After struggling with many over tightened screws and bolts over the years I finally got my air compressor. Before going out and buying the first impact wrench I see I thought I'd ask. What should I look for in a good homeowner quality air tool? or more specifically an impact wrench?
I'd appreciate any tips & suggestions.

Ian

I did extensive shopping both online and local before purchasing my impact driver less than a year ago. I bought mine at Home Depot. The brand is "Husky" but it's made by Ingersol/Rand. Sears sells two versions of the exact same gun -- one with an I/R lable and one with a Craftsman lable. (500ft/lb reverse, 3-way adjustable torque foreward) It was $99 at HD and $119 at Sears. And heres the clincher: FREE LIFETIME WARANTEE! (it's a 2-year warantee for the Craftsman) I don't know if you have any experience with HD, but in my experience, their return policy is second-to-none. If you completely neglected this tool, and it failed. You could take it back to any HD store in the country, and you'd walk out with a brand new driver -- no questions asked. (Hard to beat! Sears only does that with wrenches.)

Jeff Pierce
--
'92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '93 945 Turbo (a kickass family car), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece)

That's what I'd say.
And CP isn't bad, either. Keep the oil to them.
Lucas makes one of the best air tool oils (almost doubled the torque I was getting).

just be sure your compressor has the grunt to use it...no point buying a wrench needing 25cfm if you only got 8...also buy an in line oiler (goes between t he compressor line and the air tool....) also consider the physical size of the wrench...a huge one may be great for spinning wheelnusts ala formula 1, but not much fun when your trying to work in round the back of a bell housing...(seriously folks impact wrenchs and wheels are NOT a good mix...please dont try this at home.....)

I quite like the smaller right angled ones, seems to me they can sorta get in there....

also on your shoping list should be:-

parafin wash gun (makes degreasing your engien a pleasure!)
tyre inflator (boring but oh so usefull...)

blow gun...very usefull for drying/getting crud out + 1001 other uses...

a good quality small spray gun - something like the devilbis touch up gun, i prefer gravity fed, but thats just me..

under seal gun (use for applying under body rust proofing)

the rest is up to you..oh yes and if you got one of those thin coily pipes to go to the tools...DITCH IT..they restrict airflow and are a pain..go buy a big smooth pipe, much nicer and buy snap (PCL) fittings for everything they cost cents and make life SOOOOOO much easier...

enjoy..you will trust me!

What torque is needed to remove suspension bolts? Would the smaller right angled ones do it?

-Steve
--
1986 745 w/ M46 200K since new, 1995 965 104K

Not even close. Good air rachets are rated at about 70-75 ft/lbs. I had bolts on my 940 that my 500 ft/lb driver wouldn't budge. I had to use my breaker bar with a 3-foot piece of pipe to loosen them.

Jeff Pierce
--
'92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '93 945 Turbo (a kickass family car), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece)

I bought a cheap Campbell-Hausfeld impact wrench for $28 at WalMart. It works fine now, but I really had to flush the thing out with oil when I first used it. It would barely turn until I got it all cleaned and lubed.

The IR and CP tools are definitely better, stronger and more efficient. But the cheap CH tools will get the job done with a smaller budget.

BTW, you will not be sorry you bought a compressor and impact wrench. It makes working on cars a far more enjoyable experience.

-Ron

I bought 2 years ago a Chicago Pneumatic (CP) 749 1/2" impact gun. What was different about this is that it had a reverse torque rating of 625 FT. Lbs. Most are at most 400-500. Works like a charm. It is discontinued but I'm sure there is a replacement.

I have heard the big yellow IR thunder something (a name like that) is the hot one for now? Can't miss it at Sears and elsewhere.

New guy here.

For what it's worth, I bought a set of Devilbiss air tools from Sam's Club. It has a pretty nice selection of tools including an impact wrench air ratchet, chisel, die grinder, inflating tools and an assortment of grinding wheels and sanding drums. It also has a few metric and SAE impact sockets.

The whole set was only about $ 70.00. My thinking is that with average home use it should last for years.

It sure made putting rear shocks on my '90 740 Turbo Wagon a lot easier.

As an aside, a Bostich brad nailer sure is sweet for doing light nailing.

Greydog