Input on whether to rebuild or buy new impact?

[greenbuggy]

So my 6-ish year old Matco (actually pretty sure its a rebadged IR) quiet 1/2" air impact is showing its age and not able to break loose lug nuts like it used to. Thursday I'm going to find out how much to have it rebuilt, but since I'll be spending money either way I want to get the most bang for my dollars, and I'm curious whether I'm better off having the matco rebuilt, or buying a different impact and selling the old one on CL. Been out of the market for a 1/2" impact since I bought this one, so I'm just curious. At this point I want best bang-for-my-buck but its not unusual at my job to need to break rusty 1 1/4" fasteners loose off a snow cat...I know thats really 3/4" or 1" drive territory but in tight spaces most that large won't fit. Thanks for the help

[DSW]

Chicago Pneumatic has a couple 1/2" drive impacts rated at 750 to 900 ft lbs of torque. Most 1/2" drives are usually rated at around 500 ft lbs., and the basic 3/4" drives are around 750 ft lbs. They still only rate them at 5/8" bolt capacity however.

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRCM2?PARTPG=IMPSTHR

The 800 ft lb one listed has a 2" anvil, but my older catalog shows a short version as well.

The CP 7748 is rated at 920 ft lbs. The CP8552 is rated at 775 ft lb and the CP7759Q is rated at 800 ft lbs.
http://www.cp.com/en/whatwedo/powertools/ecatalogue/

[rlitman]

The IR2135 and Snap On MG725 both put out as much as the CP, or possibly more.
The Aircat and Nitrocat are rated in that range too. I find myself reaching for my Aircat before my Snap On (the model I have is kind of like the grandfather to the MG725), just because it is quieter, but the composite body is known to not last as long)
What did you do to a quality pneumatic impact gun in 6 years that wore it out?
My Snap On saw more time than that, working all day long doing tires, to the point that it wore out several sets of impact sockets, all before I got my hands on it. I stripped it down, and took measurements of the moving parts, and was told on the phone by a guy at SO who rebuilds these, that it sounded as good as new.
Did you not oil it?

Maybe you should invest in some Kroil for the rusty fasteners too. That can make a huge difference in the amount of torque you need.

[turk]

napa's new impact line is claiming some lofty numbers (800 ftlb) from their wrench # NPT 61123. It can be had for under $250 retail price

[Stick-man]

I still have my Snap-on IM51A 1/2" impact. I bought it when I was a mechanic many moons ago. I will guess in the early 1990's. I too, can't understand how you wore that thing out. Maybe try blowing some kerosene or Marvil Mystery oil thru it to clean it and then some air tool oil?

That said, back when I was using them every day, I prefered the Snap-on not only because I believed it was the most powerful (back then), the anvil was just a little longer, which kept the socket on the gun. I literally witnessed MANY sockets fly from Ingersoll-Rand impacts. Even with new retainer rings on the end.

[ExpatWelder]

Rebuild it!! Rebuild kits are cheap, and it's easy to do yourself.

[Heavy Metal Service]

Unless the barrel is cracked throw a rebuild kit in it your self I just did my 1 in IR that is also 6yrs old and has run on 175 psi it's hole life I thought it would be junk when I opened it up but all it needed was new vanes
It spends it life spinning 1"-1 1/2 hardware it's a IR 295 I also picked up a NAPA 3/4 seams to be pritty jammy so far

[TozziWelding]

Buy a new one, and get a rebuild kit for the old one.

[walker]

Man, you guys must break a bunch of tough nuts! I have a 1/2" impact (IR) that I have had for 20 years and is still going strong, and a 3/4" IR for the tougher jobs. I can't imagine wearing them out though, in fact I didn't even know they were rebuildable.

[37ford4dr]

i like the idea of rebuilding it ..... problem is when the one you are using craps out on you in the middle of a job your screwed. if you have other back ups to use in the shop try rebuilding it.

[greenbuggy]

I have a cheap and ancient Napa unit to use as a backup. Talked to the local matco man, rebuilding kit is $35 so we're going to try that first and see. Unfortunately I won't see it till after the first of the year.

As to how I wore it out, it does get oiled regularly thru the air port but I can't put an inline oiler on the air line because of some of the other things I run off it (like the plasma cutter) and I'm afraid to put one on the impact itself because it gets dropped a lot. My guess would be a combination of rusty air lines in the shop I used to work at and a generally hard life @ high pressure

[rlitman]

Yeah, running it too fast at too high a pressure, and rusty air lines are a bad combination.

I don't use inline oilers with most of my tools, and just put a few drops in the connector each day.
What I do with tools that get continuous use (like a sander), is I put a 3' swivel whip hose on the tool, and a mini inline oiler at the end of the whip, with the QD on that. That way your hand doesn't have to directly support the added bulk of the oiler.

[SR20steve]

Originally Posted by rlitman

The IR2135 and Snap On MG725 both put out as much as the CP, or possibly more.
The Aircat and Nitrocat are rated in that range too. I find myself reaching for my Aircat before my Snap On (the model I have is kind of like the grandfather to the MG725), just because it is quieter, but the composite body is known to not last as long)
What did you do to a quality pneumatic impact gun in 6 years that wore it out?
My Snap On saw more time than that, working all day long doing tires, to the point that it wore out several sets of impact sockets, all before I got my hands on it. I stripped it down, and took measurements of the moving parts, and was told on the phone by a guy at SO who rebuilds these, that it sounded as good as new.
Did you not oil it?

Maybe you should invest in some Kroil for the rusty fasteners too. That can make a huge difference in the amount of torque you need.

+1 on the IR 2135ti that is hands down the best 1/2 impact I have ever used..and I use them almost daily. And I use them up to 1 7/16 after that it's 3/4 and so on and so forth. The back torx screws tend to back out on them though, but I abuse the hell out of mine.

[1awert1]

Does anybody remember the old days when we used a thing caller a "breaker bar" or how about "wrench"....I never had a impact wr. till about 10 years ago.......I admit it's the first tool i grab when the kid says "lets fix my car"

[Sparky#1]

Originally Posted by 1awert1

Does anybody remember the old days when we used a thing caller a "breaker bar" or how about "wrench"....I never had a impact wr. till about 10 years ago.......I admit it's the first tool i grab when the kid says "lets fix my car"

The breaker bar is still a very essential tool to have. I bought one of those Snap On cordless impacts which is a monster. To this day the the hardest bolt I ever had to remove is a Honda crank pulley bolt,we tried all kinds of impact guns on this thing and wound up using a breaker bar to pop it.

[Thiel-Metal-Fab]

ingersoll rand titanium series > great impacts ..all i use