rush to battery tools will have a backlash at some point when people get tired of buying batteries. I still prefer air tools over battery tools. Guys look at all the money you are saving your employers on air compressors and air hoses.

 

[bcradio]

I feel the rush to battery tools will have a backlash at some point when people get tired of buying batteries. I still prefer air tools over battery tools. Guys look at all the money you are saving your employers on air compressors and air hoses.

They won't... batteries have gotten so much better and easily last 10-15-20 years now. Won't be long and we'll all be driving EVs and gas cars will be a thing of the past. Most of my M18 and M12 batteries are a decade old and still going strong.

 

[Benito]

They won't... batteries have gotten so much better and easily last 10-15-20 years now. Won't be long and we'll all be driving EVs and gas cars will be a thing of the past. Most of my M18 and M12 batteries are a decade old and still going strong.

I don't know how you guys do it. I've gone through 3 M18 XC5.0's (the screws just pull out and the halves separate) and 2 M12 batteries (the batts fall out of tools) in the last year alone.
In that same time my air hose needed a repair on the end that cost me $1.10.

 

[Chance]

Given a D-I-Y proclivity for under-sized air compressors, a 3/8" pneumatic can have as much or more power than a 1/2" pneumatic impact wrench. This is not reflected in the rated power, but is a fact-of-life when the air supply is choked with tiny compressors running through too-small air hoses.

The lower air demand of the 3/8 makes lots of sense for lots of people.

If a 3/8 impact isn't getting the (automotive/light truck) lug-nuts loose with ease and lots of reserve power, there's something wrong. May not be adequate for heavier suspension work.

I use a wimpy 10 gal 120 psi compressor, and a 1/4" line. But my 1/2" Thor can tear the head off a bolt if I use it on the wrong ones. So I'm not getting how a 3/8" could be higher torque. Are there 3/8" pneumatics with huge air motors and 1/2" pneumatics with tiny air motors? I just don't have the experience to know.