I think I might. Is it one of these things where the cheap ones are useless, or is it ok to get your bog standard B&Q level one?

I put off getting one for ages, finally treated myself and glad I did, wish I’d got it ages ago.

Went for an Erbauer one from Screwfix and it does all I need it to (light-med weight DIY).  Looks like it’s currently reduced too – go on, you know you want to :-D

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-ebid18li-18v-1-x-2-0ah-li-ion-ext-cordless-impact-driver/954PP

Do you already have other battery tools? Decent ones are reasonably cheap as bare tools without a battery. For example a Makita one without battery is cheaper than that erbauer one with.

They are great for bigger stuff.  Took me ages to get one and now it’s my go to for most stuff

I only have a MacAllister drill from B&Q that my wife bought because it was the smallest and lightest. Not sure if there is a matching driver that can re-use the battery, but the drill is perfectly serviceable.

Need to get under the Merc and there are about 200 hex head screws holding two undertrays on.

Presume you only need the special black sockets if you are trying to get stubborn bolts off with it?

As with all things tool related, if you have to ask the question then the answer is Yes!

Need to get under the Merc and there are about 200 hex head screws holding two undertrays on.

Presume you only need the special black sockets if you are trying to get stubborn bolts off with it?

They are great for that sort of thing. You can usually get away standard sockets, I doubt you’ll break them, only issue is rounding off. The proper impact sockets tend to be single hex. You could always just but a single socket for a few quid for that job.

yes.

for nuts I have a makita cxt impact wrench.  it has the square fitting rather than an impact drivers hex.

i have 2 impact drivers, one makita cxt and one lxt.

depending on your projects its very useful to have multiple impact drivers and drills so you don’t need to keep buggering about with bits and trying to find where the hell you put that bit…  same goes for drills.  I’m up to 3 makitas now, excluding sds, and they all get used loads

people don’t like cxt, but it’s cheap and very light, it’s my go to for most woodworking stuff and can cope with a bit of masonry if need be

I lived without one for a long time. When my Makita drill driver batteries started giving up the ghost I bought a new twin pack with drill driver, impact driver, charger and two cells, like this one https://www.screwfix.com/p/makita-dlx2336t01-18v-2-x-5-0ah-li-ion-lxt-cordless-twin-pack/358kh .

Blwmin’ brilliant. Double garage need re roofing? No problem. Battenning out the spare room to insulate the walls? An absolute doddle.

I’ve bought into the Makita brand for all cordless needs now, so bare units are getting added bit by bit. Oscilatting multitool is just SO usefull. It’s brilliant. Get one of those too if you haven’t already and thank me later.

And as above, if you need to ask then you should already know the answer.

No you want 2.

Small 12v hex driver and big 18v 1/2″ driver for lots of dugga dugga power.

You also need to learn exact torque measurements based on how much they click, or just wing it, my wheels have not fallen off yet…

(I am not and never will be an engineer)

Changed my life man 🙏

Use mine loads, but I’m a tradey

Also have the Makita DTW1001Z impact wrench, it’s a beast – 1050Nm of ugga duggas

have you tried those 200 bolts with your drill?
I got a 20V lidl one as it was cheap, butit didnt do what I expected of it (yet)
I wanted a bosch(blue) or makita really cos i know theyll do the job

For that? Get some hex to socket adaptors (Erbauer make a 3 pack) and just use your drill.

For actual screws you want a 1/4″ driver.

For proper car work you need 1000Nm for the release torque. Not cheap when you include the requisite batteries.

As with all things tool related, if you have to ask the question then the answer is Yes!

When you say “Impact Driver” that implies to me that you’re looking at something designed for screws, probably with a 1/4 hex connection aimed at screwdriver bits. Probably OK up to M6 / 10mm head bolts on the car, but if you’re after undoing anything sturdier than trim screws, a proper 3/8 or 1/2 square drive impact is probably what you want.

That said, my most used tool working on the car is a 3/8 power ratchet, this sort of thing: https://www.ffx.co.uk/product/Get/Sealey-Cp1202Kit-505451119028-12V-2X1.5Ah-Li-Ion-8In-Sqdr-Ratchet-Wrench-Kit

Ideal combination of doing the dull work, reaches into awkward spaces but still allowing you to do the final tweak by hand. It won’t get really tight things undone on its own, thought.

I want a Ryobi one because I’ve bought into team green. I very rarely if ever remove car wheels anymore and I don’t have a rusty old car to play with. Yet.

How many other uses do they have? Can you use it for anything where you’d normally reach for a socket set?

yes, yes you do, got a bosch to match my drill as it was £89 as a bare unit and i now reach for it as preference for virtually all jobs, in combo with a little set of bits, sockets and general purpose drills i often don’t even take the drill with me on landscaping jobs (raised beds etc)

Impact drivers are extremely useful.

If you get a hex impact driver get something like this to drive cheap sockets.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-3-8-1-4-1-2-drive-driver-socket-set-3-pack/6297D?kpid=6297D&cm_mmc=Google-_-Datafeed-_-Tools?kpid=KINASEKPID&cm_mmc=Google-_-TOKEN1-_-TOKEN2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpqroj-DKgQMVkOTtCh3muwDBEAQYAiABEgKBzfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Have you tried the drill you have on the trim fasteners? There will always be a deal on impact drivers, get one when you really need it.

I’ve a little 12v hex fitting one (Macalister?).

Faster, lighter and smaller than both my 18v DeWalt and 12v blue Bosch combi drills.

Any job with more than a few screws it’s the tool of choice.

You may not “need” one.  Will it be a very useful addition to your shed almost definitely.

Best thing I ever bought, DIY related. I often tell my wife this, and she always says “well done”…

How can you not have one is the question. Although you will moan about bits snapping unless you get impact ones DeWalt make surprisingly good impact bits.

Bosch or Makita. Makita being my fave I’ve had a few .

For car bolts get a 12″ drive but they take up room and can be tricky to get in places. Milwaukee do a stubby one I believe

About 8 years ago I bought an Erbauer one. I use it all the time. I have Makita, DeWalt and Festool drill drivers but prefer to use the Erbauer for screws and bolts. I keep hoping it will conk out so I can splash loads on a “better” one but that’s just silly thinking.
No need for impact bits. For Pozi I use the ordinary DeWalt tic-tac boxes. I tried the impact ones but found they shattered quickly. For all other uses it’s the Bosch box of assorted Ph, pozi, Torx Hex.

The next thing you didn’t realise you needed…. ;-)

Sod using a hacksaw for anything these days

Changed my life man

😀

Same

Do you have one ?.

No.

And there is all the reason you will ever need.

have you tried those 200 bolts with your drill?

I will probably use that since they are super low torque. But I still want an impact driver.

I have had an impact driver for ages, however I recently bough a small much more controllable electric driver (although a rather nice festool one) and find it is the one I use much much more. Really needing to drive something in or remove a stuck bolt is a rare job, however getting some delicate control for home jobs is much more needed.

As Jane Austen said*,

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man with a few quid spare, must be in want of an impact driver.”

Possibly applies to married men also.

*I may have slightly misremembered this quotation

As I said before if you want one to do proper car work be prepared to spend decent money. A 300Nm driver won’t cut it when you factor in release torque. If you already have Dewalt their big bastard driver seems to be weapon of choice, Bosch is catching up but they’re in the region of 300 quid bare.

Next thread.

Which drill bit for removing 175 rounded off screws ?

impact drivers are great but I wouldn’t use them for any screw thats in a plastic fixing – ie the entire underside of a car. The tap-tap-tap force has a tendancy to distort plastic fixings to the point they’re unusable. I’d go with a normal drill driver (with smooth torque) and only break out the impact driver when that’s not working.

its also worth noting a normal diy impact driver is not much good for the mega amounts of torque needed for things like wheel lugs. The pneumatic drivers they have at your tyre shop produce ~4x the torque of an 18v impact driver

Is an impact driver not a suitable thing for generally undoing screws then? Can you not adjust the torque?

I was thinking it would be good for undoing lots of things. For things requiring lots of torque I have a huge breaker bar.

I’d hate not to have an impact wrench, it’s a constant tool for me.

But I had an impact driver and quickly went back to just using a drill instead- not a better or worse thing, I just prefer it. Quiter, less… impactey. For smashing in really big screws impacts really shine, or for doing stuff where you can’t get any pressure on the tool (ie, up a ladder at arm’s length trying not to fall off) but given the choice I just prefer how drills work, and modern drills can be really good drivers too.

They’re great for removing screws, think taking apart decking structures etc.

Impact wrench for car suspension bolts etc

Small rechargeable driver for trim screws on cars (little Aldi or Lidl job will do)

Son recently got a Milwaukee impact wrench. Great bit of kit for taking car wheels on and off.

Next thread.

Which drill bit for removing 175 rounded off screws ?

I actually bought a bit set for drilling out rounded off screws a few years back, not used it since buying an impact driver. It just bashes them out.

I’ve got a cheap (Aldi) impact driver. For putting 6 inch screws directly into fenceposts and the hundreds or smaller screws for the boards it’s been 20 quid well spent (normal drill needed pilot holes for big screws). It’s also good for getting out sticky screws
BUT a cheap driver like mine has no torque and little speed control. If you’re not careful it will take a screw straight through a fence board.
If you’re doing anything delicate a better one with more control would be preferable.
It’s also very noisy, but you knew that.

Is an impact driver not a suitable thing for generally undoing screws then? Can you not adjust the torque?

Yes and no.

My Makita is great for doing up and undoing screws it has a gradual power/speed increase via the trigger so not doing it too hard is easy. It only starts impacting when the going gets tough. I can’t adjust the torque other than by letting go of the trigger.

Its brilliant. Get one. You’ll want to keep finding stuff to undo. :-) “I wonder if it will undo that?….brrrrp. Oh yes it will. Cool. What about that? brrp. Yep that too, ace” etc etc