Which do you use more 3/8 or 1/2 impact?

[crewchief888]

i use a 3/8" dr milwaukee fuel cordless most of the time...

 

[SASORacing]

i use a 3/8" dr milwaukee fuel cordless most of the time...

It's a good choice. I bought a set of Phillips 3/8 sockets for screws that need impacting. I like the 3/8 drive better than a hex because I use sockets on mine. Also the hex fuel has 200 in lb less torque. Less adapters is better.

 

[gsingh]

Neither. I don't believe in impacts.I'm a breaker bar/torque wrench kinda guy.

Why not use impacts guns to take stuff off? Why work hard, when you can work smart?

I am not trying to be a smart ***, just asking.

 

[stikman56]

Why not use impacts guns to take stuff off? Why work hard, when you can work smart?

I am not trying to be a smart ***, just asking.

I wonder the same thing. I spent too many years working too hard to get stuff apart.

 

[durallymax]

X3 I use impacts for everything. Can be a much better tool when used properly

 

[markyfly]

mini 1/2", the size of a 3/8" with the power of a weak 1/2"

I love my Mac Tools compact 1/2" gun. It fits almost anywhere and has tons of torque... But doesn't tend to break fasteners either.

 

[markyfly]

I wonder the same thing. I spent too many years working too hard to get stuff apart.

I'll second that... And as professionals our speed and quality of our work combined determine how much we'll take home at the end of the day.

If your shade-treeing it with a beer in one hand, who cares how long it takes

 

[e30bradley]

I only use half inch drive impacts.. I have an MG725 and a kobalt backup. I have a 3/8" impact but its not very powerful so I don't use it. I also don't have many sockets for 3/8" impact and for now I have no plans of getting any and using a 3/8 impact.

Anyone who "doesn't believe" in impacts isn't a professional. Time is money.. When you get used to an impact at work you'll want one at home too.

I spent years wrenching without an impact .. but when you work on them for money you really benefit from the impact.

 

[jfcasey]

I use my mg325 as much as I can, which works 90% of the time. I only use my 2135timax if I'm using alot of extension or swivels to over come the torque loss. This is working on Toyotas in New Hampshire. The only bolts I can't take off with my 3/8 no matter what are caliper bolts on trucks and occasionally bed bolts.

 

[Ricky112]

I gotta move to where you guys are where you dont need 1/2" lol!

Damn salted roads in Canada

 

[SASORacing]

X 100000 I use impacts (3/8 mostly cordless) on anything I possibly can. Using a standard hand ratchet feels like a chore!

 

[dsimatt]

I'm a diesel tech and 90% of what i take off is done with my 3/8 and only bigger stuff then i get out the bigger gun.

 

[durallymax]

This may be a good thread to sell my MG725 and MG325 in?

 

[abk241]

I prefer to break things loose by hand when possible and then use my 3/8" drive CP pneumatic ratchet to run the bolts/nuts off.
And the reverse holds true for installation.

 

[stikman56]

I'll second that... And as professionals our speed and quality of our work combined determine how much we'll take home at the end of the day.

If your shade-treeing it with a beer in one hand, who cares how long it takes

I'm a full blown impact wrench nerd anyway. It's my favorite tool, without a doubt. I never can have what I call too many at home or work. Never again will I struggle to get bolts loose. I use them at home all the time too. Cordless 3/8" and 1/2", Pneumatic 3/8",1/2" and 3/4". Some kind of sickness,I'm sure. Think I have around 20 between home and work for my use and a shop full of parts and broken and yet to be built ones.

 

[Skin]

Depends on the fastener size and location. 3/8 stops around 14mm and from there on up most applications require 1/2". If torque robbing extensions or swivel joints are required 1/2" may come out even sooner.

 

[mrborohachi]

I have two 3/8 impact guns the SO mg and Astro Japan made gun. SO is for high torque applications and the Astro is for stuff I don't want to break bolt heads

 

[KinzeMech]

Anyone who "doesn't believe" in impacts isn't a professional. Time is money.. When you get used to an impact at work you'll want one at home too.

The biggest time savings I think is from the stuck fasteners that an impact can break loose without twisting off. A breaker bar applying smooth torque is many times over more likely to twist off a bolt than an impact will with it's hammering action. It's certainly still possible to twist off bolts with an impact, but the one's I've seen that happen to were beyond saving by any means I've ever seen.

To remove wheels, I use an IR 2125timax which is a 1/2 drive impact in a 3/8 size body. It has more than enough power to remove my fleet vehicle wheels but, is lightweight even at the end of a long day.

My IR 2125 is my favorite wrench. It's the power of a 1/2" wrench in the size of a 3/8". I think compact 1/2" impacts have all but eliminated the need for 3/8" impacts. You get the same compact size of a 3/8" this way, which basically takes a way the only advantage a 3/8" impact has.

Socket selection is much greater in 1/2". 3/8" impact socket sets usually go from 5/16" up to about 1", while 1/2" socket sets commonly go from 3/8" up to sizes as large as 1-1/2". 3/8" sockets have a tiny bit more clearance, but only barely so. I'm sure there will be situations where 1/8" makes the difference, but those situations are so rare.

I've got a 3/8" MG325. That's $400 is sorely wish I could have back.

 

[markyfly]

Depends on the fastener size and location. 3/8 stops around 14mm and from there on up most applications require 1/2". If torque robbing extensions or swivel joints are required 1/2" may come out even sooner.

3/8ths stops at 14? More like 1/4 drive stops at 14... I've got 3 /8 all the way from 8mm to 24 or 1 inch

 

[86k10]

3/8ths stops at 14? More like 1/4 drive stops at 14... I've got 3 /8 all the way from 8mm to 24 or 1 inch

Are you talking thread size or bolt head size? I can't imagine a 3/8" drive working on a 1" thread.

Or socket size?

 

[Fireball027]

Are you talking thread size or bolt head size? I can't imagine a 3/8" drive working on a 1" thread.

Or socket size?

Socket Size...

I could never do without my 1/2 gun. Even that gets challenged daily and you have to pull out the torches.

I would start out with a 1/2 gun. It is better to have more power then you need than not enough.

 

[86k10]

Socket Size...

I could never do without my 1/2 gun. Even that gets challenged daily and you have to pull out the torches.

I would start out with a 1/2 gun. It is better to have more power then you need than not enough.

I am a 3/8" guy myself. I have used a IR 2115 to do a do a in-frame on a DT466. The shop was running 145 cut in-170 cut out air pressure.

 

[Fireball027]

I am a 3/8" guy myself. I have used a IR 2115 to do a do a in-frame on a DT466. The shop was running 145 cut in-170 cut out air pressure.

I guess it depends a lot on location and what you are working on. I work on cars that are mostly 10+ years old and after all the salt and sand put on the road there is a lot of bolts my 3/8 guns won't budge (Snap on MG 325 & Cornwll Cat2150)

Don't get me wrong I use my 3/8 impacts daily, but would be lost without a good 1/2 gun also.

 

[Ruger_556]

I use a 3/8 and a 3/4... Rarely does the 1/2 gun come out of the drawer.

 

[GuyllFyre]

I don't always have access to a good compressor, so I bought a good electric 1/2" Milwaukee.
I had an electric Ingersoll Rand electric 1/2" that was from 1968 or so but it got destroyed in my garage fire in March 2013.
It makes a lot of tasks simpler and much faster.
I use it primarily to disassemble siezed suspension nuts and bolts.
For bolt head sizes of 13mm/1/2" (M8 - 5/16-18) and below, many times my cordless drill can take things apart pretty quickly. If I need to loosen something of 11/16"/17mm or smaller and the drill won't do it, I try the 3/8" ratchet first and then the 1/2" ratchet. For speed, I'll use the impact on some of these as well, because once it's loose, the impact just zings it off.

I love my impact. It's pretty bulky but I'm extremely pleased with how it works.

 

[durallymax]

3/8ths stops at 14? More like 1/4 drive stops at 14... I've got 3 /8 all the way from 8mm to 24 or 1 inch

X2 I'm a fan of using the smallest drive possible. I don't use 1/4 impact though.
Impact is the best removal tool when in the right hands. Breaks far less bolts and it's fast.

I love my cordless true screw drivers for delicate assembly though. Can put an entire duramax together from bare block to full accessories on one small M12 battery in the fuel screwdriver.

I avoid using the 1/2" stuff until I need the power. The big fuel gun is pretty bulky. The 7150 IR is a little less bulky and I thought about trading.

I use cordless ratchets a lot too but the Milwaukee ones are a bit week. The IR ones look more stout when using them to break things loose.

Going to be selling my MG325 because I don't use it ever and want to see my MG725 and get an IR 2235 because I like the IR guns more.

There's time you need the delicate touch of hand tools. But that same touch is learned with good power tools when you use them day in and day out. The power tools save your body and make you more money. I really dove into using them for everything when I was going through chemo. I would cramp up using hand tools so I invested in a lot more cordless and couldn't be happier.

I do understand why many are afraid of the power of an impact. You have to learn how to use that power to your advantage.

 

[shampoop]

3/8" will get off most vehicles lug nuts. They will do cars pretty easy, some trucks they'll do alright on, but you'd rather have the instant speed of the 1/2" gun. Because you buy a 1/2" gun before a 3/8" gun, it means you have both if you own a 3/8". So for lug nuts, unless it's a compactish car, you're 100% going to use a 1/2" gun. So often I knew my top of the line 3/8" gun would do certain lugnuts, but i'd say **** that, I just wanna get er done easy, and used my mid range 1/2" gun instead.

Everything else like suspension, brakes, etc. you try the 3/8" gun first. If it's not powerful enough you switch over to the 1/2" gun.

 

[Hammell]

CP 734 and a Milwaukee 1/2 electric.

 

[bcradio]

Are you talking thread size or bolt head size? I can't imagine a 3/8" drive working on a 1" thread.

Or socket size?

Who talks about thread size?

My 12mm socket surely doesn't speak that language.

 

[JKennedy]

Depends what I'm doing that day, some days only 1/2, some days only 3/8, some days neither!

 

[platypus20]

1/4" drive about 90% of the time

 

[GSteg]

1/4" drive about 90% of the time

Do you work on Tonka Trucks?

I hardly see anyone using 1/4" impact. What application do you use it on, and what size fasteners? For 1/4" duty, I use air/cordless ratchets. Most of the time I can break them free manually.

 

[SteadyC]

My 1/2 inch drive is a Mac AW434B.
3/8 is an ingersoll rand 2112.
original owner on both. Still working great.

 

[86k10]

Who talks about thread size?

My 12mm socket surely doesn't speak that language.

I know some who do, like when your are doing a custom install on a truck and you request 3/8" bolts or 1/2" bolts, you are referring to the thread size, not socket size.

 

[GSteg]

I work in Aerospace and we refer to all our fasteners by thread size rather than socket size. Working on a car however, I seem to only talk in terms of socket size.

 

[shampoop]

Who talks about thread size?

My 12mm socket surely doesn't speak that language.

Construction does.

 

[coljar]

I could probably use my 3/8 more, but choose not to. No particular reason.

 

[KinzeMech]

Who talks about thread size?

My 12mm socket surely doesn't speak that language.

The entire fastener manufacturing industry and everyone that uses those fasteners?

If I ask for a 2" long 1/2" bolt, and you give me a bolt with a 1/2" hex head, that's a 5/16" shank bolt, and it's not going to fit my intended application.

 

[bcradio]

I feel sorry for all the people who do talk in those terms.

"Oh that's an M5 bolt... let me grab these 3 socket sizes so I make sure I can get that bad boy in there without making 3 trips to the tool cart"

 

[GSteg]

They refer to the thread size because that's what matters when you're engineering/building. If you're just replacing parts, then socket size is preferred because you're looking to sockets to remove that bolt/nut.