Impact Gun Recommendations

Chrome sockets on an impact hurts my soul...

 

I've put those sockets through hell and back and none have shattered. I used the 1" to knock out 3" holes with a draw stud knockout set and broke the draw stud before the socket gave up. If they do ever give up, I'll upgrade.

 

Must not've been Greenlee? What the hell were you trying to knockout on, 1/4" steel?

 

Greenlee, yes, on 16g steel. Blew the bearing apart on the stud.

 

Holy crap. I've never had a Greenlee knockout punch fail. Granted, I've only used min on, like 22-24g steel, but still. I'd expect a good sharp punch of theirs could handle at least 16g, that's like 1/16" steel IIRC?

Maybe it was a newer set and they changed something? My sets are probably ~25yo. I think they're still manufacturing in the USA?

 

I firmly believe that if there was a nut fastened to the ground my Milwaukee 2967-20 could spin the earth. Not the smallest. Not the cheapest. But it will take it off. Whatever "it" is. Granted, for smaller jobs and general all around use it's big. But to take lug nuts off down the road, removing the crank bolt on Honda engines (can be quite difficult), rusty suspension components and the like it's my go to. I already had Milwaukee batteries for my outdoor power equipment. I also have Ridgid tools, the lifetime warranty on tools and batteries is nice. I still get batteries for my combo set bought wayyy back when. And I have Dewalt. All are good.

 

This is a good deal for anyone ok with team Yellow.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-...-FB-6470598375350-6470598380350-6470598388750

 

The 2 batts is what makes that a smoking deal. Damn batteries are worth their weight in gold, apparently.

 

Agreed. Also looking at this deal. This is the Subcompact Rigid that did well in Project Farms test.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-...-FB-6470598375350-6470598380350-6470598388750

 

Nope. That's definitely still the Dewalt.

 

Went ahead and bit the bullet, purchased a Milwaukee…it’s a beast. Changed out tire rod ends, struts, and sway bar link ends over the weekend.

Appreciate everyone’s input.


It’s a beast!!!!

 

We still have Milwaukee packs from 2012 rocking out at work. That is enough reason for me to buy the red tools.

 

This is a really good deal.
.https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-...-4-0-Ah-Battery-and-Charger-R86215K/320283450

 

I bought into Ridgid back in 2008 because I needed a cordless drill and I was at Home Depot. Since then the LIFETIME SERVICE AGREEMENT (only when bought at HD) has convinced me to stick with them. I just swapped out a 2015 dead battery for a free replacement last week.

The high impact spun the crank pulley off my 4.7 w/out thinking twice. No need for the special tool.

Tools used during a recent timing belt replacement on the 4.7 (the torque wrench is missing). The smaller Ridgid impact is a 2015 weakling mostly used to just spin things.

 

It is a good deal but make sure you choose between the "mid-torque" (about 500-600 ft lbs) and the "high-torque" (about 1200-1300 ft lbs). They look very similar but the high impact is slightly bigger and about $150 more.

I chose the "high-torque". It's big, it's heavy but if I'm going to lug it around I figure the extra torque will be appreciated one day.

I hope to pair it with a sub-compact from Ridgid to address most of my needs.

 

I got that one for Christmas and it feels great. Ripped off some lug nuts with it already.

I have Big Donnie for when I need more power.

 

Also this one: https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-...e-Impact-Wrench-AC840060SB1-R86012B/326784054

$30 more to get the mid torque with a 4ah and 6ah high output batteries.

The mid-torque had no issue doing the crank bolt on mine as well. The high-torque is still on my list to get though, gotta have 1 at each level haha.

Very nice, the sub-compact will be my next purchase. Just have to decide between 1/2" or 3/8" drive.

 

You can always adapt down. I ended up going 1/2" with my Bosch solely for that reason. More torque (at least with the Bosch I picked up, and 1/2" was cheaper), and I just adapt down when needed.

Wait - that's for the subcompact. The whole point is it being compact. I'd go 3/8 on it so no adapter is needed, and you're not adding 1" on an adapter.

 

Not sure I follow. What's the advantage to 3/8? I don't own many sockets that size. I don't think there is a difference in size between tools.

 

I find more people tend to have 3/8" drive stuff moreso than 1/2", personally. I've got a good mix of both. I'm finally getting around to sorting thru all my stuff recently and finding just how many dupes I have of everything. On the non-impact socket front, I have good coverage for 1/4", 3/8", 1/2". On the impact side, I've got zero 1/4", and I'm running maybe 60/40 or 75/25 with the larger portion being 3/8" out of those two.

With that particular tool from Ridgid, it's more about picking what you've got more sockets of. Wasn't the case with me and my Bosch.

 

Thinner sockets for anything below 14 mm is one for tighter areas but yes, no reason to own other than saving a few bucks.

 

Well let me say this about that...

I bought my first Ridgid tool with LIFETIME SERVICE in 2002. It was a 3/8" drill with 12V NiCad Batteries. Since then I've bought a dozen or more Ridgid tools (including the 1/2" impact), motivated primarily by the LIFETIME SERVICE. When the NiCad batteries failed after ~ 4 or 5 years I filed a claim, and they sent me two more...for free! 4 or 5 years after that, the same thing, ad infinitum!

So this year (21 years later) the NiCads failed again, but the replacement didn't go as smoothly. I was not able to file the claim easily online, and wound up in the support queue. At first they said I could submit my claim on line, but I couldn't. Then they would send them, but didn't. After several more interactions they finally admited that the NiCads were no longer available. Now I'm on my 3rd or 4th set of free batteries, and the tool is 21 years old, so it owes me nothing. If they had told me that LIFETIME really meant the life of the tool I would have been perfectly happy. But instead they sent me a BRAND NEW 1/2" drill with two 18 volt batteries, which of course I can register for LIFETIME SERVICE.

If you're sitting on the fence about Ridgid, and planning to live another 20 years or so, maybe this will push you in that direction.

Note: The only Ridgid tool that I purchased factory reconditioned (not from Home Depot, and thus not eligible for LIFETIME SERVICE) has failed!

 

Damn. That's a heckuva service plan.

 

That’s amazing and great to see a company stand behind their products

 

I may consider Rigid, I got a few Milwaukee products for automotive reasons.

 

Holy cow, that's good support.

I've been wondering how they'll support my tools when they eventually change battery type (if ever). Home Deport/Ridgid must believe their math that shows the lifetime value of customers like us (who consistently buy Ridgid tools at Home Depot) pays for the costs of the Lifetime Service Agreement.

So far so good.

You probably already know that Milwaukee (best), Ridgid (better) and Ryobi (good) are owned by the same parent company. The video a few pages back shows swapping a Milwaukee part into a Ridgid impact driver so there's some redundancy.

Using this adapter you can use Ridgid batteries on your Milwaukee tools:

$20 Adapter Converter for Ridgid AEG 18V Hyper li-ion to Milwaukee M18 48-11-1860 18V Li-ion Power Tool Battery

https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Conv...6&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY

 

I figured most tool companies are just badged engineered, and you can only go so far in separating yourself from the rest of the pack. I will look for that video, thanks very much for the lead.

 

I posted this in a VW forum to show how tool brands have consolidated and some that are still independent. There's a lot of brand engineering going on here:

Notables:
- Channellock - still family owned in PA...based on my reading of wiki
- Klein Tools - still family owned in IL...based on my reading of wiki
- Starrett Tools - still has a Starrett named person as the person in-charge
- Snap-on is a stand alone, Mac is owned by Stanley Black & Decker
- Makita and Hilti are shown as stand-alone brands in the graphic below:


https://www.protoolreviews.com/power-tool-manufacturers-who-owns-them/

 

There are some other notes to add in there also. Either in a video, or in earlier testimony, TTI lets Milwaukee run independently, mostly free of influence or redundancy with Ryobi and Ridgid, but the same may not be true for Ridgid and Ryobi.

 

I’ve got the whole Ryobi HP line which is their brushless stuff, haven’t had any trouble with any bolt yet and there’s nothing they don’t make lol. Pound for pound Milwaukee is the best, especially the FUEL stuff, it’s just wayyyy too much money for me.