Cordless impact driver recommendation?

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Trevor B

Trevor B

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What is your favorite electric impact driver?
I'm looking lithium ion battery, and lean towards 1/2" drive.

Would be especially cool in the $200 range!
 
I have both a Milwaukee M-12 and a Porter Cable 20 volt impact. Both are 1/4" but are excellent tools. Both can be purchased in kits for under $200. Check out Home Depot and Lowes. My son uses Milwaukee M-18's at work, and says they work very well too
 
I love my 1/2'' drive Milwaukee 18 volt. Three years of hard use so far & still going strong.
 
Trevor B said:
What is your favorite electric impact driver?
I'm looking lithium ion battery, and lean towards 1/2" drive.

Would be especially cool in the $200 range!
Click to expand...

All these wants don't fit in the same tool. I wish you luck finding a 1/2" cordless impact with lithium batteries for $200. If you do it won't be very good quality or have much of a warranty or service if you do need warranty.
 
I bought a DEWALT DW059K 18-Volt NiCad for road trips with the boat. Not a lion but works great for what I need.

Gave a new Jeg's 1/2" away that wasn't up to the task.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I just ordered the Milwaukee 18v - good price too!
 
believe it or not, i am in the process of a full house remodel using home depot ryobi 18 volt cordless tools. their drill driver is cheap and has a lot of power. i would recommend the ryobi cordless tools to anyone...
 
I got a Hitachi 18V several years ago from.....Home Depot, I THINK. Was either there or Lowes, I cannot remember.

Anyway, BOTH batteries took a crud a little over a year after I bought it. Lithium ion, so they ain't cheap. I did a search and discovered the service center for Hitachi is in Georgia so I called them. Girl said to box them up and send them in. I did. Cannot beat service like that.

About two weeks later, I received two brand new batteries free of charge. This has been about three years ago and it is still kickin butt.
 
I've got a DeWalt 20v 1/2" drive impact wrench, DCF880H. It's amazing. One of those tools that makes you wonder how it is you did stuff before you got it. That was a few years ago. Since then I've been working on collecting other DeWalt 20v tools. DCD790 Drill, DCF886 1/4" impact driver, DCS387 compact sawzall, and a DCL050 worklight. The original 20v lithium ion batteries I got with the impact wrench still work great, and I've got a handful of batteries that came with the other tools that work great as well. Plus DeWalt makes a TON of 20v tools now, even string trimmers and circular saws.
 
I own, and constantly use the Big Milwaukee M18 Fuel 2763 1/2" impact. I use that son-of-a-gun on everything. Being a tow truck driver, I haven't found lug nuts that sucker wouldn't undo. Very powerful, actually one of the most powerful 1/2" impacts out there, IMO. I think it even tops the almighty Ingersoll-Rand W7150. The Snap On 1/2" impact does not even come close to the Milwaukee or the I-R. And the S/O cost $800 bucks! You will enjoy your Milwaukee 2763!
 
I have a 12 volt Dewalt 3/8" drive and an 18 volt Hilti Industrial duty one Both are great. The Hilti is not easy to come by. You have to find a rep and buy from him. Definitely worth it though.

Cley
 
One of the best tools I've ever bought from Harbor Freight is that Chicago Electric cordless 1/2" impact. I'm a casual user, but it's held it's own for a couple of years now. I even used it to pull the old upper ball joints out of the A arms on my Valiant. Those suckers were probably in there for 30 years and it broke them free like it was nothing.
 
I've seen these HF units on sale for $99 a few times. I'd like to hear from anyone that has one. I have a couple of their 1/4" drive units that I've been using for a couple of years with great success. The short comings always seems to be the battery charger. You must not over charge or forget about them or they will cook the batteries. 3 hour charge is all you should do for most of their stuff.


This 18 volt cordless impact wrench, with 330 ft. lbs. max torque, is tough enough to break loose rusted fasteners, tighten lug nuts or drive lag bolts with no cord or compressor to get in your way. Tighten or loosen up to 100 fasteners on a single charge while the soft grip handle allows you to work comfortably. The cordless impact wrench features a built-in LED light for better visibility in wheel wells and engine bays.
  • 1/2 in. drive anvil with hog ring retainer for fast socket changes
  • All-metal front gear housing
  • Variable speed trigger for precise control
  • Onboard bit storage
  • 330 ft. lbs. max torque
  • Ergonomic overmolded cushion grip
  • 1/2 in. bolt capacity
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I have the milwaukee 1/4" 18v brushless. That thing is a bad lad. Has 3 power settings. I use it on everything from lug nuts to hanging ths wifes pictures on the walls. Batteries last forever and its pretty amazing the power the drill has. I have thw 3 different socket drives for all my needs big or small
 
jimharvard said:
believe it or not, i am in the process of a full house remodel using home depot ryobi 18 volt cordless tools. their drill driver is cheap and has a lot of power. i would recommend the ryobi cordless tools to anyone...
Click to expand...
good one rite there!!!!!
 
I bought an 18v Dewalt because I already had the batteries and charger from my company issued drill/driver. I don't know that I would recommend it for a commercial account, but it sure beats taking lug nuts off with a rachet or four way. Cost me less than a hundy.

Amazon product ASIN B001CYKM4M
 
I bought the Craftsman 1/2, 3/8, impact, and the drill with lithium batteries. Work great for occasional use. I have a 1/2 drive air impact for those fasteners that won't come loose with the battery powered tools. I have several Ryobi drills. Whenever I use them, the Chuck loosens, and the bit falls out.
 
I've got a Ridgid R860010b 1/2 and the small R86034B 1/4 tools and they have performed very well. I often just grab them and leave the air guns in the toolbox these days.
 
Ingersoll-Rand makes the most badazz one I have seen, but it starts at around $500 for the kit .
Imo the best bang for the buck is the craftsman C3 19.2 volt 1/2. In.
Impact. I have been using one for several years and still like it.
They have a new HD impact that comes with the new 4ah Battery that should really be awesome. I think they
Were onsale for around. $160. But I think it is still under 200 normally.
 
furyus2 said:
I bought the Craftsman 1/2, 3/8, impact, and the drill with lithium batteries. Work great for occasional use. I have a 1/2 drive air impact for those fasteners that won't come loose with the battery powered tools. I have several Ryobi drills. Whenever I use them, the Chuck loosens, and the bit falls out.
Click to expand...

hey furyus2

i worked at home depot part time for over 8 years after i returned from iraq in 06. during my time at "the depot", i bought pretty much every ryobi battery tool they sell. i've had the same problem with drill bits falling out of the ryobi drills. i've found that you really have to tighten the chuck a lot to avoid this from happening. i've beaten the ryobi tools up a lot using them for all kinds of excess work they aren't designed to handle. i've even stripped the gear box out of one of the drills. however, even though these tools are NOT meant to be used in a commercial setting or under heavy constant use, they have stood up well to my "home owner" abuse. they are cheaper than all the other battery powered stuff out there and home depot will generally take them back and replace or give you a store credit card if they break in a short time. i'm just finishing a complete remodel of a "flip" house i bought and me and a full-time carpenter working for me have used a variety of ryobi stuff on the project. we've used the battery drills, drill driver, reciprocating saw, jig-saw, drywall cutter, caulking gun, and small table top miter saw every day and all have performed with no problem.
 
+1 on the Ryobi tools. One nice thing about them is that they seem to use the same batteries for a long time...I have a couple of tools that are probably 8 years old and the current batteries work with them just fine. So many other brands change battery styles every few years.
 
^^^This !!! & Thx !!!
I bought a Snap-On CT1110 3/8 circa '2011...
After 2 yrs of 20% duty cycle use, 'break loose' torque went
into the crapper!?! 'tightening' torque remained constant at 48' lbs.

My local rep took the driver in on warranty & had it torn down & inspected
for mechanical failure as we both thought the issue was mechanical.

---bzzzzz--- WRONG !!! issue was panasonic battery packs with a build
date from '96 ??? WTH !!!

Long story mercifully shortened, the 6 major mfgrs whom produce
the drivers ( all composite, aluminum/composite, titanium/composite )
use a single hammer / double hammer design...

Choose any You want, all good, ask the rep about Batt build dates...

P.s, had both the battery packs 'rebuilt' at a local store in '12, $ 49,
2016 still good & destroying parts as normal ... LOL ...
 
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