Milwaukee M12 3/8's drive. I LOVE THIS THING!!!! Makes working on the car so much easier. Well made, strong battery, small size. The only thing that would improve it IMO is one of those buttons on the head that release the socket.
Some good shopping will find one for bout $150. No more cord, no more loud compressor running.
This thing is a winner!!!! :thumbup:
If your looking for one be sure you buy the "kit." Some sellers are selling only the ratchet and not including the battery or the charger! Looks like a great price until you find you can't even use it because there is no battery.
ridgid has come out with an impact wrench, the first cordless one ive seen with a variable setting. got it and love it. my other impact, also ridgid, does not have a variable setting, i didnt use it on the car, as i have snapped 3/8" bolts with it.
This one has a variable trigger and 35# of torque, oh, and a really nice little LED light that comes on when you press the trigger.
I was looking for one with more torque but this actually works out better for me. It is light enough to use as a normal ratchet, I break the bolt loose by hand with it, (up to something like 155#) then use the motor to run it out. Same with tightening, I run it down lightly then use it manually to finish tightening.
If anyone is interested in getting one, look for the kit. The kit includes a battery and a charger, plus of course the ratchet. Several sellers are offering the ratchet alone, no battery, no charger. Great, so it looks like a good price but when you get it you can't use it!
Will it break a bolt loose under power in place of manually breaking it first for those tough bolts jim?--looks like i got to get it since i dont have a air compressor and watching some youtube reviews on it.
No, doesn't have huge torque, but it is so light and easy to handle that it's a no-brainer to bust it lose in manual, then pull the trigger. This also saves having your knuckles bashed into the car when you find the bolt you are trying to remove is really on there tight. My air ratchet has much more torque, but can bash your hand around and is quite prone to over tightening.
This does a great job as an all around ratchet. For really tight you will want an impact air or electric, wheels etc. This is more for the average 10mm, 13mm, 17mm stuff like that. Places where you would use an average ratchet, not where your going to need a breaker bar or even your big 1/2 drive ratchet. good uses, ie, the trans pan, the front of the 540 motor for the most part, valley pan, etc. Really nice for bolts/nuts where you can't get much room to run a ratchet or wrench. Just put this on and pull the trigger.
This weekend I R&R'd the fuel filter, the little ratchet helped out a lot. When I had to turn a screw clamp around and didn't want to pull the hose off (it was quite a tight fit), it was much faster than by hand. It couldn't break the large allen that held the filter body with the M12 motor. When I pulled the trigger it immediately shut down rather than bash my hand into something. It was easily released by hand with the M12 and then I pulled the trigger and it unscrewed it for me. It's a really cool combination of a normal ratchet and a motorized ratchet.
Jim
Ah I have a dewalt lith-ion impact gun at work. Thing is a beast breaking 40yr old bolts loose from runway lights. But of course it's still limited and sometimes you still need to use air. But even if you need to use a breaker bar and 5 extension pipes to break em loose at least you can use the gun right after without using a ratchet with pipes for 1/2 hour. Plus it makes jobs like plow blades or even regular screwing fast and easy.
At home I use a dewalt xrp hammer/drill combo. Thing has wrist breaking torque.Though never used it on the car. Good old ratchet and breaker bar have worked for me. I'll probably stop by ace and get those adapters they're only 7 bucks a piece.
I'm looking forward to getting one of those super hp electric impacts in the not to distant future, but for right now the little ratchet is pretty good for what I need. That will relegate the compressor to blowing things out, air scraper, painting, things like that.
Another thing you and I have alike. I love mine. Picked it up after an injury that compromised my hand strength. Its really nice, I hate getting it dirty!
LOL, you caught me! I hate getting mine dirty too! It's such a nice little machine isn't it, very nimble, so easy to use. :thumbup:
Jim
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