What's a 1/4" impact driver good for? (Milwaukee) (1 Viewer)

[Skniper]

So I got a little free gift from work recently. It's one of those gift catalogs of misc. stuff, household goods, electronics, etc...and you get to pick one item.

The tool section has a Milwaukee M12 Fuel 1/4" impact driver/2 battery and charger combo. Think I'm gonna grab it but, dumb question maybe.....what do I use a 1/4" impact for?? Seems tiny.

 

[ace10]

My Makita 1/4" hex driver (18volt) is probably my most used battery-powered tool. I use it a ton. Wish I had a second, instead of a drill.
Mostly driving screws (I go through a lot of GRKs) plus 1/4" and 3/8" sockets.

18v Makita is rated for 1500 InLbs. The M12 Milwaukee is 1300In Lbs. That's plenty of grunt for small to medium jobs.

 

[e9999]

impact drivers in general are fantastic. Bolts, screws, you name it. They have replaced drill drivers for a lot of people. Tons of vids on YT about that.
The Milwaukee M12 Fuel line specifically is surprisingly powerful. It really can do a lot of things we used to think you can only do with 18V.
I'd be all over this.

 

[Skniper]

impact drivers in general are fantastic. Bolts, screws, you name it. They have replaced drill drivers for a lot of people. Tons of vids on YT about that.
The Milwaukee M12 Fuel line specifically is surprisingly powerful. It really can do a lot of things we used to think you can only do with 18V.
I'd be all over this.

Yea I was going back n forth between getting a traditional drill driver vs this impact. Funny you mention impacts replacing drills, the video on Milwaukee's website shows this little impact being used mostly to drive small screws, and I thought that seemed odd.
I'm gonna grab this one, it's free, I'd probably never buy one. Still need a full size 1/2" impact.

Still need a drill driver too. My old Dewalt driver "disappeared", man I beat the crap out of that thing. The only drill I have anymore is corded, what a p.i.t.a. compared to battery convenience. Slowly building a Milwaukee stable.

 

[e9999]

^ Are you maybe confusing impact drivers and impact wrenches? An impact driver is not 1/4" as in the 1/4" sockets. It's 1/4" hex, not square.
Impact drivers have a female quick-disconnect bit receptacle. Impact wrenches have a male socket connector. Different idea, different purpose.

 

[Skniper]

^ Are you maybe confusing impact drivers and impact wrenches? An impact driver is not 1/4" as in the 1/4" sockets. It's 1/4" hex, not square.
Impact drivers have a female quick-disconnect bit receptacle. Impact wrenches have a male socket connector. Different idea, different purpose.

Good question, perhaps I need a little more edumacation...so, I guess it's more of a driver than impact wrench, but still has an impact function (?).
Either way, looks useful, and I still want/need a larger impact wrench.

It's this one....

 

[e9999]

that is a really nice one to have. Very handy small package but high-performing. Nice gift! Now that you'll have the impact driver, charger and 2 batteries, I would get the non-impact driver with the clutch, those are so great for more delicate slow driving of fasteners. The basic non-fuel tool only can be had for only $40, it's a pleasure to use.

 

[Waorani]

I've got a bunch of cordless M12/18 Milwaukee stuff but don't care for the ergonomics of the M12 drivers, etc. The M12 3/8 ratchet, 3/8 impact ratchet, dremel, soldering iron, oscillating saw, etc are fine but the 1/4" pistol grip stuff just doesn't feel right in my hand. I'll keep my old Dewalt 12v drivers/drills, impacts for those uses.

 

[ntsqd]

I have a 1/4 hex to 3/8 square adapter for my M12 Driver. It comes in really handy for projects like R&Ring the fill plate on a fuel cell. There are somewhere around 3,728 1/4-20's holding those plates in place. Running them all by hand takes a very long time and usually needs a second person because the first guy has cramped up 2/3 of the way done.

 

[e9999]

OP, yes, impact drivers have an anvil type mechanism, like impact wrenches. However, the former are intended more for screws and light bolt/nut tightening than for heavy duty torquing like the latter. There is a big difference in the torques applied, especially nowadays with the crazy ratings seen in HD cordless impact wrenches. Having said that, I have removed wheel lug nuts (about 100 ftlbs) with a midrange 18V impact driver. Don't know if an M12 Fuel would do it but I would not be too surprised if they did.

 

[ntsqd]

Watched a guy remove all 5 of the race truck's 5/8-18 lug nuts with a ~12VDC Ryobi impact driver. None of us was more amazed than he was.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

Definitely get that thing if it is free. They are awesome. That thing will drive a 5" grabber deck screw. They make short work of self tapping screws also.

As far as mechanicing goes. You can get an adapter and run sockets. I wouldn't use it on anything plastic or interiors. Just be careful because these runs faster than impact wrenches.

 

[gnob]

Watched a guy remove all 5 of the race truck's 5/8-18 lug nuts with a ~12VDC Ryobi impact driver. None of us was more amazed than he was.

when torque is set properly its not really a stretch to come off with battery. it's only after les schwab ugga duggas them on, it becomes a problem.

 

[ntsqd]

These were "Ruben-Tight", think LS ugga-duggas when the LS monkey just sits there with his finger on the trigger for a couple of days. I usually used to use a Snap-On 24" breaker bar to pop them loose because the Craftsman 18" breaker bar isn't enough. Now in my old age I'm carrying a Milwaukee 1/2" impact just for those lug nuts.

I'm not sure which surprised us more, that it removed them at all; or that it was a Ryobi that did it.

 

[e9999]

OP, I just saw that Milwaukee has 3 Fuel (I think) impact wrenches (not drivers) in the M12 series: 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch. The 1/2 is listed as capable of 250 ft lbs of nut busting torque.

 

[Skniper]

I feel like Ralphie when he found the Red Ryder BB gun under the Christmas tree!!

 

[Skniper]

OP, I just saw that Milwaukee has 3 Fuel (I think) impact wrenches (not drivers) in the M12 series: 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch. The 1/2 is listed as capable of 250 ft lbs of nut busting torque.

Cool, I'll go M18 on the impact wrench, already have an M18 implement and charger. And will be adding a M12 drill driver to pair with this little impact, I don't have a battery/cordless drill anymore and it's driving me crazy.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

The 1/2 is listed as capable of 250 ft lbs of nut busting torque.

That sounds a bit low for 1/2". I have been looking at this Makita and it's 3x that. Maybe that's for the 3/8"?

Edit: Not sure I need anything that large now that I think about it.

Makita USA - Product Details -XWT08Z

18V LXT® Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless High-Torque 1/2" Sq. Drive Impact Wrench, Tool Only

www.makitatools.com

 

[ntsqd]

Years before Milwaukee's brushless motors came along I used a borrowed Milwaukee 1/2" impact to change a tire on a Class 9 car that landed in our pit during a race at Lucerne. It belonged to the FIL of my pit co-worker. His FIL, on learning what he was doing that weekend, said "You better take this then". We were both pretty dubious of it right up until it zapped those lug nus out as fast as I could go. No ugga-duggas to get them loose, they were obviously tight and they just spun out. We had the tire off and the new one being put into place almost before their pit guy had quit pumping on the jack handle. When it was done my co-worker and I looked at each other with an "I'll be danged" look on our faces.
His wife called that she'd timed us from when the car stopped moving to when it started moving again. 14 seconds to change that tire.

 

[Skniper]

That sounds a bit low for 1/2". I have been looking at this Makita and it's 3x that. Maybe that's for the 3/8"?

Edit: Not sure I need anything that large now that I think about it.

Makita USA - Product Details -XWT08Z

18V LXT® Lithium-Ion Brushless Cordless High-Torque 1/2" Sq. Drive Impact Wrench, Tool Only

www.makitatools.com

The Milwaukee 1/2" are rated from ~650 -1400 ft lbs depending on model.