Quote:

I'm thinking about buying a cordless impact gun. I was wondering if anyone on here has one, what brand, good/bad, etc. How much torque do I need? The prices are all over the place, with Sears Craftsman starting around $80 and the Milwaukee's up to over $400.

The tool will be used to assemble my front suspension (for starters). So it will need to be powerful enough and small enough to fit in some tight places (torquing the UCA's comes to mind).

Thank you in advance!





I use one a fair amount. I rarely use it for assembly, although there are times it is handy.

I first had a small Makita to speed up wheel changes at autocross events. That's long ago and outdated. All the lug nuts needed to be broken loose first.

A few years ago I bought a 1/2" Bosch Compact 14.4 volts Ni-Cad.
Pros: It does everything it needs to do, which means lug nuts off without being loosened with a breaker bar. This both the Barracuda and the Jeep (whose lug nuts are at 75 ft-lbs). It also does about 80% of whatever else I want it to do. Sometimes the impact wrench just can't get in there or some rusty bolt is not going to break loose.

Cons: The Ni-cads are not top dog in terms of power to weight.

Pro and Con: To address the battery sitting for weeks at time, I bought a variable speed 3/8 drill and flashlight that use the same battery. They are OK and useful to have around. Good but my cheap Milwalkee 14.4 drill and flashlight were better (except in quality control). Battery life and charge time have all been good.

I use a torque wrench for all critical tightening including wheels. In fact besides running the lug nuts down for a first snug, I rarely use an impact wrench for any assembly. But if you plan on using the impact wrench for torquing stuff, then buy a set of wobble sticks.