What's a 1/4" impact driver good for? (Milwaukee) (2 Viewers)
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Notice how Milwaukee doesn't say much about the tightening torque of any of their impact wrenches but promotes the "nut busting torque?" Doubt the M12 1/2" impact would make 100lbs tightening and if it did it wouldn't last long. If you need a 1/2" get one of the 18v impacts. I've recently switch to Milwaukee for a lot of cordless tools but also have a lot of older Dewalt stuff. Wanted a newer 1/2" impact for when pulling a trailer and went back to Dewalt since Milwaukee is so vague about their stuff. Even then I got a mid-range Dewalt with 3 power settings. Does 100 ft-lbs on lowest setting which is good for lug nuts unless you keep beating on them. Their higher power impacts can do 1200 ft-lbs tightening but that's way overkill for most uses unless you're working on heavy equipment.
^ most companies will advertise the nut busting because the numbers are higher so it looks better. It has to do with the fact that it is easier to loosen a nut than to tighten it, at the same "position". Friction, thread shape and all that. But from what I remember reading, it seems like the difference is only of the order of 20% or 30% or so, not sure though.
Having said that, the concept does make sense because you want to know if you can remove with that power tool a nut that was tightened to a specific value. Whereas it is usually not a good idea to tighten a nut with a power tool if you want to be safe (yes, there are torque bars and all, I know).
FWIW, the "Torque Test Channel" on YT has tons of info on all sorts of impact wrench models, reviewing and testing them all, ranking them etc. Very interesting.
Having said that, the concept does make sense because you want to know if you can remove with that power tool a nut that was tightened to a specific value. Whereas it is usually not a good idea to tighten a nut with a power tool if you want to be safe (yes, there are torque bars and all, I know).
FWIW, the "Torque Test Channel" on YT has tons of info on all sorts of impact wrench models, reviewing and testing them all, ranking them etc. Very interesting.
- Thread starter
- #24
Welp, had a chance to need/use this new little impact driver ===> Ok I totally get it now!! Love this thing, and it was free!
Also picked up its "matching" 3/8 drill driver and a couple bigger batteries "on special".
Looking forward to seeing if I can make this little drill sweat any compared to my old Dewalt, these are really nice compact tools.
And almost pulled the trigger on the 1/2" impact w/ a battery deal at NT this morning(need to check options online first). I just changed out all the lug nuts and rotated the tires on my daughters car this week, not doing that again without power. Some of those nuts were stupid ugga-dugga tight from the last a-hole monkey that did them. Required max effort on the 4 way, a couple made me doubt myself, which pissed me off, and made me sore.
Also picked up its "matching" 3/8 drill driver and a couple bigger batteries "on special".
Looking forward to seeing if I can make this little drill sweat any compared to my old Dewalt, these are really nice compact tools.
And almost pulled the trigger on the 1/2" impact w/ a battery deal at NT this morning(need to check options online first). I just changed out all the lug nuts and rotated the tires on my daughters car this week, not doing that again without power. Some of those nuts were stupid ugga-dugga tight from the last a-hole monkey that did them. Required max effort on the 4 way, a couple made me doubt myself, which pissed me off, and made me sore.
I was just reminded of this thread when taking apart some electronics with my M12 (not impact) screwdriver. What a pleasure the latter, especially when there were something like 15 or 20 screws on a cover... These were screws into plastic. I did set the clutch to the minimum but I was still treading carefully. Thankfully the lower clutch setting on that tool is very mild (a reason I got it) and all was well. I'd rather not use an actual impact driver on screws in plastic posts, but the drill above may be OK on lowest setting. It is likely more torquey than my screwdriver, though, so I would suggest caution at first if you ever work with screws in plastic.
(PSA -sorta- of the day: When rescrewing into plastic, I think it is a good idea to unwind first and when it clicks to then go in. That way you are likely going back into the earlier thread groove, not creating yet another one, which could eventually weaken things up. FWIW.)
(PSA -sorta- of the day: When rescrewing into plastic, I think it is a good idea to unwind first and when it clicks to then go in. That way you are likely going back into the earlier thread groove, not creating yet another one, which could eventually weaken things up. FWIW.)
