What brand Air Tools for home use?

[70Maverick]

The title speaks for itself. Just curious what you guys recommend. I know a lot of folks are gonna chime in with "Here is a pic of my $10,000 Snap on Professional set I have." Great. That is awesome. I don't have 10K to spend on air tools.
I assume they need to be matched to what you are going to do with them so a little background. I have a good running though low end I guess Craftsman vertical 33gallon 150psi 2hp running compressor. It is a 2007 model and seems to work great. I bought it at a yard sale so that should give you some idea where I am but at the same time, I don't want to waste money on cheap junk.
To give you some idea what I do, in the past year I have done the following:
installed new struts, shocks, springs CC plates on a car. Installed hubs, rotors and brakes on truck. Replaced the clutch, pressure plate and rear seal on a 5.0. Countless tire rotations etc.
I also rebuild my own engines when the need arises. To this point, I have done everything with hand tools and breaker bars and pipes.
My neighbor GAVE me an El Cheapo Cambell Hausfeld 1/2 inch impact. I guess it's cheap because it won't break lug nuts loose with the psi at 90 which it says is the max. I am disappointed by that. Maybe it's my compressor but I thought I would be able to break lug nuts loose at least with a 150 psi. :shrug:
Thank you for reading and advice

 

[Devilsfan72]

ingersoll rand mostly

 

[Mystic-SVT]

Snap on impact here, it works great! Sockets, ratchets, wrenches I use snap on and craftsman. Air compressor I use a craftsman...they all do the job just fine.

 

[tomustang]

Is there a pressure dial on the cp you got from your friend?



I've bought a bunch of the standard harbor freight air tools (guns ratchets doe grinders) for work on heavy machinery at mills and they did their job, just oil them like ever other air tool and you should be fine.

 

[70Maverick]

Yep, there is a dial. Two actually. I have run it to 125 psi just to see and it won't loosen lug nuts. Actually it will tighten a lug nut so tight that it can't loosen it? WTF?
No, I don't do that on aluminum wheels but the steel wheels on the wife's car and the truck get zipped on, no torque wrench.

 

[SonicDTR]

harbor freight tools sound like they'll do everything you need. They arent the best, but will work pretty well.

I've always seen cambell hausfield and ingersoll-rand laying around the shop when I grew up working on big rigs, not sure of their quality or price but we never had one die on us(15+yrs)

 

[oilwell1415]

The best bang for your buck is Ingersoll Rand. There are nicer and there are cheaper, but IMO you can't get a better compromise. I used my IR impact wrenches and air ratchet professionally daily for nearly 10 years and never had a problem with them. I replaced the snap ring that holds sockets on the impacts twice and put a new head in the ratchet once about 2 years ago just for maintenance. I think I paid about $425 for all three tools new at Lowe's. The only thing my 1/2" impact ever failed to remove was Honda harmonic balancer bolts, and my coworker's Snap On impact wouldn't do it either. I had to rent a 3/4" impact to get those off sometimes.

Oiling air tools often is highly over rated. Every one of them says oil daily on it, but if you do the oil will just gum up and leave you with a non-working tool when you need it. If you are going to use it constantly for 8 hours every day, sure you would need to oil it. I oiled mine every Monday morning when I got to work and they would still occasionally gum up, but that was easily fixed by running some brake cleaner through them and reoiling. For casual home use there is no middle ground with oiling. If you don't, they will wear out eventually. If you do they will probably be gummed up all the time if you don't use them fairly often.

 

[SID297]

I've had good luck with my Craftsman tools.

 

[FL-Orange]

I've got a cheapy 26 gallon Kobalt set. ~$250 or so. Bought a high torque impact gun from the auto store, I've never had a problem with it.

 

[hb712]

IR is definitely the best bang for the buck. Sears sells them too.

 

[hb712]

The best bang for your buck is Ingersoll Rand. There are nicer and there are cheaper, but IMO you can't get a better compromise. I used my IR impact wrenches and air ratchet professionally daily for nearly 10 years and never had a problem with them. I replaced the snap ring that holds sockets on the impacts twice and put a new head in the ratchet once about 2 years ago just for maintenance. I think I paid about $425 for all three tools new at Lowe's. The only thing my 1/2" impact ever failed to remove was Honda harmonic balancer bolts, and my coworker's Snap On impact wouldn't do it either. I had to rent a 3/4" impact to get those off sometimes.

Oiling air tools often is highly over rated. Every one of them says oil daily on it, but if you do the oil will just gum up and leave you with a non-working tool when you need it. If you are going to use it constantly for 8 hours every day, sure you would need to oil it. I oiled mine every Monday morning when I got to work and they would still occasionally gum up, but that was easily fixed by running some brake cleaner through them and reoiling. For casual home use there is no middle ground with oiling. If you don't, they will wear out eventually. If you do they will probably be gummed up all the time if you don't use them fairly often.

I would strongly suggest not running brake cleaner through any pneumatic tools. Seals can and eventually will break down from that. I understand you got lucky, but I work with these tools every day as a manufacturer/vendor.

 

[PSUCOBRA96]

I say harbor freight is good enough for you, you don't use them every day so you don't need industrial strength stuff that costs a ton, use the harbor stuff and if it breaks no biggie as its not that expensive.

 

[canibus]

Ingersol Rand tools are tough buggers. I'd say it's te perfect compromise for your situation.

 

[Gallows]

Anything I have ever used that Campbell Hausfeld made has sucked ass. IR has been a dependable brand so far.

 

[LOVESBOOST]

Snap-on, Matco, Mac, IR, and SK. Most of them are designed the same and from IR and just have different names. IR is mostly king though, and the air tools abilities and durability show it.

 

[Sniperdog]

Kobalt air tools, Craftsman hand tools :thumbsup:

 

[SweetSVT99]

I would strongly suggest not running brake cleaner through any pneumatic tools. Seals can and eventually will break down from that. I understand you got lucky, but I work with these tools every day as a manufacturer/vendor.

So what DO you suggest....?

 

[Mika]

IR will get the job done, even on a professional level. Craftsman sockets and hand tools are the way to go for home use. Just echoing what others have said, basically.



Mika

 

[Junior00]

Ebay mother****ers!!! I've bought all my Snap-On, Matco & IR stuff off ebay second hand. I won't buy from anyone with less than 50 sells and 99% feedback and haven't been let down yet. Just bought a 1/2" Snap-On Impact with 650 ft/lbs.. Yeah it's 2 years old, but the only thing missing was the little ring on the snout for holding the sockets on, stole one off my old worn out craftsman impact and was good to go. Best $48 I've spent by far. So far I have about $11-13k in tools and have spent a little over $1k so it can be done, just have to shop and be patient.

 

[Junior00]

So what DO you suggest....?

Air tool oil, or a light weight automotive oil. Each tool needs to be oiled before every use with about a tablespoon or so down the air inlet, cover the outlet with a rag and blow the excess out and you're good to go for the days work. Inline filters aren't a must unless you're doing paint work but will help the tools last forever, unless you're anal like me and take the tools apart every so often to inspect, clean, lube, and reassemble.