cas2themoe

So i decided to go ahead and change my rotors and brakes myself instead of paying for the installation, I can just do it myself and invest in a decent Air Wrench, which does make more sense. Plus my neighbor is gone and I use to use his. LOL

So my question is where do I find a good air wrench/gun for a decent price. I'm guessing 1/2" is the best way to go?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

savedsol

Cheap ones are fine. It's more the compressor output that matters in most issues. My fave gun is the Ingersoll Rand Ti/Carbon if you want to spend the $$$!

mwood

Here's a classic...inexpensive, but not cheap. I've used one for years with no problems, just keep it lubricated and blast away...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=32431

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Im just wondering, how do you lube them properly ?

I just pour some air tool oil into the air hole .... :O

mwood

That's it, on the simple 231c . IR says every 48 hours, which, if you think about it, is not very often at all!

ken-x8

Yikes! Why do you want something like that for a brake job? Do you think the caliper bolts and/or bracket bolts are rusted in place?

Every nut and bolt involved in a full brake job gets put back with a specific torque. Air wrench is definitely not the tool to use to assemble things.

BTW - if a shop uses an air wrench to tighten lug nuts, it should not be a high torque one like that one from Harbor Freight. It should be a lower torque one meant for lug nuts. Better shops will use a torque wrench, though.

Ken

mwood

The impact gun can be great for breaking loose loctited bolts, like caliper bolts, but, I agree, not to be used for reassembly!

For tightenining lug nuts, you just turn the torque setting down pretty much all the way on the impact gun, spin the lugs on, and then do final tightening with your torque wrench. Taking them off, just crank it up and hit them with the gun and they'll be off before you know it...just make sure you don't have any galled threads or other issues, or you'll be replacing a stud

staticlag

for optimum lube you need an inline oiler.

dillsrotary

cas do you have an advance auto parts store near you??? they rent air tools, i just rented an impact wrench for one day to do my brakes.

d j

craftsman has some decent ones... I have a 33 gal air compressor and impact tools but for brake jobs, I just use a ratchtet/socket and wrench; maybe a breaker bar to loosen really tight nuts/bolts. takes just about the same amount of time if I were to use the impact gun and wait for the compressor to fill up and drain the tank afterwards (to prevent the tank from accumulating moisture and reust from the inside)

swoope

iTrader: (5)

to change the brakes and rotors you need to get an impact driver to remove the two screws to take the front rotors off...

that is all. hand tools will do the rest..


the impact driver was 10 bucks..

beers

mikeferz42

+1 on the Ingersoll Rand Titanium...best one on the market but a bit expensive.

i purchased mine about 2 weeks ago and it's the best one i've had. i had a 1/2 blue point (snap-on) that i didn't like because it was too heavy and pretty weak compared to the IR. my friend has a matco and that one is the **** also. it costs more than the IR though, i believe.

but yeah like swoope said, an impact screwdriver + hand tools should do the job.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

thx,

and a second note. a 3lb hammer, and a block of wood. liquid wrench on the rotors at the hub..

you have to beat the *** out of them.. dont be scared..

beers

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

it sometime pays to be "agricultural"

cas2themoe

Yes I do, like a half a mile down the road. But I wanted to make a investment so I can use it later for other things.

cas2themoe

The impact driver will need to be purchased as well then. I forgot all about that. This will be my first time doing the Rotors on my RX8.

I sure hope its not hard like my friends Lincoln LS. It was a BITCH getting his back rotors off due to him needing a special tool.

road1will

Yes, please dont use an impact wrench on re-assembly; especially on something as important as brakes. An air ratchet would be okay to snug everything back up, then use a torque wrench to properly torque everything down.

Back on topic -
This is the impact wrench i'm currently using:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

It may be the previous model to that - i'm not sure. Its a fantastic wrench and fairly light. Earlier someone mentioned a Blue Point wrench, made by Snap On, and said it was crap - this wrench is nothing like the crappy BP.

For an air ratchet, i've got one pretty similar to this, but its a year or two old.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

Fixed!