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I have a DeWalt 20v 1/2" battery powered wrench. Came with a pair of batteries. Main purpose these days is tire changes but the last time I used it for something else was for a squirrel nesting box I fixed to a tree with a long lag bolt.
This wrench would NOT loosen the lug nuts on my travel trailer last weekend when I fitted 5 new tires on wheels (including the spare). Had to crack the nuts with a good ole X-lug wrench and then power them off and then back on with the impact wrench.
Most of my "exotic" power tools are factory reconditioned at much lower than retail but I don't think this is.
I got this one for speeding up tire swaps at events. Three settings, illuminated, and is pretty light weight. The battery holds a charge for a very long time; I haven't charged it in months and the battery is only down one bar (battery has a charge indicator). When my tires were mounted not too long ago, the shop used a pneumatic impact to put the wheels on. Needless to say, the lug nuts were on there tight and this tool popped them off instantly.
I've had the same one for about a year now and am very happy with it. I have other Ryobi tools, so I have multiple batteries and chargers. I really like the lithium batteries. They hold their charge for weeks and charge in 15-20 minutes. Watch for a sale price. I paid about $130 for my kit with the battery and charger.
I had a HF and later a Good Year branded cordless impact in the past. Very slow to charge and the Ni-Cad batteries only lasted a year or two.
I have probably 30' or more of compressor hose so I've never had any reason to buy a cordless impact wrench.
Dave, this "need" arose when I bought a used trailer for my 18 foot boat last week. It was a pretty good deal, but as with all things that spend time in the saltwater, it needed some stuff. Rather than take it down the Cape, I brought it to my house in Canton where I am better equipped to deal with old hardware and repairs. I removed the old broken and worn parts and ordered some new parts for it which I hope to receive this week. In addition to parts replacement, all of the rollers on the trailer will have to be adjusted to fit my boat. In anticipation of this, I loosened up all the roller bolts at home with the air impact gun. For all of the bolts and shackles, I removed the nuts completely and used thread chasers to sharpen up the nuts and bolts to make sure I could remove them easily next month when I go to haul the boat.
While doing this work, it occurred to me that it would be very nice to have a 1/2 inch impact wrench when I actually do the haul out, so that I can adjust the rollers right at the ramp before we haul it to my Cape house. I think it is very likely that the boat will not be sitting securely enough to just drive it home and adjust it later in the driveway. I don't want to buy another compressor and air gun for the Cape, and a compressor wouldn't help me at the ramp anyway.
I concluded it would be nice to have a cordless for the Cape and on the road. I took out my old HF cheapo unit and thought it would be my easy, no cost solution. But I found it to be sorely lacking, perhaps due to inferior construction, perhaps due to battery age. So I decided to look into a new one. I researched the latest and greatest cordless impact guns on line and came away impressed with the performance and battery life. They seem far superior to what they were 14 years ago. But I'm cheap and I hate to buy "the wrong one" so I'm trying to back-up the online reviews with real world experience from folks here who have actually used them over a period of time, and not just for 30 minutes after they opened the box.
10-04-2017, 03:13 AM
