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Bryan Irons
Ingersol Rand Impact
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Bryan Irons
Ingersol Rand Impact
The complete kit we ordered includes two batteries (a 2.5 Ah and a 5 Ah), a charger with a USB outlet, soft carrying bag, and the impact driver itself.
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Bryan Irons
Ingersol Rand Impact
In this cutaway, you can easily see the heavy-duty construction of the hammer mechanism. The brushless motor has plenty of torque but is very easy to control with the variable speed trigger. Inside the handgrip is the microprocessor, which takes charge of everything from maximum available torque to light output from the front LED ring.
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Bryan Irons
Ingersol Rand Impact
Steel reinforced rubber and composite housing feels good in our hand.
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Bryan Irons
Ingersol Rand Impact
Two batteries come with the kit.
Story & photos by Bryan Irons
“ Twas a dark and stormy night…” er… um… Let’s start over, shall we? It was a blistering hot day and the sun boiled away any moisture it could find; all we wanted to do was stay inside where in the nice artificially enhanced cool air. Unfortunately, we were receiving death threats from our significant other about our “collection” of yard art, which had accumulated at the side of the house. Here we thought we were helping by keeping house prices low for tax purposes.
Our lovely wife’s bonnet with a bee on this occasion, was the stack of axles we had accumulated for future projects. Most of the ragged pile-o-parts were scored at a good price with no concrete home, because you never know when you’ll need a “fill-in-the-blank-here”. Regardless, they needed to be tidied up as control arms and steering linkages were hanging off the wreckage waiting to snag a clean shirt or score the attention of the neighbourhood association. And it needed to be done, SCHNELL!
The plan was to tear the miscellaneous parts off the offending axles and place them neatly on a pallet for future use. We wanted a quick disassembly that would get us back inside to watch Dukes of Hazzard re-runs with the AC on high, so we scooped up the new Ingersoll Rand WS5132 brushless impact we had in the shop. We’ll be honest, we have a selection of bolt twisters at home but this Ingersoll Rand 3/8” unit is our favourite “go-to” since it followed us home. You may remember we tried out an IR 90-degree impact, but those are made for close quarters and we needed He-Man like power… and don’t get us started on dragging out 75 metres of airline.
Already drenched in sweat with a handful of box wrenches, we made haste to our stash of rusty relics wondering if the little 3/8” cordless gun had what it takes to break the bolts loose. The box reads “550 ft-lb of nut busting torque”; how do they come up with that number? After talking with the IR tech’s, we learned that this is confirmed by torqueing bolts down to 550 ft-lb and using the WS5131 to loosen without any torque multipliers or fancy widgets… in only 10 seconds… 9 out of 10 times… with the same battery. Impressive to say the least.
The package we ordered came with two IQ20 20 volt batteries (2.5 and 5 Ah), a charger, and a soft carrying case. The 5 Ah battery, we are told, will produce slightly more torque then the 2.5 Ah, we couldn’t tell the difference, but it does seem to last longer. As a test, we did swap out three sets of tires and wheels on a single battery and according to the built-in level tester, we still had enough juice for another set. The smaller 2.5 battery allows for better access and a lighter tool weight.
So we slugged away for a while with our new tools and unbolted all the control arm hardware from a set of rusty Jeep JK axles and a set of 2006 F-350 axles. The WS5132 never whimpered and the cancer-laden hardware succumbed under the pressure.
After the shrapnel was separated from the keepers, we put the hardware back on for future use. Reassembly is where the impact really shines; four mode switches are on the back of the unit allowing you to select between “hand tight”, “wrench tight”, “mid power” and “full power”. These modes only work in forward, and reverse is set to full boogie no matter what. The first two settings are not just a speed or torque limiter; as speed calculations and running currents are used to shut the gun down once the determined torque is achieved. Just for reference; hand tight is around 8 ft-lb, wrench tight is about the 20 ft-lb mark, Mid Power maxes out at roughly 240 ft-lb and a full pull tips the scales at 340 ft-lb with the 5 Ah battery. The 365 ft-lb rating is for tightening in reverse…. something you’re likely only to do with left hand lug nuts or other very oddball fasteners.
While disassembling and stacking axles like cordwood in the blistering sun, it would have been hard to see the halo light on the front of the IR cordless impact. In the dark confines of our shop it’s an immense help. The full circle lighting doesn’t show shadows and has an adjustable intensity level. The remainder of the 5.1 lb housing is as tough as they come. Steel reinforced rubber and composite housing feels good in your hand and all the buttons and dials can be easily manipulated. Our clumsy gene has meant that the WS5132 has left our hands at importune times but we have yet to break anything. In fact, we were handed the cutaway housing you see here in pictures and told to try and break it. We tried and happily failed at busting it up.
We’re lucky enough in our concrete paradise we call a shop to have a variety of tools hanging from the walls for our use. Some are covered in dust and rarely get looked at, others we’re glad to have when the need arises, and a select few turn into an extension of ourselves; ball peen hammer, 5” Dewalt angle grinder, 2’ crow bar, Miller Multimatic 200 welder, 6” Record bench vice, and now the Ingersol Rand WS5132 impact tool. Whether it’s to change a busted axle on the trail, light a work area under a rig, or work on a suspension install at 4WDrive, we’re glad to have the WS5132 by our side. Time to head back inside with a cold bevvy to watch Bo and Luke beat on the General Lee.
Ingersoll Rand – www.ingersollrandproducts.com
Looking for more drill reviews? The smaller 2.5 battery allows for better access and a lighter tool weight.