I was really struggling to remove the axle nut on my van. A breaker bar with about a 4 foot pipe on the end of it wasn't doing anything, and I was getting scared that something was going to snap, and cause injury or damage.
So I decided to buy the very largest impact tool that the People's Republic of China has to offer. The manufacturer suggests that it's ideal for bus/semi/train maintenance, and bridge construction. It weighs 45lbs. With a sufficient supply of air, it can supposedly produce 4248ft lbs of torque. I am a happy customer, now confident that I will never again struggle to remove a hub nut.
I've never been to China, but I can't help but revere and be slightly frightened of a people and a culture that can create an amalgamation of cast aluminum and forged steel such as this, and happily sell it to any unsuspecting consumer for about the price of a modest barbecue grill. In a cordless world powered by lithium ion batteries, this tool still yearns to be plumbed directly into the grid. The nearest I can tell, this was manufactured by a company called Taizhou Lizhou Pneumatic Tools Co. Info about them on the internet is sparse, perhaps it's for the best. I like the idea of this monstrosity appearing out of the ether, a mysterious fever dream birthed out of a coal fueled, frenzied economic expansion where the overriding sentiment is to ask what could be done, but rarely stopping to question if it should be done.
My trusty IR 231 impact gun for scale.
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