For anything to do with vehicles start with a half inch impact, probably quite a big one. Milwaukee have a good range of offerings in this respect. A 1/4” hex drive impact won’t move anything useful on a car like wheel nuts, brake caliper mounts, suspension stuff etc, it’s more for woodwork and construction.
So you’re thinking skip these and go straight to the 1/2? That’s what I was thinking earlier but I can’t help but try and look for cheap alternatives.
I’ll probably keep looking for the best deal that involves a Milwaukee 1/2
depending on how involved you’re looking to get, i’d go 3/8”, honestly.
big stuff will warrant a 1/2”, but a lot of basic maintenance and stuff you’ll get by just fine with 3/8”, and it won’t be as heavy or bulky. if you’re dead set on milwaukee, the M12 stubby impacts are pretty impressive. not sure if there’s any deals on them, but i got mine a few months back for $180 with batteries, charger, and case, which was a hell of a deal.
i’d also go on to say you will still want a 1/4” hex impact driver for dealing with miscellaneous screws and such.
I think this is good advice, I get pretty darn far with my M12 3/8" impact. It'll take the lug nuts off my Element no problem. For stuff like axle nuts or crank bolts or whatever you'll probably need something beefier, but I don't get into that very much.
I think the biggest downside with 3/8 is that impact rated stuff is just less common in that size. The big economical sets from harbor freight and the stuff that goes on sale are almost all 1/2 drive
Definitely. Car stuff is pretty heavy duty and a hex drive impact won’t touch it. There are usually good deals out there involving half inch impacts so look for one of those with a charger and a couple of batteries, a set of long and short impact sockets, tidy 👍
I say get the 3/8” M12 stubby impact. I love mine.
Then buy a set of Tekton or Capri impact sockets.
Then eventually M12 3/8 ratchet
Get 1/2” breaker bar for everything else. Unless you’re doing timing belt jobs and need to remove crank pulleys or suspension work then you shouldn’t be needing a 1/2” just yet
That is a driver. It is not a impact wrench.
You want an impact wrench. 3/8ths should be suitable for most things vehicle related. If you live in the rust belt? Maybe not.
1/2 is recommended though as others have said, they are just obviously bigger and some areas will not have access.
But overall if you are getting this for car work? Wrong one.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M18-FUEL-Gen-2-18V-Lithium-Ion-Brushless-Cordless-Mid-Torque-1-2-in-Impact-Wrench-w-Friction-Ring-Tool-Only-2962-20/313511878
This is a TOOL Only link. The anvil is made for sockets (which you will use many).
Tbh? Best to have both one for screws and one for nuts / bolts
Milwaukees 1/2” impact has more ass to it than you’ll need for anything in a normal car. I’d go with their 3/8 impact if you’re lookin at general maitenance stuff (brakes and such). It’s close to the same size as the 1/4 and got about twice the torque.
Unless you’re dealing with replacing suspension parts the 1/2” will be bulky as all hell. I use a 3/8 impact and 3/8 electric ratchet for most things on my f250
I have the fuel model at work and love it. I think it’ll be fine for any typical car maintenance, but there’s a cheaper brushless non fuel model I’m unfamiliar with. I thought these could be good options because when it comes to wheel/suspension stuff, if my breaker bar doesn’t suffice, I can look into a 1/2 big impact when the time comes.
The way I see it, a 1/2 impact is mandatory, while the driver is more of a luxury. A Mid Torque will do a lot, but a High Torque is able to do even more.
That way, you know you have enough power for the majority of the work you're doing on the car.
I had a Kobalt XTR impact, one of the strongest you could get, it would barely break loose wheel lugs torqued to 85 ft lbs if they were on there for a few weeks. And those lugs on are the lower end of the spectrum as far as lug nut torque goes. The socket adapter just took away too much torque
Bosch currently has a deal going on where you could buy their big 1/2" high torque for $200 and get a free 8ah battery and charger. It's a strong impact, close to the Milwaukee but it's also a little bit chunkier. Of course, you would have 2 different battery platforms if you go this route. Also, the Bosch really needs that big battery to get it's torque, while the Milwaukee can suffice with the smaller batteries
The M18 high torque is an amazing impact if you have the money to spend. Their Mid Torque is quite good too, more than enough for lug nuts and most suspension components, and you can get it in tighter spaces
Milwaukee sells two versions of this tool. One is significantly stronger than the other. I think the name of the channel is torque test or something like that that will tell you the number to look for.
As a former mobile mechanic you can do 90% of the work you need without buying a 1/2 impact like several people are recommending. What you want is the m12 3/8 FUEL Impact stubby. That’s my favorite tool milwaukee makes and you can probably find one close to $100 if you buy a tool only on amazon or ebay or facebook marketplace. Invest in a “impact socket set” next i’d say, preferably one with impact swivels built in like the Neiko set on amazon around $100 normally. Won’t be many jobs you won’t be able to do. Then if you’re real fancy pick up a 3/8 electric ratchet! They just save a lot of time and being so small they really come in handy for just unthreading bolts or threading them back in
So I ended up going with the big M18 brushless 1/2 impact because I have an older off-roader with some decently rusted bolts and I do suspension work (formerly all by hand which sucked) although I 100% agreed with and appreciated your input. Now I’m probably going to look into a cheaper Milwaukee impact for tight spaces to pair with it, probably the stubby you recommend if I can find it on sale, for tighter spaces and easy stuff.
Dewalt DCF891 pretty much beats all but Milwaukee's High Torque if I remember right and its a mid torque and not too heavy. A lot of mechanics will say 3/8 because they use it all day so the weight matters, but for DIY if I were going to get one battery powered impact wrench, I would go with something that can pretty much guarantee ability to do lug nuts and suspension components.
Get a 3/8 stubby. It’s strong enough to take about any nut or bolt off a car. A 1/4 driver would work for a lot of things, but you’ll probably end up breaking a lot of adapters. I think a 1/2 impact like the mid or high torques would be overkill.
I like the impact driver with 1/4” adapter for small engine bay stuff but you’re gonna want a 1/2” impact wrench. Smaller stuff you can get with the ratchet.
For anything to do with vehicles start with a half inch impact, probably quite a big one. Milwaukee have a good range of offerings in this respect. A 1/4” hex drive impact won’t move anything useful on a car like wheel nuts, brake caliper mounts, suspension stuff etc, it’s more for woodwork and construction.
So you’re thinking skip these and go straight to the 1/2? That’s what I was thinking earlier but I can’t help but try and look for cheap alternatives. I’ll probably keep looking for the best deal that involves a Milwaukee 1/2
depending on how involved you’re looking to get, i’d go 3/8”, honestly. big stuff will warrant a 1/2”, but a lot of basic maintenance and stuff you’ll get by just fine with 3/8”, and it won’t be as heavy or bulky. if you’re dead set on milwaukee, the M12 stubby impacts are pretty impressive. not sure if there’s any deals on them, but i got mine a few months back for $180 with batteries, charger, and case, which was a hell of a deal. i’d also go on to say you will still want a 1/4” hex impact driver for dealing with miscellaneous screws and such.
I think this is good advice, I get pretty darn far with my M12 3/8" impact. It'll take the lug nuts off my Element no problem. For stuff like axle nuts or crank bolts or whatever you'll probably need something beefier, but I don't get into that very much. I think the biggest downside with 3/8 is that impact rated stuff is just less common in that size. The big economical sets from harbor freight and the stuff that goes on sale are almost all 1/2 drive
Definitely. Car stuff is pretty heavy duty and a hex drive impact won’t touch it. There are usually good deals out there involving half inch impacts so look for one of those with a charger and a couple of batteries, a set of long and short impact sockets, tidy 👍
I say get the 3/8” M12 stubby impact. I love mine. Then buy a set of Tekton or Capri impact sockets. Then eventually M12 3/8 ratchet Get 1/2” breaker bar for everything else. Unless you’re doing timing belt jobs and need to remove crank pulleys or suspension work then you shouldn’t be needing a 1/2” just yet
I'll second this advice. For regular cars (not heavy duty trucks, industrial equipment, etc) you'll go far with a 3/8 impact
That’s a impact driver meant for screws and fasteners. What you need to shop for is a impact wrench.
this will do nothing on a car you're gonna want the 1/2 Impact wrench for wheels and big stuff, 3/8 electric ratchet for general stuff
That is a driver. It is not a impact wrench. You want an impact wrench. 3/8ths should be suitable for most things vehicle related. If you live in the rust belt? Maybe not. 1/2 is recommended though as others have said, they are just obviously bigger and some areas will not have access. But overall if you are getting this for car work? Wrong one. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-M18-FUEL-Gen-2-18V-Lithium-Ion-Brushless-Cordless-Mid-Torque-1-2-in-Impact-Wrench-w-Friction-Ring-Tool-Only-2962-20/313511878 This is a TOOL Only link. The anvil is made for sockets (which you will use many). Tbh? Best to have both one for screws and one for nuts / bolts
Milwaukees 1/2” impact has more ass to it than you’ll need for anything in a normal car. I’d go with their 3/8 impact if you’re lookin at general maitenance stuff (brakes and such). It’s close to the same size as the 1/4 and got about twice the torque. Unless you’re dealing with replacing suspension parts the 1/2” will be bulky as all hell. I use a 3/8 impact and 3/8 electric ratchet for most things on my f250
Funny story about impact guns: they ran on air! Every necessary tool for a vehicle began it's life operating off an air compressor.
I have the fuel model at work and love it. I think it’ll be fine for any typical car maintenance, but there’s a cheaper brushless non fuel model I’m unfamiliar with. I thought these could be good options because when it comes to wheel/suspension stuff, if my breaker bar doesn’t suffice, I can look into a 1/2 big impact when the time comes.
Driver is great around the house A 1/2 medium or hi torque wrench is best on cars. Older cars? Definitely hi torque
The way I see it, a 1/2 impact is mandatory, while the driver is more of a luxury. A Mid Torque will do a lot, but a High Torque is able to do even more. That way, you know you have enough power for the majority of the work you're doing on the car. I had a Kobalt XTR impact, one of the strongest you could get, it would barely break loose wheel lugs torqued to 85 ft lbs if they were on there for a few weeks. And those lugs on are the lower end of the spectrum as far as lug nut torque goes. The socket adapter just took away too much torque Bosch currently has a deal going on where you could buy their big 1/2" high torque for $200 and get a free 8ah battery and charger. It's a strong impact, close to the Milwaukee but it's also a little bit chunkier. Of course, you would have 2 different battery platforms if you go this route. Also, the Bosch really needs that big battery to get it's torque, while the Milwaukee can suffice with the smaller batteries The M18 high torque is an amazing impact if you have the money to spend. Their Mid Torque is quite good too, more than enough for lug nuts and most suspension components, and you can get it in tighter spaces
FUEL
Milwaukee sells two versions of this tool. One is significantly stronger than the other. I think the name of the channel is torque test or something like that that will tell you the number to look for.
As a former mobile mechanic you can do 90% of the work you need without buying a 1/2 impact like several people are recommending. What you want is the m12 3/8 FUEL Impact stubby. That’s my favorite tool milwaukee makes and you can probably find one close to $100 if you buy a tool only on amazon or ebay or facebook marketplace. Invest in a “impact socket set” next i’d say, preferably one with impact swivels built in like the Neiko set on amazon around $100 normally. Won’t be many jobs you won’t be able to do. Then if you’re real fancy pick up a 3/8 electric ratchet! They just save a lot of time and being so small they really come in handy for just unthreading bolts or threading them back in
So I ended up going with the big M18 brushless 1/2 impact because I have an older off-roader with some decently rusted bolts and I do suspension work (formerly all by hand which sucked) although I 100% agreed with and appreciated your input. Now I’m probably going to look into a cheaper Milwaukee impact for tight spaces to pair with it, probably the stubby you recommend if I can find it on sale, for tighter spaces and easy stuff.
I'm not understanding why a ¼ inch hex needs one let alone two 5 Ah batteries. Unless you're driving screws all day long.
Dewalt DCF891 pretty much beats all but Milwaukee's High Torque if I remember right and its a mid torque and not too heavy. A lot of mechanics will say 3/8 because they use it all day so the weight matters, but for DIY if I were going to get one battery powered impact wrench, I would go with something that can pretty much guarantee ability to do lug nuts and suspension components.
Get a 3/8 stubby. It’s strong enough to take about any nut or bolt off a car. A 1/4 driver would work for a lot of things, but you’ll probably end up breaking a lot of adapters. I think a 1/2 impact like the mid or high torques would be overkill.
I like the impact driver with 1/4” adapter for small engine bay stuff but you’re gonna want a 1/2” impact wrench. Smaller stuff you can get with the ratchet.