Will an electric impact wrench give satisfactory results vs air wrench?

MoPar~Man

MoPar~Man

Well-Known Member
FCBO Gold Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2022
Messages
886
Reaction score
482
Location
Ontario, Canada
I don't own an air compressor (I know I should). Every once in a while I've seen electric (corded) impact wrenches come on sale (Princess Auto - the Canadian version of Harbor Fright). This week their 2 wrenches are on sale - one has a torque rating 260 ft lbs ($75) the other is 440 ft.lbs ($160). I would tend towards the $75 model because of my anticipated very infrequent use. I wouldn't buy it for lug nuts, I use a cross wrench for that. I use elbow grease, 3/4 inch sockets and drives and extension pipes when I need to, and I generally get the job done.

My interest in getting an impact wrench is for the various suspension nuts/bolts that, and this is where I'm looking for confirmation, that frozen / rusted bolts and nuts respond better to powered impact wrenching vs manual tools. Not necessarily for C-body work, the other car(s) I'd be working on are my 300m's. Assuming there's room to fit the tool onto the part - I think electric wrenches have a disadvantage compared to air powered in terms of their size so that's another possible downer here.

So what say you? Will I get satisfaction from a 260 ft lb $75 impact wrench, or should I pass on this idea?
 
Cordless is very powerful nowdays. You should be fine with a wrench. Most 3/8 are powerful enough for most car lug nuts. Don't get a driver they work great for light stuff. I sold Dewalt 1/2" that was capable of removing drive wheel nuts off a combine. Who needs a air or corded impact for car repairs.
 
Last edited:
I've had my Milwaukee M18 Fuel 1/2" since 2017. If it won't bust it loose you need heat. If that doesn't help you need a torch.

I'll never use an air impact again.
 
I've been very unimpressed with corded impact wrenches.
My cordless harbor freight "hercules" 1/2 impact amazed the crap out of me. Now that I have it, I rarely use my air impact anymore.
I was going to buy a Milwaukee or Dewalt, but after reading a lot of reviews I tried the Hercules. I am very happy with it.
Just my 2cents worth.
 
I'm getting a 3/4" Milwaukee. Mainly because my son has a bunch of it and the packs run across the different tools. I need a 3/4" for the lug nuts on the truck. I have a 1" extended anvil impact for truck wheels but dragging those hoses out and then anything below 45° it seems to freeze the gun up, and all I wanted to do was loosen 10-20 lug nuts and change a couple tires/wheels.
 
The cordless technology is pretty good today. I still use my air impact at home but we use a DeWalt 20 volt half inch drive at work and it does great. Use caution on really rusted nuts and bolts, you don’t want to round them off. Sometimes a little heat goes a long way.
 
my milwaukee m18 1/2 will bust off wheel studs if i need to

1,400ft-lbs Nut Busting Torque, 1,000 ft-lbs working torque
 
Not impressed with 1/2 cord impacts. Barely changes average lug nuts.
Thrilled with my 3/8 and 1/2 battery Kobalt 18 volt stuff.
Best bang for the buck are 3/4- and 1-inch air with any 150-psi compressor. A few good hits, let the tank recover and hit it again. Wash, rinse, repeat as needed.

Yep, for the average car fix, the battery stuff works like new money.

I use the 1/2 air most often, less wear and tear on the battery stuff.
 
I got a corded one from Sears maybe 17-18 years ago that I used at the track with a generator.
Now I carry it in my Motor Home (3500 series) and it has saved the day when I had a belt break on a outing.
I also use the Motor Home generator. Good tool.
 
I got a 1/2” corded from HF and it will take off pinion nuts. Great as that’s what I want it for. It a quality tool. The downside it is big and heavy, but it has lots of power.

yes check out the modern cordless units for general use. I have a Milwaukee 12 volt that is small and it’s very versatile and light weight. Great for engine accessories like water pumps, oil pans, valve covers. It won’t take off a lug nut but if you know that before you buy it that’s fine.
 
I have a 3/8 and the mid range 1/2” 14v cordless from Rigid as I already have a lot of battery packs. I actually use the 3/8 more than the 1/2. But the feature I like on both is once the nut is broken loose it slows down a little so the nut doesn’t come flying off. You can also adjust the torque range to still leave a little rotation for the torque wrench. Disclaimer the auto feature works better on right hand threads than left hand threads. But still works great. My air impact stays in the cabinet. The cordless has more power.
 
Back when the stimulus checks were around, I watched the sales at Northern Tool and got a 3/8" impact Milwaukee Fuel impact and a 90-degree angle ratchet. In the sales, the tools came with a "free battery" each. The Fuel batteries are way expensive compared to other brands, but they are supposed to last all day in the construction trades, fwiw. Finding 3/8" impact sockets can be a trick, so went to HF for that when they were on sale.

A LOT of dealership techs and others use battery-powered wrenches these days. Just got to have an extra battery or two and a charger.

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
So what's the deal? A DC motor with a strong battery behind it can hammer a large rusted body or suspension nut that last saw the light of day 20+ years ago better than a wall-powered AC motor with 1000+ watts running through the wall cord?

I'm not looking for convenience in this particular power tool. I'm looking for an impact tool that will take a the odd nut off without snapping a bolt if I'm changing out a strut or a subframe bushing or pitman arm, and not something with a toy 3/8 drive either. I've broken a few 3/4 to 1/2 socket adapters. And not looking for something to change tires with, I can do that all day with my tire cross. It's interesting to hear that a battery-powered impact wrench can compete with a line-powered wrench in that regard, I would have thought that an air tool with 1000 (or 2 or 3 thousand) ft lbs of breaking force was the only tool that could compete with a corded wrench.

But at the end of the day I don't want to spend $400 for a battery powered impact wrench - that's half the price of an air compressor. $75 for a corded wrench? Yes, if it can do the job.
 
The reason I went with the smaller drive size was that I did not want massive torque to remove a tire lug nut, with the 90-degree drive unit for intake manifolds and such. For me, convenience matters, which means "No Cord" to drag around or worry about having a long enough extension cord to use the tool with. If you notice, workers which use the battery ratchets are about "productivity", for which not having to worry about a cord is part of that mix. What about on a jobsite where the closest plug-in is "somewhere they are not"?

When I got the chance (again, watching the sales), I converted to a 18V shrub trimmer. Reason? I got tired of getting the extension cord caught in the reciprocating blades! Even when I made efforts to not do that, it eventually happened. After the 3rd extension cord, I said "Enough!"

To me, having a powerful, battery-powered tool is similar to comparing a cell phone to a corded land-line phone. The KEY is finding a brand where the battery fits different tools in the same brand! Seems that each brand has their own unique battery terminals and charger, from what I noticed.

Like I mentioned, I watched the sales for the best deals (which included the battery) before I bought anything. I spent that stimulus money well, in advance of retirement.

FWIW, I can usually find more reasons to delay doing something, as in not having a long enough extension cord, or any extension cord, to not do something. Decreasing those little things removes those "reasons not to do something" from my "reasons list".

Happy New Year!
CBODY67
 
MoPar~Man said:
So what's the deal? A DC motor with a strong battery behind it can hammer a large rusted body or suspension nut that last saw the light of day 20+ years ago better than a wall-powered AC motor with 1000+ watts running through the wall cord?

I'm not looking for convenience in this particular power tool. I'm looking for an impact tool that will take a the odd nut off without snapping a bolt if I'm changing out a strut or a subframe bushing or pitman arm, and not something with a toy 3/8 drive either. I've broken a few 3/4 to 1/2 socket adapters. And not looking for something to change tires with, I can do that all day with my tire cross. It's interesting to hear that a battery-powered impact wrench can compete with a line-powered wrench in that regard, I would have thought that an air tool with 1000 (or 2 or 3 thousand) ft lbs of breaking force was the only tool that could compete with a corded wrench.

But at the end of the day I don't want to spend $400 for a battery powered impact wrench - that's half the price of an air compressor. $75 for a corded wrench? Yes, if it can do the job.
Click to expand...

Yes, the battery 1/2 generally has more power than the cord 1/2. And it's going to take a lot of research to find the corded 110-volt 1/2 that will hang with a good 1/2-inch air or battery impact gun.
I think you would do well to consider a modest new or used 7 to 20-gallon 2 to 4 hp air compressor that puts out 125 plus psi and use preowned 1/2 and 3/4 air wrenches.
Mine cost $75 for a 3/4-inch Sanborn and $125 for a 1-inch Harbor Freight. Both new air. My 1/2 inch is a preowned Snap-on. Maybe that 1 inch HF puts out half the power that a name brand 1 inch tool does, I don't know. But it does deliver a lot more power than any 1/2 anything I've ever seen. Same for the 3/4 Sanborn.
When the 8-foot cheater pipe broke the 1-inch breaker bar trying to remove my motor home lug nuts, the 1-inch air impact took them off with a little 1.5 hp oilless compressor.
 
The advertised max torque is probably what it will do on its best day . 250 ft lbs is not a lot when it comes to impacts .
I would look for one with 400+ ft-lbs
 
tbm3fan said:
I bought this three weeks ago after trying to remove the flywheel off the back of my 410 with a corded impact. Maybe around 125 lbs. at most and it took awhile to start moving those nuts.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT/500...bAeDu80aasB_dJBe5qwaAuSvEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Click to expand...
I bought that one as a bare tool, I already have spare batteries and other tools. It works well for working on the old cars. I would have bought a Milwaukee M18, but it was at least triple the price to get it and a battery with a charger. So I bought another DeWalt tool instead!
 
I've just found this:



I'll have to watch it a few times to understand just what exactly it's telling me about corded vs cordless.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Gerald Morris
A Poor Man's Master Cylinder Upgrade
2 3
Replies
55
Views
15K
Mr onetwo
Mr onetwo
Gerald Morris
Spring Seasonal Cooling System Notes; Maintenance and Upgrades
Replies
2
Views
2K
Gerald Morris
Gerald Morris
70Tom
power tools recommendation
2
Replies
22
Views
1K
cantflip
cantflip
live4theking
Converting from RV-2 to Sanden
3 4 5
Replies
93
Views
26K
Ross Wooldridge
Ross Wooldridge
Dga26
  • Locked
For Sale 1970 fury vert tx9 white top buckets console
6 7 8
Replies
151
Views
36K
68Furymb
68Furymb
Back
Top