Impact driver ?'s

[Charlief]

I recently retired my Husky pneumatic impact because it just stopped working. It actually sucked at loosening anything tighter than 40#. It was cheap and I learned a lesson.

I think I'd like to go Lith-Ion for my next one but there's a lot to choose from. I've noticed that cordless are measured in in/lbs while air and electric are measured in ft/lbs. Not a big deal as I can divide by 12.

Corded Impacts look to be a dying breed....only a few models available. Air is ok but I think I want the ease of cordless.


Any first hand experience with certain brands?? I don't mind dropping $200-250 on a good unit.

[netra709]

Makita 18v, 1/2" impact is awesome. Its light, powerful, and the batteries recharge fast. It was money well spent and I will buy another when I wear this one out.

[idratherberidin]

I have the Dewalt 18v 1/2" in both the old style battery and the new LI. They both get heavy after a short time. However I would gladly carry that, then 50' of hose and a compressor any day. I have also used the hell out of both of them and they have worked flawlessly. That being said, Makita seems to be making some nice stuff lately too.

[FireboltEric_MA]

I borrowed a Snap On 1/2" drive to do the clutch on my Diesel truck, That thing had a ton of torque and worked great. It was pretty light too.

I have plans to pick up a Dewalt this week, but like above said, they are heavy but better than dragging everything out.

18v on both

[Charlief]

I just looked on line at that Makita BTW450. That thing is a power house at 325ft/lbs! At $350 plus it's up there but comes with a 3 year warranty. I actually dismissed makita because I thought they were just a home depot POS.

What would you consider to be the min torque in looking for an impact? I see lots in the 140-200 ft/lbs range then see some 300 plus. Is it worth it to go big? Not that much more coin.

[FireboltEric_MA]

yes, go big or go home.

you can always set them lower in the torque adjustment, like most drills....It only takes a few bolts that wont come off before you wish you spent the extra coin...

[joeswamp]

I understand the Snap-On is the most popular amongst guys in salvage yards, it's like 500 ft-lbs. However it's also crazy expensive at $550. Almost cheaper to buy a compressor and pneumatic gun.

[Danz19899]

I've used the snap on gun and the dewalt.

both work awesome VERY powerful. Dewalt was definitely heavier tho, may have had a little more power too

[BluGixxer]

I am very surprised that dewalt is in the same category as snapon, also, I just can't imagine that a cordless can do the same job a an air powered tool, if it could make a true 400 foot pounds I would really be impressedand would definetelly spend the money.
My half inch impact is rated at 510 ft lbs, and I have to run my air comp at 175psi to get full power.

[13]

Working on cars every day I'll say no cordless impact I've used compares to a pneumatic one. That being said, I use a makita 18v Li-ion cordless impact for all of the smaller fasteners I need to break loose. It charges fast, is very light and I have used it just about every day for 3 or so years.

I had a znex 1/2" that lasted 4 months before blowing apart. Then a snap-on 1/2' and a 3/8", both I had for 1 year. They were too bulky and took too long to spin down after releasing the trigger. Ni-cad batteries are primitive.

[Charlief]

Thanks for the input guys. I think I'm going to order the Makita High Torque BTW450. A little more than what I wanted to spend but should last me for years.

18v, Lith-ion, 350 ft/lbs, 2batteries, 30 min charger, bag, and a 3year warranty. 1 year on battery
Best price I could find was $340

[BluGixxer]

Good idea going for the warrenty, chec,k out ridged from home depot, I think they might still offer some sort of liftime replacement, I don't have the impact, but I do have the big older set, about t5 yrs old. They just warrentyed. 2 chargers and 1 battery with no reciept , the repair shop used the seriel # off of the drill.

[xrocket21]

I love my snap on 1/2" but it was cheap

i found that if I wanted the torque to do lugnuts though, I had to spend money