This past winter I had the fun of changing the starter motor twice in 15 degree weather in my Landcruiser. It was a bear getting to the starter bolts with my full size Ingersoll Rand 1/2 Thunder Gun. It’s an awesome impact wrench and I had trashed a few cheap Harbor Freight ones before taking the advice of my friends and buying it. To make a long story short, with a long extension and a universal joint, I was able to get the two bolts out.
While working on the truck, it struck me that I really needed a compact impact wrench to get into tight spaces. I did some digging and found the Astro 1828 Onyx for 3/8″ impact sockets. I figured I wanted small and probably would not need 1/2″ most of the time.
These next photos show how much more compact the Onyx is compared to the big Thunder Gun:
The little Onyx gets great reviews – currently 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon with 148 reviews. I bought it and a Hot Max 28083 Swivel adapter at the same time. It arrived in a nice little cardboard box from Amazon and I promptly put good Teflon tape on the swivel’s fittings, installed it and then a Milton M-style plug.
So far, both are holding up great in my home garage use (I’m not a pro mechanic – more like a shade tree one with ADD and sleep deprivation).
What I find interesting is that it is a torquy little beast. They claim 450 ft/lbs. I have not bothered checking using a calibrated torque wrench but I can tell you it’s done a great job so far. For big stuff / tight stuff, I still go to the Thundergun with its 625 ft/lbs of torque. The Onyx is more of a special purpose tool for me. By the way, if you notice it is shiny above, I had just used it to remove the drain plug off a 2002 Camry’s transmission. They are about 18mm and use a 10mm Allen bit to come off. My 10mm Allen bit is for a 3/8″ drive so I just stuck it on the Onyx and it whipped it right off. Reinstalling, I set torque at 1 out of 3 and then checked it with a 3/8″ drive ratchet wrench after — it was in there solid.
In short, I am happy with the little Nano and Hot Max swivel combination. I definitely still use my Thunder Gun for wheel lugs and big fasteners but the Nano is now my go to for tight spaces.
October 2018 Update: I had a problem with the hog ring clip at the end of the nose. It bent and would no longer hold sockets properly. It took a while for the maker to get me the clips but they did take care of me and gave me a few spare. Click here for the whole story.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.