Looking for cordless impact wrench suggestions

thomat65 said:
Get yourself some torque sticks. I have these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015NI2NP8/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Then you can use your impact wrench to mindlessly put the lug nuts back on, too. No need to count ugga-duggas. Also good for spinning stuff off when you're worried that 400lb-ft of torque will shear a bolt.

I will say the rated torque output on those sticks is inaccurate. So make sure to measure it yourself with a torque wrench. But it's repeatable enough that I know I my lug nuts are tight enough without risk of stripping them. Even with a 400lb-ft impact wrench. They work great.

And this goes without saying but please wear safety glasses. Adding torque with an impact driver just makes the broken metal pieces fly into your eyes that much faster.

I don't have recommendations beyond that. I'll just add my personal experience. I recently purchased this DeWalt 20V brushed (not brushless) impact wrench:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007NVSQSC/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I use it mainly for lug nuts. Like all impact wrenches it's also great for breaking axle nuts loose, stuff like that. It has worked very well. Are there better options? Yes. Does this satisfy my needs? Also yes.

I love having an impact wrench. Fun fact: it took me an entire evening hammering on a pickle fork to fail to get one of the ball joints out of my car. Good thing I was replacing the lower control arms because I wrecked that side. But after getting a ball joint separator (looks like a clamp) and using an impact wrench both that one and the other one popped right out in five minutes. There's no substitute for the right tools. Anyone want a free pickle fork?
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How do those torque sticks work? If the impact wrench is 450 ft/lbs, and you put on a 80 ft/lbs extension, I assume that makes it so that even at full throttle, the impact wrench will only torque it to 80 ft/lbs?

I hadn’t heard of these until now.
 
Chris said:
How do those torque sticks work? If the impact wrench is 450 ft/lbs, and you put on a 80 ft/lbs extension, I assume that makes it so that even at full throttle, the impact wrench will only torque it to 80 ft/lbs?

I hadn’t heard of these until now.
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That's what it does.

The how is like this: imagine dropping a hammer onto a glass coffee table. It breaks of course. The peak force is too high. Now drop the same hammer from the same height onto a spring on the same coffee table. Now it doesn't break. The spring limited the peak force. A stiffer spring gives a higher peak force, a softer spring gives lower peak force.

Torque sticks are just springs. "Torsion bar" might be more precise.
 
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Torque sticks confused me until I learned they only work with impact guns and not torque wrenches. When you consider how an impact gun works, it makes sense that the torque stick could essentially act as a spring. But, when used with a torque wrench, they do nothing since you are applying constant torque.
 
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Very cool and good info. Sounds like it’s worth ordering a set of those as well, since they would likely make mundane tasks like tightening lug nuts a lot easier as oppose to having to impact the nuts on, then go back around with a torque wrench to individually torque them all to spec.

Of course I’ll be sure to check the torque with a torque wrench the first few times, just to see how accurate the torque sticks are.
 
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I am not a fan of torque sticks anymore after switching to an electric impact. They feel different than with an air impact. I have a matco set I would sell:unsure:
 
Lou said:
I am not a fan of torque sticks anymore after switching to an electric impact. They feel different than with an air impact. I have a matco set I would sell:unsure:
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I have a theory about that. I think it depends on how many impacts per second your impact wrench is dishing out. I think a lot of electrics might have a different impact rate than air tools. Not sure about that though--not enough personal experience.
 
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Lou said:
I am not a fan of torque sticks anymore after switching to an electric impact. They feel different than with an air impact. I have a matco set I would sell:unsure:
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This will be my first time using an electric impact (coming from air) so I look forward to feeling the difference.

Apparition said:
I rarely use an impact to install a lug nut. So easy to do by hand.
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I've always just threaded them on by hand, then impacted them just enough, and then went over them one-by-one with a torque wrench.
 
Chris said:
This will be my first time using an electric impact (coming from air) so I look forward to feeling the difference.



I've always just threaded them on by hand, then impacted them just enough, and then went over them one-by-one with a torque wrench.
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If I did it all day every day, I’m all for it but a ratchet and a torque wrench makes quick work of mounting a wheel.
 
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Chris said:
How do those torque sticks work? If the impact wrench is 450 ft/lbs, and you put on a 80 ft/lbs extension, I assume that makes it so that even at full throttle, the impact wrench will only torque it to 80 ft/lbs?

I hadn’t heard of these until now.
Click to expand...
Have you seen me say that X impact will do X tightening without any extensions, only a socket? That's because extensions reduce delivered torque because they bounce sideways at both ends under the impact hits. Torque sticks are similar.
 
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In the past few months, I've acquired a number of the M18 Fuel tools from Milwaukee. The biggest battery I have is the 5ah version, along with a couple 3ah and a 2ah. After following this thread, I think it might be a good idea to get at least one larger one. Based on @mrblaine's comments, it sounds like that maybe should be the 9ah battery.

I have a question. When it comes to charging the batteries, what procedure do you folks use? Do you charge 'em just prior to needing them, keep them partially charged and monitor when they need to be recharged, or keep them on the charger 24/7? My only concern about the latter option would be the (perhaps unfounded) fear of the risk of fire.

And on the subject of Milwaukee tools, I've run their corded tools forever. Three days ago, my 23 year old angle grinder finally failed. Sounds like the gearbox is gone. So, I picked up both an 11 amp corded replacement (for the garage), as well as the M18 Fuel version for "field" work. An hour into using the new corded one, it starts binding up. Did it several times. Thinking it might be overheating, I let it cool down for a couple hours before using it again. Within a few minutes, it all but locked up. I returned it to the store and exchanged it for another. If it fails, I'll look into buying an older used one. I'm also going to look into having my old U.S. made one rebuilt.
 
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I charge my batteries then remove them from the charger. I have quite a few so I just stockpile the dead ones till my charged ones are depleting and charge them up. I have a few chargers so this goes quick. I don’t use my stuff regularly anymore so I probably only Charge batteries Twice a year.
 
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How about an impact wrench with adjustable torque settings built-in, does such a thing exist?

In my head it seems like a cool idea, but I'm sure Blaine will be along shortly to tell me why it's not ;)
 
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Squatch said:
I have a question. When it comes to charging the batteries, what procedure do you folks use? Do you charge 'em just prior to needing them, keep them partially charged and monitor when they need to be recharged, or keep them on the charger 24/7? My only concern about the latter option would be the (perhaps unfounded) fear of the risk of fire.
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It's not a bad idea to charge batteries in a fire proof container whether you're there to watch them catch on fire or not.

I like to charge mine on the top shelf of a tool cabinet because it's metal and has a metal lid I can pull down to close it if I want. I haven't felt like verifying it'll stop a fire up there because I don't want to remove scorch marks haha. But it at least gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. We'll see if that feeling sticks around once one of my batteries explode. Might be sooner than later because I tend to leave batteries on the chargers all the time 😬
 
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thomat65 said:
It's not a bad idea to charge batteries in a fire proof container whether you're there to watch them catch on fire or not.

I like to charge mine on the top shelf of a tool cabinet because it's metal and has a metal lid I can pull down to close it if I want. I haven't felt like verifying it'll stop a fire up there because I don't want to remove scorch marks haha. But it at least gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. We'll see if that feeling sticks around once one of my batteries explode. Might be sooner than later because I tend to leave batteries on the chargers all the time 😬
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I leave mine on the chargers.

My lipo batteries for my RC go in fireproof bags.
 
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thomat65 said:
It's not a bad idea to charge batteries in a fire proof container whether you're there to watch them catch on fire or not.

I like to charge mine on the top shelf of a tool cabinet because it's metal and has a metal lid I can pull down to close it if I want. I haven't felt like verifying it'll stop a fire up there because I don't want to remove scorch marks haha. But it at least gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. We'll see if that feeling sticks around once one of my batteries explode. Might be sooner than later because I tend to leave batteries on the chargers all the time 😬
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I currently charge mine in the same area that you do. Just seemed like a good idea to have it be on/in an area of metal. (y)
 
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