When it comes to wrenching on your car or truck, or building a deck, working in tight spots is a fact of life. It used to be, that if you were in a really tight spot, you were left using an open-end wrench powered by Mr. Armstrong, and to add insult to injury, sometimes you can only swing the wrench a few degrees which leaves you with sore forearms and busted knuckles.
Ingersoll Rand, the inventors of the impact tool way back in 1934, have revolutionized the impact tool by combining the power of a traditional impact gun, with the space-saving, low profile design of an air ratchet. Behold, the Hammerhead Impact Wrench (Part #: 2015MAX) by Ingersoll Rand.

With 180 ft-lb of maximum reverse torque and 160 ft-lb of maximum forward torque, it easily outperforms even the most expensive air ratchets. Weighing in at 3.4 pounds with a head height of less than 2” and a length of just over 13”, it’s not much larger than a standard air ratchet either. While this tool is loaded with some great features and benefits, our favorite is the reactionless torque, which means when the bolt or nut that you’re tightening is fully tight, the air ratchet won’t smash your hand or knuckles – unlike a traditional air ratchet. Ergonomically, the 2015MAX Hammerhead is setup pretty nicely. It sports a flat, feather-touch trigger, a two-position forward power regulator, and a forward/reverse ring to set direction of the tool.
 

Product Specs:

The Ingersoll Rand Hammerhead Review We’ve been using the Ingersoll Rand air ratchet for about 9 months now in various situations. Having a combination air gun and air ratchet is a fantastic tool to have at your disposal when working in tight situations. For example, removing exhaust manifold bolts or removing transmission bell housing bolts or even tightening the covers on a front axle differential. It’s a tad bit on the heavy side, but not overly so. We’ve put at least 4 or 5 solid hours of use against this tool, which may not sound like a lot at first, but time yourself next time you use an air tool – you’ll probably only use it for a few seconds at a time. We like the shape and design of the hammerhead quite a bit, but the forward / reverse ring is difficult to use one-handed, which can be a pain if you find yourself holding the tool in one hand, holding a part in the other, and wanting for a third hand to switch directions.      Pros Cons Ergonomics and space-saving size of a large air ratchet with the power of a small impact gun Not too tough on the wallet Solid construction Powerful enough to break loose or tighten standard nuts and bolts, but not so powerful that you’ll break your standard 3/8” drive sockets (although I’m sure impact sockets are suggested, we’ve been using standard Craftsman sockets without problem) Difficult one-handed operation (unlike an impact gun or even most newer air ratchets) A bit on the heavy side, perhaps a full poly version would shave some weight   Ingersoll Rand 3/8″ Hammerhead Review Comfort Durability Torque Frame design Operational Design Size Cost