Cordless Power Tools: Rattle Gun/Impact Wrench

OK, I'm getting lazy now working on the 4Runner, and in the longer term I'd like a cordless rattle gun... I used a mate's DeWalt that he got about 5 years ago and it was great, but the tech has moved on a bit since then.

I'm looking at about $400 (16 hours work as a translation for £) or so all up, that's a battery, skin and charger from one of these 3:

AEG 18V Impact Wrench
Ryobi One+
Makita 18V


Any one any feedback? Or any other suggestions...

Ta!

What ever you buy, make sure you see one in the flesh and look to see where its made.
I was in a big trade retailer with lots of good prices on Bosch pro kit, of the 4 I picked up 2 were made in Russia, one in Malaysia and the other some where other than Germany. I am reluctant to buy kit from German manufacturers that was not made in Germany.

If you can get them try Milwaukee, they seem to have a very good reputation. They are made in Germany for the European market. Shame Hilti don't do one as that would be built to withstand a lot of abuse.

Cheers

I just bought the Milwaukee 12V Fuel impact driver,drill and screwdriver.


Very nice kit. Feels a lot more solid than my 10 year old Dewalt 18V kit and a hell of a lot lighter and compact.


Rattle gun not the most powerful on the market but nice and compact. Wasn't planning on using it to remove wheel nuts or crank bolts but just to speed up general spannering....cos I'm getting lazy.

Didn't need the screwdriver but was only £100 and included the two smaller batteries that I was going to order at a cost of £70 separately.

Looks good, do the compact 12v batteries interchange with the 4ah ones on the 12v tools?

Yes.
4ah


2ah

I have a Makita 18V LXT drill and 18v LXT impact wrench. They are spot on quality and more than up to any jobs I throw at them. The batteries have a good amount of power and don't go flat too quick. Although they are not cheap to buy they are well worth the money.

I looked at the Makita ones but fancied the smaller size of the Milwaukee 12v kit although the cost is similar. Thought that I might use them more on the truck as I find the Dewalt ones too bulky and heavy most of the time....though I might just be getting old

My understanding is that an Impact Driver and an Impact Wrench are 2 different tools; I'm after a wrench with 1/2" drive at the moment as I need to undo the crank bolt on my 4Runner, and the cams...

Interesting that European Market Milwaukee is made in Europe; the Aus market stuff is Far East/SE Asia...

Richard:
Thanks for clearing that up, it will be my next tool purchase!

Paddler:
In the UK there is an 18v 1/2 impact tool made by Milwaukee. If they are not made in Europe or USA I would be weary of spending top money on them.
I speak from personal experience. Had the 14.4v dewalt xr drill/driver and impact screw driver. Used them for about 2 weeks (light use, charge the batteries once every 3 or so days!) and the impact driver is not spinning concentrically, long screws are an issue! The hammer action is not working on the hammer drill. These were made in the Czech Republic. Newer Dewalts are made in China.

Have gone back to my old nicad set , Made in Germany more than 10 years ago, till I get around to replacing the Dewalt stuff.

I always used to have De-walt, but for the last 5-6 years I've been using Makita.

At work I use Milwaukee and I've not been impressed with the batteries!

They just die without warning, sometimes after very little use.

I've found they do this even with the brand new batteries I recently got given.

Does it have to be cordless Ed?

Its the batteries that let a lot of cheaper cordless rattle guns down. Weve got a few at work and the batteries are crap! The only one I've seen and used thats any good is the SnapOn one but there very expensive!

At home I run a 110v Hilti one and its great!

BTW you can undo crank nuts without an impact wrench. Make sure the engine is going to turn over in the right direction with a socket and ratchet on the crank with the ratchet wedged against the chassis. Then just turn the ignition key for a second.

I've undone quite a few now using this method.

Ben said:

At work I use Milwaukee and I've not been impressed with the batteries!

They just die without warning, sometimes after very little use.

I've found they do this even with the brand new batteries I recently got given.

Click to expand...

I think that the batteries dying suddenly is more a feature of the lithium type of battery than the tool. They are designs to deliver max power over the complete discharge cycle then die rather than running down.

Don't know about battery life yet but gotta be better than the 5 mins I get with the old Dewalt ones

If they are rubbish you get a two year warranty on them.

Ben said:

BTW you can undo crank nuts without and impact wrench. Make sure the engine is going to turn over in the right direction with a socket and ratchet on the crank with the ratchet wedged against the chassis. Then just turn the ignition key for a second.

I've undone quite a few now using this method.

Click to expand...

Was just about to suggest that, works great and not as dramatic as you would think...

I've tried that technique in the past and it's not worked... I really do need to do the cam belt as it's been buggered about a bit (This is the 3rd time it's been off the cams after I fitted it wrongly the first time...)

Just a bit of an update on the Milwaukee impact gun.

Been using it a lot over the past month and it's great for getting rusted bolts out. It even managed to get the notoriously difficult top rear shock mounting plate off from my 80. A little bit of heat some penetrating oil and it wound the bolts out in a couple of minutes. All four in less the quarter of an hour and only used up 1/4 of the charge in a 4ah battery. Very impressive.

I have had issues with Makita quality, my 18v cordless drill had a bent/crooked shaft from new!

i then bought an expensive drill & impact driver set and the impact driver was rubbish!
Ended up getting a refund and buying an Hitachi set, which has been superb and has 3x 5a/h betteries,