Cordless Impact Wrenches - Useful Tool?

[Alan_M 66 1 Cars]

Are these really useful in cordless/battery form?

 

Was reading PPC and they seem to think the Clarke CIR24 is a decent buy. Machine Mart are out of stock but the place below has it for £97.

 

http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-345741/clarke-cir24-24v-cordless-impact-wrench.html

 

Or is the CIR450 better for an extra 8 quid?

 

http://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-346617/clarke-cir450-24v-high-torque-cordless-impact-wrench.html

[cRaig 273 1 Cars]

Ive got the CIR450, as they didnt have any of the cheaper one in stock when I needed it. Its been pretty good, got things off that I thought it would struggle with, but it has let me down a couple of times, for seriously tight things.

 

Overall Ive been impressed with mine, and have no regrets buying it. Buy it from machine mart on a vat free day as well if you can!

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Buy it from machine mart on a vat free day as well if you can!

 

Although Anthony's exploded.....

[cRaig 273 1 Cars]

To be fair if you bought enough battery powered appliances, eventually one would be faulty. Still not good though, I will certainly be more careful with charging everything in the garage now, both dewalt and clarke stuff! Might start doing it in the house.. further away from the 205 and at least there are smoke detectors!

[base-1 17]

Depends how much you work on cars. I'll never be without one again, but you get what you pay for with these. The Clarke ones are alright for DIY stuff every weekend or 3 - and way better than using your hands, but if you can stretch to it then Snap-On etc are well worth it.

 

I bit the bullet for a 3/8" Snap-On (you don't need a big 1/2" for just buzzing wheels on events) and it's better than most 1/2" guns, but much less wieldy due to its size.

 

Alternatively if you've got a garage, a cheap compressor for 100 quid odd and an air-driven gun will be better in nearly every way for barely any more cash. and you have more options for other stuff

[tri_longer 25]

I have the Sealey one, bloody love it. Now I swap all 4 wheels at events so it makes quick work of whipping the nuts on and off (i hand torque them back on before anyone comments). Came in very handy when stripping a beam and also removing the top nuts on my coilovers. I'm sure I have used it for other jobs, but in a nutshell whatever you get it will be worth it.

[welshpug 1,657]

A friend of mine bought one of these MAC 18v 1/2" ones, we found it better than the Snapon and a bit cheaper, he's got a second one for his home workshop now too.

 

[swordfish210 20]

I borrowed a 1/2 Snap On one from Ed Cherry and it was an absolute brute, i removed the rear hub nuts without unstaking them and it didn't even struggle. If i could afford a decent one and had enough use for it i would definitely have one.

[sensualt101 31 1 Cars]

i have a snap on one and its been totally reliable and always undone anything i have needed to so cant fault it!

[Anthony 1,003]

For an extra £8 you might as well get the CIR450 version as it's got a fair bit more grunt (on paper at least) than the CIR24.

 

If you do want to go down the CIR450 route, give me a shout first as I've got an unused one sat here with Machine Mart warranty - I've been offered an decent air compressor for a good price I'm tempted to go down the air tool route instead

[888rmb 6]

I've got a Sealey cordless Impact gun and I think it's brilliant, dead handy tool. It was about £180 when I bought it 7 or 8 years ago.

[MiniGibbo 142]

We've got the milwaukee's for building mez floors on site and it's great..

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

Snap on 1/2" everyday. Going back to the previous thread on just this I did the exactly the same.

 

Had Clarkes and Sealeys fail on me, the only gun that troops on through and gets me out of the s*it in the pit lane is the Snap on. Every time, worth every penny.

[omega 82]

i think with these there is a big diffrence in performance

the snap on ones are big bucks but seam to shift everything and no one says a bad word against them[apart from cost],the cheaper ones work but will struggle on the hard stuff or not work,i have a clarke one that works fairly well but wont undo tight wheel nuts etc.the best thing about the artical in the magazine is that if you have a air powered one its less likely to be nicked!

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

These are a tool that you get what you pay for. I have a Dewalt and I would not be without it now, it is one of the most useful tools in my collection.

[SurGie 54]

Depends how much you work on cars. I'll never be without one again, but you get what you pay for with these. The Clarke ones are alright for DIY stuff every weekend or 3 - and way better than using your hands, but if you can stretch to it then Snap-On etc are well worth it.

 

I bit the bullet for a 3/8" Snap-On (you don't need a big 1/2" for just buzzing wheels on events) and it's better than most 1/2" guns, but much less wieldy due to its size.

 

Alternatively if you've got a garage, a cheap compressor for 100 quid odd and an air-driven gun will be better in nearly every way for barely any more cash. and you have more options for other stuff

 

Agreed on this one, i bought a £19 air one from Aldi and it works very well indeed, my compressor is a 14cfm 3hp type though. I agree buying a snap-on portable type will be well worth the extra it costs in comparison.

[Alastairh 47]

For an extra £8 you might as well get the CIR450 version as it's got a fair bit more grunt (on paper at least) than the CIR24.

 

If you do want to go down the CIR450 route, give me a shout first as I've got an unused one sat here with Machine Mart warranty - I've been offered an decent air compressor for a good price I'm tempted to go down the air tool route instead

 

I'm listening if Alan isn't intrested.

[Lan 24 1 Cars]

For an extra £8 you might as well get the CIR450 version as it's got a fair bit more grunt (on paper at least) than the CIR24.

 

If you do want to go down the CIR450 route, give me a shout first as I've got an unused one sat here with Machine Mart warranty - I've been offered an decent air compressor for a good price I'm tempted to go down the air tool route instead

 

just make sure you buy decent air tools then not clarke shi*e even a cheap ingersoll rand would be vastly superior than anything in machine mart

Snap on 1/2" everyday. Going back to the previous thread on just this I did the exactly the same.

 

Had Clarkes and Sealeys fail on me, the only gun that troops on through and gets me out of the s*it in the pit lane is the Snap on. Every time, worth every penny.

 

my view is the same as its always been if you're going to buy one, buy a proper one cheap ones are just shi*e, I actually don't consider £600 new a bad price for the snap on its almost as powerful as the new ingersoll rand model, but neither of them will let you down, there quality is unbeaten and the new ingersoll rand one is as powerful as there top of the range 1/2" air gun, you get what you pay for at the end of the day.

[welshpug 1,657]

£600 for the snapon one?! the MAC one is a bloody bargain at £250 full retail, often on special!

[Lan 24 1 Cars]

the mac one isn't anywhere near as powerful though! and mac are owned by stanley black & decker so there stuff is ok (obviously far superior than cheapo brands) but somethings are just generic across the brands, they will probably be similar internally to the dewalt stuff.

[base-1 17]

just make sure you buy decent air tools then not clarke shi*e even a cheap ingersoll rand would be vastly superior than anything in machine mart

 

This is a good point too - my airgun is an Ingersoll Rand and it's a beast. I paid nothing for it in comparison to even a cheap s*itty BluePoint, but it's immense. Took a bit of a chance on it but it's the best gun I've used in every respect, not just power.

[EdCherry 34 1 Cars]

The snap on guns hold there price pretty well if you look at second hand ones. Bet you mine has only lost me £50 since I bought it second hand, and I've made a hell of a lot more from it. Pays for itself in time and money.

[numbum 0]

Yeah the snap on ones are the dogs !!! we've just got 1/2 " one in the workshop and me and the boss now scrap over it they really are that good .we had some old gen ones and they are junk in comparison. i'd even say on a par with a ir air gun even but the added bonus of not having an air line under your feet well worth the money, hub nuts crank pulley bolts no probs happy days .

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Thought I'd add on to this thread rather than start a new one.

 

I've been borrowing a friends Snap On 18v gun for a couple of years now on and off, and it's about time I bought my own. I don't like the Snap On price tag, so I'm looking at a reasonable equivelent.

 

It isn't something I need everyday, otherwise I would just go and buy the best. Main uses are hub nuts and others for speed in general. The odd dozen bolts to speed things up in one sitting every couple of weeks.

 

I have read a lot about the Mac ones at ~£250. I can't find much on these online. Are they still available?

 

I am looking to spend up to £300 I suppose.

 

I'd usually avoid items like the Clarke ones purely as you usually get what you pay for, but perhaps they are good enough for my occasional use.

 

To be honest, if I went to undo a hub nut and it failed, I'd be pissed off. So something that can handle that occasionally.

[Alan_M 66 1 Cars]

I ended up buying the CIR450 off Anthony. Great tool for rattling off hub-nuts/wheel bolts and anything else that's stubborn.