[andyg]

Don, I'm a little confused. Do you recommend running the air tool dry? Running it dry will certainly make it wear out faster. All I suggest is a couple of drops periodically. More oil will only make a big mess anyway. I certainly agree about lubricating the theads like you say. In my experience, penetrating oils do work but it takes days or weeks for them to soak into the joint. Sometimes we cannot wait that long. It never hurts to give it a shot of PBlaster though. You are correct about potential damage with the hammer method. If you do this you must use care and not beat on it endlessly. If it does not work with a few hits it probably will not work at all. Even so, you can loose 1 or 2 studs out of 10 and still make it to the next shop. The large air hose idea might not work on the side of the road but it will help you at home in the shop. You could rig a ping tank to use with the truck's air supply but that is to much stuff to lug around "just in case".