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I’m looking to upgrade my impact wrench. I read lots of reviews, and it seems that the gold standard is the Ingersoll Rand 231C. Its $125, which is pretty steep :pinch: . Do you get a return on your investment? Will it truly last for 10 years? Can I get away with a Harbor Freight impact wrench?
http://www.amazon.com/Ingersoll-Rand-231C-2-Inch-Super-Duty-Impact/dp/B0002SRM3I
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I have the same one, only its branded Mac. All I know is its over 15 years old, and it still kicks my friends gun’s ass, and his is rated for around 1200 ft-lbs.
IR does make very good impact tools. about a year ago I decided to give the earthquake impact from HF a try. it was on sale and with a 20% off coupon I walked out the door for 70.00. rated at 700 ft lbs reverse the gun looks very much like a IR thunder gun ( not as loud though ) thing works great. for the price just can’t beat it , have yet to find something it won’t loosen. you might want to check one out.
I’m looking at the same gun, the 231C or the 231HA. the HA is the same as the C except for the exhaust is out the bottom of the handle so it doesn’t blow oil over your work space. you loose 10ft lbs on the HA though.
From my research I’ve found this: the steel 231C or 231HA is heavy, loud, but is built like a tank and will last darn near forever. It’s rated around 600ft lbs, which isn’t too shabby. The composite rattle guns are quieter, and lighter, but the composite material that makes this possible also reduces the life of the tool. If you are a home DIY guy using it occasionally, get a 231C or 231HA and it’ll last you forever. If you’re a pro, the extra weight and noise of a steel gun will make you hate life if you use it all day. You need a lighter composite in this case, and will have to live with the reduced life. They can be rebuilt however. I’ve heard that many techs that have Snap-on composite guns or the IR 2135TiMAX have theirs rebuilt yearly or every 2 years. I’ve heard of 231’s going 10-15 years and not needing to be rebuilt.
FWIW, air cat and nitro cat are powerful guns, but at a severely reduced life span. The nitro cat has a different mechanism than most rattle guns that if you don’t take care of it, it’ll die a quick death. manufacturer will confirm this in their instructions for lubing and greasing the gun. unless you just need balls to the wall torque, the 231 will serve you nicely…that’s the gun I’m getting.
For the price, it cant be beat. A quality tool with a very reasonable price. I wouldn’t call 125 for an impact gun steep though. Thats on the low end of the scale.
I personally have a Snap On Heavy Duty 1/2″ gun, the MG725 specifically. 1190 ft/lbs break away, 810 ft/lbs working. It gets the job done to say the least. Costs 3 times as much though, and is a little of the heavy side, weighing in at nearly 5 lbs.
I am also looking for a good DIY impact gun and trying to decide between the IR 231C and the HF model, has anyone tried both and can suggest which one to pick up? There’s not that big of a price difference between the two so I just want the one that will perform better.
Yes it is worth it. I posted on another thread that we used it continuously to drive quantity 9 7/8″ GR8 bolts every 3 hours for a year to suspend a 3000# part in a robot cell. Never shelled the gun, never had a part move out of tolerance. We wore out several bolts. And to show there’s no trickery to this, the parts were only held by the bolts, no clamps using leverage where we didn’t need full torque. Only the bolts held the part. We now use these on all the robots I oversee.
Recently came down to the 231C, $130, or the HF Earthquake, $80 with coupon. I’m a hobbyist and will use this rarely, so I went the cheaper route. Works great though. Powered by 10gal compressor and takes off 5 lug nuts without cycling.
I am the deaf owner of a 231C. Bitchin gun but like I said: I’m deaf because of it.
Blue-Point & MAC sell 231’s re-badged as their own for more money. The BP *is* lighter though (MAC heavier).
When you buy a 231, tell the tool truck to throw in a free set of ear muffs. Ear plugs take too long to find, twist up, ram into your ear holes, and then wait for them to expand. I use the $0.99 Harbor Freight ear muffs. I got pissed off at my service writer last month, and smashed the muffs against a wall. But for $0.99? Hell, you can’t beat it!
I can also tell you the 231 is called 231 in honor of the tool’s weight: 231 lbs. If you get stuck with a tire rotation on an 8-lug diesel, your arm will be cussing you out by the time you get done.
Lastly, I recommend either name brand or knock off brand “Mechanix” gloves to be used with it. They aren’t really needed because vibrations aren’t really that bad, but when you work with it all day, every day…
I have one of these
and one of these
Best impacts I have ever owned hands down, the thunder was bought in 2000 I believe and the Titanium was bought in 2002 if I remember right, both work perfectly.
[quote=”matthewross1987″ post=47705]I’m looking to upgrade my impact wrench. I read lots of reviews, and it seems that the gold standard is the Ingersoll Rand 231C. Its $125, which is pretty steep :pinch: . Do you get a return on your investment? Will it truly last for 10 years? Can I get away with a Harbor Freight impact wrench?
http://www.amazon.com/Ingersoll-Rand-231C-2-Inch-Super-Duty-Impact/dp/B0002SRM3I%5B/quote%5D
Well both my impacts (see above) are over 10 years old, with the Thunder being 14 years old now. Both have lasted perfectly, but the Thunder cost me 250.00 new and the Titanium was almost $300 when it first came out, worth every penny. Dad had a bunch of the 231c(s) but I did not like them, too cold in the winter and too darn heavy (the Thunder weighs a ton also) also I noticed his 231(s) were really weak after many years of abuse.
And the 231c is really not Ingersol’s “gold standard” or even top of the line, it is their entry impact wrench. The 2135Ti is their current “best” model out there super light about 3.8 pounds and 780ft/lbs of torque in reverse. The 231c is 600 ft/lbs and weighs almost 6 pounds.
The 231c is good for a DIYer but I would recommend the HF earthquake over it. The earthquake has 700 ft/lbs of torque and weights 6 pounds also, but is composite which means your hands will thank you.
The 231c was so popular because it is cheap (for an Ingersol) and is all metal (less likely to break by being abused by mechanics)
I want this one:
http://www.toolorbit.com/ingersoll-rand/ingersoll-rand-ir231-usa.html
The fuckin PATRIOT model, son! banana:
[quote=”Chevypower” post=84081]I want this one:
http://www.toolorbit.com/ingersoll-rand/ingersoll-rand-ir231-usa.html
The fuckin PATRIOT model, son! banana:[/quote]
I think this will be my next impact.
http://www.ingersollrandproducts.com/am-en/products/tools/impactools/maintenance-automotive-impactools/1-2-drive/2135ti10yr
The USA one is okay, but i don’t care for the direction switch, I prefer the direction switch on the very back. Plus I prefer the composite modelsOf course if we are going to talk about Ingeroll’s excellent impacts, it is only fair to bring up the ratchets.
Here are my two favorites in the shop
Sad part is the Lightning ratchet is no longer available. 🙁
Good deal.
The 231 is not a bad impact at all, it is very solid and will last a very long time if well taken care of. If you only DIY once in a great while it should last you forever in that environment. If you ever get into using it alot or get into mechanics I would advise you go up in the line the 231 can get heavy when used all day and the bare metal can get real cold in the winter.
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