Cordless Impact Wrench - Recommendations

[Daxed 7]

Have been reading through the various 'What's your fav tool' & 'What do you want for Xmas' type threads looking for some advice on a wrench. Info was going back a few years and some dead links etc so am asking as the market must have moved on and perhaps there is a good deal available somewhere at the mo.

 

I need the portability of cordless, the use will be light and infrequent and it won't have to cope with anything not found on a 205 or MR2.

 

I fully understand that the words quality and cheap rarely sit well with each other, would a budget of £150 - £200 open up the market enough for some decent options?

 

With the stated use, is 3/8" an option or for auto use is 1/2" considered wise?

 

Any assistance/advice gratefully received.

[Goliath 94]

I'm very happy with my Makita DTW1002z, It's a half inch drive, copes with anything. I've also got a smaller one for screws etc (and an adapter for sockets) which uses the same batteries.

 

It's a bit over budget with a battery as well but well worth it. I got mine for about £190 so do shop around.

[dcc 855]

Makita DTW285z is a good mid ground, but batteries and charger will push it WAY over £150

[309SRiguy 15]

Rockwell impact wrench   http://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/Product/Rockwell-ShopSeries-Cordless-Impact-Wrench-1-2-18-Volt-Li-Ion/342595

 

$NZ172 or about 90 pounds.  Is it worth freight cost to UK? Or searching for a northern hemisphere supplier?

 

Super Cheap are an Australian company that also have outlets in NZ. It might be cheaper from Australia.

 

One has given me good service for the past few years. Great for wheels bolts and suspension parts. Good for loosening old XU crankshaft pulley bolts.   

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Look second hand.

Dewalt DW059 are out there at sensible money as bare tools, the batteries are readily available but the chargers are more expensive as they are in demand!

[welshpug 1,657]

I would third the Makita reccomendations, the smaller 1/2" is what the Citroën WRC crews carry in the car for in stage wheel changes.

 

The 1002z is a bit of a beast tbf, well on a par with the milwaukee and old snapon but much less money.

 

If you haven't any other tools like drill or mini impact driver, torches etc you can buy a kit with batteries charger and tool, and add bodies to the collection at a later date, the angle grinder is good fun for scrapyards

[Daxed 7]

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. Will have a Google later and let you know what I treated myself to.

[wicked 103 3 Cars]

I have this one; 

 

Worx WX279.9

 

I think it's value for the money; not comparable with the top brands, but it feels solid and I like the small form factor. 

[Jer309GTi 3]

I've got the Makita DTW285z as well, great bit of kit. Already had batteries and charger as in building trade so wasn't too much of an expense. Was tempted by the DTW1002z but wanted something a bit more compact!

[Daxed 7]

Makita DTW285Z owners, does it handle wheel bolts/nuts ok? It's going to be the most frequent use of whatever I get and along with a 4Ah battery and charger isn't to much over my intended budget. The compactness is an appeal also.

 

Any specialist locations for second hand sources, or is it Ebay?

[petert 586]

I've got a Makita DTW251 which definitely CAN'T crack 80Nm of wheel nut. Great for everything else however.

[welshpug 1,657]

I think the 251 is an older tool, the 285 has a 400Nm nut busting torque and 280nm tightening, 251 was 230nm and no nut busting figure listed.

Edited June 26, 2018 by welshpug

[Daxed 7]

That's a shame, same torque spec as the DTW285, so that's out.

All the real beefy kit is out of what I'm prepared to spend for how little use it will get.

Will have a more serious look at picking something up second hand.

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

I’ve got one of these

https://www.kielder.co/products/18v-cordless-impact-wrench-kwt-002-01

now it’s bedded in I’m really happy with it. I wouldn’t say it has the claimed 430nm but it Will happily undone wheel nuts/bolts (unless you’ve been to quik fit). 

What I really like about it is how light and small it is compared to others I’ve used, really handy for getting in tight spots and doesn’t make my pencil arms tired when I’m working on my back under a car. 

Also handy to throw in my rally car for events, with it being light it won’t hurt as much as toms big dewalt when it inevitably smacks you in the head during a crash

 

Notice they do a 700nm version now too

https://www.kielder.co/products/18v-li-ion-1-2-700nm-impact-wrench

 

 

[Daxed 7]

Now that's certainly more budget friendly

[dcc 855]

1 hour ago, petert said:

I've got a Makita DTW251 which definitely CAN'T crack 80Nm of wheel nut. Great for everything else however.

hmm yours must be tired, mine does wheel nuts fine (circa 80ftlb /110Nms). It wouldn't do my landrover wheel nuts though, which is where the dtw1002 comes in

 

I'll be going for the dtw285 soon

[Alan_M 66 1 Cars]

I've got both the Dewalt DCF899 Impact gun (950nM of torque - not much stops it) and the DCF887 Impact Driver (205nM). The latter 'should' get wheel bolts off and can be had cheaper if you buy it all seperately. £100 on Amazon now, £50 for a battery and another £40 for the charger. Another £150 will get you the DCF899 on top.

[GLPoomobile 958]

I'm happy with my Dewalt DCF899 too. Prob still over budget for you but I shopped around for the best deals getting the body, battery and charger seperately. Like you I only need occassional light use but it's most certainly paid for itself on a few occassions where I would have been swearing for hours at stubborn fasteners!

 

I considered cheaper options and in the end I'm glad I pushed my budget. Appreciate there are cheaper options that would be fit for purpose but I have no regrets. Keep meaning to buy the smaller impact wrench too as it would be so handy!

[petert 586]

Given my 251 is marginal and DCC suggests his is good, and the 285 has another "50Nm", I'd suggest a DTW285 will be perfectly fine on wheel nuts.

[Daxed 7]

Once again, thanks for the new input and continued help.

Ordered a Makita DTW285Z, BL1840 4Ah battery & DC18RC charger. £221, delivered tomorrow.

 

[barneys66 122 1 Cars]

Bumping this back up as my 10 year old 24v Ni-Mh battery now drops its charge in less than a day, and replacements are £100.

 

It might still be worth replacing the battery, but are all of the 1/2" recommendations above still valid, or have they been overtaken by anything new on the market?

 

I have air in the workshop so looking for something powerful but reasonably small/light for general lugging around.

Edited December 20, 2021 by barneys66

[welshpug 1,657]

I recently bought the DTW285's replacement, DTW300,   very similar, but a bit more oomff and a few more features,  it will do Landrover wheel nuts as long as they were not last done by the tyre monkeys with the 3/4 gun on 11.

[DamirGTI 342]

How about corded variants ?

 

Anyone tried corded impacts ?

 

Seems to be a lot of them corded .. all look kinda same shape , from what i can see there's mainly 2 body types around (smaller and bigger) and various different colors and s**** loads of different brand names ! ("China special") 

Also power rating seems to be pretty "optimistic" on some , smaller usually 400W and 350Nm , but there's also bigger ones "claimed" 2200W and 800Nm ?!? .. id say they're all about 350-450Nm maxi and the rest is just "labeled as" usual marketing crap .

 

D

 

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

I’ve a Dewalt DC899 now. More than happy with it, so far it’s laughed at anything I’ve tried to undo. Highly recommended and not all that expensive either.

[barneys66 122 1 Cars]

Thanks guys - went with @Tom Fenton recommendation of the Dewalt DCF899

 

Might be a bit bulkier than I'd like, but no more than my outgoing one, and didn't want to under-power as nothing more frustrating than having to resort to the breaker bar..

 

£262.80 delivered from Cromwell, including two batteries, charger and case https://www.cromwell.co.uk/shop/power-tools/impact-wrenches/dcf899hp2-18v-1-2inch-drive-impact-wrench-2x5-0ah-batteries/p/DEW2723899H

 

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