(engine revs)
(tires squeal)
(Jeremiah laughs)
- I think this thing's about to catch on fire.
(wrench whines)
- We're testing impact wrenches today,
$120 Harbor Freight vs. $370 Milwaukee.
- Vs. $800 Snap-on electric impact wrench.
Do you really have to spend a bunch of money
to get the right tool for the job?
- Do you?
- I don't know, Jerry let's find out.
(upbeat music)
- Today we're going to be testing
three different impact wrenches
at three different price points
to figure out which one is the best bang for your buck.
So Zach, why would you even want an impact wrench
in the first place?
Well, if you're going to be working on your car,
especially working on it a lot,
you're going to have to bust some nuts along the way.
Now, sure, you can just use an old fashioned hand ratchet
and your big old muscles.
But, come on, power tools,
that's way cooler, and it makes it way easier.
And it'll save you some knuckle skin along the way.
3/8s impact wrenches are relatively compact,
but they can bust relatively tight nuts.
And these guns boast some pretty high torque figures.
So, let's take a look at our actual contestants here
and see what we chose.
(hip hop music)
- Our bottom tier impact wrench,
we have the Bauer from Harbor Freight.
Is a 20 volt, 325 ft-lbs of breakaway torque.
- [Zach] Wow.
And the middle category we've got the Milwaukee M18,
18 volt, 250 ft-lbs of breakaway torque.
- [Jeremiah] Oh, okay. Less.
- [Zach] Little bit less. Interesting.
And then in the super high price category,
we've got the Snap-on.
After taxes, this thing was $926.
- [Jeremiah] Whoo!
- [Zach] And it boasts 240 ft-lbs of breakaway torque.
(piano music)
- [Jeremiah] Interesting.
- [Zach] Quite.
Honestly, for the wild price differences we have here,
they don't seem that much different in the hand.
- I kind of want to know how they work better.
- You wanna take one apart with me?
- Yeah, let's take one apart.
Let's use one to take apart the other.
- That's a great idea.
(gentle music)
(wrench hums)
Step one. Bit mad.
- [Jeremiah] Just use your hands.
- [Zach] What are you doing?
- All right. There's the snouts.
- So what do we got going on under that snout, man?
- Okay, so we got couple of things going on here.
This is made out of three parts here.
- Mm hm.
- We have right here our anvil.
This is our hammer.
And then our little spring.
As this all rotates, once it senses a load on it,
this assembly drops.
- [Zach] Compresses that spring and snaps over.
- And then it smacks it.
- [Zach] Thwacks into the hammer.
- And that's the impact part-
- [Zach] Yeah.
- Of and impact wrench.
- [Zach] When you're using a regular old school ratchet,
you know, you smack it a few times to break a nut loose.
- Yep.
- [Zach] That's basically this part.
But this thing can do it like 50 times a second-
- [Jeremiah] Yep.
- With just the pull of the trigger, so that's pretty cool.
Let's take the Snap-on apart.
(Jeremiah laughs)
- [Jeremiah] You know, we have a third gun in there, right?
- [Zach] I know.
(Jeremiah laughs)
- [Jeremiah] Whoa.
- Whoa.
So looking at these, like this is a lot thicker here.
And everything's definitely slightly beefier.
But honestly, I don't see a $700 price difference.
- Not yet. Looks are only one part of the equation.
- And they can be deceiving.
- Yes.
So why don't we get to the deceiving part
and put them to the test?
- [Zach] So, we're going to be testing these things
in a few different categories.
First, we're going to test their power abilities.
Then we're going to test their battery abilities.
And then we're going to test their durability ability.
I'm going to be surprised if any of them survive.
(upbeat music)
- So one of the most common places
you're going to be using one of these impact wrenches
is for your lugs on your tires.
So Jobe, you've tightened these, right?
- That's correct. 90 ft-lbs.
- And we're gonna see how long it takes me
to break it just with a standard tire iron
and compare that against these power tools
also checking to see if there're any difference
between these three.
- Are you ready? - Ready.
- Three, two, one, go!
(fast-paced music)
Dang.
(metal clatters)
All right.
I missed by a tenth of a second.
We'll go 5.3 seconds.
Not too bad, Jared,
but I think we're going to be able to improve on that.
- First one we're going to test: Harbor Freight.
- Ready?
- Ready.
- Three, two, one.
(wrench rattles)
Wow.
(Jeremiah laughs)
1.44 seconds.
- And you were a little slow on that too.
- I am slow.
- Okay. Next we have our mid tier, the old Milwaukee M18.
- Three, two, one.
(wrench rattles)
1.32.
- Okay.
- And I was pretty on it there.
- You were on it on that for sure.
So now we have our top tier, Snap-on, 900 plus bones.
Here we go. - Are we ready?
Three, two, one.
(wrench rattles)
(nut clatters)
Wow. 2.66.
Okay.
Well, they all managed to get the lug nuts off
with some surprising results in terms of time.
Onto the next test.
- Let's go.
(funk music)
For the second part of this test
we wanted to find the highest amount of raw breakaway power
these guns are capable of, time not withstanding.
So we fastened a series of bolts to our welding table
and torqued them down starting at 150 pound feet
and increasing in 25 pound feet increments.
The gun that breaks the tightest bolt wins.
Now, if the factory ratings are anything to go by,
the Harbor Freight Bauer should make it out of this test
on top.
Although, I'd be surprised if that's what we see.
- Any predictions?
- This little bad boy has been just ripping and gripping.
So I'm going to say it goes all the way up into 250.
I'm going to say it.
- All right.
I'm gonna go, actually, with the Snap-On.
I think this might have the most breakaway power.
It's got that beefy hammer in there.
I'm hoping this is where it shows its value.
- Okay. Let's start off with our old Harbor Freight.
Shall we?
Okay, here we go.
Three, two, one.
(wrench rattles)
(graphic dings)
- Wow.
- Nothing?
- Is not moving my hand, but.
- Yeah, if it's not moving your hand,
it ain't moving this.
- 275's it, huh?
- Yep, 275.
Let's see what Milwaukee can do.
(wrench rattles)
(graphic dings)
She can't do it, Jobe.
- [Zach] No way!
It started to, I thought.
- Let's try.
(wrench rattles)
Oh.
(graphic dings)
- [Zach] You gotta have faith!
(wrench rattles)
(graphic dings)
- Not even moving her.
(wrench rattles)
Can't do it.
275, we're at a draw so far.
- Yeah, but, you know when you think about it,
that beats it's listed nut bust ability.
Take a bow, Milwaukee.
- All right. Last round.
Mr. Snap-on, the big daddy dollars.
- Man, if we could break through 300, that would be big.
- Yeah.
- But I don't know if I think it's gonna.
I'm gonna say no.
- Ready.
(wrench rattles)
(graphic dings)
It can't do it.
- She doesn't have it in her.
Everybody had 275. They're all in the same ballpark.
- You would think if you're going to spend
800, 900 plus bucks,
it would give you a little bit more performance.
But as we can see here, same, same.
- But, also, it met its claimed rating, and exceeded it.
So these two met their rating.
This one did not,
even though they all broke the same tightness loose
at 275 ft-lbs.
I mean, I don't know why they're trying to claim
such high numbers.
275 would sound fine if they said that.
- Regardless...
- But, the fact is it played with the big boys.
- Yeah.
- And that's saying something.
So, currently for me,
I'm gonna say Milwaukee's in the lead.
(funk music)
All right, so for our battery test,
here's what we've got,
some wood and a bunch of different size lag bolts
ranging from kind of big to ridiculously big.
So, what we're going to do here
is drive these lag bolts down
with each of the different guns with a fresh battery
and see who drives the most lag bolt.
(drum rolls)
She's gonna be loud.
(funk music)
(wrench hums)
Oh, that's smoking.
(both laugh)
We still got two thirds of a battery,
but that seems to be as about as deep
as it wants to take those.
(wrench rattles)
I think this thing's about to catch on fire.
(wrench rattles)
Oh, that's a lot of smoke.
- This isn't even the torture test.
(Jeremiah laughs)
(wrench rattles)
- I think she chooched her last chooch.
Still says I got two thirds of a battery.
- I think it probably shuts down due to temperature.
- Oh yeah.
Hopefully it is just that
and it's not permanently shut down.
Shoot.
- That's pretty hot. That's a oven, man.
We're baking.
Let's put our midway Milwaukee to the test.
Let's see what it can do.
- I'm hoping it just doesn't melt.
- Let's do it.
(funk music)
(wrench whines)
(wrench rattles)
- You've been on one bar of battery life
for like four of these bolts.
I can't believe what I'm witnessing.
(wrench whines)
(wrench rattles)
That's as far as she's going down,
but we've still got battery left.
So why don't you start taking them out
and see when this thing dies.
(funk music)
(wrench hums)
(wrench rattles)
- There we did it.
- Did it die?
- It died.
- Finally!
We didn't smoke it.
- Just drained the battery.
And that was a lot of work.
- I'd like to see if Snap-on can beat it.
- Is the price going to be able to match the performance?
- I kinda don't think so.
There's only one way to find out, Gerald.
(funk music)
(wrench rattles)
Three battery bars left.
Two battery bars.
(wrench rattles)
What's the cause, Doc?
Battery death!
- Let me measure this temperature.
It got up to 323 on the tip.
- Shoot, that's hot.
And we didn't even make it to the big dog.
I gotta call this a pretty clear winner.
- Yeah. That's an easy win for the big M.
(electronic music)
(graphic dings)
(buzzer beeps)
And this wouldn't be a Donut video
if we didn't push these things to the absolute limit,
to the point of failure.
95% of the time
your gonna be taking real good care of these things.
But 5% of the time you're gonna be using them
in a way that they weren't intended, or just dropping it.
- Welcome to the drop test.
Jerry, drop that Harbor Freight tool on the ground.
(wrench thumps)
(glass shatters)
- Ugh.
- It's okay.
- It looks like it did all right.
(wrench thumps)
(Jeremiah laughs)
Oh.
- Up next, Milwaukee.
(wrench thumps)
Snap-on.
(wrench thumps)
Let me see a kickflip, can you get it to do a...
(wrench thumps)
Kickflip!
(wrench whines)
- Still working.
(wrench hums)
Still working.
(wrench whines)
All right. Pretty cool, they work.
What about, like, I don't know, you're working on your car,
you forget a tool and then you run it over!
- I do that all the time.
Yeah, Jerry!
(tires squeal)
(Zach laughs)
Back her up.
(wrench hums)
(Jeremiah laughs)
No big deal. Pretty impressive.
You also might sometimes leave your tools outside
where it rains. - Yeah.
- Here goes the Bauer.
(wrench whines)
(water splashes)
Sometimes all it takes is a heavy rain. Okay.
See how the Milwaukee does.
(wrench whines)
Ejecto watero!
- Yeah, this is the way to clean it
when you get a little mud on it.
- Yeah.
No big deal for the Milwaukee.
- Snap-on
(wrench hums)
(water splashes)
Oh. (Jeremiah laughs)
- I heard it.
- Locked up. She's a goner.
- All right, so we've killed two.
- Yeah, well we still got the old Milwaukee.
(wrench whines)
- All right, so the Milwaukee
has handily outlasted its competitors.
So now it's time to test the age old problem
of what happens when you drop your tool in a pond
real quick.
(wrench hums)
(water splashes)
(upbeat music)
- Oh!
(wrench hums)
Give her a second clean out.
(water splashes)
Yeah!
(wrench whines)
(water splashes)
- This thing doesn't seem to give a (beep) about anything.
(Jeremiah laughs)
It just keeps on going, Oh my God.
Jerry, I think we've got a winner.
- If you weren't convinced of what was the winner
by the previous test, I hope that this does it for you.
- I thought that was a guaranteed death sentence.
- Dude, I am soaked and happy about it.
(Jeremiah laughs)
(graphic dings)
(crowd cheers)
- Well, Jer, we did it.
We set out to test a few tools
in a few different categories,
and by golly, we did.
- And that's what this is all about,
trying to find the best tool for the money.
And this one takes the cake.
- I think that all of these tools,
if you use them normally,
it would probably last a lot longer
than these did here today.
And, you know, as we saw in the power test,
they're all pretty similar in that sense.
- Thank you guys so much for watching the tool party.
If there are other types of tools you want to see us review,
you want to see us dunk in the old fish tank,
put a comment down below.
- Follow Jeremiah @jeremiahburton on Instagram.
Follow me @zachjobe.
Follow Donut @donutmedia.
And we'll see you guys in a little while.
(gentle music)