Impact driver recommendations

[Rich B]

Morning all, I've it a mate with a Landy whos after an impact driver - anyone got any recommendations for a reasonably priced one?

[Foz]

Dewalt, Milwaukee...

1/2” or 1/4”?

[Rich B]

Dewalt, Milwaukee...

1/2” or 1/4”?

i'd imagine 1/2" for the majority of car stuff non?

[Foz]

Big fuck off bolts and wheel nuts yes..

[integrale_evo]

I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a 1/4in impact driver tbh

I’m presuming being a landy most stuff is a bit more beefy than on the average car so he’s probably better off going for the more premium stuff.

Does he have any existing power tools? Most cost effective way in is to get whatever fits his existing kit.

[Sundayjumper]

I’ve a Dewalt one that’s been pretty good, although the battery needs to be *fully* charged to get maximum torque. Fine most of the time but noticeable when you get something tricky and then with a fresh battery it suddenly goes.

[simon_g]

My Makita impact (for screws) works surprisingly well with a set of these: https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-driv ... pack/6297D

They do a 1/2" drive one too. As others say, if he has any existing cordless power tools then most systems have a 1/2" drive impact that will use batteries/charger you already have.

[mik]

I’ve seen several of these that are 3/4” drive as opposed to 1/2”.

[dan]

Ryobi half inch impact gun is very good for the money, i've got a couple of them and they take a lot of abuse.

Milwauke 3/8 gun perfect for most stuff, the half inch Ryobi gun will get most of the big stuff undone, the only thing mines failed on is crank bolts. It rips hub nuts off no probs.

[Rich B]

I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a 1/4in impact driver tbh

I’m presuming being a landy most stuff is a bit more beefy than on the average car so he’s probably better off going for the more premium stuff.

Does he have any existing power tools? Most cost effective way in is to get whatever fits his existing kit.

I have a 1/4" impact driver - I use it for diy though, no idea how it would cope with car nuts.

Sounds like de Walt and Milwaukee are decent but pricey. I've passed it on!

[mik]

@scotta just purchased one with a ridiculously large torque rating....

[Foz]

Sorry I meant 3/4”

[scotta]

@scotta just purchased one with a ridiculously large torque rating....

I have indeed this one -

Powerful fan cooled motor delivers up to 950Nm of torque and 2400 impacts per minute for heavy duty fastening applications
Up to 1625Nm of "breakaway" torque ensures removal of the tightest bolts

Its a beast! @Nefarious has the same one. It worked a treat doing the rear toe links as they were solid. No way would we have got them out by hand.

[JonMad]

Dumb question, I'm sure. Do these just wind themselves up then apply full torque to break the lock, then spin down? i.e. on wheel nuts you'd only use them to loosen them initially, not to get the nuts fully off, as keeping the trigger pressed does nothing until you release and press it again, then it winds itself up to full torque again? I have a cheapo one that works like that but wasn't sure if it's how they all behave.

[scotta]

Dumb question, I'm sure. Do these just wind themselves up then apply full torque to break the lock, then spin down? i.e. on wheel nuts you'd only use them to loosen them initially, not to get the nuts fully off, as keeping the trigger pressed does nothing until you release and press it again, then it winds itself up to full torque again? I have a cheapo one that works like that but wasn't sure if it's how they all behave.

Nope

Put socket on bolt, pull trigger, Dugga dugga dugga..Whir...Bolt is off.

[V8Granite]

There is nothing on a Defender that is that tight, a big impact will just knacker stuff up as 2 dugga duggas will hugely overtighten it.

I have a 190nm 1/2” drive impact gun and a small, medium and large 1/2” breaker bars along with the regular socket set.

From memory the highest torque is the a frame ball joint and that’s only 180nm ?

Dave!

[integrale_evo]

Dumb question, I'm sure. Do these just wind themselves up then apply full torque to break the lock, then spin down? i.e. on wheel nuts you'd only use them to loosen them initially, not to get the nuts fully off, as keeping the trigger pressed does nothing until you release and press it again, then it winds itself up to full torque again? I have a cheapo one that works like that but wasn't sure if it's how they all behave.

There’s a hammer attached to the motor and an anvil inside attached to the output where you stick the socket, so the motor just spins the hammer round wacking the anvil and basically tapping the socket round thousands of times per minute.

The bigger guns rated for higher torque just have bigger motors and heavier hammers.

I’m sure there probably slomo vids of how they work on the YouTube.

But yeah, if you want to you can just keep your finger on the trigger until the battery runs out, the motor overheats, something breaks or the bolt comes undone.

The old air powered ones you can only use for so long before you have to stop and let the compressor build up air pressure again before you have another go unless you’ve got a monster setup.

[JonMad]

Yep, the one I have doesn’t keep running if you keep your finger on the trigger. I always thought it was odd.

[Beany]

Dirty cut away slow motion vid of how an impact driver works.




There are some differences (IE you get hydraulic impacts these days, not sure about those specifically) but pretty much all impact drivers work like this in some fashion.