Impact drivers/ wrenches...the truth.

Thanks bud

I use a fair few of them

I'm loving the smaller 3/8 ones, I only reach for the big one when a Transit or similar rolls in

Can be used for 90% of the nuts you encounter.

I find their real use is not in loosening very tight nuts(as you've discovered, that requires a serious tool), but time and effort saving on larger, multiple fasteners. Suspension work is much more pleasant with even a cheap impact wrench - I have the original Ryobi one - than using ratchets and spanners. I have a 10v Dewalt 3/8 drive one too, which is good for engine work.

The important thing to consider with cordless tools is the batteries: buy into a range, so you can use the batteries in lots of tools. That's why I like the Ryobi stuff; they're probably not up to everyday professional use, but I use the drill, angle grinder, right-angle drill, and impact wrench all the time. I bought some of them used in a job lot for £40, which was a real bargain, and the circular saw surprised me when I used it and and the impact driver to repanel the garden fence with one battery per tool. Not having power leads in the work area for small jobs is a big time saver/safety improvement too.

A colleague of mine was in a commercial vehicle workshop when someone from the car shop borrowed their air impact gun because they couldn't shift the crank bolt on a Citroen they were changing the cam belt on, it got the pulley off complete with the nose of the crank!

Imagine that was a difficult discussion with the customer.

Thanks for all the replies guys.
Appreciate the input. I think a lot of people who use these "guns" tend to be on the trade and use them for speed. I fo most of my work at home on the drive without any time restraints against me.

I'm thinking if getting one for those stupid bolts that just spin with hand tools. Like ARB bolts, ball joints and top mount bolts. Spent a lot of time struggling with these then just ended up.cutting them off.

Socket/extension/adapter wise I have a Halfords set that I use with the guns then just go and swap a broken handful every so often under warranty. Try and use 6 sided sockets, and for male/female torx or Allen keys make sure you're definitely using the right size and give them a tap with a hammer if they look a bit cruddy so they're fully seated. On male torx bolts especially the size bigger than actually needed will undo them with hand tools, try it with a decent gun and it'll just round it instantly.

What cordless impact driver would be suitable for removing wheel nuts and bolts?

We have 3 cars and I'm always short of time so speeding up taking wheels off would be a big help

I've got 3 Makita drivers/guns, an old 1/4 hex that'll do most stuff under M10, then a 1/2" DTW285 that'll do wheel nuts/bolts if they haven't been over tightened, great light gun good for quick wheel swaps

and lastly there's a DTW1002Z, bit of a hefty beast but does crank bolts and big wheel nuts no problem.

the numerical parts of the tool name is the rough Nm tightening force, the big one has a 1600nm nut busting torque.

Our 1/2 Dewalt is much better than our 1/2 snap on one
And as already quoted our air driven one by Mac tools out does them all
Battery power is much better for convenience and our battery ratchets are a god send 😎😎

as for tourqe still trying to convert uga dugas into nm 😂