I've been real lazy on my maintenance of vehicles so I decided a new tool would help me. I ordered up my first impact wrench. A Makita 18v sub compact. I was looking at the big ones and I was thinking that would probably be a waste. Then I found these small ones. Tried it out yesterday. It removes the lug nuts on my car easily in hard mode and puts them on nicely in soft mode. Not too tight and I can go back and torque them down with the torque wrench. It's about the size of my impact driver and drill. You don't see too many videos of these on YouTube I guess because people just want to see the big heavy ones and how much torque they put out. Might get a mid sized one too at some point but this seems to fit the bill for now. Of course yesterdays testing revealed some things that I now have to take care of.
Got my first impact wrench Makita subcompact
- Thread starter E150GT
- Start date
Nice bookends on the bench.
Love the single stage RCBS.
Definitely ask before borrowing any tools.
The Makita is nice, too.
Love the single stage RCBS.
Definitely ask before borrowing any tools.
The Makita is nice, too.
I use my battery powered drills and tools so infrequently, I'm wondering how long the batteries will last sitting around so much?
I got 12 years out my last battery. Not in constant use. It got weaker and weaker and then one day it wouldn't charge
Cordless impacts are game changers these days. I got the big XWT08Z 18V at a crazy good price, so couldn't resist. Got it to remove a crankshaft bolt that a smaller cordless impact (neighbor's DeWalt) wouldn't touch. Zipped that thing right off. Ever since it has done constant lugnut removal duty and unstuck some pretty stubborn other fasteners.
Over time I have come to appreciate needing/wanting all of them, compact, mid torque, and high torque. Its worth the investment long term. The mid torque (milwaukee in my case) gets the most use, the high torque sits the most but the assurance it exists in my garage is comforting.
I don't wrench that much but I just got a DeWalt kit which includes a drill/driver/impact (replaces the one I gave to a kid entering electric trade school) and a compact 1/4" hex driver. This little guy is the tool which I think will use "underhood".
Nice get. I started my cordless power tool collection last year, and went with Makita. I'm very happy so far. The first one I bought was the XDT13Z impact driver, and it's a beast in a small package. That led me to buy a XWT08Z 1/2" high torque impact wrench which is more tool than I will ever need but it's AWESOME!!! Also got a Makita leaf blower that I'm not sure how I lived without. Next on my list is a new Makita hammer drill.
Modern power tool batteries can be very long lasting. I have a Milwaukee mid-torque impact w/ 5aH battery that I purchased in 2018 and it still works like new. it gets used maybe 10 days per year. Before that, a Makita set that was 5 or 6 years old. Same story.
back when I bought my first house in 2012 I bought a makita drill and driver set. It served its purpose. I left the impact at work and somebody swiped it so for years all ive had is my drill and a 1.5AH battery. It got used for everything and it did a good job. Then the battery finally died. Wouldnt take a charge. I decided Makita was a good brand based on my experience and recently bought a new drill/driver combo. I did zero research and I kinda wish that I had bought an impact with settings. These things are powerful. It would be nice to turn the power down. But I got a couple of battery deals to go along with it and I have a bunch of 4 and 5 AH batteries. Might as well get some tools to utilize them. I definitley want the tire inflator and cutoff wheel. Im sure theres some other things I could use.
That's how I ended up with the XDT13Z impact driver I have. It came as a package deal with two 4AH batteries. If I were buying the tool alone, I would have gotten one with speed/power settings. But it's all good.
I hope you are not loading pistol calibers on that single stage press, unless you don't shoot much. I went with a progressive press from start and my regular loading sessions are at least 1k rounds at a time. No bullet or case feeder thou, still can make 400rds an hour.
At this time that is just for 308. I just buy the pistol rounds I need. But if I am being honest I have yet to reload a single round yet. I bought the kit on a deal one day and of course I had no primers or powder or bullets. I have since collected all I need but so far have only done brass prep. I havent really needed to reload since I am an ammo junkie and bought a lot. I am still working on my marksmanship and when I get better I will use it to make some match grade ammo.
Get a good scale to measure powder, when going long range you will need very precise load.
I bought a hornady I think digital scale. It wasnt that expensive. Perhaps a better one is in order.
One complaint I have is just in the short time I was using it my hand would hit the button and switch the direction to tighten when I was trying to loosen. Did it 3 times.
Well I like my little subcompact so much I decided to pick up it's bigger brother. Used it to take the axle nut off my Mazda this weekend. Zipped right off.
