Air vs electric Impact tools

[Junbug]

What does everyone prefer: Air impact vs Electric/battery impact? I’m favoring an Dewalt 1/2” drive electric largely because I already have a half dozen Dewalt tools that can share the same batteries.
Has everyone found them critical to their builds or just convenient/time savers.
Thanks,
-Bryan

[JJK]

I was not planning on needing an impact driver, but that was not the case. I could not get the rear lugs pulled into the spindle, so bought the least expensive 1/2in impact driver from the same tool family as my other cordless tools. I ended up taking it back because it could not pull the lugs through. I stepped up to their mid-level impact driver and things went much better. As others have noted, do not use your actual lug nuts to pull in the lugs, buy some sacrificial nuts and use some washers and lube for spacing. I ended up using one nut for each lug, as they get pretty beat up in the process.
Still early in the build so not sure if I will need the driver for anything else. I do not have a compressor, so electric was my only option.

[DanQ]

I still prefer air powered tools, but I am old school. I have used pneumatic guns all my life, and don't mind the air hose getting tangled around my ankles, plus, I already have a good size compressor in my garage. I think they do have a bit more power than cordless when it comes to those extra tight bolts. Besides, it sounds cool when you rev them up for a shot or two like the NASCAR pit crews. The nice thing about tools are you will always use them, and when you get old, your kids can inherit them. I have a 100 year old handsaw that my grandfather built houses with hanging in my garage, with his initials carved in the handle. Too cool!179341

[MB750]

I have never used an electric impact tool that had as much power as a pneumatic air gun at 150 psi.

[boat737]

Bought a 1/2", 18V, DeWalt impact 10 or 15 years ago. It has 300 ft/lb torque. I liked it so much, ended up buying most of the other 18V stuff (drill, saber saw, circular saw, cut-off saw). DeWalt batteries are ridiculously expensive, but Amazon has no name for a 1/3 the price, and they seem to last at least twice as long, so that's what I use.

I never use air any more, and rarely use any plug in tools.

[RJD]

Normally I look for any excuse to buy another tool, but somehow made it through my build without impact tools.

[J R Jones]

Having two identical posts is not an efficient was to coordinate information.

I have had a Chicago Pneumatic 1/2 inch for 50 years and it has worked well.
I did a contract development job that required a lot of assembly/disassemble and I bought a Bosche 3/8 18V battery. It has been a fantastic assembly tool, I would not be without it. The ergonomics are great and it is small/light making work easy. I realized for impact power the 1/2 air tool is superior.
I did a contract job with Milwaukee Electric tool and bought a 1/2 inch 28V battery. Spending enough you can get plenty of power. Weight and the ergonomics are not great.
I also bought a Milwaukee 1/4 drive 12V battery that is good for screws and working in tight areas.

I had to remove my Winnebago RV 19.5 ten lug (127ft lb) wheels for brake work. The Milwaukee would not do it, sustained impacting made the gun and the socket hot.
The CP pneumatic struggled but got the lugs off and there was no heat build-up. The impact mechanisms are not the same, my sense is the pneumatic is more efficient.
For ultimate effect I find with the pneumatic, that loosening your grip and letting the gun "float" as it hammers, delivers the most effect.
BTW impacts are more effective on rusty fasteners that a hand wrench and less likely to shear the faster head off.
jim

[bobl]

I've got just about every impact that exists. The one I use 99% of the time is a 1/4" Dewalt impact. I could easily do without the rest of them. The large cordless impacts are just too heavy and bulky.

[Junbug]

Having two identical posts is not an efficient was to coordinate information.

I have had a Chicago Pneumatic 1/2 inch for decades and it has worked well.
I did a contract development job that required a lot of assembly/disassemble and I bought a Bosche 3/8 18V battery. It has been a fantastic assembly tool, I would not be without it. The ergonomics are great and it is small/light making work easy. I realized for impact power the 1/2 air tool is superior.
I did a contract job with Milwaukee Electric tool and bought a 1/2 inch 28V battery. Spending enough you can get plenty of power. Weight and the ergonomics are not great.

I had to remove my Winnebago RV 19.5 ten lug (127in lb) wheels for brake work. The Milwaukee would not do it, sustained impacting made the gun and the socket hot.
The CP pneumatic struggled but got the lugs off and there was no heat build-up. The impact mechanisms are not the same, my sense is the pneumatic is more efficient.
jim

I thought I lost the other post and didn't realize it posted to the build threads. My apologies!

[RoadRacer]

My latest dewalt impact wrench (DCF891B) is 600/800ftlb.. crazy. I won’t be using my air impact tools again.

The portability is so handy when you’re racing.

[CraigS]

20 yrs ago I bought a SnapOn 1/2 battery impact wrench. It did most of what I needed it to do as a lexus dealer tech. But it was so dang noisy it git traded off to another guy who needed one he could carry with him. My IR 2131QT (QT = quiet) air impact is still going strong after about 25 years.

[Dgc333]

I have never used an electric impact tool that had as much power as a pneumatic air gun at 150 psi.

I have a Kobalt 1/2" impact gun that is rated for 675 ft-lbs. It is much better than the Ingersoll Rand pneumatic guns I have. The only down side is it is physically larger and weighs more. I almost never use my pneumatic impact guns any more.

Because the impact gun was so good I bought a Kobalt 3/8 drive ratchet. It too has more power than my pneumatic 3/8 drive ratchets.

[MB750]

This thread reminds me of a Youtube channel called Project Farm:

https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectFarm/videos

This guy tests all kinds of stuff, mostly to verify performance is reflected accurately. He does a few on electric impact tools. I know it doesn't compare pneumatic to electric, but it's neat data.

[RoadRacer]

This thread reminds me of a Youtube channel called Project Farm:

https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectFarm/videos

This guy tests all kinds of stuff, mostly to verify performance is reflected accurately. He does a few on electric impact tools. I know it doesn't compare pneumatic to electric, but it's neat data.

Love that guy. Was just watching his seafoam episodes yesterday.. perhaps I need to watch his impact episode ;)

[rich grsc]

Having build three cars, and helping many other friends with their builds, I have never needed or used an air impact. It wasn't till a year ago I bought a DeWalt battery 1/2" impact. It works as good as I could ask for, it'll easily reach 250#.

[CaptB]

With today's cordless technology battery tools are top notch. I built my Cobra using only battery operated. Where I miss a compressor is blowing/cleaning things off. Otherwise everything in my shop is cordless. For big things like lugs etc, the Harbor Freight Earthquake XT has been the cat's meow.

[Railroad]

Maybe a little off topic, but to get max effort from my air impacts, I let the compressor reach max psi and put a couple of drops of oil in the coupling of the air impact wrench.
Next time you get a tough one, try it. It works.

[svassh]

Both get the job done. The cordless have obvious convenience over the air but the air tools are generally cheaper. If you go air just make sure you get a decent sized compressor the little 5 gallon ones won't run many of the air tools and if they do not for long.

[Fman]

Electric is definitely the way to go but you still need a compressor for "air" to do other tasks. Both are great to have.

[BrewCityCobra]

Agree with Fman completely.

I have one of each and they both have their advantages.

The electric impactor is much more user friendly and portable (especially for track days). That said, I have a larger IR pneumatic impactor I bring out when serious muscle is needed. I find it is nice to have both but I only had the pneumatic for a long time and that worked perfectly well.

[DanQ]

I love watching "Project Farm" The guy is really unbiased. I could easily work for him any day.

[tonywy]

Milwaukee is the way to go. I have both Ingersol Rand air and Milwaukee battery, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 ". I work in the heavy truck industry and 9 out of 10 tech's are using Milwaukee.

[sread]

For all you guys that say you never needed an impact to build a car, that may be true - but if you work on cars, a quality impact gun is indispensable.

[CraigS]

I really like my battery drills and little 3/8 drive impact but I don't like the prices. The 3/8 is an old Craftsman that used to match my drills. Only one drill left and it now shares the last battery w/ the 3/8. Of course the batteries are no longer available. My makita drills still work great but are a lot more expensive now. I used to buy batteries on sale but usually just bought another drill on sale for $99 incl battery and charger. I was looking 2 weeks ago thinking maybe another. They didn't have any of the combi packs at all, the bare drill is now $139 and I didn't bother looking at batteries.

[K-man]

After getting my Milwaukee fuel battery tools I got rid of all my air tools at home and at work. Just can't beat the battery tools. Only air tool I kept is a rivet gun and cut off wheel

[MB750]

Sort of related, but speaking of electric... Back in 2002ish I bought a Bosch cordless drill, 18 VDC, with lithium batteries. Ever since I started drilling holes for aluminum panels I've noticed just how bad the batteries have gotten, so I swapped out the internal cells.

For over $100 I could have bought two new packs for my drill. Same capacity (1.5Ah). For $80 I got 10, Molicell 18650 cells rated at 2.8Ah, a small spot welder, and some .15mm nickel strip on eBay and rebuilt them. Now they have almost twice the capacity for less money.

I'm still surprised the OG cells lasted as long as they did though. I did a capacity test on 5 of the 10 removed and they still had 80% capacity.

[mikeinatlanta]

Just retired after 43 years of aviation. Have the very best of air tools money can buy. Air still rules for rivet gun, 1/4" drill, 90 grinder, and other assorted stuff. Cordless impacts are the way to go. One very high-quality compact and one big bolt busting one. You can skip some of the big one quality for occasional home use, but the compact will be your normal go to tool so get the best you can afford (except Snap-On, that red paint is overpriced). I have a compact Dewalt and Milwaukee fuel big one.

[emac]

Like @mikeinatlanta, I have some air tools and a good many electric. Dewalt 1/2 20v impact gets most stuff off. The good thing about electric is being able to go rescue someone with a flat, or carry it in the car. Just more convenient and the power has gotten a lot better over the years.

[rich grsc]

Like @mikeinatlanta, I have some air tools and a good many electric. Dewalt 1/2 20v impact gets most stuff off. The good thing about electric is being able to go rescue someone with a flat, or carry it in the car. Just more convenient and the power has gotten a lot better over the years.
Right! Good luck carrying around your air compressor. ;)

[sread]

if you're on the fence, Rigid /Home Depot have a smokin' deal going on right now - buy the 1/2 drive impact for $249 (includes 18v batt and charger) and take your pick of about 10 other tools for free. I added the 7 1/4 in circular saw (reg $199) All Rigid tools carry lifetime warranty/service including batteries and charger.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/N-5yc1vZ7/Ntk-skupartialsearch/Ntt-r86012k?NCNI-5&sortby=bestmatch&sortorder=none&utm_campaign=Extended_Reach_Ratchets_NA&utm_content=touchpoint_1_message_a&utm_medium=email&utm_source=zaius

[JJK]

For those not aware, orange Ridgid tools are made by Milwaukee (red Ridgid made by Ridgid). I have been using them for years for woodworking and they have transitioned seamlessly for this build.

[Yellville]

I have both and haven't used the pneumatic stuff in a long time. I still wouldn't want to be without the compressor for blowing things out and cleaning the shop.