Decent Cordless Impact Guns

[GLPoomobile 958]

I've had a bit of an epiphany. I've realised that whilst I very rarely do any spannering these days, investing in a "capable" cordless impact gun to rattle off difficult nuts and bolts would probably be one of the wisest investments I will ever make, and might actually encourage me back to getting my hands dirty once more.

 

I've had a look through the "Favourite Tools" thread and seen that the Snap-on guns are very highly recommended - my budget does't stretch that far though - and also the Milwaukee Fuel M18. Also one of the DeWalt ones. Spent some time on eBay last night and most for sale seem to be body only, and very little in the way of 2nd hand/recon units.

 

Can anyone suggest a good option that could meet this criteria?

- Use - My main criteria is it has to be good at removing tough stuff. Needs to be proven capable of removing something like a crank pulley bolt. Whilst I won't be doing that very often, my rationale is anything else will be a walk in the park. I want the assurance that if I'm spending this kind of money that it will crack off anything I need it to.

- Budget - Ideally close to the £200 end of the scale but could possibly stretch to £300

- Life span/Durability - not such a consideration as it will be very occasional home use

 

So in addition to recommended models that should fit the bill, I'm after any suggestions of canny ways to get something that will fit my budget. Any good suppliers, any discount codes floating about, more flexible options like buying the body from one place and a battery and charger somewhere else etc.

 

[j_turnell 137 3 Cars]

You could probably get a good 2nd hand Snap on 18v gun for 2-300.

[GLPoomobile 958]

I know I could, it's just a case of finding one. A lot of people are reluctant to post heavy items these days.

 

I'm getting a bit carried away reading torque specs now! Look at this bad boy - Dewalt DCF899P2 - £360 though.

https://www.sitebox.ltd.uk/dewalt-dcf899p2-high-torque-impact-wrench-18v-cordless-brushless-2-x-5ah-batteries-odwlt_dcf899p2

[j_turnell 137 3 Cars]

I've never been that impressed by the quality of Dewalt tools. I use Bosch for most things, grinders drills etc. There are plenty of Snap on guns on ebay at the moment, most offer postage.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=snap+on+18v+impact+gun&_sacat=0

[welshpug 1,657]

I'd second James's suggestion, I picked my snapon up for £250 posted.

 

 

one thing to bear in mind though, do you have or are you planning to buy any other cordless tools? I have a collection of Makita tools, drill, small impact driver, grinder etc, so if I ever buy a larger impact gun again it'll most likely be a Makita.

 

it outguns the Snapon by a fair bit though I do have an old model, on paper its comparable to the Milwaukee one, for myself I already have batteries and charger so only need to buy the body at £250.

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Dewalt DW059. Buy a bare tool (gun only nothing else) then buy batteries and charger separately, usually works out cheaper if you do it this way. Non genuine batteries will be fine for your usage.

I have this gun, over 5 years now, I would not be without it. It should be in your price range whereas Snap on and Milwaukee probably not.

In addition any good power tool dealer can order you any spare parts required, unlike Snap on which will need to go back to a Snap on dealer, who often don't really want to deal with a private non trade customer.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Tom, good to see you suggest that as I was just looking at the Dewalt stuff and found I could get the one I posted above as body only for about £150, a charger for £25, a 4.0AH battery for £55 or a 5.0AH battery for £75. So I could do that within budget. I'm off to check out the one you suggested next.....

 

Mei - I've no immediate plans to buy more tools.

 

James - I think when I searched eBay last night it was for a specific model and not much came up. I'll broaden the search. However, the illogical part of me struggles with the thought of paying several hundred for a used item. I know in theory it would be fine for light use, and they are reputable, but there's that niggle in my mind that I'd buy a lemon that will break soon after and I've got no gaurantee to fall back on.

[j_turnell 137 3 Cars]

I can see your point It is a big out lay for a 2nd hand product, the body should be covered by warranty but the batteries won't be. You may get lucky with an 'As new' item off ebay otherwise I guess it's going through reviews online on what's best within your budget.

[Simes 248 2 Cars]

Could I suggest a corded one?

Seeing as you don't use it that much you can pick up a Clark one from MM for cheap.

Mine does up to 450nm which is reasonable!

 

 

https://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-345923/clarke-cew1000.html?gclid=CLnFw-rq7csCFRDhGwodcNMNlA

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Snap on is not what it used to be. Very little made in the US these days.

 

Dewalt are bloody fantastic tools if you don't want to spend big money, I use the 3/8 impact cordless and it's a beast!

[aldworth33 45 1 Cars]

Agree the dewalt feels the better gun from my experience but I have 4-5 mates and ex colleges who used and still use snap on ones daily and love them. Speak to your local snap on dealer and let him know your looking for one, I got offered a couple of second hand ones when I was working but couldn't justify it. Also they can give you finance but obviously that's not for everyone and again it's a shed load of money if it's only used as a hobby tool not daily

[GLPoomobile 958]

Could I suggest a corded one?

Seeing as you don't use it that much you can pick up a Clark one from MM for cheap.

Mine does up to 450nm which is reasonable!

 

 

https://www.tool-net.co.uk/p-345923/clarke-cew1000.html?gclid=CLnFw-rq7csCFRDhGwodcNMNlA

 

You can indeed!

 

I did actually have a quick search for corded ones last night but couldn't find much that I fancied. I'm slightly wary of stuff like this (Clarke quality can be a bit....meh), but if you are happy with yours then I'd rather trust your opinion than making a judgement on some marketing spiel.

 

Main reason I'm wary is that I got my fingers burned a couple of years ago with a cheap (quality, not price) corded one that was just absolute s*it. I would have described it as a "chinese knock off" but the irony being it wouldn't knock anything off. OK, so it could just about cope with wheel bolts, but that's not saying much cos I don't do my wheel bolts up mega tight anyway. And it was soooo slooooow. Squeeze the trigger, wait for the motor to spin up and then thump, wait, spin, thump, wait, spin thump. And the stupid piece of crap died within a year having been hardly used.

 

What's the beefiest challenge yours has taken down so far Simes?

[GLPoomobile 958]

Hmmmm. The Clarke corded one has very variable reviews on Amazon. Some saying it's a beast, others saying it can't shift toffee. Clarke quality control at play here?

 

Funnily enough, one of the first bad reviews in the list is someone who failed to remove a 205 GTI crank bolt with it, so of course I totally trust their opinion

[Simes 248 2 Cars]

I've only used it to undo / do up my Hondas rear wheel and hub assembly. It's a two man job without. 250nm.

I would have gone for a cordless but couldn't justify the price for such little use.

It's basic no frills compared to the other makita stuff I own.

Iirc it has no variable speed control.

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

Just for a laugh I've bought a £30 corded impact gun from lidl see how long it lasts

 

Edited April 2, 2016 by Paul_13

[omega 82]

I have the Clarke corded and it is a beast!! downside is that its big and heavey, I thought it was so good I bought the cordless one BIG MISTAKE .what a pile of junk makes a noise but not much else.

[Bobbafett 49 2 Cars]

Just to chime in I use all Dewalt cordless gear as a heating engineer and on the whole it's fantastic quality. The only issues I have encountered is that i've now burned out 2 of the new brushless drills (the top end DCD995) where as my old brushed one (DCD985) is still going strong apart from it cuts out randomly. They do get pushed pretty hard but it's left me a bit sceptical about the endurance of the brushless gear.

[Mac Crash 78 1 Cars]

I'm presuming air is still the best though?

[welshpug 1,657]

if you have a capable compressor to back it up, definitely, my £200 snapon bluepoint 1/2" will undo truck wheelnuts all day.

 

most of the snapon stuff is made by ingersol rand.

Edited April 2, 2016 by welshpug

[GLPoomobile 958]

Well, the Clarke one is tempting as it's a good saving, and money I could put towards other things. And it may well be "all I need". But the few negative reviews put me off, as there is obviously something wrong with their quality control if some people think they are fantastic and others are having trouble just getting wheel bolts off. So I'm loathe to take a gamble. Whatever I buy I need it to be dependable, so I'm going to go overkill so that I know it will have an easy life in my use and if I do come up against that bastard of a job on the odd occasion, it's not going to wave a white flag.

 

so I think I'm going to go for the Dewalt DCF899 I mentioned above. If I buy the bdy, charger and a single 5.0AH battery separately I can get the lot for £250. Expensive, but if it saves me half the grief I've had in recent years for the coming years then it's money well spent.

 

Check these videos out of the Dewalt doing it's thang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsGXOwui64c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmFiFgAtUpM

[johniban 59 1 Cars]

Snap on is not what it used to be. Very little made in the US these days.

 

 

 

Funny you should say that as alot of people i know have sent back their snap on impact guns (£800 worth!) for failing to be able to loosen a wheel nut after a few months use!!

I don't buy anything from Snap on these days, their after sales is a joke! their tools are rediculously expensive and the fella in the van never turns up to replace broken stuff.

 

Id highly recommend Milwaukee if you cant budget one, if not then a second hand one, they are very powerful! i have the 3/8 impact gun use it every day all day, was a bargain and works faultlessly, everyone in our place is changing over to them, and the after sales is superb! batteries are not a bad price, you can buy other tools without batteries cheaper and use the batteries you have already ect.

Edited April 2, 2016 by johniban

[allye 530 3 Cars]

Our local snap on man went out of business/stopped for what ever reason. He's got half a dosen sockets/torx bits to replace which he never turned up with, crap!

 

If you're in the market for big boy guns,

 

http://www.cp.com/en/

 

And if you're in the market for top draw expensive tools,

 

http://www.sykes-pickavant.com/

[aldworth33 45 1 Cars]

I've got a 1/2 Ingersoll rand gun and I've had it since I was an apprentice and it's never let me down, everywhere I've worked its always been the best 1/2 gun in the workshop, I have used a lot of CP stuff in 3/4 and 1" too and they are quality air tools. I have a Wolf 90l compressor in my garage at home and it does the job well I've undone crank and hub bolts no problem.

[allye 530 3 Cars]

That's good going for a 90L, what PSI?

[dynacord 6 1 Cars]

Ingersoll rand W360 is a very good gun. Second hand batteries won't last much, though.

You could search the US ebay for a Milwaukee gun for a decent price.