Cordless 1/2" impact wrench - recommendations??

[Shortshift]

I know this has been raised before but products seem to change with the seasons so I'm interested in any current recommendations for a good cordless (battery powered) 1/2" impact wrench.

Usual useage planned - mainly removing and replacing wheel nuts (on other cars as well as the Caterham) as well as general duties in and around the garage for stubborn/seized fixings etc.

Advice welcome!

James

[SM25T]

I use a Hitachi cordless impact gun which uses the same Li-ion batteries as my cordless drill. It has a QR hex socket for bits ... I bought a set of three adaptors with 1/4" 3/8" and 1/2" square drives. Once nuts or bolts have been cracked with a breaker bar it spins them off fine. If you want a real gutbuster of a cordless impact wrench ... look at something like Milwaukee ..... you can spend hundreds and get one that would remove truck wheel nuts. Seen some crazy max torque figures !! Depends what you want to spend.

[Shortshift]

I want something that will crack (and then remove) wheel nuts on a car without me having to use a wrench (or a breaker bar - heavens forbid!) to get them started.  So with a fair bit of ummph, though not necessarily in the truck-nut removal category.

James

[Paul McKenzie]

There was a comparison in a recent edition of Auto Express (just a month or so ago, and might be still on the shelves.), but I can't remember which was best...but it certainly wasn't the most expensive. However the results from their 2015 test were:

1. Panasonic EY75A2
2. Makita DTW281
3. Draper CIW24

I've got a feeling the Draper came out best budget again this year, but someone else might still have the issue

 

[ECR]

Hmm

After 1 12V wired, 2 battery and one (expensive) air wrench (none of which would loosen tightened wheel nuts reliably),I took the plunge and bought a Milwaukee wrench as below.

Milwaukee M18 CHIWP12

Maximum Fastening Torque

350/600 Ftlb (474/813 Nm)

Nut Busting Torque

1000 Ftlb (1354 Nm)

It was frighteningly expensive but I don't regret it for a minute. It sneers at everything I ask of it (including crank bolts).

The torque figures that the manufacturers headline are fastening figures (and you use a torque wrench for that). The important figure is the nut busting torque (which the cheaper units never seem to quote)

If you're going to have one, have a big one (as someone close to me says) 

[scorcher]

Lucky old neighbour......

[Toby S]

I got a Sealey 24v non lithium battery one fairly cheap - around £100 a year or so ago.

Breezes through wheel nuts (although I only ever torque them up to 60 Ib/ft), but also got the rear hub nuts off  which were meant to be at 200Ib/ft - albeit loads of clicking and needed a charge afterwards - quotes 325 ib/ft

Adequate bit of kit although I think we would recommend the lithium model if buying again which I think was around £30 more

 

[Roger Ford]

My expensive DeWalt 18v one is fine for the Caterham, but won't shift most road car wheel nuts. So yes, I'd agree you need a hugely powerful one.

Not sure if this Milwaukee one is the same as ECR mentions, but it doesn't seem too bad value at £399:

I'd be most surprised if a £130 one would do the job, but might be worth a look. The non-lithium one is £108 on Amazon. Perhaps buy it and return it if it's not up to it? Though note that Amazon Marketplace returns are not as straightforward as with "fulfilled by Amazon" purchases.

I tend to use an air wrench when I need high torque - and even then you need a good one. I have a Chicago Pneumatic one I bought in the US for about £80 a decade or so ago.

[m1 se7en]

Hi Roger,

 

I'd be interested to know which model your deWalt impact gun is.

I'm currently waiting on delivery of one which was recommended by a local Land Rover mechanic.

He has one and uss it to remove Defender wheel nuts - -he says it's brilliant.

[Shaun_E]

I treated myself to one of these a couple of years ago: http://products.dewalt.co.uk/powertools/productdetails/catno/DCF880M2/ which I suspect is the one Roger has. It's plenty powerful enough for Caterham wheel nuts , is light weight and quite small which is great if you carry it around in your tool box. Nice and light to use which is more than can be said of the cheap Clarke one (NiCad) that I had before. I've got a 4.0Ah battery but if you really wanted to keep the weight down, a smaller battery would be ample for taking to trackdays/race meets.

[ECR]

I have the Milwaukee M18 CHIWP12. It has a pin instead of a ball bearing in the 1/2" square drive which makes changing sockets a little fiddly. The upside is that they can't slip off.

An interesting review on U tube here:  

A really solid piece of kit (but not light ...).

I couldn't believe it when I first undid the crank bolt on my VX. I normally used a long half inch breaker bar but had to extend that by a couple of feet with a tube. If the engine was out of the car on a stand I had to very carefully position the stand against a heavy bench to counter the force needed. I used the gun expecting all sorts of drama and it was no different to taking a wheel nut off.

As I said earlier, the downside is that it's pricey .....

[m1 se7en]

Shaun, that makes sense.

The one in your link has a max torque of 203nm.
The one that was recommended to me is a bit more powerful with 950nm - I guess that's why it copes with Land Rover 27mm wheel nuts

[Shortshift]

Too many Rogers on this thread - one (ECR) who has splashed out on the mega-tool Milwaukee and the second (Roger Ford) who has splashed out on an expensive deWalt. 

At the start of this, I felt that £150 would be about right for a fancy drill(!!) but I can now see that this will only get me into the novice class... I've learned so far that I need to be north of twice that to get a seat at the serious-players table.

Blimey...

James

[ECR]

My second battery wrench (24 volt Sealey) would cope with the Seven's wheel nuts most of the time (as long as they had not been on the car for a while). It wouldn't look at the nuts on my Skoda. I understand that the newer Sealey 24V tools are better, but I'd still urge caution on claimed torque figures. A tool that claims say 200ftlb TIGHTENING torque will not undo a bolt tightened to 200 ftlb. I really don't know what the factor is but I'd suggest at least 2 to 1 (and maybe more)

[Shortshift]

An update on where I have ended up (in case it's of interest to others in the future).

I decided I wasn't sure about the circa-£100/£130 models that many people have recommended.  Not sure why - I just felt that they might be lacking in ummph on those occasions where a decent splodge of the stuff is required.  Probably a dumb decision (and certainly not backed by fact) but that's what I felt.

I spotted Shaun's and Roger Ford's recommendations of the DeWalt DCF880M2 but, looking at reviews, concluded that its 203Nm of 'maximum torque' might be a touch skinny in some situations (though likely to be more than adequate for most Caterham wheel nuts, most of the time).

I thought that Roger Swift's (ECR's) comments on his Milwaukee M18 CHIWP12 were very interesting, in particular his reference to 'nut-busting' torque.  Interestingly, it seems that only the really serious Milwaukee products are rated this way but I guess there must be some relationship between 'max' and 'nut-busting' figures - although I accept that this relationship might vary by manufacturer and, indeed, according to the type of technology used in different wrenches.  And although I just couldn't justify around £400 or more for Roger's choice of Milwaukee (for the use I have in mind) I couldn't help being impressed by finding that no-one seems to have anything other than praise for Milwaukee wrenches.

So - the logic was becoming that I needed something a little more burly than the DeWalt DCF880M2 and something a little less mega-powerful (and more affordable!) than the Milwaukee M18 CHIWP12.  And, after a bit of poking around on the internet I came across the Milwaukee HD18 HIWF-402C (catchy name, eh?) and after another session of poking around I came across an as-new example which I then managed to negotiate the price on; result!  On paper at least, this seems to be a great 'performance vs cost' cordless wrench.

Here's the summary (all prices with a couple of Li-Ion battery packs included):

• DeWalt DCF880M2-XR  (as Shaun and Roger Ford) - max torque 203Nm and typical online cost of £260-£320
• Milwaukee M18 CHIWP12 (as Roger Swift) - max torque 813Nm, nut-breaking torque 1350Nm and typical online cost of £400-£460
• Milwaukee HD18 HIWF-402C (the one I have gone for) - max torque 610Nm and typical online cost of £299-£360 (although a famous online auction site has a single new one listed as a 'Buy-Now' at £238 and I managed to get my 'as new' one for just over £200).

I'll report back once it's arrived and I've had a play.

James

[ECR]

I think you've made a wise decision in stretching your budget. The nature of these impact guns is that you continually push the envelope. There is always a nut that is tighter than normal and you reach for the gun. It's very frustrating when the gun fails to deliver and you have to pick up the breaker bar. My first 3 guns were all like that and that's why I resorted to "overkill". I'll be interested to hear how you get on ... If I'd  gone Milwaukee (or other premium brand) in the first place, it would have saved me a lot of cost and frustration.

[Roger Ford]

I'd be interested to know which model your deWalt impact gun is.

Mine's quite old now - probably about 10 years. It uses the "post" style batteries, originally NiCads.  I've replaced the NiCads with Lithium Ion, which improved it, but it still doesn't have the oomph I'd like. I believe the model number is DW059.

[m1 se7en]

Well, My new impact wrench arrived.
It's a DEWALT DCF899N and cost me £132 inc VAT from Howe Tools
It didn't come with a battery/charger as I already have loads of dewalt ones that I use for work.

I'm happy to say its just a bit brilliant!
Ive just tried it on my Land Rover 27mm wheel nuts and on it's lowest torque setting it removed them with ease.
Very impressed!

[Shortshift]

That DeWalt looks good - 1625Nm of 'breakaway torque' (whatever that is!); should be enough to be getting by with...

You're very clever and organised to have commonised around batteries for your tools; I have a Dairy Box collection of different makes and types (and the addition, shortly, of a Milwaukee just adds further complexity).

James

[ECR]

M1 Seven. That sounds like a real result !

Congratulations 

[ScottR400D]

I've got a Universal Tools UT 192, 19.2 v. Had it 10 maybe 12 years. Been very good but now the battery won't hold charge for long. If I charge it it will be fine for an hour or two but leave it and it discharges. I can get new battery but wonder if it's worth it at £85?

[ECR]

If it does all that you want it to do, and if it hasn't had a hard life, I'd be tempted to replace the battery.....

[cr500dom]

I`ve gone Makita, as all my Tools are MAkita so I could just get a body only Gun.

I should have spent a little extra and gone for the Brushless version.

This is fine for Caterham wheel nuts and I generally crack off teh BMW ones first with a breaker bar anyway.

A mate has a Ryobi 18V 1/2" drive one and that has got shed loads of torque for not a lot of money, as in enough tightening torque to shear a 12mm grade 8.8 bolt on a test we did