Choosing the right impact driver: buying guide

The impact screwdriver is a portable power tool especially for professionals. What is the difference with a screwdriver drill? The screwdriver drill is especially intended for drilling and simple screwing. The impact driver is used to tighten a bolt, for example, with great force. If you were to do the same job with a regular drill screwdriver, your screwdriver will spin but stop by jamming. While the impact driver with a much higher torque will be able to tighten much harder. In addition to screwing, it will generate shocks to optimize tightening. What is an impact driver? How to choose the right impact driver? Here is our buying guide.

impact driver buying guide

What is an impact driver?

An impact driver or more commonly known as an impact wrench or screwdriver. We'll be using these 3 terms in our guide and ranking of the 5 best impact drivers.
An impact screwdriver has the same ergonomics as a screwdriver. What sets it apart from a screwdriver is the speed and high torque.
An impact driver allows tightening screws or nuts with high torque, such as tightening rim bolts. It will be useful for you to bolt and unbolt. Its principle is screwing accompanied by an impaction or percussion in order to force the screwing.
It performs tightening by shocking or impacting the screw or nut. An impact driver is also called an impact wrench.
An impact wrench will be supplied with different sizes of socket to fit the screw nut.
The impact driver will be electric either on battery or corded. It could also be pneumatic.

For what use should I choose an impact driver?

All professionals will be able to use an impact screwdriver. Its functions are the tightening and unscrewing of screws or nuts.
The impact driver can be used for HUS type concrete screws, self-drilling screws, frame screws. The work required of the impact driver will be force and speed. The screws to be fixed are often to be screwed in hard materials. This allows to work and not to damage the threads or nuts.
It can be used by electricians, plumbers, heating engineers, carpenters, but also plasterers. It will also be used in automobile mechanics, aeronautics, ...
For example, it will allow mechanics to remove a wheel in order to change tires. You may have had to remove a tire from time to time and the nut is rusty or worn. With a classic key it is sometimes impossible to disassemble it, so there the unbolting machine takes its place.
There may be times when you need to tighten with precision, then there you will need a torque wrench.

Which impact driver to choose according to the uses?

Classic drill screwdriverImpact screwdriver
Food Corded or on battery Wired / battery operated / pneumatic
No-load speed20008000
Max torque 801500
Screw / Unscrew nuts NOTYES
Screw in plasterboard YESYES
Tire assembly / disassembly NOTYES
Fix frame YESYES
Self-drilling screwsYESYES
Frame screws NOTYES
Concrete screws YESYES

The different types of impact screwdrivers

Impact wrenches will be of different types.
You will have electric power (corded or battery) or pneumatic (connected to a compressor) bolters.
Then impact screwdrivers will be different in terms of torque and price.

Which range, which brand and which price for the impact driver?

The three ranges will be distinguished above all by their price, their accessories, the lifespan of the batteries and accessories.

Entry level allow the most traditional work to be carried out, such as tightening nuts or screws. The torque will often be lower than mid and high-end machines. The average price will be 60 €.

The best value for money will be intended for DIY enthusiasts who will have to screw with regular shocks. IN general the torque will be higher than the entry level. You will have all types of food for this range. Prices are between 80 and 200 €.

The professional range will rather be for do-it-yourselfers or professionals who use impact wrenches regularly and who need tightening and loosening force. For example, people working on tires, on construction, in electricity. The prices are rather from 300 €.

The best brands of impact drivers

Bosch, Ryobi, Makita or even DeWalt will be the best known brands and the most appreciated by DIY enthusiasts.

If you are interested in unbolting machines, we offer you an article with the 5 best impact drivers.

What are the criteria for choosing the right impact wrench?

Here are the essential criteria to look at before buying an impact driver:

Diet

Depending on your use, you will favor wired or not.
You have the choice between electric or pneumatic.
Electricity will be either by wire or by battery. Wired is useful when you work with it all day and have an electrical outlet available.
The wireless will be interesting on sites outside or for short uses.
The pneumatic or compressed air will provide the best torque. It will be necessary to make sure that your compressor will provide enough bars in order to have a good use of your impact wrench. It will be useful for professionals in mechanics, aeronautics, ...

Battery and autonomy

If you opt for wireless, that is to say on battery, then it is important to look at its autonomy. The autonomy is expressed in ampere hours (Ah). The higher this number, the more autonomy you will have. The new lithium batteries have an excellent autonomy due to their almost absent memory effect. Consider taking an impact wrench that may work with the same battery as your other power tools. The debuncher's charge indicator will show its charge level.

Le couple

The tightening torque expressed in Newton (Nm) will be the most important criterion in a debunking machine. It defines the clamping force. The higher this number, the stronger your screwing force will be. It will often be between 130 and 700 Nm for professional machines.

Speed ​​and impaction per minute

The speed of a screwdriver of an impact wrench will be interesting.
The other important criterion will be the number of shocks or impacts (relative to the tightening speed).

The weight of the screwdriver

The weight of an impact screwdriver must be light, so as not to impact your working difficulty during the day.

Handles

Normally the impact wrench does not require a second handle.

The accessories of an impact driver

Bits or sockets

They will allow to adapt to the screw or nut to be screwed or unscrewed. They must be specific to an impact wrench otherwise they may damage them.

impact driver buying guide

The screws

Use Torx type screws, which are suitable for the impact wrench. Otherwise you risk screwing up the thread with another screw, because the force exerted by an impact driver is much greater than a conventional drill driver.

impact driver buying guide
Torx screws

1 thought on "Choosing the right impact driver: Buying guide"

Leave comments