Impact wrench purchase - advice please

[theturbs]

Looking to purchase an impact wrench. Don't want to spend c.£300 on a Snap-On item but equally don't want to purchase a rubbish one from ebay.

This one (Clarke) is currently top of the list:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/...

Are these any good? Only doing basic servicing, changing wheels, etc. Did consider the compressor/air option but it needs to be portable.

Any other thoughts/advice much appreciated. Thanks

[fatjon]

I can't comment on that specific one but I will say that I bought a couple of cheap ones from machine mart (compressor type) and having used them extensivley I can see no benefit in spending 20 times more on the big brands. Maybe if you are a really heavy user the life expectancy may be better on the top end stuff but lets face it, at that price you can buy a lot of cheaper ones. Watch out for the really cheap nasty stuff though, some of that crap is dangerous.
Have you considered a small generator set or low voltage compressor for use in a mobile service environement? That kind of stuff is pretty cheap and might save you trouble with flat batterys just when you most need working tools.

[(steven)]

I have one and it's a good piece of kit for the money. There is an autoexpress review which looks at loads of wrenches which is probably worth a look.

Perfectly good for a bunch of car based DIY. The only thing I will mention is it isn't that powerful. It is fine for 99% of situations (wheel nuts etc) but when I was trying to take my crank pulley off my zetec engine it really struggled to shift it. I needed to dig the blow torch out before it could get it off.

Machine mart also do a mains electrical one which is apparently twice as powerful and cheaper which I would consider if you need to remove really stiff bolts (I might get one next time I do any serious engine work).

[Mr2Mike]

I have the Clarke one, I'd rate it as very average. Probably better than some of the other Chinese made ones but it has considerably less torque that the premium brand ones. For wheel nuts it's fine, if you want to undo crank pulley bolts, and hub nuts then you need to spend more money.

[PhillipM]

I've got the exact same 24v one, and it's took many hub nuts and a couple of crank pulley bolts out...

For the money it's great.

[theturbs]

Thanks for the replies. I took a look at the mains-powered wrench mentioned above - it has more than twice the quoted torque of the battery-powered wrench and is around £30 cheaper...

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/...

Now rethinking my requirement for portability.

[stevieturbo]

A friend uses a Bosch 18v one...came with two batteries, and was under £200.

Its more powerful than his 18v Snap On, at a fraction of the price. Although it is physically slightly bigger and heavier.

[99hjhm]

Hi have a cheap 24V ebay jobby, cost £50 came with 3 batteries... Top value for money, excelent for changing wheels at race meetings. Doesn't even come close to a Snap-on, Dewalt etc. But for £50 what do you expect!

[Mr2Mike]

PhillipM said:

I've got the exact same 24v one, and it's took many hub nuts and a couple of crank pulley bolts out...

For the money it's great.

It wouldn't even think about removing the crank pulley bolt from my mums little Corsa, and it struggled for quite a while to get the nuts of the top if the front dampers on my Fiat Coupe a few weeks back. Put it this way, my friends DeWalt impact driver has significantly more torque, and it's a far smaller unit. The Clarke unit is not bad value for money, but it is a cheap Chinese tool at the end of the day, and it's not a patch on the decent quality branded items.

Perhaps the build quality is extremely variable, so you get good ones and bad ones. If so that's more of a reason to get something else.

Edited by Mr2Mike on Friday 15th May 09:26

[teamHOLDENracing]

Sealey CP3001 - very powerful, good quality - have used them on the race cars for years....

[teamHOLDENracing]

You've just prompted me to buy another 2 Sealey CP3001s so that I now have a wheel gun for each corner of the car for pit stops. £120 + VAT from Classic Car World parts.

They used to be £300-400 a few years ago and the prices have come right down. (Except at Northern Tools, where it remains priced at £365+VAT!! Presumably they don't sell many!)

[PhillipM]

Mr2Mike said:

Perhaps the build quality is extremely variable, so you get good ones and bad ones. If so that's more of a reason to get something else.

Edited by Mr2Mike on Friday 15th May 09:26

It could well be, it is made in China as you point out, but it's took the 64mm hub nuts off the off-road buggy (although it needed a fully charged battery to do it) and they're normally torqued up to FT with a 3 foot breaker bar...

[AndyS2]

I've heard good things about the Sealey CP2400, this is the cheapest I could find it with 2 batteries

http://www.aktivetools.com/sealey-cp2400-cordless-...

[ridds]

I have a cheapo copy of that Clarke one (same body etc different name) cost me £60 about 2 years ago.

It's undone, crank pulleys, hub nuts, strut tops etc with ease. For the money it's perfect.

[CrashTD]

I got the DeWALT 18v and it has never failed to undo a bolt.

And since we are on the subject - torque your wheel bolts guys. 3 chugga chugga chuggs on the impact gun is not a torque setting.

[richies2.0gl]

I have used the Sealey impact wrench for nearly five years. I am a vehicle technician and use the wrench all the time. The Sealey is fantastic, has taken all kinds of abuse, even dropped it down the pit a few times! But is still going strong. The only problem I had was the steel nose coming loose(4 torx screw) but took them out and replaced with self tappers. Would recommend the Sealey all day long.