What kind of air compressor is sufficient?
 

What kind of cfm (at 90 psi) is required for doing heavy truck wheels? My impact seems to prefer 130 psi or so to break 500 lb ft loose. Normally we use the truck air compressor, but that takes a while of waiting even in between each nut.

Is 60 gallon good enough or do we need 120(or bigger)?

Shop will have 220, in floor heat is electrical (10,000W if I'm not mistaken). Nothing is installed yet except the in floor heat, so I'm wondering what the best direction is. Should I reserve one plug for 50 amps for the air compressor? Or maybe hard wire it.

A five horsepower double stage compressor should do it. A 60 gallon tank should be enough for painting, tire changing,etc..

Ok great, our current tank is 30 gallon and the compressor hooks up to a 240v/30 amp source. I have no idea of the cfm of the compressor. All I know is it's a single lung oiled unit and it leaks.

Exactly correct. Here's a link to the Craftsman Professional Grade (80 gallon) compressor I bought over two years. I have never had a problem with it and it powers my 1 inch drive impact quite well. I can remove all ten lugs from a wheel before the compressor kicks on.

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80 gallons is enough for 10 lugnuts eh, at what pressure does your compressor kick off? Thanks for the recommendation.

Compressor kicks on at around 145 psi and kicks off around 178 psi. I have the following Chicago Pneumatic 1" drive impact:

Amazon.com: Chicago Pneumatic CP7976 1-Inch Drive Super Duty Impact Wrench with 6-Inch Anvil: Home Improvement

With this and other 1" drive impacts, you'll need 1/2" air line and quick connect fittings to properly power it. I have a Craftsman 1/2" impact that purportedly makes 700 ft/lbs of torque with 1/4" fittings, but I wouldn't trust anything but a one inch drive for my wheels.

I just realized that one hasn’t been answered. I think my compressor is wired to a 240v/30 amp breaker (well, two 120v/30 amp breakers to be exact). The compressor I have uses a capacitor-assisted-start motor and doesn’t even dim the lights in the shop when it kicks on.

I was definitely going to go with 1/2" line and G-type fittings. This is our current impact:

http://www.nationalpneumatic.com/pro...lex&lang=en-US

It will break nuts loose, but you have to be patient. Currently using truck air. I think the problem is the tractor protection valve simply cannot deliver enough air. I think with just more air delivery (volume and psi) this unit should work fine.

This may be information you already know, but just in case:

Remember when setting up your air system that the longer the pipe and hose from compressor to air tool, the bigger the drop in pressure at the tool.
Here’s a couple links to charts that detail pressure loss in various lengths of pipe and hose:

"Air pressure loss in steel pipe"
"Air pressure loss in standard power tool hoses"

My current configuration is about 40 feet of ½” black iron pipe, then a filter / moister trap / regulator / automatic oiler assembly, then two fifty foot sections of ½” line (which isn’t ideal). My one inch impact is supposed to run on 90 psi, but with my setup, I have to set my regulator to 120psi to power it correctly. Also, if you use an automatic oiler like I have done, make sure you put a separate (3/8” is adequate) air line outlet BEFORE the oiler and and regulator so you have high pressure “dry” air for filling tires. You don’t want to put oiled air in your tires… bad things can happen.

The specs on your impact would indicate that it should generate more than enough power to remove and install truck lugs. I would imagine that you simply aren’t getting enough volume of air off the truck’s compressor to get the job done. I looked at ¾” models myself when I was shopping for an impact, but opted for the one inch drive because I wanted to make sure I could get the job done. The model I ended up buying is one of the most common you’ll see in truck tire shops so I figured I couldn’t go wrong with it. Plus, I figured that with just one truck and trailer to maintain, the more powerful one inch drive would last me a lifetime.