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Lurk

Member
Am looking at investing in an entry level 1/2 drive Impact wrench (cordless). never owned or used one and wondered if any of you guys had a view on the matter or a recommendation .
I cant afford the usual brands like makita or dewalt as these are priced > £150 for a bare gun no battery etc So looking on sites like Bangood etc Im road side repairing, so air guns or corded are not practical.

Waste of money, worthwhile ... sell a kidney and get a > £300 unit ?
 
Lurk said:
Am looking at investing in an entry level 1/2 drive Impact wrench (cordless). never owned or used one and wondered if any of you guys had a view on the matter or a recommendation .
I cant afford the usual brands like makita or dewalt as these are priced > £150 for a bare gun no battery etc So looking on sites like Bangood etc Im road side repairing, so air guns or corded are not practical.

Waste of money, worthwhile ... sell a kidney and get a > £300 unit ?
Click to expand...
Buy cheap and you will need to buy 2 or 3 . Bite the bullet and get quality (buy once)and be happy for the rest of your life. Milwaukee brand is the best that all other strive to be, but fail in the end
 
Milwaukee are bloody good, but not cheap, Dewalt always seem to be on offer, gun/2batts/charger 250 quid, facebook.
I was dismissive of the Dewalt as to cheap and my test of any 1/2 gun is will it undo a truck wheel nut? when new and just been fitted they are torqued to 700nm add in some corrosion and time and they are bloody tight, the milwaukee did it and so did the Dewalt.

I was reading some good reviews of the cheapie parkside kit from aldi/lidl and a couple of mechs reckoned they were quite good and at about 50 quid!
 
lynall said:
Milwaukee are bloody good, but not cheap, Dewalt always seem to be on offer, gun/2batts/charger 250 quid, facebook.
I was dismissive of the Dewalt as to cheap and my test of any 1/2 gun is will it undo a truck wheel nut? when new and just been fitted they are torqued to 700nm add in some corrosion and time and they are bloody tight, the milwaukee did it and so did the Dewalt.

I was reading some good reviews of the cheapie parkside kit from aldi/lidl and a couple of mechs reckoned they were quite good and at about 50 quid!
Click to expand...
Apropos of nothing, here's the left rear of the 12 tonner I was driving on Tuesday:
image_2019_11_05T21_59_58_360Z.png
 
Lurk said:
Waste of money, worthwhile ... sell a kidney and get a > £300 unit ?
Click to expand...

As a few have already mentioned, the cheapo ones are cheap for a reason...

Makita all the way for me, but I do like the Hitachi stuff - have an old Hitachi drill that must be 20 years old, and still works - even the batteries still hold some charge....

IME, Makita service backup is very good too....

My opinion of DeWalt is very low - top price for bottom quality - 'specially the batteries IME. ( which is why I have Makita ;) )
 
Disco1BFG said:
As a few have already mentioned, the cheapo ones are cheap for a reason...
Click to expand...

I've got lots of Worx battery power tools, including a 1/2" impact gun. It's been fine, as have all Worx products. The Worx 1/2" impact gun is about £160, including batteries and the charger. ;)
 
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+ 1 for Milwaukee. Expensive but I wouldn’t be without mine. With luck you can get a good second hand unit
 
I like my 18v Hitachi, but just for light duty stuff

I bought a large 240v cheap Chinese 1/2 that has got everything big Ive needed off.

But tbh, if it's a cost issue, why not just stick to hand tools? They do the job
 
Nodge68 said:
I've got lots of Torx battery power tools, including a 1/2" impact gun. It's been fine, as have all Torx products. The Torx 1/2" impact gun is about £160, including batteries and the charger. ;)
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Cool - never heard of Torx .... Worx yes, Torx no - well unless we are talking fasteners ;) ... Just had a look on the interweb - I think you might have meant Worx (?) In which case I have a Worx grinder - it has been very good :)

I bought my Mak as a body only, as I already had other Mak stuff with batteries and a charger .....
 
Cheap ones struggle to undo wheel nuts never mind anything else, we use a snap on one at work, its will undo nuts that air guns cant touch.
 
Disco1BFG said:
Cool - never heard of Torx .... Worx yes, Torx no - well unless we are talking fasteners ;) ... Just had a look on the interweb - I think you might have meant Worx (?) In which case I have a Worx grinder - it has been very good :)

I bought my Mak as a body only, as I already had other Mak stuff with batteries and a charger .....
Click to expand...
Yes Worx, not Torx. I thought it didn't look right. :confused:
Cheers, it's correct now. ;)
 
nobber said:
Cheap ones struggle to undo wheel nuts never mind anything else, we use a snap on one at work, its will undo nuts that air guns cant touch.
Click to expand...

I bought the cheapo aldi one to keep in my truck. Can whip off wheel nuts just and has it’s odd uses but to be honest it’s pretty pointless. Will live in my truck now. As above - buy a propper one
 
Makita. Ive used mine almost daily for work over the past 18 months as well as everyjob on my landy. Works flawlessly

Not the most powerful on the market but its light and small enough to chuck in a toolbag. Happily undoes wheel nuts
 
lynall said:
That is what is known as a puddle jumper in the trade and certianly wont be 700nm.
Lack of daily drivers checks or poor inspections are the main causes of loose wheel nuts.
Click to expand...
Daily checks were done. But I was there when that wheel was put on, hard to torque up to correct value when your torque wrench is a wheel brace on the end of a six foot scaffolding pole. Felt it vibrating on the motorway, pulled over to look and nearly crapped myself when I saw it.
 
I've got a dewalt impact wrench and it won't undu a tight wheel nut and its max torque isn't enough to tighten a wheel nut properly. I'm very disappointed with it but I like dewalt tools generally, I have a couple of drills, a grinder, jigsaw, the impact wrench and all the batteries fit each tool so there's always a spare or two.

Col
 
Colthebrummie said:
I've got a dewalt impact wrench and it won't undu a tight wheel nut and its max torque isn't enough to tighten a wheel nut properly. I'm very disappointed with it but I like dewalt tools generally, I have a couple of drills, a grinder, jigsaw, the impact wrench and all the batteries fit each tool so there's always a spare or two.

Col
Click to expand...

What size gun and what size nut?
 
Tenebreaux said:
Daily checks were done. But I was there when that wheel was put on, hard to torque up to correct value when your torque wrench is a wheel brace on the end of a six foot scaffolding pole. Felt it vibrating on the motorway, pulled over to look and nearly crapped myself when I saw it.
Click to expand...

6 foot scaffold bar will mean the nut has been overtightened and you have taken the bolt from the elastic stage to the plastic stage ie you have stretched it and fcuked it.
Were the flanges clean?
Were the stud and nut washers lightly oiled?
Was it retorqued within 30 minutes or after 50 miles?

First paragraph, long time since I have had to read up on that.

https://www.nde-ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Materials/Structure/deformation.htm
 
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