Milwaukee Tool Review: Stubby Impact 12V Fuel 3/8" Drive

mrblaine

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I enjoy my Milwaukee cordless tools. It is rare that they surprise me any more since I own and use so many of them both in 18v and 12v. In case you are wondering what "many" represents, I counted yesterday and I own 34 of their cordless tools and several more corded versions.
Kat gave me a the new Stubby impact for Christmas and we immediately put it to use installing some rock rails, door rails, tub rails and corner armor.

It is outstanding. One way you can figure which tool works well is to pay attention to what folks pick up and use when there are several to choose from laying in the same pile. Over and over throughout several days we found ourselves picking up the little impact more that the 3 or 4 others laying next to it. If you have 12v Milwaukee Batteries and are looking for a great little lighter weight impact, you won't be disappointed.

https://www.ebay.com/p/Milwaukee-Im...-Cordless-3-8-In/5023963836?campid=5337789113

I'll try and update as we test it on more demanding stuff.
 
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The Avionics shop at the base just purchased a cordless soldering iron and heat gun. ( Milwaukee ) they had not used them as of the last time i visited.

Have you purchased or used them? Right now im still just useing my station and a Bic. But was thinking of adding them to my collection.

Milwaukee Electric Tools 2488-20 M12 Soldering Iron (Bare Tool) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077ZXH8ZJ/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Milwaukee Electric Tool Milwaukee 2688-20 Cordless Heat Gun https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077GPG2HS/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
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The Avionics shop at the base just purchased a cordless soldering iron and heat gun. ( Milwaukee ) they had not used them as of the last time i visited.

Have you purchased or used them? Right now im still just useing my station and a Bic. But was thinking of adding them to my collection.

Milwaukee Electric Tools 2488-20 M12 Soldering Iron (Bare Tool) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077ZXH8ZJ/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Milwaukee Electric Tool Milwaukee 2688-20 Cordless Heat Gun https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077GPG2HS/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I have not used those items. I have several corded heat guns and several corded soldering irons. We do lots of electrical and with a cord reel right by where we work and the heat gun very accessible, it is not something we would get to make our lives easier. My old school wiring guru who worked at the Jeep dealer and other places doing automotive electrical used to use a pencil tip torch with a flame spreader for heat shrink. After a few times of it being cranky and having to resort to the use my heat gun, he has moved over to just using the gun and doesn't even bring out the torch any more. He also used to solder everything, now that he has been using my heat shrink connectors with the proper crimping tools and such, he rarely solders.
 
Yeah i figured the would be more of a special tool. I have power all over my garage also.

I understand why the Avionics you would want to have them thry have no plugs on the flight line.

And i highly doubt that anyone would need to solder on a trial when tape is a better temp repair.
 
I’ve been wanting something like this for a while, especially since I have a collection of cordless tools going as well!
 
I just don't know. I have the Mid power 1/2 inch M18 with 700 ft pound break away and it removes everything it will fit on.

15460997415064688835567822054357.jpg


Mind the mess im wireing up new lights and installing my winch.
 
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Well, it said 250 ft/lbs of breakaway torque, so yes, it did make me wonder.
If it helps your understanding at all, it is only in the last few years that cordless impacts have had enough power to set crush sleeves in big axles like the 14 bolt. Until that happened, it was monster air impacts, long cheaters, or torque multipliers that could get it done. Now a few of the bigger cordless ones can do it.
 
If it helps your understanding at all, it is only in the last few years that cordless impacts have had enough power to set crush sleeves in big axles like the 14 bolt. Until that happened, it was monster air impacts, long cheaters, or torque multipliers that could get it done. Now a few of the bigger cordless ones can do it.

Okay, that's what I figured. I just didn't know how far the electric impacts had come in terms of power, as I don't own one.

The last time I had to break a crankshaft pulley loose, I used like you said, a monster air impact.

It sounds like something like this would pair nicely with a bigger version like @Boinked posted above.
 
Thanks for posting this about the stubby 3/8" impact. I've been looking to add to my Milwaukee 12 volt kit as I have a half dozen or so of them. They are great for when we travel in the 5th wheel, as they are light and don't take up a lot of room. Does anyone have the Milwaukee 12 volt 3/8" ratchet? That has caught my eye also.
Rich
 
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Thanks for posting this about the stubby 3/8" impact. I've been looking to add to my Milwaukee 12 volt kit as I have a half dozen or so of them. They are great for when we travel in the 5th wheel, as they are light and don't take up a lot of room. Does anyone have the Milwaukee 12 volt 3/8" ratchet? That has caught my eye also.
Rich
I have the 12v 3/8 ratchet. Can't say I use it a lot. But it has worked every time I tried it.
 
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I enjoy my Milwaukee cordless tools. It is rare that they surprise me any more since I own and use so many of them both in 18v and 12v. In case you are wondering what "many" represents, I counted yesterday and I own 34 of their cordless tools and several more corded versions.
Kat gave me a the new Stubby impact for Christmas and we immediately put it to use installing some rock rails, door rails, tub rails and corner armor.

It is outstanding. One way you can figure which tool works well is to pay attention to what folks pick up and use when there are several to choose from laying in the same pile. Over and over throughout several days we found ourselves picking up the little impact more that the 3 or 4 others laying next to it. If you have 12v Milwaukee Batteries and are looking for a great little lighter weight impact, you won't be disappointed.

https://www.ebay.com/p/Milwaukee-Im...-Cordless-3-8-In/5023963836?campid=5337789113

I'll try and update as we test it on more demanding stuff.

I’ll be interested to see how well it does on the more demanding stuff.

I have the old model (brushed I think) of the M12 3/8” impact. While I’m sure it doesn’t hold a candle to the brushless model I find it extremely handy.

As @mrblaine says, one indicator of a good tool is how often you reach for it over an alternate tool and I find myself using this thing constantly. It doesn’t have the breakaway torque of the brushless tool I’m sure but for the $ I’d buy it again in a second.

I detailed my last year Xmas gift here.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/milwaukee-3-8”-impact.13003/

BTW: 34 Milwaukee cordless tools! Impressive!
 
This site contains affiliate links for which Jeep Wrangler TJ Forum may be compensated.
The Avionics shop at the base just purchased a cordless soldering iron and heat gun. ( Milwaukee ) they had not used them as of the last time i visited.

Have you purchased or used them? Right now im still just useing my station and a Bic. But was thinking of adding them to my collection.

Milwaukee Electric Tools 2488-20 M12 Soldering Iron (Bare Tool) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077ZXH8ZJ/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Milwaukee Electric Tool Milwaukee 2688-20 Cordless Heat Gun https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077GPG2HS/?tag=wranglerorg-20

A former coworker of mine uses the M12 soldering iron all the time and loves it.

They do a lot of trailer tow testing at the proving grounds where we both worked. It seemed like during the hot season we were always doing a last minute trailer harness repair out in parking lot.

We both used to use a butane portable iron and he says the M12 tool is way better. YRMV.
 
Thanks for posting this about the stubby 3/8" impact. I've been looking to add to my Milwaukee 12 volt kit as I have a half dozen or so of them. They are great for when we travel in the 5th wheel, as they are light and don't take up a lot of room. Does anyone have the Milwaukee 12 volt 3/8" ratchet? That has caught my eye also.
Rich
I have the newish higher torque 3/8" M12 Fuel and I liked it so much, I bought the 1/4" version of it. It pairs nicely with the small 1/4" M12 Compact Impact, but I like the stubby one above so much that I may get it in 1/4".

We use a set of Gear Wrench 1/4" Impact sockets in both deep and standard, metric and SAE that comes in a case. We open the case and leave it in a drawer as an organizer and we use them a bunch.

In use, the 1/4" seems to be a bit faster and either the same or slightly more torque than the 3/8".
 
I’ll be interested to see how well it does on the more demanding stuff.

I have the old model (brushed I think) of the M12 3/8” impact. While I’m sure it doesn’t hold a candle to the brushless model I find it extremely handy.

As @mrblaine says, one indicator of a good tool is how often you reach for it over an alternate tool and I find myself using this thing constantly. It doesn’t have the breakaway torque of the brushless tool I’m sure but for the $ I’d buy it again in a second.

I detailed my last year Xmas gift here.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/milwaukee-3-8”-impact.13003/

BTW: 34 Milwaukee cordless tools! Impressive!
Look at the name. If it says Fuel, it is brushless. If it doesn't, it isn't. The 1/2" in the above pic is not brushless.