Milwaukee cordless ratchet or impact driver?

[GreaseMonkey45170]

As the title states im alittle confused about which one to pick. Since birthday and Christmas is coming up id like to get into some milwaukee power tools. Theyll be used for light automotive and small engines. Would you guys recommend the 1/4 hex impact driver? what are the perks of it? Im not expecting anything amazing but looking to loosen and tighten 10-14 mm nuts and bolts. Im sure one of their cordless ratchets would be mighty handy at times as well. Any experieced opinions about the two are greatly appreciated! Im sure theres alot that will say get both or get a 3/8 drive impact. I would really like to expand a collection but right now whats the best choice between the impact driver or the ratchet?

 

[FiendFX]

i got both.

 

[GreaseMonkey45170]

i got both.

How do you like them? If u had to choose between the two, which would it be? Which one do you use more?

 

[FiendFX]

I use the cordless ratchet when I'm at work, and I use the 1/4 hex at home. Depending on you job, one will be useful than the other. I use the cordless ratchet more.

 

[GortonsFisherman]

Limiting it to just those two, the 1/4" hex is going to be much more versatile. Though I prefer to use them for what they're really designed, driving screws, you can certainly use it with a socket adapter in many of the same applications as you would the ratchet, but it'll have more torque.

Of all the Milwaukee cordless I own, the ratchets are my least favorite. Slow to run down or off fasteners, and not powerful enough to break much free. Okay for what they are, but not my first choice.

 

[GreaseMonkey45170]

Great info so far! Anybody else? What brand of 1/4 hex to 3/8 drive adapters are you guys using?

 

[kctyphoon]

Great info so far! Anybody else? What brand of 1/4 hex to 3/8 drive adapters are you guys using?

I have the milwaukee shockwave 1/4" hex to 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" square they work great. I also have makita's 1/4" hex to 3/8" and 1/2" square. Difference is the makita has a wobble square drive instead of the straight.. Let's you get into some tighter spots.. I don't use them much, but I belive either set would be equally good.

 

[Hammer1963]

I would get the 1/4" ratchet and a 1/4' square drive impact and not the hex if you are going to be using them for automotive or implement maintenance. Not power loss or wobbly attachments. Just solid power transfer

 

[shockwave]

Get the 1/4 ratchet and the 3/8 fuel impact (with a reduction adapter still shorter than 1/4 square drive adapter) and more power to boot

 

[Voi]

I'd get a short adapter to keep everything as compact as possible. I have both Dewalt and Kobalt adapters in my tool boxes and they are so much longer than they need to be.

There have been a few threads on this and one of the Apex adapters has always been the shortest. The Black and Decker adapters you can get at Walmart are close.

Milwaukee also makes a 1/4" impact wrench that saves you a bit of length out of the box compared to the driver and then without having to use an adapter you save even more overall length.

But you give up some torque on the wrench vs. driver. Whether that difference is for tightening, loosening or both is a question that hasn't been answered as far as I know.

 

[ihateminimumwage]

I have both (plus a lot more). Just put a timing belt, water pump and alternator in my bosses' sons Geo. Used the hell out of the 3/8" ratchet to break everything loose and run it all out. Saved an insane amount of time vs a regular ratchet. The space between the timing cover and fender didn't allow enough space for even my 1/4" square impact.

The M12 is a great little impact driver. Home Depot was running a deal recently for a $99 drill/driver kit with the free XC battery, not sure if it's still active or not. Used a set of Black & Decker socket adapters from Walmart, since they're the shortest off the shelf for the 3/8" & 1/2" (the 1/4" is as long as every other set). It will do you great for automotive and small engine work.

Because of the loss in power and the length with the adapters, I invested in the M12 1/4" & 3/8" impact guns (those are my most used).

Whichever you start with, you'll get hooked on the Milwaukee cordless stuff in no time.

 

[Voi]

Here's one of the threads I was thinking of.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=180283

As another poster said, there are also adapters so you can run a wrench as a 1/4" driver.

 

[ihateminimumwage]

Here's one of the threads I was thinking of.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=180283

As another poster said, there are also adapters so you can run a wrench as a 1/4" driver.

Funny that thread came up.
I did buy a set of the Apex adapters, which were the shortest I'd seen, but I ended up selling them because the pin retainer was a major PITA versus the regular ball retention.

As I said in my previous post, I bought 1/4" & 3/8" M12 Impact guns, so now the driver gets used for screws at home, or I put an adapter on it if I forgot to bring an impact gun from work for a project.

 

[Voi]

Funny that thread came up.
I did buy a set of the Apex adapters, which were the shortest I'd seen, but I ended up selling them because the pin retainer was a major PITA versus the regular ball retention.

As I said in my previous post, I bought 1/4" & 3/8" M12 Impact guns, so now the driver gets used for screws at home, or I put an adapter on it if I forgot to bring an impact gun from work for a project.

Were the Apex adapters any shorter than the Black & Decker?

Do you have any "real world" info about how the loosening power of the 1/4" wrench compares to the driver with an adapter and socket?

Are all of yours M12 non-fuel?

 

[quattroJoe]

I'm going to agree that you're best served by having both the ratchet and impact wrench. The M12 ratchet doesn't have enough torque to break most fasteners loose in that range, and is a bit on the slow side for running them down but still much better than doing it by hand. An M12 impact wrench will laugh at breaking any of those 10-14 mm fasteners loose, but may be overkill tightening them. I've broken a couple fasteners with my M12 3/8 impact wrench.

An impact driver is more geared towards tightening fasteners, while an impact wrench will have more breaking torque. I like the impact wrench for loosening and the ratchet for tightening, but if your budget only allows for one right now the ratchet may be more up your alley: a quick turn to break the fastener loose and then pull the paddle switch to run it off. If you go for the impact wrench, the 3/8 has a bit more torque than the 1/4 if I remember correctly, and 3/8 is more versatile in my opinion. You can always put a reducing adapter on it for 1/4 drive.

 

[ihateminimumwage]

Were the Apex adapters any shorter than the Black & Decker?

Yes, especially the 1/4".
1/4" was 1-3/8" overall length
3/8" was 1-9/16" overall length

Sorry, but I don't have the B&D adapters in front of me to measure for a comparison.

Do you have any "real world" info about how the loosening power of the 1/4" wrench compares to the driver with an adapter and socket?

That I do not. I use it because it's WAY more compact. Between the locking coller for the 1/4" hex, and a 2"+ adapter, you're losing a lot of working room.

Are all of yours M12 non-fuel?

All non-Fuel except for the M12 3/8" impact gun (with XC batteries). It blows away all the other tools I have in power, and (as I witnessed and have stated many times here) could easily keep up with my coworkers' 18v & 20v Dewalt impact drivers. Definitely overkill for engine work and some of the RV and portable Gensets I've been working on, that's where the 1/4" square really shines.