Looking for cordless impact wrench suggestions
- Thread starter Chris
- Start date
Late to the party, but I have the 1/2" 18V Milwaukee Fuel, best purchase ever. There hasn't been much for bolts it either won't get out or snap off.
After 45 years of buying to many hand tools for manufacturing and production company I finally learned many years ago to buy only Dewalt if you want something that will last with dependability.
I don't have a large amount of experience with Dewalt, just some. I have a mountain of experience with Milwaukee and I don't have any dependability issues with them and I use them daily, hard, and with no expectation they won't serve me exactly as needed.
Thanks. Description said impact so, I was going to Home Depot to see if I could ‘test’ it. That’s one thing I don’t like about the drill, too much torque. It either breaks or strips the screw. I assume the right angle impact will be the same.
What are you trying to do? I have lots of experience with the drills, hex driver impacts in Surge, M18 Fuel, M12 Fuel, along with the drill motors in the same battery sizes for everything from 12" timber screws to #8 self tappers.
Glad I found this post. I was about to pull the trigger on an impact wrench to replace my old sears unit(only really used it for tire rotations) and I already have the M18 batteries and charger in the garage (upgraded my kid's Kid Traxx to M18 batteries) so this is definitely going in the cart and will get used.
I have the mid-torque M18 Fuel 3/8" and an older edition of the M18 Fuel 1/2" (does 1100 vs the current 1400 ft-lbs).
The big one is great for difficult bolts and nuts, especially rusted axle nuts and bottom coilover bolts. It removed an axle nut I couldn't by jumping on a 6 foot cheater bar.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...One-5-0-Ah-Battery-and-Bag-2767-21B/312012941
My next buy is probably a high clearance right angle air ratchet.
The big one is great for difficult bolts and nuts, especially rusted axle nuts and bottom coilover bolts. It removed an axle nut I couldn't by jumping on a 6 foot cheater bar.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...One-5-0-Ah-Battery-and-Bag-2767-21B/312012941
My next buy is probably a high clearance right angle air ratchet.
Milwaukee makes the highest torque model, or at least they did a year or so back when I bought mine.
1100 ft/lbs of torque. And four different settings to step that down if needed. I torque my lug nuts with it on setting 1 and check with a torque wrench, they get real close without being over torqued. I've busted loose a bunch of very rusty bolts on my beater, no problem at all.
It's also relatively compact compared to other high torque impacts out there. I'll look up the model number.
1100 ft/lbs of torque. And four different settings to step that down if needed. I torque my lug nuts with it on setting 1 and check with a torque wrench, they get real close without being over torqued. I've busted loose a bunch of very rusty bolts on my beater, no problem at all.
It's also relatively compact compared to other high torque impacts out there. I'll look up the model number.
OP
What’s the consensus on batteries? Is 6ah enough to tackle something like a lift install?
The 12ah battery seems like it’s size and weight might get in the way in some situations, no?
The 12ah battery seems like it’s size and weight might get in the way in some situations, no?
I only run the 5 amp-hour batteries on the 18 volt series, and they're more than enough for most of my work. I own 4 batteries total (but probably eight M18 tools altogether), so switching out isn't often a problem.
When these tools first came out, they only came with small batteries, namely 1 and 2 amp-hour, which made them very slim and lightweight, while matching the performance of the old NiCd batteries. But people keep buying the largest battery they make, so they started making 3, 4, 5 amp-hour batteries. Now even 9 and 12 amp-hour batteries are available. (6 and 8 Ah are also available.)
So if you're comparing to an old NiCd set, most 18 volt NiCd sets had maybe 1.5 amp hours at most. For example:
https://www.harborfreight.com/18v-nicd-replacement-battery-64776.htmlThat is only 1300 mAh.
A 6 amp hour battery on an impact wrench would easily do a lift kit.
If you use the M18 Fuel 3/8" impact with a deep socket and no extensions and hammer it just slightly after they stop moving, that will overtighten lug nuts by about 25 ft lbs.
I only use the 5ah batteries for the little lights. The power reduction on the tools is enough to convince me to run the larger batteries. Milwaukee makes at least a 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 12ah version. I haven't seen a 7 yet, but I've seen the rest. I mainly use the 9ah, slightly less usage is the 12ah, and very rarely anything else.
My go to is the 9ah. Best all around balance between size and duration with power delivery.
I bought into it relatively early on when the 5Ah was the biggest battery they offered. Otherwise I would have gone for the 9Ah and 12Ah.
Same here. I was ecstatic when the 5's came out. Now I don't even hardly use them. In fact, I've given most of them away. I had about 10 at one point, I think I'm down to 2.
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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