Did a side-by-side test of impact wrenches last month and the difference was wild

I was swapping tires on my F-250 and decided to compare my old Craftsman 1/2 inch air impact against a buddy's new Milwaukee M18 Fuel high torque. The Craftsman struggled to break loose lug nuts torqued to 150 ft-lbs, even after 5 seconds. The Milwaukee zipped them off in under a second, no joke. Same air pressure on the Craftsman, so it wasn't a hose issue. If you're still using a pneumatic gun that's older than 2010, do yourself a favor and try a modern cordless. Anyone else made the switch and seen this big of a jump?

3 comments

3 Comments

lewis.mila20d ago

Same here man. I had an old IR 2135 that was a beast in its day but my neighbor's Ryobi 18v brushed brushed impact made me look like I was working with a toy. Picked up a deal on the Milwaukee 2767 and it was night and day. The lugs on my 3/4 ton truck would fight the air gun for a solid 10 seconds but that cordless pops them like butter. I still keep the air setup around for a backup but it's mostly collecting dust now. What kind of work are you doing mostly with yours?

jordan18420d ago

Man, those lugs on a 3/4 ton are no joke. If you're working on heavy stuff like that the 2767 is pretty much the gold standard. I'd say just make sure you keep the battery contacts clean, dust and grime can mess with the power delivery over time.

christopher_coleman1719d ago

Hang on, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here for a second. I've actually had the opposite experience with those cordless impacts on heavy trucks. I grabbed a 2767 a few years back and honestly, I ended up selling it because it just didn't have the same grunt as my old air gun when things got really stubborn, like on rusted farm equipment. I mean, sure, for everyday lugs on a 3/4 ton that's not totally seized, it'll work fine, but I've found that the battery tends to fade on you just when you need that last bit of uumph to bust something loose. My air gun might be a pain to drag around but it never runs out of juice halfway through a job, you know?