For an early present, I got a HF Earthquake 3/8" air ratchet.
Specs are 70 ft/lbs of torque, 400 RPM, and 4 SCFM at 90 PSI. There's also a pin clutch impact mechanism to keep knuckles from getting banged up when it can't tighten any more. I'd have to say those specifications and the part about not being a knuckle-banger are pretty accurate. The push-down forward/reverse selector is also pretty easy to operate, although that might impede access to some areas. But those areas might better be served with a smaller 1/4" air ratchet.
I threw a Milton V-style male-male fitting onto it and started taking apart things. It's quick to spin off fasteners. I didn't feel like I was waiting for the tool to do its thing. It managed to break free the 10mm caliper bolts on my Cruze without assistance, as well as some bolts on my 1970's Ariens snowblower.
I tested it in reverse on lug nuts that were tightened to 80 ft/lbs. Nope, not happening. I didn't expect it to, either. What was nice was spinning the lugs back down, the pin clutch vibrated to let me know when it was reaching its limit. The ratchet didn't jump much, maybe 1/4" at the end of the tool before the clutch activated. When the clutch activated it acted similarly to the clutch on a clutched cordless drill. Torquing the lug nuts to 80 ft/lbs as verified by my torque wrench didn't take a lot of effort, so it seems like the torque rating is accurate for at least tightening.
Air consumption seemed to be pretty accurate. I was able to tighten down about 10 lug nuts before my 30 gallon compressor kicked on again. It's also fairly quiet for a HF air tool.
Do I see this as up to shop duty? I don't feel comfortable answering that since that's not my use for it. For my decidedly weekend warrior use, it's quite a nice tool. It's pretty solidly built, the machining looks to be a step above the non-Earthquake HF air tools, and the specs seem to be accurate as far as I can tell. It's staying in my toolbox, that's for sure.
P.S., it's made in Taiwan instead of China.
Specs are 70 ft/lbs of torque, 400 RPM, and 4 SCFM at 90 PSI. There's also a pin clutch impact mechanism to keep knuckles from getting banged up when it can't tighten any more. I'd have to say those specifications and the part about not being a knuckle-banger are pretty accurate. The push-down forward/reverse selector is also pretty easy to operate, although that might impede access to some areas. But those areas might better be served with a smaller 1/4" air ratchet.
I threw a Milton V-style male-male fitting onto it and started taking apart things. It's quick to spin off fasteners. I didn't feel like I was waiting for the tool to do its thing. It managed to break free the 10mm caliper bolts on my Cruze without assistance, as well as some bolts on my 1970's Ariens snowblower.
I tested it in reverse on lug nuts that were tightened to 80 ft/lbs. Nope, not happening. I didn't expect it to, either. What was nice was spinning the lugs back down, the pin clutch vibrated to let me know when it was reaching its limit. The ratchet didn't jump much, maybe 1/4" at the end of the tool before the clutch activated. When the clutch activated it acted similarly to the clutch on a clutched cordless drill. Torquing the lug nuts to 80 ft/lbs as verified by my torque wrench didn't take a lot of effort, so it seems like the torque rating is accurate for at least tightening.
Air consumption seemed to be pretty accurate. I was able to tighten down about 10 lug nuts before my 30 gallon compressor kicked on again. It's also fairly quiet for a HF air tool.
Do I see this as up to shop duty? I don't feel comfortable answering that since that's not my use for it. For my decidedly weekend warrior use, it's quite a nice tool. It's pretty solidly built, the machining looks to be a step above the non-Earthquake HF air tools, and the specs seem to be accurate as far as I can tell. It's staying in my toolbox, that's for sure.
P.S., it's made in Taiwan instead of China.
