Astro Tool 1833 3/8" Nano Flex-Head Angle Impact Wrench - 400ft/lb

I should have bought one of these years ago. It's fairly lightweight, has a swivel and flex handle with over 180 degrees of flex, is surprisingly powerful for its size, and really fits into some tight spaces. It was invaluable replacing the suspension airbags and shocks on my diesel pusher coach. It's a great tool for a very reasonable price.

Had a matco one that lasted for years until I broke the direction switch. Bought this one knowing it was the same for much less. It doesn’t replace a full powered 1/2 impact but it can fit in places i would have never tried before. It is the go to for removing sway links or fasteners I fear breaking. With a swivel socket it is comically underpowered and totally worth it. It can still take off most lug nuts.

Got it a little over a year ago and this air wrench is VERY nice to have around in our shop. I got the 1/2 inch but it still fits pretty much everywhere we want to use it on, it definitely saves doing some yoga if you were using a normal air wrench when pulling beds/engines/transmissions/body mounts/etc. I’ll also mention that it is pretty light too while still keeping the speed and power it had when we first bought it even after over a year of using it fairly often (probably 1-3 sessions with it per week if I had to guess) so it’s pretty durable id say though I haven’t tried any other Definitely a quick to set up and strong little tool to have around id recommend it

This may be the impact tool that you want, when most normal impact wrenches won't fit because of depth. Designed for brake work. But useful for many other purposes. The handle can be flexted/bent to clear obstructions. There is also a 1/2" version. I went with the 3/8" because 3/8" sockets are often shorter than 1/2" sockets and tight spaces are the reason for buying this too. Astro Pneumatics also makes some special, low depth impact sockets, which I plan to get a few english and metric sets of, as soon as I see a good enough sale price. While the tool is very low depth, with the handle, etc. it isn't otherwise smaller or lighter or lighter than some other impact wrenches. At 400 ft/lbs. the torque isn't particularly high. These are the trade-offs for making it small enough to fit in close clearance areas. For tight areas, you may also want to consider the model 1831, which is a bit thicker, but may work in some areas where the handle on the 1833 still gets in the way, even after flexing the handle. It also has a bit more torque at 445 ft/lb.

This is a great tool and life saver I recommend it to anyone with an air compressor, especially if you’re doing automotive work.

Great impact for the price. It seems a little underpowered in certain applications but in odd ball situations, the compact size paired with the ability to flex the head gives you great use. On transit buses, the torque rod bolts are usually very tight and at tough to reach spots to get straight on with a normal impact. This impact has enough oomph to rip those bolts right out which is surprising. Is it a direct replacement for a normal impact? No.. it’s an addition to the toolbox with its own place. I would highly recommend this impact or the capri variant and you won’t go wrong.

Overall this is a great little tool. It does great getting to awkward places that you can get in to with a larger impact. You can use angled extensions or adapters but this tool is light compared to my Matco impacts. Making it my go to for most nuts and bolts. I didn’t have a bolt/nut with a size of 24mm or 1’ that this didn’t zip off. I would not expect this to replace my large impacts in terms of power but this makes up with versatility. I just did front upper and lower ball joints with this and it made quick work of the bolts in areas that I couldn’t get a traditional impact. The only negative is that I left the swivel nut loose to let me change the angle constantly while working. This makes it a little annoying to put sockets on but you learn to just grab the head instead of the handle.

It’s a nice and well built tool with very smooth operation and also very quiet. It definitely has a place in my tool box and will be useful for many things. I only gave it 3 stars because there are two things I don’t like about it. 1. It really doesn’t have much power for a 1/2 inch drive air tool. I haven’t had much luck removing the bolts from caliper brackets like many of the other reviews have commented on it being good for that. Now in all fairness to the tool, I work in the rust belt and a lot of the vehicles I work on have larger caliper bolts (19mm to 21mm) if I use in on a Hyundai with 14 mm bolts it works fine. The other thing I really don’t like is the exhaust. It discharges out of the side and if you have any trace of air tool oil you are going to get blasted in the face with oil, even if the exhaust is not aimed at your face, it will blow dirt and dust out of the wheel well and into your hair or on your clothes. I feel it’s necessary to to point this out because none of my other air tools have this issue.

Powerful tool

Very handy impact. Great for tight spaces when on creeper and also wheel wells. Tool is far lighter than my reg impact, not as much power but will work for most chassis fasteners that aren't terribly seized.

My consistent go to for smaller work areas that my large impact gun can't access. Love the movable trigger and being able to angle the head. Great tool.

Great quality product

It is MUCH better than Milwaukee m12 series impacts and it has PERFECT spot reach capability unlike solid body impacts. STRONGLY recommended! The only drama is weight if you have any tendon,joint,muscle etc. issues it may be hard to operate for long hours other than that it worths the money. Combine this with u joint swivel impact adapters and literally can access everywhere.