Thoughts about cordless impact wrenches

Originally Posted by ZR1Vette

Just changed out my front shocks...used the Makita for the process and I also have a air based wrench/impact wrench/butterfly wrench etc etc but for certain jobs the cordless impact wrenches are perfect! j

Michael,

Thanks for the input and I think I am convinced so I'll do some shopping around.

[1991ZR1]

This is what I have.


I'm not sure how well the 1/2" drive impact wrench will work on something really tight but it works fast on lug nuts if it has a fresh charge. The Skil 1/4" drive works nice on smaller fasteners. I saw a few different 3/8" drive battery powered ratchets at the SEMA show but haven't seen anyone selling any of them locally.

Something to consider is that batteries do lose power with age. Nicad batteries also lose their charge with time so need to be recharged before use if you need the full power of the tool. Also since batteries lose power with age and will need replacement eventually, you should consider the cost of the batteries. I have 7 different DeWalt tools that share the same batteries so the cost of batteries is lower since I won't have to buy 7 different types of batteries.

Originally Posted by 1991ZR1

This is what I have.


I'm not sure how well the 1/2" drive impact wrench will work on something really tight but it works fast on lug nuts if it has a fresh charge. The Skil 1/4" drive works nice on smaller fasteners. I saw a few different 3/8" drive battery powered ratchets at the SEMA show but haven't seen anyone selling any of them locally.

Something to consider is that batteries do lose power with age. Nicad batteries also lose their charge with time so need to be recharged before use if you need the full power of the tool. Also since batteries lose power with age and will need replacement eventually, you should consider the cost of the batteries. I have 7 different DeWalt tools that share the same batteries so the cost of batteries is lower since I won't have to buy 7 different types of batteries.

That's awesome and a nice set up. Thanks for the tips and considerations and great idea about tools sharing the same batteries. That is the one thing I was thinking about is having to keep them charged as I sometime run into issues with my other cordless items that I decide to use and have to wait to charge them first; I heard that is not good for the batteries too.

Thanks for sharing!!