air compressor and impact tools - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Nervous · 03-05-2010, 02:17 PM

Could you, guys, share which brands / models are you using?
I am leaning to buy a compressor and impact wrench and air ratchet. I had a look on requirements of various impact wrenches and air ratchets. To be able to reach decent torque the air delivery should be at least 5 CFM @ 90 psi. Do you agree?
I would like to spend not more than $400 on compressor, so where to look?
(the electric 240 lbs impact wrench from Harbor Freight can't unbolt even wheel lugs....)

hill8570 · 03-05-2010, 02:30 PM

Just curious, but what are you doing that requires air tools? In 30 years of messing with cars, I've never needed anything more than a big breaker bar. OK, a couple of times one would've come in handy <cough> crankshaft bolts <cough>, but never to the point of needing to spend Real Money. Now, if I were doing it for a living, I could see spending the money just to speed things up, but that's a horse of a different color...

***LynchburgCSI*** · 03-05-2010, 02:47 PM

Exactly... I've seen full restorations done using hand tools and a welder. I never

None the less, I use craftsman hand tools (because of the warranty and because my dad and grandfather used them.) For power tools, I do dewalt usually. I have my eyes on this: Dewalt DL265L Kit.

Nervous · 03-05-2010, 02:49 PM

This is all the question of convenience. I agree that most of the stuff you can do without air tools, but usually this takes a lot of efforts and time. Even tires rotation: using manual tools I need almost whole hour to rotate all 4 tires. And I feel exhausted after this process.
Just recently I spent 2 days on replacing rack and pinion. Power tools would be very helpful there too.
Currently I am working on my project car and I need to loosen crankshaft bolt. The starter doesn't crank the engine for some reasons. There is not much space between floor and the bolt. I still see a couple ways of unbolting it, but impact wrench will do it in a second.
And as I said: convenience. I always wanted powered ratchet (sometimes there is no space for impact wrench). I always wanted powered screwdriver. Would be nice to have tire inflator too. Power washer, air blower, nail gun, paint spray - air compressor may do all of this. So, overall it is very handy tool.

Nervous · 03-05-2010, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LynchburgCSI

I have my eyes on this: Dewalt DL265L Kit.

Useless, in my opinion. Especially for the price. This is the price of decent air compressor (well, for really decent compressor you'd need to add $100, but even for 270 you can buy a pretty good one).

***LynchburgCSI*** · 03-05-2010, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nervous

This is all the question of convenience. I agree that most of the stuff you can do without air tools, but usually this takes a lot of efforts and time. Even tires rotation: using manual tools I need almost whole hour to rotate all 4 tires. And I feel exhausted after this process.
Just recently I spent 2 days on replacing rack and pinion. Power tools would be very helpful there too.
Currently I am working on my project car and I need to loosen crankshaft bolt. The starter doesn't crank the engine for some reasons. There is not much space between floor and the bolt. I still see a couple ways of unbolting it, but impact wrench will do it in a second.
And as I said: convenience. I always wanted powered ratchet (sometimes there is no space for impact wrench). I always wanted powered screwdriver. Would be nice to have tire inflator too. Power washer, air blower, nail gun, paint spray - air compressor may do all of this. So, overall it is very handy tool.

After I read this you completely changed my mind.... air compressor. Hmmmm. It's not like I have that kind of money right now anyways.

hill8570 · 03-05-2010, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nervous

This is all the question of convenience. I agree that most of the stuff you can do without air tools, but usually this takes a lot of efforts and time. Even tires rotation: using manual tools I need almost whole hour to rotate all 4 tires. And I feel exhausted after this process.
Just recently I spent 2 days on replacing rack and pinion. Power tools would be very helpful there too.
Currently I am working on my project car and I need to loosen crankshaft bolt. The starter doesn't crank the engine for some reasons. There is not much space between floor and the bolt. I still see a couple ways of unbolting it, but impact wrench will do it in a second.
And as I said: convenience. I always wanted powered ratchet (sometimes there is no space for impact wrench). I always wanted powered screwdriver. Would be nice to have tire inflator too. Power washer, air blower, nail gun, paint spray - air compressor may do all of this. So, overall it is very handy tool.

OK, understood. The more CFM the better with air tools. Oiled compressor has a lot better life (and is usually quieter) than an oiless compressor. You probably want to work backwards -- find the air needs of the tools you might need in the future, and decide on your compressor based on that. Little things like nail guns, air blowers, tire inflator don't require much of a compressor -- I've got a bitty little Porter-Cable pancake compressor I use for those tools...probably about 2.5cfm. Wouldn't want to try to power an impact wrench with that. Power washer, hmmm, not sure how you'd use an air compressor to power a washer -- they usually have built-in electric- or gas-powered water pumps. Paint sprayer...that's a whole 'nother universe -- I'm partial to HVLP sprayers (minimal bounceback and overspray compared to the high pressure sprayers) and those suckers need a *lot* of flow (like 20-25cfm), but not much pressure. If you don't might the wastage, you could probably use a conventional compressor to power a sprayer, but even those tend to use a lot of air.

Oh, yeah, one other thing -- make sure you've got the power for the compressor. Even my little pancake compressor draws close to 10A...the big guys are liable to require a dedicated 20A circuit or 220V. If you're not into DIY house wiring, that can get spendy.

Nervous · 03-05-2010, 03:31 PM

Yeah, I am not talking about professional paint sprayers. There are some that requires 5-6 CFM @ 40 psi, for example this: http://www.chpower.com/webapp/wcs/st...6655_-1_search
But anyway, all of these tasks are supplementary. The main ones: impact wrench, air ratchet (100 lbs @ 6 CFM @90 psi - not bad at all!), power screwdriver.

Chris Crash · 03-05-2010, 04:18 PM

Hope you're not in a neighborhood with a Homeowners Association. They'll get on your ass for using air tools.

Nervous · 03-05-2010, 04:38 PM

Thank God, no HOA around me

carsrus · 03-05-2010, 04:42 PM

I have a 15 gallon craftsman. Had it for a few years and no complaints other that its electric and noisey. The similar 20 gallon model is like 250$ now, frequently on sale for 200.

Get a nice hose that's not to long. I have a coiled plastic one and it sucks other than being easy to put away. Another thing is that don't plug it into a extension cord unless its a nice heavy duty one. The compressor should be hooked directly to the outlet otherwise. The power cord it comes with basically explains why.

Even though alot of craftsman stuff has taken a cheap chinese crap path, alot of their non hand tool stuff is still quality. Im not gonna lie their new ratchets and the like are junk, but the lifetime warranty makes up for it. Still best bang for the buck, with husky being the second choice.

***LynchburgCSI*** · 03-05-2010, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nervous

Thank God, no HOA around me

because HOA= HONDA without the ND. North Dakota?

Nervous · 03-05-2010, 05:10 PM

Unfortunately, I don't see Craftsman as a choice at all. They don't have lifetime warranty on anything but the mechanical tools (which are still good). Their hydraulic jacks crap. Their compressors (red ones) are crap. Professional series is better, but too expensive. And I need at least 5.5- 6 CFM @ 90 psi, so pretty limited in choice. Home Depot has at least one close to my requirements for about 380. Will check out tomorrow at my local Home Depot.

RU2CHKN · 03-05-2010, 10:46 PM

I just bought a craftsman air compressor and air impact and those things work wonders. Not to mention fun to use and make jobs go by faster. I believe I have a 5.5 @ 90 lbs or something like that. I bought a 17 gallon at 150 max psi on sale for about 200 bucks.

***heartdisease*** · 03-05-2010, 11:08 PM

You can spend A Lot on air compressors. I like the home depot house brand of tools they seem to really put in value for the dollar.

I would just say don't fall for that old scfm crap. The cheap ones list scfm instead of cfm. They are not nearly the same. A bigger tank can make up for a smaller compressor if you have a tool that doesn't run constantly. Be sure to get a big enough id hose also. That can really impact the performance of tools and usually they come with small hoses if at all. I would get at least 3/8 id myself.