Help me buy a good cordless impact wrench

The last few rallycrosses of last season I paid attention to the guys changing tires (I was still running snow tires that I drove to events on). I could hear power tools being used, but assumed they were just cordless drills with a nut driver or something.

Just recently I realized they made cordless impact wrenches, having only ever used air-operated before. I stopped at Home Depot to browse today, and saw 4-5-6 different models. The main difference I picked up on besides $$$ was torque. This guy seemed to be the highest: Ryobi

I believe he was rated 2400 in-lbs, while the others ranged 500 to 1600 or so. Even this noob knows higher torque = more strength. It was $99 itself, charger $30 and batteries ranged $40-90 depending on size.

So is this the best deal? The lesser ones as a kit were about $200-230 anyway. (And my Harbor Freight rule is usually only for non-moving tools or something I will use 3 times at best.)

All I know is that while I like having my Craftsman better than nothing, I'm not super-impressed. It often won't undo lugs which have been properly torqued, so you have to manually break them loose, at which point you could pretty much just be using a cordless drill for the spinning-on/spinning-off... I still use it for a lot of other random stuff, but I'll be pickier with my next cordless impact wrench.

I have a Mastercraft Maximum cordless impact, a Canadian Tire house brand.

It's only 1400 inch/lbs with the 18v NiCad battery. I gotta say, it works like a damn.

I mean you're never going to get the torque of a pneumatic or electric unit, but I've taken a lot of cars apart with my cordless.

I wonder if the inch/lbs ratings are consistent or if it's like stereos, where a quality 100 watt unit will kill a discount store "1000" watt unit.

my snap on is amazing. Yes, it cost about $500 (with two batteries and a charger) but it's got BALLS and the battery lasts forever.
its also got 620 ft/lbs =]
thats a liiiiiiittle bit more than the sears selection has=]

and it's worse to have an inadequate or inoperative tool than to not have one at all

I have the Ryobi and the lithium battery. Works real well. Except on overly torques lug nuts. But that's what the breaker bar is for anyway. No real complaints.

Milwaukee 18 volt is a bit spendy, but we spent 4 days at Lacrosse Speedway Octoberfest running the late model, and used 3 battery charges in total.

corytate wrote: my snap on is amazing. Yes, it cost about $500 (with two batteries and a charger) but it's got BALLS and the battery lasts forever. its also got 620 ft/lbs =] thats a liiiiiiittle bit more than the sears selection has=]

this. I've had Sears, various other cheaper ones, and none of them has half the power of my 8-year-old SnapOn impact. It still powers through the toughest jobs. I did have the two batteries re-cored for about $100 a few years ago, but I consider the SnapOn impact to be one of my best tool investments, period.

It has taken off large industrial bolts and super-rusty lag bolts that I couldn't budge with a 3/4" breaker bar and cheater pipe with all my weight on them.....

over-torqued lugnuts are quick work. Never met one that too more than 2-3 seconds to pop off completely.....even old rusty lug bolts on a Land Rover :)

My 3/8" Makita is awesome, but it won't take off wheels. If Makita makes a 1/2" gun I would recommend it based on my experience with the brand.

I have the Makita 3/8 and the 1/2 both use the 18 v lithium battery both are great

Streetwiseguy wrote: Milwaukee 18 volt is a bit spendy, but we spent 4 days at Lacrosse Speedway Octoberfest running the late model, and used 3 battery charges in total.

I have an older Milwaukee 18v (NiCad instead of the current LIon), and it works great. I don't get quite the battery life of the the new lithium ones, but it's more than adequate for buzzing tires on and off at the autox, etc.

If your goal is to be able to break the torque on lugnuts, I wouldn't bother with anything rated in inch-pounds.

I've got a Makita 14.4 1/2 inch one. It's pretty good (it will loosen lug nuts) but the batteries don't last long and it is really loud... like so loud that I use earplugs with it. It's rated at 103 ft/lb.

I bought the wrench without batteries from eBay to match batteries that I already had that came with a Makita cordless drill. I suspect the batteries that came with the impact wrench were bigger (more mah).

I've got one of these:

http://www.dewalt.com/tools/cordless-impact-driverswrenches-high-torque-wrenches-dc800kl.aspx

I picked up the matching 36v reciprocating saw super cheap and decided to get the impact and drill as well so I could share the batteries/chargers. I got all of them used for ~$200 IIRC. The impact gun works pretty well even on torqued lugs, but it's a little large and heavy. If you're going to buy new, the SnapOn might be better.

If you do start changing wheels with an impact, be sure to get some torque sticks and learn how to use them properly.

That Ryobi was rated 2400in-lbs and 200ft-lbs (the only one with a ft-lb listing, all the rest were in-lb) & for the wrench, battery and charger around $180, which didn't sound bad. Only need it for a day at a time, change wheels in the morning, back again at the end.

Plan on taking a breaker bar anyway, even if I go around the car and break each one loose quickly, that would take 2 minutes. Then use this thing to do the rest. This out of shape old man can use all the help he can get.

Torque sticks? (I have a torque wrench...)

Dosent harbor freight have one that was the favorite of this forum years ago? Has the quality"gasp" fallen off?

I've had good success with this one from Northern Tool ( comes with 2 batteries 24v and charger )

I'm using this Chicago from Harbor Freight. I'm pretty certain I got on sale for about $80, if I remember right. It's been a couple years since I bought it. Works great. Has 330 ft-lbs of torque.

Bah! Batteries suck. You want a serious tool? Get one with a cord or a place to attach an air hose.

In reply to 1988RedT2:

Both of which would be completely useless in the OP's situation. Unless you've got a big airtank, or 110v available at all your autocrosses/rallycrosses

In reply to tpwalsh:

Yes, this. (I have an aircompressor at home but doubt even a big air tank would help change 8 wheels.)

Also, someone mentioned torque sticks. Any help?

In reply to jstein77:

Hm. I've never trusted HF for much but if it's still kicking after a couple years of use, perhaps I will look into it. Thanks!

I can't help you about impact wrenches but just wanted to tell you what I have read about cordless tools. Ryobi is made by the same parent co that makes ridgid . Ridgid is more expensive but if you send in the paperwork and whatnot you can get a lifetime warranty including battery's that you can use through Home Depot. Dunno if that changes your mind but I wish I knew about it.

Oh I've had no problems with my ryobi stuff and my dad swears by it for the bang for the buck but that battery warranty would problly make ridgid worth the extra $$ to me if I had it to do again

Friday I used my DeWalt impact driver with a 3/8 socket drive to swap my wheels & tires. It did just fine and was way faster than a breaker bar and a hand crank style socket driver.

Putting the wheels back on was a breeze. I still used the torque wrench, but getting everything snug enough to put back on the ground was a snap.

The impact wrench version has more torque (different gearing) and would be quite nice to add to my tool collection. We have Makitas at work that are often used the same way. They're much lighter than Dewalt, and very good.