Recommend a battery powered impact?

[YOR SLO]

I'm looking for recommendations for a battery powered impact. Not sure if I need a 3/8" or 1/2". Most of my stuff is 3/8" but can easily grab 1/2" sets. Just wanna remove my wheels, do some suspension work and mild stuff like that. Just tired or wrenching everything manually. I'm obviously not a pro, so I don't need the highest end gear. Just want something powerful, reliable and good battery life. While you're at it if you got suggestions for a good digital torque wrench that would be helpful too.

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[robvas]

You want 1/2" for lugnuts and suspension bolt

A compact 1/4" or 3/8" is also very useful to

Ryobi has the P261 on sale for $89 quite a bit with a battery

if you have a Harbor Freight nearby I would go there and get both. Watch some Torque Test Channel videos. You don't need the best just don't get the one that's in last place.

The newer Walmart Hypertough stuff has been pretty good as well.

I like my Quinn torque wrench I got on sale last Christmas but a lot of them are all clones of the same design. SATA, Craftsman....you are going to want both 1/2 and 3/8 versions of these as well. And maybe even a 1/4".

 

[ray=out]

^^ Fully agree with this. My Ryobi mid torque impact has done everything I needed it to, as a DIY'er. The HF ones are also well regarded for the price point.

If you don't already have a battery system, research on what kind of tools are available within a given battery ecosystem to see how you could standardize across multiple uses. The batteries are the most important part of the system. I'm standardized on the Ryobi system for drills/yard tools/etc, so the impact made sense. I also live closer to HD compared to HF, so that's something else to consider.

Also +1 for a Craftsman digital. The ACDelco digitals also seem to work well for the price.

 

[YOR SLO]

You want 1/2" for lugnuts and suspension bolt

A compact 1/4" or 3/8" is also very useful to

Ryobi has the P261 on sale for $89 quite a bit with a battery

if you have a Harbor Freight nearby I would go there and get both. Watch some Torque Test Channel videos. You don't need the best just don't get the one that's in last place.

The newer Walmart Hypertough stuff has been pretty good as well.

I like my Quinn torque wrench I got on sale last Christmas but a lot of them are all clones of the same design. SATA, Craftsman....you are going to want both 1/2 and 3/8 versions of these as well. And maybe even a 1/4".

Great recommendations. Thanks. I have the Ryobi ONE sets that has the 1/4" drive. I use the set for home DIY stuff, and it's been perfect for that. I just saw some 1/2", 24V impacts on Amazon that had very high sales numbers over 1k with almost 5 start ratings for under $100. Was wondering if anyone had any of them. Probably can't go wrong for the price but some were noted as bulky and or heavy, so I was looking for forum feedback on what everyone used.

 

[skinnyb]

I was already invested in the Ryobi architecture, my Ryobi 1/2 inch has been solid. Never an issue removing lugs on any vehicle I have put it on. That is primarily all I use it for though

 

[dasrider]

I'm looking for recommendations for a battery powered impact. Not sure if I need a 3/8" or 1/2". Most of my stuff is 3/8" but can easily grab 1/2" sets. Just wanna remove my wheels, do some suspension work and mild stuff like that. Just tired or wrenching everything manually. I'm obviously not a pro, so I don't need the highest end gear. Just want something powerful, reliable and good battery life. While you're at it if you got suggestions for a good digital torque wrench that would be helpful too.

You can afford a Mach1, get yourself a Milwaukee 1/2" mid-torque impact with the 5.0a/h battery minimum. Black Friday deals are right around the corner. If you haven't already, bear in mind the battery brand family you're buying into for future compatibility.

The mid-torque impact is an absolute game changer for removing wheels and working on suspension, brake components, etc. Also consider the cost of investing in impact rated sockets and adapters.

 

[Dana Pants]

I use a Milwaukee M18 3/8 drive in the highest torque rating it comes and have impact sockets from like 8 mm to 24 mm. It does 99% of fasteners effortlessly and IMO is more versatile than the 1/2 inch drive.

 

[NightmareMoon]

Great recommendations. Thanks. I have the Ryobi ONE sets that has the 1/4" drive. I use the set for home DIY stuff, and it's been perfect for that. I just saw some 1/2", 24V impacts on Amazon that had very high sales numbers over 1k with almost 5 start ratings for under $100. Was wondering if anyone had any of them. Probably can't go wrong for the price but some were noted as bulky and or heavy, so I was looking for forum feedback on what everyone used.

If you’re already in the Roybi battery family, cant really go wrong. After many years I fonally had to toss one 2ah battery but none of the tools have let me down.

I do recommend the 1/2” brushless for wheels. It will remove lugs at 150ft/lbs with the wheel off the ground and spinning freely, so that alone makes wheel changes as easy as they possibly could be without a racing style single nut. The downside (orther than its got enough toque to do anything that might come up) is that its overkill for just about everything too, use with care because even for 150 lug nuts thats only like 3 uggas on medium.

Anyway I’d pick up the 1/2” brushless and something 3/8” or a standard multi purpose household driver to spin nuts on and off. I will probably get the “ratchet” style 90 degree tool next, as I have the big dog and the little driver already.

 

[kz]

New Milwaukee M12 gen 2 stubby is the goat so much it actually is sold out at Home Depot.

I personally have gen 1 M12 stubby (that still is enough to remove 150 ft-lb lug nuts) and big ass M18 for things that stubby can't handle.

If you ever feel like you're going to get more serious with wrenching, either Milwaukee or DeWalt are the systems to go with.
Cordless ratchet is the most useful tool ever for car wrenching and there's bunch of others that are super useful (right hand impact is also something I really like).

And can't forget M18 inflator.

 

[GTP]

OP if you are happy with your current battery system, then stay within that brand, obviously.

I had nothing but a couple crappy cordless tools. They finally started to make them better, and in every brand imaginable. So when I wanted to start over, I went with Lowe's house brand. Highest voltage (24V) means long battery life between charges, and that has proven true. Lifetime warranty. I bought the impact with 1/2" drive, and I (very occasionally) just clip on a 1/2-to-3/8" adapter. We now have their impact, drill, blower, and trimmer. And too many chargers, haha.

 

[Pistol_91]

I've been using Milwaukee M18 power tools at work for nearly a decade. We get the newer tools as they come out. Everything from impact guns to chainsaws to leaf blowers.
We use the impact guns and drills the most out of any of the other tools. They get used in the rain, mud, hot Florida heat and every other weather condition you can think of here. They rarely fail. They're tough and dependable.
I have a few Milwaukee m18 tools at home too that I've had for about 6 years now. Just recently one of my smaller batteries is starting to take a crap. I can tell it doesn't keep a charge very long. It's a smaller type m18 battery compared to the bigger ones we use at work. The big ones never have an issue.

With that being said some of these power tools are made in the same warehouses. Most of the tests I've seen always put Milwaukee and DeWalt at the top. Ryobi makes some good tools too.
Project farm on YouTube does some great testing and comparison videos

 

[5doorsoffury]

i went to torque test channel on youtube and they do amazon and name brands. got a wheel gun 1/2" see see brand no name amazon junk right??? 130 bucks i got the gun,sockets,charger and 2 5ah batts lol. it does wheels on low to 130ftlbs and it does subframe bolts with ease. 2 years later its still good. plus the batts arent chipped with a self distruct if a cell gets juuuuuuuuust barley to low and makes the pack trash like the big name brands. there just 18650's no charge board in the batts. its better then my Ingersoll air gun my fleet buddy gave me from his job when he got a new one. there all amazing. watch that youtube channel! its like project farm but for impacts.

 

[YOR SLO]

OP if you are happy with your current battery system, then stay within that brand, obviously.

I had nothing but a couple crappy cordless tools. They finally started to make them better, and in every brand imaginable. So when I wanted to start over, I went with Lowe's house brand. Highest voltage (24V) means long battery life between charges, and that has proven true. Lifetime warranty. I bought the impact with 1/2" drive, and I (very occasionally) just clip on a 1/2-to-3/8" adapter. We now have their impact, drill, blower, and trimmer. And too many chargers, haha.

I would say I'm happy with the Ryobi stuff I have. However, it's all home DIY tool related. Circular saw, Sawsall, Drill, 1/4" impact with 2-2AH and 2-4AH batteries. For the little I do at home they've never let me down except the 2AH batteries don't last under a heavy load of work. There isn't a ton of difference in price to jump to a Milwaukee brand stubby ($229 vs. $179 Ryobi) except the battery investment. I was hoping to hear about ergonomics/weight/performance issues if anyone had them. I kinda like the stubby vibe cuz of the weight and size which makes me feel it would be easier to manage in a tight area and my ego would feel better thinking I owned what is perceived by many as the superior brand tool! LMAO! However, as @5doorsoffury mentions there is an Amazon brand Seesii for less than $100 with two batteries, charger and sockets and a 4.6 rating with over 1k reviews. I know in the end it's my choice, but I can't talk to my wife about these things as she could care less. You've all been very helpful.

 

[qwiknotch]

I'm looking for recommendations for a battery powered impact. Not sure if I need a 3/8" or 1/2". Most of my stuff is 3/8" but can easily grab 1/2" sets. Just wanna remove my wheels, do some suspension work and mild stuff like that. Just tired or wrenching everything manually. I'm obviously not a pro, so I don't need the highest end gear. Just want something powerful, reliable and good battery life. While you're at it if you got suggestions for a good digital torque wrench that would be helpful too.

I have an Ingersoll Rand 1/2". Over 10 years old and the battery is still flawless.

 

[Eyesac]

I'm a cheap ryobi 1/2 guy lol, but it's worth mentioning that the knockoff Ebay big batteries for these 18v are amazing and somewhere on youtube some guy tests the Ebay batteries against OE and they Ebay's performed better...

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