Battery impact drivers - torque vs price (how much is needed?)

[julianf]

I mean, more power is better, obviously...

But law of diminishing returns - what's the sweet spot for general vehicle mechanics?

I'm talking landrovers etc not trains, and ocean liners.


Ive got an air one, but batteries are just so convenient - however, theres no point in buying something that you always find to be lacking.
At the same time, there is also no point in spending a premium for more power than is ever really needed.

...hence my question!

Thank you.

 

[richie00boy]

I've just bought a compact stubby air one which has a max torque of 610Nm. It only just undid the crank bolt on my 1.8 petrol Vauxhall so I wouldn't go any lower than that. Landrovers will be big bolts done up tight or rusted/siezed. I have to say the compact stubby design is a real bonus.

What is your current one rated to and have you found it lacking? If not then maybe no need to go higher than whatever that is.

 

[julianf]

on the M18 range -

339 Nm for £120
745 Nm for £174
1356 Nm for £233

and then 2033 Nm for a bit less (£225) but only in 3/4 (the others above are in 1/2)

 

[Agrismith]

Don't just look at it as the power because a large heavy powerful one will have less uses than a lower powered small light compact one.
The actual answer is you need all three. And also the M12 ones aswell. And you couldn't possibly manage with a single one.

If you had to choose one then personally I would rather the smallest one. And use it for as much as possible, rather than a big one that only gets used for some big bolts.

 

[Craig-SM]

Mine are used for general maintenance on the Shogun and BMW. The Shogun is most comparable to your situation and probably the same issues of seized bolts and others that need a lot of torque to move.
I bought the big Milwaukee M18 High Torque (1627nm) and there isn’t much, if anything, it hadn’t undone but it’s a big heavy lump of a tool and that’s its weakness too as sometimes it’s just too big to physically fit in places so I bought the M12 stubby too (339nm). If you can get your hand in somewhere then the Stubby will usually fit. It has enough power for 90% of what you need. I’ve since sold that on and bought the latest generation of Stubby (745nm) that has even more torque to the extent that I’ve not used the M18 High Torque in ages

 

[Craig-SM]

Just for reference my brother is using the latest generation M12 Stubby on his Navara after running into problems when he broke breaker bar changing his suspension and his neighbour failed with his torque gun and called me for help. Same neighbour who laughed at the Stubby until it removed all the bolts.

 

[Anguz]

i was using the 3/4 Milwaukie all this week... definitely has more grunt than the Makita my mate had with him

 

[MetalMonkey]

Impact drivers or Impact wrenches? Subtle difference, many are based off the same or similar machine.
Impact wrench for sockets, Impact driver for bits.

For impact drivers I'd argue feel and finese is more important than outright power in most cases. Putting in smaller screws or fixings needs control more than power.

For impact wrenches its less of a concern and the more uggas more betterer. But you have to consider the size of the machine which is where air can still have an advantage.
I'd suggest a battery mid torque machine is the sweet spot for that.

 

[Kayos]

I use a £20 Fakita, just used it while changing the subframe on the Freelander 2

Only bolt it failed on was an M14. The Milwaukee 18v (known in the garage as the big gun) also failed and because mine loosened it, I chopped it off

I undid the M16 trailing arm bolts and the subframe mounting bolts as well

Would I spend more? No, because I have a 240v DeWalt that has never failed yet, if I absolutely must undo/snap a bolt

 

[Turbo]

It also depends on your existing battery platform.
I have makita and I bought one of the smaller fakita 18v guns and it is suitable for 80% of my work.
I also bought a larger gun for heavier work.
It is a beast and will wind off driveshaft nuts torqued to 350 Nm.
Something none of my air guns will do!

But you need big Ah batteries to use these. The big gun will not work properly on anything below a 4Ah.

It would be like fitting a 1.2 petrol engine in a defender. It will run but you'll not be towing any big trailers.

 

[sako243]

I've only got two impacts both Milwaukee. The old (possibly Gen 2) M12 Stubby and the original M18 Hi-Torque (1800Nm breakaway torque). The M18 doesn't get used often but when it does I'm really glad that I have it, as others have said it's kind of bulky and struggels to get into a lot of spaces. When you're up at those torque figures and the few times I've found the gun to struggle to undo something it's because of a loose fitting socket or some other thing sapping torque away.

The M12 stubby gets used far far more often because it's nice and compact and fits far more places, I think the Gen3 is almost double the torque of mine. A neighbour has started getting some Milwaukee tools and about a year ago asked me some advice (he's a shed fabricator and erector and pretty much exclusively used M16 or M24 bolts on everything). Up until recently he was using his old trusty Hitatchi / Hikoki 18V thing, he whizzed up some nuts using that and the M12 on a 2Ah battery whizzed them off no trouble at all. We then whizzed up an M16 bolt with the stubby and a 2Ah battery in it (really compact setup) and his Hitatchi did manage to undo it but we could hear it beginning to struggle. Out of curiosity I swapped over to the 6Ah battery and whizzed one up, his Hitatchi failed to undo it. I think he was then looking at the Gen 3 which had been out for a few months at the time as on paper it was much more powerful (>700Nm I seem to recall) than the one I had and would without question replace his existing 18V setup but at a 1/3rd of the size and 1/4 the weight.

 

[Jackimus]

Seconding a battery mid torque. The highest power of my DTW700 has been needed for a couple of particularly nasty bolts on car suspension and subframe, but that was without any attempt to loosen them up beforehand. They previously refused to budge and then flew straight off at max power.

 

[Gareth J]

I've a 1000nm brushless Makita one. Which would be more than adequate for vehicle stuff. Shortly after buying I binned the air ones (they were tired anyway). It's the tool I most regret not buying sooner. I'd buy another tomorrow if it broke.

 

[8ob]

The advertised rating of the very cheap Fakita gear is way off, if going this way go with Gisam, Onevan or Yofidra. The no name gear are pants.

Bob

 

[Rannsachair]

I went M12 Milwaukee stubby: Milwaukee M12FCIWF12G3-0 FUEL, was under £150, I use it with a high output battery, 745 Nm Torque, I use it pretty much every time I work on a car. Has done everything I have asked of it so far.

​

 

[Anguz]

the big Milwaukee 3/4 i have at work is noticeably less powerful when you get to half way on the battery indicator

 

[julianf]

The m12 looks convenient, but, whilst I have the charger, buying into another battery system is expensive and inconvenient.

There are many m18 tools that I would like to add, but I dont think the m12 batteries would get used for anything else - which makes a single m12 addition expensive.

 

[Craig-SM]

the big Milwaukee 3/4 i have at work is noticeably less powerful when you get to half way on the battery indicator

What battery are using on it

 

[Craig-SM]

The m12 looks convenient, but, whilst I have the charger, buying into another battery system is expensive and inconvenient.

There are many m18 tools that I would like to add, but I dont think the m12 batteries would get used for anything else - which makes a single m12 addition expensive.

I think some of Milwaukees best tools they’ve released in the last couple of years have been on the M12 platform including Stubby torque gun, power file, planer, installation drill, RO 150mm sanders, die grinders. Some of these such as the sanders, planer and torque gun perform better than the M18 equivalent

Edit. I missed off the ratchets from that list and new one, just out, supposed to be a big step again.

 

[dobbslc]

I went M12 Milwaukee stubby: Milwaukee M12FCIWF12G3-0 FUEL, was under £150, I use it with a high output battery, 745 Nm Torque, I use it pretty much every time I work on a car. Has done everything I have asked of it so far.

​

That's the one I have with the 5ah high output battery, maybe I'm being thick here but what setting is the most powerful, #3 or the one with the bolt on it?
I had it set to #3 and it wouldn't shift a Mazda 3 wheel nut that had been Kwik-fitted on!