My son and I did a very thorough maintenance job on my 2002 Nissan Frontier PU. New brakes front and rear, brake hoses, plugs, wires, transmission fluid drain, oil change, diff fluid change, new radiator hoses, coolant flush etc. It was an exhausting all day job. He did most of the wrenching and I was more of less the gofer and did the lightweight stuff (I'm 76). I couldn't have done this without his help. I want to get him an cordless impact wrench as thanks for his efforts (he has a pneumatic one). I started him on DeWalt cordless tools some years ago so I'll stick with that brand for now. There seems to be countless DeWalt impact wrenches to choose from. One that keeps coming up is the DCF921B. It appears to be a reasonably compact model with adequate torque specs for most automotive uses. Another option is the more potent mid range 891. It does , however, appear to be a bigger tool which may have some disadvantages when working in tighter spaces. Would those of you who have experience with either tool please offer some advice on which one would be more practical for home garage use. Thanks
DeWalt 921 or.....?
- Thread starter GaryMX5
- Start date
the DCF921B would likely struggle with lugnuts on some vehicles.
I had the old dewalt midtorque (330ft lb) and it was ok on freshly tightened car lugnuts but wouldnt do rusted on over winter lugnuts or truck lugnuts.
I'd definitely go with the 891 out of those 2 options.
the dcf892b is also the same but with detent pin. vs hog ring
Previously I owned the
If your son does some auto work.. maybe consider a dewalt Ratchet. those are pretty handy too.
I had the old dewalt midtorque (330ft lb) and it was ok on freshly tightened car lugnuts but wouldnt do rusted on over winter lugnuts or truck lugnuts.
I'd definitely go with the 891 out of those 2 options.
the dcf892b is also the same but with detent pin. vs hog ring
Previously I owned the
DCF894B which was 330ft-lb and it was not great for my use.
I always preferred either the big dewalt dcf899 or the small milwaukee m12 stubby (250ft-lb)If your son does some auto work.. maybe consider a dewalt Ratchet. those are pretty handy too.
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I have the DCF921B (the B=tool only) and wouldn't be without it, it is so much better to anything in this size class. it uses normal power selector and makes the same power regardless of which battery you use, the batter life is very good.
One impact is not enough to cover all the bases, the little 921 will get most jobs done with ease and is small enough to fit where bigger tools will not. The 891 is also a very good gun to own, having both covers a lot of area. Get a Dewalt PowerStack kit that includes the 1.7 and 5A batteries they work equally well in both these guns.
For a larger one the DCF900 is a good gun but it is big and heavy, if he has air already he probably does not need that.
I've had the 921 for about 2 years. It hasn't seen particularly heavy use, but I have no complaints so far. Its primary purpose is for seasonal tire changes. I've also used it to drive ~6" structural screws into the rafters of my shed when mounting solar panel rails. My 1/4" impact probably would have handled that job, but the 921 didn't seem to break a sweat.
I have and we used an older Milwaukee 2855-22 (a 1/2" stubby) that was given to me. It's rated at 250 ft.lbs or torque (tightening and breakaway). Not a lot compared to newer wrenches for sure, but it surprisingly gets everything done I've used it for (primarily lug nuts, caliper brackets, etc.). I was hoping the 921 which is rated at 300 (tightening) and 450 (breakaway) would be adequate for most car and mid size PU work. I was also trying to be frugal as it's less expensive than the 891, but I'm willing to pay more for something better. Are there any other models (prior years?) I should consider?
Thanks for the replies. I was hemming and hawing about which option to choose and decided to ask my son. I wanted this to be more or less a surprise but decided his input would probably be appropriate. We talked it over and he felt the 921 would meet his needs so that's what I'll be getting. He liked the smaller size and felt that the specs/performance should be adequate. He liked the performance of my Milwaukee as it had done everything he has used it for. He felt that the 921 being about 1/3 more powerful than the Milwaukee should meet all his needs. Thanks for the help.
I have the Dewalt 921, 923 (3/8 version) and the chonky 900. I have used the 921 for a few wood projects with lag bolts, and a rather rusty go kart. it’s well balanced and a good compact size to get in smallish spaces.
I have older Milky Stubby M12 rated up to 250, Mid torque M18 up to 650 and High torque M18 up to 1600 ft-lbs and if I was doing it again I'd likely skip mid torque and just got the new Stubby. I use mid torque more often.
Not a bad tool but not a great tool either, the speed switch is a real abortion and possibly the worst switch ever put into a power tool. It only makes the advertised torque using only one specific battery and battery life is poor at best.
Once again TTI went overboard trying to outdo the competition by putting a bigger motor in a small body only to find out they didn't leave room for a normal switch and in real world use the 921/963 does just as well and makes the same torque regardless of the battery size used and battery life is good.
I do agree the new design switch sucks and it does take time to become accustom to it.
Advertised torque is only by using high output battery. Yes, I concur. As for battery life, it's not an issue for me yet. Also, usually one would have more than 1 battery if they already have a lineup of Milwaukee products to begin with. Also keep in mind the Milwaukee Stubby uses a 12V battery, while the Dewalt uses a 20V battery. Battery drainage will definitely differ due to capacity. This will also make the Milwaukee much lighter due to battery size so that is a plus.
As for the torque spec, in this video, the Dewalt 921 only produces under 320 ft lbs of reverse torque. So saying the Dewalt 921 does just as well as the Milwaukee's current M12 Stubby rated at 550 ft lbs, I don't agree on that.
In conclusion, just pointing out that the current Milwaukee M12 Stubby is lighter, compact and stronger than the Dewalt 921.
Just try them both on a longer job with more than a few tight bolts, the issue with these impact torque videos is they do not represent real world use. If the gun does not move the bolt in a couple of seconds or at least begins to move it I am getting a bigger gun, not let it sit there hammering for 15 sec.
The 1.7 20v powerstack weighs 312g and the Milwaukee 12v xc 5a 430g measurements are very close also but if you need longer run time a 5A powerstack works just fine.
The gen 3 stubby does not produce 550 the best it did with the 408 ft.lb after 15 sec, is anyone really letting it go for that long before deciding this is too small for the job? That is a good way to eventually ruin the tool to say nothing of burning through batteries.
You say you have a lot of batteries, how many are most expensive XC5.0? It performs way lower on anything else including the 6A so using them is just neutering the tool.
Doesn't it make more sense to use a tool that is easier to use with no double tapping and fiddling around and performs the same and has a longer use time regardless of the battery used. It does to me.
I don't know about you but if I need to remove bolts torqued over 250 ft.lb a stubby of any brand is the last tool of choice.
The 1.7 20v powerstack weighs 312g and the Milwaukee 12v xc 5a 430g measurements are very close also but if you need longer run time a 5A powerstack works just fine.
The gen 3 stubby does not produce 550 the best it did with the 408 ft.lb after 15 sec, is anyone really letting it go for that long before deciding this is too small for the job? That is a good way to eventually ruin the tool to say nothing of burning through batteries.
You say you have a lot of batteries, how many are most expensive XC5.0? It performs way lower on anything else including the 6A so using them is just neutering the tool.
Doesn't it make more sense to use a tool that is easier to use with no double tapping and fiddling around and performs the same and has a longer use time regardless of the battery used. It does to me.
I don't know about you but if I need to remove bolts torqued over 250 ft.lb a stubby of any brand is the last tool of choice.
We use the youtube videos to get a reference of the torque numbers for comparison.
Obviously, use the appropriate tool for the job you are working on. The tool will overheat way before 15 seconds.
The Dewalt 921 with the 1.7ah powerstack installed weighs about 3.25 lbs. The Milwaukee Stubby with the 5.0ah battery weighs about 3.20 lbs. This is according to Shop Tools Review on Youtube. So technically, Milwaukee is slightly lighter with a heavier battery.
According to Shop Tools Review, it can handle up to 600 ft lbs. While Torque Test Channel claims it can handle up to 400+ ft lbs. Either way, it's undeniably the Gen 3 stubby is stronger than the 921.
Actually the 5.0ah battery from Milwaukee retails at $129, while the 5.0ah powerstack from Dewalt retails at $219.
I don't abuse my tools. But if I do need another battery, 2 batteries total is sufficient. Put the depleted battery on a fast charger and just rotate the battery.
Listen, I am not here to battle red vs yellow. I am merely pointing out the fact that the Gen 3 Milwaukee is technically proven to be stronger than the 921 on paper and videos. If you already have Dewalt's lineup, obviously it doesn't make sense to just buy a single tool from Milwaukee.
If you can live with the switch that's fine but for the downsides of that tool if I were in the market for one it would be a hard pass.
If it has to be a Milwaukee for whatever reason the gen 1 is a more user friendly tool with still enough power to do most jobs a tool this size is useful for. No mickey mouse switch and works fine on any 12v battery.
