It is time to get a new impact. Old trusty is not pulling a balancer bolt it would have had no problem with when I first got it.

Last time around I bought one for the same reason. I bought the best Harbor Freight wouldn't pull it, returned it and tried Kobalt, then Husky, etc etc etc until I found a Craftsman at Sears (that will give you a time frame). The Craftsman is just a rebranded IR.

I need one this weekend so I have to look for something local and not off a tool truck.

I'm leaning towards another Craftsman from Ace Hardware or an IR from Tractor Supply. Cost is important but more important is bolt removal torque.

Anyone have suggestions about ones they have had great luck with?

Thanks

I have a Ryobi brand ( home depot ) 18 volt.
Ive had it for over 5 years for sure, maybe close to 6 or 7 now. I cant remember the last time Ive had to power up the compressor to use a air power impact

PS, make sure you upgrade to the 8 hr battery at a minimum . Anything less doesn't last long when you keep hammering on a bolt ,

And I have never had it not take any bolt off Ive tried it on. From crank bolts to head bolts to lug nuts

Love my 20v dewalt 1/2 inch, also have the 1/4 and 3/8th in the lower voltage butt I don't remember the volt on them and they all use the same chargers. I have been using them about 5 years in a full service shop and they still work great except one of the smaller batteries broke it's locking tab so it falls off the impacts unless you hold it on there.

18V Milwaukee here, I LOVE mine.

It has a lot more torque than the pneumatic 1/2" drive I had.

have you considered trying to rebuilt it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnV6VgyfDJc

doesn't seem that bad overall.

I bought a Chicago Pneumatic about 8 -10 years ago. It hasn`t let me down yet.

Just look up Ingersol rand IR231 and go from there Summit used to have the best deal on them.
https://www.amazon.com/Ingersoll-231C-Super-Duty-Impact-Wrench/dp/B0002SRM3I#customerReviews

Gus

Which Harbor Freight impact did you buy? I bought one of their EARTHQUAKE models (exact model escapes me at the moment) and it zinged out the ball joints in my Dakota effortlessly.

I bought a Chicago Pneumatic in the late 80's from JC Whitney.

Still have it, still does the job, no idea who actually made it and I doubt it's still the same all these years later.

Agreed hands down 20 V Dewalt, ......we've gone thru the entire offerings of 120 V electric, 14-20 VDC battery and pneumatic impact guns in the shop, of all the major brands regarding cordless, the Dewalts are the only things to do the job repeatedly and survive the gorillas using them on a daily basis.... Roiboy is a good second choice, the Milwaukees suck up battery time too fast, and the torque can't compare to the Dewalts or Roiboy output regardless of the mfg's supposed ratings....

Times 3 for the Dewalt.....Just wish mine had the Lithium Batteries but I bought it ten years to soon.

Are you wanting pneumatic or battery ?

Regardless, wanted to comment, I have an IR 3/8 air ratchet that is about 5 years old but has seen very little use. I was using it a couple of weeks back zinging out some LONG bolts and it cra--ed out. I took it apart and the planetary gear set self destructed. I doubt the unit had more than 1 hour of actual run time.
So I called IR and they wanted pictures. Ok, the unit looks brand new and I even had the box. So they comment that the planetary assembly appeared dry and required regular maintenance send me the instruction manual etc. I said if it was to dry it came that way. They begrudgingly sent a replacement planetary assembly.
While i was waiting for the back ordered part I dug out the 40 year old air ratchet that i bought the IR to replace. It has been abused, rarely oiled, never greased and worked like a new one. Out of curiosity I looked at the boxes,
The 40 year old unit was made in Japan by KTS tools. The IR, straight from Taiwan or China.
Thinking back 40 years it was 1981 and Japan was establishing its ability to build quality tools. Currently IMO, China's capable as is Taiwan but they are still producing some sketchy items. i have always had good service with craftsman products especially their dremel type tools. Indestructible. I actually have two spares that I have yet to need and likely won't now that I've gotten rid of my employees who apparently were Neanderthal's

I’ve used the Dewalt High-Torque impact for a few years without any issues. With 2 batteries, charger, etc., it can get expensive.

The dewalt is a beast. Love it. Variable trigger, three steps in power. Not sure if you will find one on the shelf in your town if you need something quick. It’s worth waiting for one. Got mine on Amazon.

I've used the 20V Dewalt 1/2" drive to tear apart suspensions on 40' transit school buses. They flat out work, all the mechanics @ the garage where I work use 'em.

Wow I was not expecting the love for electric impacts but when I looked at the specs they are not like the one I bought years ago. They are a new beast.

Definitely looking at them now.

I am shifting from Dewalt 18V tools to Craftsman but I am now rethinking that.

The bolt I have to remove is a tenacious. I used the old breaker bar against the ground and hitting the starter and it had no effect. My current Air impact is rated at 800 or 900 ft lbs but that was out of the box and it's pretty old now.

I think I am going with the Dewalt 20V or the IR Air Unit.

Is this the Dewalt everyone like?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D61NSUS

The IR unit is this one.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LV9YC76

I can get either one locally or overnight from amazon since I live in a big city.

I bought the Earthquake about three years ago for a couple of ball joints that my Blue Point wouldn't move. It's a very capable impact that has not let me down. The Blue Point recently stopped working.

I have used a couple of electric impacts. Very nice, but overall heavier than a comparable strength pneumatic.

Both of my air ones are Campbell Hausfeld. The cheap one and the better one, Neither have let me down but the better one was supposed to be a rebuilt one I bought years ago at a swap meet and it turned out to only be a defective returned one. It works great but the F/R button is very picky and is hard to push at times and judging by the bash marks on it that's why it was returned.

I have two plug in electric ones, one at home and one at my shop and they get used more then the air ones do. I'd love the convenience of battery ones but I don't use battery tools enough so I always end up having to charge batteries when I use things.

For pneumatic, about 2 years ago I had one of my reps get me an AirCat 1/2" compact. He reps that line. It is a very good impact gun!! WAY better than my old CP.

I got the Milwaukee M18 Fuel a few years ago. I use it only occasionally in my garage and it generally removes bolts, or snaps them off if they are rusty and won't turn. This is the first electric impact I've owned and I just run my compressor to fill tires these days. It sounds like DeWalt is the way to go now, but its definitely worth considering battery power if you have not tried it before. This is what I use:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...riction-Ring-Tool-Only-2767-20/302654201