Topic

There are a load of Chines copies of Makita impact wrenches on Ebay. Has anyone here got one and tried it on wheel nuts ?

I’d make sure that you’re equipped with another way of refitting the wheel if it manages to remove the nuts!
Joking apart some of these are competent at the price & are significantly better than earlier attempts, having said that I’ve a reciprocating saw which has cut its way through much much more than it was intended to do.
The marketing of this type of item is clever, a well respected manufacturer is name dropped when referring to an aspect such as battery compatibility, implying a connection between the devices that isn’t there. Some sellers post devices at blistering prices only for you to find out when it hits your doormat that the batteries are not included.
Torque is everything with these & that need not be reiterated here but my son has a Milwaukee gun & it is impossibly powerful to the point where I won’t use it, not wanting to present to A&E with my right arm in a carrier bag having had it ripped off while putting a wheel back on.
These are probably quite good but won’t recover if dropped from above- - - - - - - -. I’ll let you fill in the figures, any guesses anyone?
Caveat emptor.

At work and at home I use Hilti and Bosch professional battery rattle guns the 2 Hiltis 3/4” and 1/2” drive are for heavy work and the Bosch 1/2” and 3/8” drive ar for medium and light work respectively, I find the quality of these makes for ease of use, more control and less hard on the hands than the el’cheapo stuff.
Having said that
I keep an Aldi cheapie in the Ute for emergencies, it’s not bad for the money and I won’t be heartbroken if some scumbag junkie vermin pinches it from the back of the Ute.

Another thought would be an air impact wrench as it can justify the compressor i bought a couple of years ago. Would i be right in thinking that £ for £ a moderate air wrench would be much more usable than the cheap end of the electric impact wrenches ?

A pneumatic rattle gun will provide more grunt than an electric one of the same physical size. It however lacks the portability and convenience of a battery rattle gun.
I use both kinds depending on the job and where I’m working.

As for pneumatic rattle guns: It depends on your compressors capacity, the rate at which it can provide air.Here is a link to a guide https://www.totaltools.com.au/blog/post/compressor-guide
With a pneumatic rattle gun you need to keep it lubricated before every time you use it….a drop of air tool oil is all it needs.
Of course you’ll need suitable hose and fittings if the hose’s dia is too small it will choke of the air supply, an inside dia of 8mm for @ 5m of hose or 10mm ID for @ 10m length will be sufficient. Now the fittings you should have a pressure regulator with an integrated water trap ( the water trap will prevent your tool, getting a gut full of water) other fittings to consider are the couplings yet again too small will choke the airflow. Go for the Nitto type they look like this there are many brands of couplings in this format and quite cheap ones are ok.

As for the brand stay away from el’cheapo no name Chinese rubbish

Sounds good. Ive ordered a SIP air wrench and some impact sockets. Looking forward to trying this out.

Very pleased with the 2nd hand SIP air rattle gun. Its made light work of unscrewing the 46mm base of my n/s front top swivel joint that was not responding at all to an hour of a long bar and lots of hammering. I've learned the trick is to not be afraid to keep the air tool on there for a minuite or two or give it multiple long repetitive bursts. That's something I'd never do with an electric tool as I'd be too worried about burning it out.

Convinced of the benefit of air wrenches. Glad I didn't buy that knock off electric thing

Good to hear that you’re happy with the results 👍🏻

The cordless guns are unbeatable no airlines rubbing against the car or power cuts to stop play I use the DEWALT dcf899 because it has 3 torque settings and this means you can work on smaller stuff without wrecking it and to be honest everyone moans about air compressors the are noisey.I only use my compressor for tyre inflation and the blowgun these days but if it’s DEWALT or Milwaukee and many other brands our Chinese cousins have had something to do with them all.(even our mgtfs)

My compressor, a Chicago Air 150 isn’t noisy you can hardly hear it run @71 db
It’s got 4 direct drive motors running 8 cylinders.
Produces 19.35cfm
150 litre receiver


The small 1/2” drive rattle gun I run has much smaller dimensions (@ 1/3 of the size) than a comparable battery powered rattle gun with their bulky batteries, which means I can use it where the battery ones won’t fit……ideal for automotive use which is what I mainly use for working on cars.

I have 6 battery rattle guns 1 Bosch Professional 3/8”, 2 Bosch Professional 1/2”, 1 Hilti 1/2”, 1 Hilti 3/4” and an Aldi 1/2” ((which is kept in the Ute to change tyres, I don’t much care if some scumbag knocks it off)
And 3 pneumatic rattle guns 1 TTI 1/2”, 1 Yutani 3/4” and a Yutani 1” (a monstrous weapon, damned thing is seriously heavy and just looking at it makes me feel tired, but there has been little to put up much of a fight to it, though it has been beaten, then I had to resort to a bloody great torque multiplier and an even bigger Samoan on the end of a 8’ long cheater bar….. no bolt on earth can beat that combination! )

As well I have several air ratchets in 1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2” and 3/4” drive these are very handy for working on cars as you don’t need to swing them.

The Hiltis are the best battery rattle guns money can buy with the Bosch Professional coming in for second place, but the pneumatic rattle guns easily out perform them.

It’s comes down to convenience vs performance and choosing what works best in any particular situation.
If all you have is an Aldi special, then it’s better than nothing and you make do, but be aware that there are always better ways of getting the job done, and if what you’ve got can’t do it you either need to get the right tools for the job or handball it to someone who has them.

You see Cobber you are somewhat special within the community. You can be rude to us with impunity & we can be rude to you without fear of you throwing something venomous through the front window.
You do this caper for a living we do it for a laugh (or we can’t afford the services of a first rate motor engineer) & so your kit is impressive. I’d love to rummage through your tool chest, much in the same way it’s always a pleasure to look through my sons kit. Quality tools pay for themselves by the time saved, besides they are an investment in your future.

Don't know about you, Airport when I look through my son's tool box, I suddenly find so many tools I thought I had and have somehow vanished.