Electric impact wrenches

[Jason628]

A couple days ago I finally decided to get myself a fancy new electric impact wrench. I did some research and found two that I wanted, the milwaukee m18 fuel 1/2 and the dewalt DCF899 1/2 impact. I couldn't find the milwaukee as a set with a battery and charger locally. I went and bought the dewalt from lowes with one 5ah battery and charger. I decided to try it out on a stubborn leaf spring bolt on my s10 and it lasted about 10 seconds before it quit. I took it back and had it exchanged for the same gun. I was very surprised that it totally stopped working after 10 seconds of run time. Hopefully it was just an anomaly and I don't have any further issues. The package deal was $340 out the door. I've always had good luck with dewalt stuff and I always thought of them as a quality name brand tool. Anyone else have experience with the DCF899? Or similar guns?

 

[67L36Driver]

Cost a weeks take home pay circa 1954.

Thanks Dad!

 

[Lcfd1124]

I am a snap on man through and through. My 1/2" snap on battery impact quit a few weeks ago, so rather than spend two weeks pay on another I went and bought the 1/2" Ryobi. To say the least, I am now a Ryobi man when it comes to impacts. I was completely impressed.

 

[Jason628]

I am a snap on man through and through. My 1/2" snap on battery impact quit a few weeks ago, so rather than spend two weeks pay on another I went and bought the 1/2" Ryobi. To say the least, I am now a Ryobi man when it comes to impacts. I was completely impressed.

I have only used a couple of their drills and impact drivers. Oh and an electric pressure washer. All seemed to do the job. I may get the ryobi 3/8 electric ratchet. I've been having issues with my hands not wanting to work right and hurting a lot lately as well as other things. Been to the doc about a dozen times and they can't figure out what's going on with me. They got me on prednisone which, seems to help a little. So... trying to keep up with projects and maintenance on the vehicles has not been fun. Anything that will make the job easier would be worth its weight in gold to me. A buddy of mine has the m18 fuel 1/2 and it seemed pretty impressive. Ive seen that many of them have issues with the trigger switch though. The dewalt DCF899 is supposed to be the next most powerful 1/2 impact. I put the replacement gun on the bolt that broke the 1st one and it loosened up after rattling it for a few seconds.

 

[Junkyard]

I’ve got three 20 volt and one 12v Dewalt. The oldest is a 1/2” with brushes. It’s been abused and keeps on ticking. Run until it smells and smokes. Still works just like it always has after 6 years on the service truck. Have a newer 1/2” and 3/8” brushless plus the little 12v 3/8” which I’ve run quite a bit and it’s an impressive little guy. I’ve got all the big impacts up to 1-1/2” plus a hydraulic torque wrench. The little cordless tools speed things up for me in most situations and rarely have me digging out their air powered counterpart.

I’ve got so many Dewalt cordless tools I’m stuck with that brand. If for some reason I ever had to make a change I’d sure look at Milwaukee. They’ve got some hardcore stuff.

 

[Ryan Browne]

I have only used a couple of their drills and impact drivers. Oh and an electric pressure washer. All seemed to do the job. I may get the ryobi 3/8 electric ratchet. I've been having issues with my hands not wanting to work right and hurting a lot lately as well as other things. Been to the doc about a dozen times and they can't figure out what's going on with me. They got me on prednisone which, seems to help a little. So... trying to keep up with projects and maintenance on the vehicles has not been fun. Anything that will make the job easier would be worth its weight in gold to me. A buddy of mine has the m18 fuel 1/2 and it seemed pretty impressive. Ive seen that many of them have issues with the trigger switch though. The dewalt DCF899 is supposed to be the next most powerful 1/2 impact. I put the replacement gun on the bolt that broke the 1st one and it loosened up after rattling it for a few seconds.

That ryobi ratchet looks so goofy. Might as well have a car battery strapped to it!

Honestly if you're having hand issues, I'd strongly consider buying into the milwaukee m12 line. They have a ton of stuff that is designed to replace manual hand motions. Grease gun, caulk gun, stapler, and ratchet to name a few. I have a couple of their ratchets and honestly love them more than I thought I would. I'd love to own all of them, but I have an extended 3/8" and the original brushed 3/8" drive. I'd like to own another one in 1/4" at some point, maybe the new high speed. Find Tool Boss on youtube and subscribe to his channel. He regularly posts some pretty crazy deals on cordless stuff. For example I followed his link recently and got the m12 fuel drill and impact kit with two batteries and a free brushed ratchet for $179.

 

[Jason628]

I’ve got three 20 volt and one 12v Dewalt. The oldest is a 1/2” with brushes. It’s been abused and keeps on ticking. Run until it smells and smokes. Still works just like it always has after 6 years on the service truck. Have a newer 1/2” and 3/8” brushless plus the little 12v 3/8” which I’ve run quite a bit and it’s an impressive little guy. I’ve got all the big impacts up to 1-1/2” plus a hydraulic torque wrench. The little cordless tools speed things up for me in most situations and rarely have me digging out their air powered counterpart.

I’ve got so many Dewalt cordless tools I’m stuck with that brand. If for some reason I ever had to make a change I’d sure look at Milwaukee. They’ve got some hardcore stuff.

I'm hoping it was just a random fluke with this first gun that I ended up with a bad one. It was like the motor just went out on it. Light would come on but, no go. Changed batteries and it spun briefly and then quit. To add insult to injury when I returned the gun I left my truck window down and came out to a sprinkler spraying the interior of my truck. I was so happy. The Milwaukee m18 fuel high torque is a very nice gun. My friend works on a lot of old john deere tractors and stuff and it will remove just about anything. He has one gun that he bought on sale because it was a display model. He used it for a year and now the trigger has issues. He bought another to replace that one and said I can have it if I can find parts to fix it.

 

[Jason628]

That ryobi ratchet looks so goofy. Might as well have a car battery strapped to it!

Honestly if you're having hand issues, I'd strongly consider buying into the milwaukee m12 line. They have a ton of stuff that is designed to replace manual hand motions. Grease gun, caulk gun, stapler, and ratchet to name a few. I have a couple of their ratchets and honestly love them more than I thought I would. I'd love to own all of them, but I have an extended 3/8" and the original brushed 3/8" drive. I'd like to own another one in 1/4" at some point, maybe the new high speed. Find Tool Boss on youtube and subscribe to his channel. He regularly posts some pretty crazy deals on cordless stuff. For example I followed his link recently and got the m12 fuel drill and impact kit with two batteries and a free brushed ratchet for $179.

Yeah you are right. I was looking at that and thinking the battery on that thing is probably going to piss me off. Ryobi does make some good tools for the price. I figured I'd just get the dewalt and be done and not have any issues. I was wrong lol but, that's pretty much how my life is going these days. If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck.

 

[Larry B]

I know harbor freight are dirty words but i have the Earthquake 1/2" impact in my shop and gets quite a bit of use. For the price i have no complaints. Had it for a couple years and it has never let me down.

 

[Jason628]

I know harbor freight are dirty words but i have the Earthquake 1/2" impact in my shop and gets quite a bit of use. For the price i have no complaints. Had it for a couple years and it has never let me down.

Yeah... it wasn't much less than the dewalt. I think like $60 difference and I already have some 20v dewalt batteries and a drill. I bought a multiprocess welder from hf last year and it is okay. It kinda annoys me sometimes it likes to spit out an additional 2 inches of wire when you let up on the trigger. Not sure how to fix that....

 

[Sawrain]

https://www.youtube.com/c/torquetestchannel

An interesting channel.

 

[cus_deluxe]

i have milwaukee stuff, including the m18 1/2” impact. i could probably swap tires on my 3/4 ton pickup 20 times on one 5 ah battery. idl if other ones have this feature but when u put it on the hardcore taking stuff off mode (they advertise 1000 ft/lb) it gives it a few whacks to loosen and then it slows way down so ur lugnuts dont go across the room at 5000 rpms.

 

[Jason628]

The dewalt does not have that feature. It does give you pretty good control with the variable speed trigger. I had to pull the intake manifold back off of my s10 last night. I found a Holley intake manifold for my truck they quit making and thought it would be cool to use it. Damn thing has given me nothing but problems. All the vacuum and water ports were moved and the position of the throttle body is different then stock. I've literally had to modify everything that attaches to it and the front bolts you can barely get an open end wrench on. I put permatex right stuff on the front and back of the block and it didnt seal. I'm thinking the finish on the sealing surfaces was too smooth (polished to almost mirror finish) for the silicone to adhere to it. So I'm going to scuff it up and try it again with ultra black.

 

[Logsdendave]

I’ve got the Milwaukee, and would recommend to anyone looking. If I had batteries for another brand I’d probably get that brands tool.

 

[Jason628]

I’ve got the Milwaukee, and would recommend to anyone looking. If I had batteries for another brand I’d probably get that brands tool.

Ya I already had the 20v atomic drill and two 2ah batteries. I got it on sale for $100. Been a good little drill. Lots of power, light and compact. I've used the crap out of it.

 

[FergusonTO35]

I use my Makita corded impact all the time, it will do 95% of what I need an impact to do. I don't have any cordless tools right now, so by the time I buy a couple of tools plus batteries and charger I could almost buy a new air compressor - for which I already have bunches of tools.

 

[FergusonTO35]

I am a snap on man through and through. My 1/2" snap on battery impact quit a few weeks ago, so rather than spend two weeks pay on another I went and bought the 1/2" Ryobi. To say the least, I am now a Ryobi man when it comes to impacts. I was completely impressed.

Can Snappy not fix it?

 

[Jason628]

I use my Makita corded impact all the time, it will do 95% of what I need an impact to do. I don't have any cordless tools right now, so by the time I buy a couple of tools plus batteries and charger I could almost buy a new air compressor - for which I already have bunches of tools.

I'm going all battery tools because, its difficult to transport an air compressor haha. My air compressor is kind of a pos. It's good for things like airing up tires but, its 110v and an oil less so it is loud. I bought an earthquake air impact from hf but, not too impressed with it. Could be my air fittings and hose need to be stepped up in size. I don't have 240v in my garage and it wouldn't be easy to put 240 in. I'm looking at getting another place soon... hopefully with a better shop that already has it or somewhere where I dont have to excavate a bunch of concrete.

 

[Ryan Browne]

Yeah you are right. I was looking at that and thinking the battery on that thing is probably going to piss me off. Ryobi does make some good tools for the price. I figured I'd just get the dewalt and be done and not have any issues. I was wrong lol but, that's pretty much how my life is going these days. If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...12-2-0Ah-Battery-2457-20-48-11-2420/306636225

Here's a good deal on the OE ratchet. I'll send you a charger for the battery if you want to get started in the m12 line.

 

[Jason628]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...12-2-0Ah-Battery-2457-20-48-11-2420/306636225

Here's a good deal on the OE ratchet. I'll send you a charger for the battery if you want to get started in the m12 line.

I appreciate it. I got a Birthday coming up and have been giving hints as to what I want. I'll send my fiance the link.