Jump to content

Recommend a decent 1/2" impact gun


marcusjd

Recommended Posts

As per title (was unsure where to post this..!)

Borrowed a friend's DeWalt over weekend to do discs/pads on my VW Touareg... it made the job effortless... now i need one..!

Any recommendations for a decent all-rounder which the cost wont break the bank?

Cheers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good ones aren't cheap unfortunately. 

I have a DeWalt one and its a brilliant bit of kit and the one i'd recommend you buy with a 5 AMP battery too :)

The ones are usually a false economy and don't work as described :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I invested in a Makita with a 430Nm rating on their 18v LXT battery system.  It still doesn't touch some bolts.  Just last week, the front tuning fork M18 bolt.  Only 180Nm tightening torque (I last fitted these in late 2020 and no one else has touched it since) but I still had to break it to start with by hand with a breaker bar, then spin it out, I still often have to crack off some of the wheel nuts which are only done up to 130Nm.  You're north of £250 for a decent high torque battery impact wrench even without a battery and £400 upwards if you want the battery system to go with it.

Take a look at Screwfix as a starting point, just search on Impact Wrench.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ½cwt said:

I invested in a Makita with a 430Nm rating on their 18v LXT battery system.  It still doesn't touch some bolts.  Just last week, the front tuning fork M18 bolt.  Only 180Nm tightening torque (I last fitted these in late 2020 and no one else has touched it since) but I still had to break it to start with by hand with a breaker bar, then spin it out, I still often have to crack off some of the wheel nuts which are only done up to 130Nm.  You're north of £250 for a decent high torque battery impact wrench even without a battery and £400 upwards if you want the battery system to go with it.

Take a look at Screwfix as a starting point, just search on Impact Wrench.

My Dewalt was (according to my emails) £245 all in (including a 5ah battery and a charger) and it has 950nm of torque. I bought it to do the hub nuts (which I think are torqued to around 400nm) and it removed them as if they weren't even there.

My recommendation when going for an impact gun is get the most powerful one you can afford. People claim that the more powerful ones are less wieldy (due to the size) but in my experience, if you can't get a big one in there, you probably won't get a small one in either. The DeWalt feels like bring a bazooka to a knife fight - I love it.

Edited by Lennym1984
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Lennym1984 said:

My Dewalt was (according to my emails) £245 all in (including a 5ah battery and a charger) and it has 950nm of torque. I bought it to do the hub nuts (which I think are torqued to around 400nm) and it removed them as if they weren't even there.

My recommendation when going for an impact gun is get the most powerful one you can afford. People claim that the more powerful ones are less wieldy (due to the size) but in my experience, if you can't get a big one in there, you probably won't get a small one in either. The DeWalt feels like bring a bazooka to a knife fight - I love it.

The Makita one at the time was what I could afford with the whole suspension of my 986 to refresh too at £1400 in parts!!  It has been useful for other tasks such as taking apart the bell frame in my local church (115 years old and put together with Whitworth nuts/bolts), but I might be reinvesting in a DeWalt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Milwaukee medium torque, 881nM in a nice compact not too heavy or large package.

Good battery tech and the kit with 2 x 5a batteries and charger is well worth £350. Quite spendy but absolutely the best tool I’ve ever bought.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a makita dtw1003. Have had no trouble loosening anything. Have used itat work in the workshop on various bits of agricultural kit. Never  been  beaten yet. Makes me nervous on M10 bolts but being able to turn down the torque setting has resulted in  no failures to date.  On the back of this bought a Makita copy of the dtw 300  from ebay for £30 3 years ago for use at work and it gets used most days . Brilliant bit of kit for the price. Bought one for myself and between the two wrenches life is easier. All of my 18v stuff is makita so the batteries are no problem.  Buy the biggest you can afford. You won't regret it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the Ryobi, which has worked well for me - I paid under £100 for it a while ago and wasn't expecting too much, but it's been great.

I already had a bunch of their other tools and batteries so made sense to me to stick with the same.

Which ever make you get don't skimp on the battery, you need 5ah.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have any impact guns but I do have DeWalt cordless drills and the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to use them and a Ryobi I bought to do one job when I didn't have my DeWalt with me.  They are both the same amp hour but there is no comparison in performance or length of time you can use them. Ryobi make perfectly good DIY tools and if that is all you are wanting then fine, but don't expect it to perform like the other brands that have been mentioned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to add to this, I bought a "Milwaukee" Grinder and Impact set from Facebook MarketPlace, yes I know, please don't judge me, which of course turned out not to be Milwaukee at all. So beware if buying used. In my defence they are really good copies and have fooled friends when I've shown them both the real and fake tools.

As it happens the grinder is really good and gets a lot of use, the impact not so much, compared to my genuine Milwaukee impact its pathetic, but it did remove the suspension from a 2004 R53 Mini Cooper S that has been on the car for 16 yrs.

Genuine Milwaukee gear is  excellent, I also have their drill and 3/8" power ratchet. Same parent company as Ryobi.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/11/2023 at 12:14 PM, markjh said:

I have the Ryobi, which has worked well for me - I paid under £100 for it a while ago and wasn't expecting too much, but it's been great.

I already had a bunch of their other tools and batteries so made sense to me to stick with the same.

Which ever make you get don't skimp on the battery, you need 5ah.

 

That’s good to know, all my power tools are Ryobi and I have two 5ah batteries, will look into the impact tool

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Fat Rat said:

Be careful if you end up with copies as the batteries and chargers are not compliant and can catch fire. 😬🤙

Batteries on the fakes are completely different to the genuine Milwaukee. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got the DeWalt one as well, so much torque it could flip the car over, love it, there's nothing stopping it, did all my suspension front end last year and clutch, flywheel bolts came out with ease. Highest torque you can afford, as others have said. I have heard that you can preset the tightening torque on the Milwaukie one, which would be great if accurate Good luck!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...