Dewalt Drill Question

[KTNC]

I am looking to upgrade from a 3/8 Dewalt drill to a 1/2 Dewalt DCD995 XR hammer drill. The drill will get moderate use, but I intend to also use the tool with sockets for quick tire removal, bolt removal, etc...

I can't really justify having a separate drill and cordless impact for the limited use they would get, so would like one really good drill that can do both...

So my question is, is the above drill a good choice for what I need?

 

[jallyn]

I don't think it will work for sockets and especially lug nuts. As you stated this is a hammer drill which seems similar to an impact wrench but are not the same. Hammer drills are high-speed/low-torque compared to impact wrenches. Hammer drills are necessary for drilling in concrete and can do regular drilling/driving just fine but I have never heard of them being used in place of an impact wrench... say for removing lug nuts.

 

[morgantm]

Correct, you would want a impact driver and even then there are not very many that are powerful enough to remove lug nuts. Majority of the brushless Dewalts and Milwaukees top out around 1200 in/lb which is only 100 ft/lb.

 

[JonnyMac]

Many years ago when impact cordless stuff came out i thought i couldnt justify the impact driver option... until i tried it!!
Dewalt make an awesome compact impact wrench (slide battery range) which i think is very cheap, around $150.
Alternatively you could get an impact driver and use the square drive adapters, which are a couple of bucks, to use sockets with. Ive never used this method to get lug nuts off but the adapter will only cause a small loss in torque...
But overall i doubt whether the drill will provide the breakoff torque you are looking for...