Cordless impact guns have caught my eye -- mostly for doing wheel changes at events. What do I need to look for in order to get something that will remove wheel lugs reliably?
Don't worry, I will still use my torque wrench for installation purposes.
Rob
my dad was looking at these for the same purpose as well. Would make a stellar father's day gift. also curious.
You need the Chicago Electric one from HF that eeks regular wheel lugs off for not much money........... but you really, really want a Milwuakee 1/2" drive 18v cordless impact gun with L-Ion batteries that makes 450 ft/lbs of awesome wheel bearing nut removing force and removes lug nuts on your own and 4 of your friends race cars multiple times a day all weekend on a single charge. They go for about $350.
I use the dewalt 1/2 drive 18v......works well when you don't have access to an air compressor.
The dewalt is alright, and I haven't used the Milwaukee, but there's a new Snap-On rechargeable that's a freakin' beast. I work with a guy that has one, and it will take stuff off that even the best air impacts in the shop have a hard time with.
And I am by no means a Snap-On fan boy. I find most of their stuff nice but horribly over priced. That impact might actually be worth it.
yamaha wrote: I use the dewalt 1/2 drive 18v......works well when you don't have access to an air compressor.
My dad just got one since he already had the drill with the 18.8 volt batteries. About $100 at Lowes, but sans battery and charger. He loved it when he took the transmission out of the burb. He said he didn't need to reach for the I-R compressed air one yet.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: You need the Chicago Electric one from HF that eeks regular wheel lugs off for not much money.......
I have one of those and it works very well. I even got a spare battery (which I really don't need) which you can special order.
Much nicer for changing wheels.
In reply to aircooled:
I have the similar Northern Tool version. It took awhile to "break in" and during that time it had trouble with the 45 ft-lb torqued nuts on a Spitfire, but afterwards it handles the 90 ft-lb bolts on my other cars well enough.
if you have other DeWalt 18v tools, you can buy the tool-only 1/2" dr gun for a reasonable price at Lowes. I have one of those as well. It's a little better than my N-T gun, but not much.
I've got the Northern Tool version as well. Used it this morning to pull 16 lug nuts on a E250. The sockets that came with it are junk, but the impact works fine.
I bought a 14V DeWalt just for track duty. I preferred the lighter smaller 14V over the 18V. But as it has aged (probably battery issue) it has a hard time with my 90 ft lb lugs at times. I just break them loose and tighten them with my torque wrench, but use the impact to spin them off and on.
I haven't priced replacement batteries yet, so it might make more sense to replace the whole thing.
Craftsman, the better one. Terrific torque, comes with two batteries and holds a good charge.
My 18v DeWalt may be my favorite tool ever.
Cone_Junky wrote: I bought a 14V DeWalt just for track duty. I preferred the lighter smaller 14V over the 18V. But as it has aged (probably battery issue) it has a hard time with my 90 ft lb lugs at times. I just break them loose and tighten them with my torque wrench, but use the impact to spin them off and on. I haven't priced replacement batteries yet, so it might make more sense to replace the whole thing.
It often is. I need new batteries for my DeWalt 18V stuff (long story...), so in lieu of buying new batteries, I plan to just buy the hammer drill/recipricating saw combo.
I have a 12v Li-Ion impact driver which supposedly has pretty good power, but haven't tried it on lug nuts yet.
I bought a Goodyear Racing wrench with 19 and 21mm sockets on sale at Pep Boys for $90. Tested ok at home, but haven't tried it at a full event yet.
I like my DeWalt 18v very well, but get the BIG one.
I already had 2 sets of DeWalt 18v batteries+chargers so I bought the bare tool from whoever was cheapest for tool+shipping.
motomoron wrote: I like my DeWalt 18v very well, but get the BIG one. I already had 2 sets of DeWalt 18v batteries+chargers so I bought the bare tool from whoever was cheapest for tool+shipping.
Word for word, that's exactly what I did.
In reply to Woody:
Ditto here.
You'll need to log in to post.
