mcollinstn

I've got a Harbor Freight (Central Pneumatic) 3/8" Air Impact, one of their 3/8" Air ratchets, and an Air Chisel - all from Harbor Freight. They work great with occasional use. They are cheaply made and skimp on the material the airvanes are made of, the quality of the internal bearings, and they use cast and stamped gears (as opposed to cut or hobbed gears). They certainly do NOT compare in torque to a similarly specc'ed Ingersoll or other namebrand unit. I also run an auto drain on my compressor and a water separator on the outgoing air line. (I would not want to run water through these babies - I'd reckon storing them with moisture in them would do them in).

I have a CP 746 1/2" impact - the highest torque rating of any mediumweight professional impact available. I paid around $100 for it and it has never let me down. It takes abuse, dirty air, wet air, and keeps on smiling. Rated at 450 ft*lbs and I believe it.

I use the cheap stuff cause it is ligtweight and can reach into places better than the 746. If I need it, though, the 746 is only a few yards away...

By the way, all of my airtools have a 12" long pigtail hose on them. I use blue Goodyear gorilla hose cause it is flexible and won't mark stuff it drags across. At the end, next to the male disconnect I have a mini-lube on all of them. This is a small aluminum barrel with a screw-in plug on the side. It is filled with a cottony substance and you pour airtool lube into it and it lubes the air as it passes thru (only need to relube every hour of use).

I also have several sets of Harbor Freight wrenches and such. As they break or bend, I always replace them with Blackhawk or Mac. I've also got a lot of Craftsman, but the sockets and wrenches no longer fit well these days - they have obviously cheapened them up.

timucin

exactly!!
agree ( not about spell checking)

MitchStellin

Just by a four way tire iron. You can carry it in the truck and it can be spun quickly for on or off. That and a small floor jack. I would never leave home without either.

Audiofn

Check out the Huskey stuff from Home Depot. Good stuff with a life time warrantee and it is CHEAP!!!!

Jon

Pete B

life time warranty is what sells, torquing a set of heads i cracked a craftsman 1/2 socket, no prob, replaced as advertised.

Rambunctious

thanks for the advice. Mccollinst, thanks for the personal first hand of what i am looking at.

i guess i will compare the husky tools, and look on ebay, then get the best i can with the money i decide to allocate to this one of many purchases.

Rambunctious

oh, thanks mitch, you are a bright boy

wanna meet at Taco Fiesta today Friday??

i'm talking about bringing in 4 out of 7 tires this year because of slow leaks. i just pulled another one off, pulled the spare off the trailer, put it on the axle, dropped the jack to find the SPARE was flat too. like i said, tired of wrenching lug nuts this year.

glad I found that out in the pole barn, and not on the highway after spinnin a tire iron

NASTY HABIT

I agree with Mcolliston craftsman may be better than some but nto what they were yrs ago...and when returning broken tools for replacement be sure you ask for NEW not RECONDITIONED ....they tried to pawn off a recon'd ratchet on me a couple times ....I told them .."I DON'T THINK SO "....they coughed up a new one. that was a couple yrs ago...I try to stay away from craftsman now..

a coupel guys I know use the 1/2 " drive huskies for work they are on the cheap side but they have not failed as of yet..and these guys beat in thier tools...literarly. might not be bad for a budget set..

as far as breaking lug nuts loose..just slip a $2.00 piece of 3/4 " pipe over your ratchet..and give it hell..

Zanie

Instead of spending the big bucks on Snap On's battery powered impact, spend less on the Craftsman Pro.
$299.00
18 volt 1/2" battery powered impact.
180 ft-lbs ultimate torque
250 lug nuts in one battery charge.



Husky Wrenches??!!
Pay attention, they have replaced their "Made in America" logo with "Gauranteed Forever"
By the way,where are those Husky wrenches made?
Produced in Taiwan, packaged in China!

Where are Craftsman wrenches and sockets made?
That's right

Made in the USA!

NASTY HABIT

That is a good piont Zanie...