Recommend a battery powered impact?

[thompsje]

If you're already invested in a battery system, it makes sense to stick with that. Pretty much any 1/2“ is gonna do what you need.

I got a Milwaukee 18v cordless for Christmas one year and I own a ton of their stuff now, with no complaints. Inflator, leaf blower (works great for cleaning gutters), 3/8 impact, impact driver, etc... But I can't see there would be massive difference for home use across nearly any of the major brands.

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[Therealmattlex]

If you have Ryobi and like them, I'd say stick with them.

Having said that I've used the new Milwaukee Fuel and Dewalt Atomic at work. I like both of those and they are good quality.

About a year ago I needed to replace my old Dewalt 18v set at home. I decided to give the Hercules line from harbor freight a try. I could not be happier with them. They were much cheaper then the Dewalt kit I was looking at. The 1/2" ultra torque hasn't had any issues breaking free rusted suspension bolts. I use the standard 1/2'" drill on my ice auger. With a 8ah battery I can drill 30, 8" holes 24" deep and still have a 50% charge. My only complaint with the Hercules line is the lack of additional tools like an inflator, ratchet or trim nailer.

 

[MAGS1]

While you're at it if you got suggestions for a good digital torque wrench that would be helpful too.

Digital torque wrenches are fine but the batteries seem to die on people when least expected (and at most inconvenient times). I have Craftsman 1/2” and 3/8” click style torque wrenches and they never let me down. The vast majority of my hand tools are Craftsman (the old “real” Craftsman for a lot of them) so I don’t deviate much from what works for me.

I have a Porter Cable 1/2” battery impact and it use it for some things but I never use it on my wheels. Breaker bar and torque wrench is all I use on my wheels. But to each their own. I’m a big fan of Milwaukee and DeWalt but if you’re in the Ryobi ecosystem already, just stick with that as others have said. For the price, they do quite well.

 

[robvas]

Digital torque wrenches are fine but the batteries seem to die on people when least expected (and at most inconvenient times). I have Craftsman 1/2” and 3/8” click style torque wrenches and they never let me down. The vast majority of my hand tools are Craftsman (the old “real” Craftsman for a lot of them) so I don’t deviate much from what works for me.

I have a Porter Cable 1/2” battery impact and it use it for some things but I never use it on my wheels. Breaker bar and torque wrench is all I use on my wheels. But to each their own. I’m a big fan of Milwaukee and DeWalt but if you’re in the Ryobi ecosystem already, just stick with that as others have said. For the price, they do quite well.

Digitals are nice because you can store your values and then go through them way faster/easier than adjusting the wrench

I agree about the impacts on the lugnuts, especially if you have certain aftermarket lugs that can be damaged by today's impact guns. You can turn them down and you usually want to because they are so strong.

 

[MAGS1]

Digitals are nice because you can store your values and then go through them way faster/easier than adjusting the wrench

I agree about the impacts on the lugnuts, especially if you have certain aftermarket lugs that can be damaged by today's impact guns. You can turn them down and you usually want to because they are so strong.

I do like some of the features on the digital, I guess I’m just a bit old school and prefer the analog torque wrenches.

 

[JetGray_Mach1]

Digital torque wrenches are fine but the batteries seem to die on people when least expected (and at most inconvenient times). I have Craftsman 1/2” and 3/8” click style torque wrenches and they never let me down. The vast majority of my hand tools are Craftsman (the old “real” Craftsman for a lot of them) so I don’t deviate much from what works for me.

I have a Porter Cable 1/2” battery impact and it use it for some things but I never use it on my wheels. Breaker bar and torque wrench is all I use on my wheels. But to each their own. I’m a big fan of Milwaukee and DeWalt but if you’re in the Ryobi ecosystem already, just stick with that as others have said. For the price, they do quite well.

Yeah the 1/2 should never be used to tighten things, its more to break loose tough nuts/bolts. The 3/8 or mid range electric impact works great on most things, lugnuts included. It doesn't have too much torque so it gets them snug then you just torque them down at the end.

I also have both digital and click style torque wrenches. I like the feature of the digital torque wrench for angle torqueing some bolts. But in general I use my Click style and I prefer it as well.

 

[EFI]

IMO get a nice quality 3/8 drive that will be your go to for 95%+ of bolts/nuts, then get a basic corded 1/2 drive for the few times you'll encounter a stubborn bolt that won't come off. For limited use here and there the corded won't really be a problem and they are more powerful than the cordless ones for a fraction of the cost.

Now if you're a big diesel mechanic, you'd want to invest in a quality cordless 1/2 for the many uses. But on a car where the 3/8 will be your bread and butter you don't need to go big on the big ones.

 

[kz]

Corded ? But why since it sounds like the most inconvenient thing ever ? It's not like they're particularly cheap or don't seem to be high torque.

Corded Milwaukee that popped up at Home Depot makes 300 ft-lb (which is within the range of the smallest, tiniest M12 one). I am guessing development of these stopped 150 years ago.
For big torque if you for some weird reason don't want battery powered Milwaukee or DeWalt, you go for air powered Ingersoll Rand with 3/4 inch drive but there is nothing on this car that requires it.

 

[EFI]

Corded ? But why since it sounds like the most inconvenient thing ever ? It's not like they're particularly cheap or don't seem to be high torque.

I'm not sure about Milwaukee's with corded tools, but it doesn't seem like a thing for them. As you mentioned a $300 corded 1/2 has just 50lb more than a cordless 3/8 and it's no cheaper.

Looking elsewhere though, Craftsman makes a sub $100 1/2 wrench with 450lbs of torque which is almost twice what a cordless 3/8 makes for half the price. Again for the one or two times you may need to use that much power, having a cord is not that big of a deal and it doesn't make sense to have a $600 fancy one that gets barely used but it's cordless.

Bauer (for those Harbor Freight aficionados) has a $79 1/2 that makes over 1000lbs of torque if you ever need that much.

 

[I Bleed Ford Blue]

With the improvement of cordless power tools, I haven't touched my air powered impacts in 20 years. I'm not sure they even work anymore.

 

[SheepDog]

With the improvement of cordless power tools, I haven't touched my air powered impacts in 20 years. I'm not sure they even work anymore.

I have a mountain of Snap-On air tools that I never use anymore. Once in a while I will drop some oil in them just to make sure they don't seize up.

The one advantage to them really, is the weight. The air tools are way lighter, especially when you have a larger battery on the electric. For a tech that is handling them all day long, this does make a huge difference in fatigue. And, my 1/2" Snap on impact (provided you have a beefy compressor) outperforms any battery powered impact I have used. For 99% of people though, a decent battery powered one does everything you need it to

 

[YOR SLO]

Based on comments I realized I didn't need a ½ impact and that the 3/8 had plenty of torque for what I was doing. I went to Home Depot tonight and didn't have a lot of luck being able to handle anything cuz everything is on lockdown. I feel the Dewalt Atomic 20v was the size I was looking for. The Milwaukee M18 stuff was similar in size. So, I went home and surfed the online sales cuz I saw Black Friday deals earlier and ultimately bought the Milwaukee M18 3/8 impact. It came with 2-XC5 batteries and charger for $199. The decision was simply value driven. I think there was a lot here for $199.

Milwaukee 3/8" impact w/charger and batteries $199

 

[Geodudes550]

I bought the cheapest and crappiest Chinese impact I could find on eBay and it’s been wonderful. I mean, about as wonderful as an impact wrench could be. My hairline didn’t improve and my gf is still kind of a pain but taking my wheels off and on is easy as pie thanks to my cheap Chinese impact wrench. One of the best $35 I’ve ever spent!

 

[JetGray_Mach1]

I bought the cheapest and crappiest Chinese impact I could find on eBay and it’s been wonderful. I mean, about as wonderful as an impact wrench could be. My hairline didn’t improve and my gf is still kind of a pain but taking my wheels off and on is easy as pie thanks to my cheap Chinese impact wrench. One of the best $35 I’ve ever spent!

lol you know in reality any power tool is better than hand tools regardless of price.

 

[whatarush]

As for a torque wrench, I have the old beam style along with a clicker and a digital Quinn. The Quinn kept chewing up batteries seems like every time I needed to use it. The batteries were dead. After watching Project Farms video I ordered an Coobeast torque wrench

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