Impact Wrench and Torque

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Spetz

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Hi everyone,

I recently bought a Milwaukee M12 impact wrench.
It is stated as "339nm breakaway torque" and 160nm tightening torque.

I read up on breakaway torque and I am unsure of its validity.

I am not too fussed on the tightening torque as the impact wrench is primarily to get bolts undone for me.

Can someone clear a couple of things up for me:
1. Is tightening torque the only important figure here? In the sense that it can only exert 160nm of "untightening" torque?
2. If there were another impact wrench with 300nm tightening torque but the exact same 339nm breakaway torque, which would get a stuck bolt undone easier?


I am considering exchanging it for a Ryobi or a Makita.
Ryobi is well priced but I am unsure how good they are
 
Is it powerful enough for your purpose?

M12 is borderline for lug nuts. I have a M12 Fuel and it won't remove lugs tightened to 80ft-lbs. I bought a M18 Fuel mid-torque for the use of most things under the car and it's a better tool for the job.

M12 is great for anything under the hood and body work since it's light and small.

My opinion is that you need more than 12V for under car work. If the fastener is bigger than 15mm, step up.
 
It's use is for a car, primarily suspension I'd say.
I tried it and it did remove the bolts I wanted to remove however these bolts were already taken out not long ago.
I am not sure how it would go with suspension bolts that were untouched from the factory.
 
This Makita will do you right, its the one I use more than any other since I bought it. The thing is very underrated going by the numbers. I use it in the rust belt on all sorts of stuff big and small and it never fails to remove the nuts or bolts.
It is small and light for what it is, you can use it all day without strain. For what its worth I highly recommend it, if i broke it tomorrow I would replace it the same day with the same tool.

https://www.amazon.com/Makita-XWT11...t&qid=1560158049&s=hi&sr=1-1
 
Originally Posted by Trav
This Makita will do you right, its the one I use more than any other since I bought it. The thing is very underrated going by the numbers. I use it in the rust belt on all sorts of stuff big and small and it never fails to remove the nuts or bolts.
It is small and light for what it is, you can use it all day without strain. For what its worth I highly recommend it, if i broke it tomorrow I would replace it the same day with the same tool.

https://www.amazon.com/Makita-XWT11...t&qid=1560158049&s=hi&sr=1-1


Great tool! I'm glad I took your advice and bought it.
 
I am cheap , I hace a HF corded impact wrench . Works pretty well for the things ( automotive ) I have used it on .

On the work truck , I have the following M12 tools . Flashlight , drill , impact , saws-all . They are OK for light work .
 
Originally Posted by Spetz
I recently bought a Milwaukee M12 impact wrench.
It is stated as "339nm breakaway torque" and 160nm tightening torque.

I read up on breakaway torque and I am unsure of its validity.

I am not too fussed on the tightening torque as the impact wrench is primarily to get bolts undone for me.

Can someone clear a couple of things up for me:
1. Is tightening torque the only important figure here? In the sense that it can only exert 160nm of "untightening" torque?
2. If there were another impact wrench with 300nm tightening torque but the exact same 339nm breakaway torque, which would get a stuck bolt undone easier?


I am considering exchanging it for a Ryobi or a Makita.
Ryobi is well priced but I am unsure how good they are



Are you already invested in any brand and voltage? 18V/20V is clearly the better choice for suspension/etc larger fasteners, many like axle nuts may have torque specs approaching if not above 200 ft lbs (271 Nm). Breakaway ratings are dubious, compare against tightening torque and be glad to have extra margin, including accounting for lower power as the battery drains.

I have the Ryobi 1/2" and it does fine for what I need of it, but bought that because I already had several Ryobi tools. It's well built but not at the same level as Makita or Milwaukee. I consider it a good value (for occasional use not all day every day pro use) and it's done the job on every faster I've tasked it with (including axle nuts) but would not buy that if it's going to be the only 18V Ryobi tool you own. At 300 ft-lbs I consider it the minimum threshold that's acceptable for suspension work, which typically gets done after rust has set in.

For smaller fasteners, under hood/etc, I'd go with a 1/4" impact driver instead of an impact wrench, of the same brand, building a set that uses same batteries and charger, then you can pick up bare tools for that set cheaper.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by AntsinmyEyes
The Milwaukee m12 stubby is a good choice too.

Cheaper, newer, lighter, and more powerful than the Makita listed above

https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Li...s-Batteries/dp/B07HCTXHZZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_4



That's the one I bought - The issue is that nowhere is the fastening torque advertised and when I went through the manual it turns out it is only 160nm which is pretty low.

I am leaning towards the Makita. Anything more powerful is becoming too big and heavy. I would eventually like to have an ankle impact wrench too but that can wait.
 
Originally Posted by AntsinmyEyes
The Milwaukee m12 stubby is a good choice too.

Cheaper, newer, lighter, and more powerful than the Makita listed above

https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Li...s-Batteries/dp/B07HCTXHZZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_4


On paper only, 250 ft.-lbs. of break away torque is meaningless. The Makita can remove rusted F250 lugs, they tested it and it delivers a lot more than advertised not like others who sell the sizzle of high numbers but have less steam in the shovel.

BTW the Makita delivered over 300 ft.lb in one test I saw before I bought it, real torque not break away. Judging from what I have done with it I have to say it seems pretty accurate. I use 5A batteries. Check this out, this is the previous model and similar and the same specs.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Trav
Originally Posted by AntsinmyEyes
The Milwaukee m12 stubby is a good choice too.

Cheaper, newer, lighter, and more powerful than the Makita listed above

https://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Li...s-Batteries/dp/B07HCTXHZZ/ref=mp_s_a_1_4


On paper only, 250 ft.-lbs. of break away torque is meaningless. The Makita can remove rusted F250 lugs, they tested it and it delivers a lot more than advertised not like others who sell the sizzle of high numbers but have less steam in the shovel.

BTW the Makita delivered over 300 ft.lb in one test I saw before I bought it, real torque not break away. Judging from what I have done with it I have to say it seems pretty accurate. I use 5A batteries. Check this out, this is the previous model and similar and the same specs.


I use mine and like it a lot. Well worth the money imo. The size and weight is perfect.
 
I did end up buying the DTW285 Makita.
I've not used it yet but 100% the Milwaukee M12 Fuel 1/2" was lighter and better balanced.

I hope the torque advantage of the Makita is worth the extra size, weight etc.

I've never used a cordless impact wrench before but the Milwaukee felt perfect when I used it, the Makita less so, it seems to have lots of weight that isn't balanced as well as the Milwaukee.

How much more torque would it have over the Milwaukee?
 
Trav, do you use bigger or smaller batteries?

I would guess, it's bigger ones. I bought the smaller batteried kit and I am very happy with the weight, balanced and performance. The Milwaukee stubby did not deliver for me, and I am a DIYer; it is lighter and more compact though, but not as torqy. I have other Milwaukee tools, those are M18, but I don't mind having different brands. Looks like it is impossible to keep everything under a single brand umbrella anyways. Thank you for your recommendation, the tool really delivers.
 
I have 3A and 5A batteries about 10 of them now, some go all the way back to 2008 and all are still holding a good charge.
For smaller jobs I use the 3A and for jobs that I am going to use it all day the 5A holds up a long time.
 
Originally Posted by Trav
This Makita will do you right, its the one I use more than any other since I bought it. The thing is very underrated going by the numbers. I use it in the rust belt on all sorts of stuff big and small and it never fails to remove the nuts or bolts.
It is small and light for what it is, you can use it all day without strain. For what its worth I highly recommend it, if i broke it tomorrow I would replace it the same day with the same tool.

https://www.amazon.com/Makita-XWT11...t&qid=1560158049&s=hi&sr=1-1


Now that I've had a chance to use mine, all I can say is WOW!

This impact handles lug nuts/bolts with ease.

It's small. And light.

Lasts all day on a single 3.0 battery.

(I've got quite a few 18v Li-ion Makita batteries. Some 5.0 Ah, some 3.0).

This is so much better than an air impact... I had no idea...
 
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