DEWALT DCF899N-XJ, 18 V XR Brushless 1/2 Inch High Torque Impact Wrench (950 Nm), Bare Unit, Yellow/Black

Pound for pound, this impact wrench is being touted as the best electric wrench money can currently buy. Some reviewers on the net are saying it's as good as, or even better than Snap-on's 18v impact wrench which is 3-4 times the cost. Actually the Dewalt has more tightening torque and breakaway torque than the said Snap-on. Others are even saying you can get rid of your pneumatic impact gun. These positives give you an idea of the calibre of the product.Not really having any substantial jobs on at home where I could put this wrench through its paces, I decided to give this beast a proper trial at work. I'm an engineer on ships and believe me there are plenty of tight rusty bolts on a ship, so where better to test it! So what was the outcome? Well in short I couldn't find any nut or bolt that it could not shift, bearing in mind that I did not test a bolt of more than size M20 as this is the maximum stated size it should be used on. Some bolts / nuts took slightly longer than others, but all in all the wrench goes about its business quite effortlessly.If I am to give it any minuses then it has to be its weight, although it's a balanced tool, it can be heavy to handle in certain situations. One example I can give was when I was undoing an M12 spline head bolt and due to the wrench's weight it sits heavy on the thumb and first finger when upright or angled slightly towards the first finger. So much so that on occasions, the direction switch can be accidently changed by the first finger if the wrench is not gripped tight enough. In my case the function was accidently changed to tighten and in an instant the spine head of the bolt was completely stripped. I must add that the setting was on 3, the highest, at the time. Nevertheless I've still given this beast a rating of 5 as it's partially down to user error.For those who are interested the wrench is manufactured in the PRC. I must say it is a mightily impressive tool with good build quality, how an 18v battery powered tool can achieve what it does is a marvel indeed.

Very happy work, brilliant

As our cars have winter and summer tyres plus the requests from family "dad can you fit new discs/pads to my car" this little item seemed a good idea.The first thing to note is that it is big and heavy so it gives some confidence that it may do the job and it does. A couple of wheels that had been fitted by a tyre dealer with the usual "I can get it even tighter" attitude needed a little help but to complain it failed when it needed a good pull on a metre long wrench to shift the nut is hardly fair. It has handled wheels properly fitted with no problem and makes changing wheels really quick and easy both removing and tightening the nuts. After tightening I have checked the nuts using the normal manufacturer supplied brace and the DeWalt seems to get about the right amount of torque.I have seen comments that it is easy to catch the forward/reverse switch. The switch is in exactly the same place as it is on my DeWalt drill and impact driver so I see no reason why it should be a problem here and so far it hasn't been.I can't comment on battery life as it is for DIY use and has plenty of power to remove and refit a set of tyres so extended use all day is not a requirement for me but as its only in use for a few seconds per tyre. I can't imagine it is heavy on batteries so should last a lot longer than the time it takes to charge a spare.The bottom line is that it does all I need and is a lot more powerful than the air wrench I bought a couple of years back.I find reviews help my purchase decisions. If this helps you please click "helpful" so I know I am not wasting my time. Thanks

I have several power tools from Dewalt and this one is up there with the best of them. Extremely well made and very powerful. This definitely helped me get some maintenance work done on the car which would otherwise have been impossible. The unit is larger than I had expected (considerably larger and heavier than my Dewalt impact driver) - but I was still able to access some difficult to reach bracket bolts on my front brakes.I bought this without a battery since I have several Dewalt batteries already. Battery consumption however seems absolutely fine - nothing to criticise.Recommended.

Excellent power rench

It's an absolute beast ,this thing effortlessly undid the main pully bolt on my Triumph Spitfire in a second Ive seen guys with a scaffold pole on a power bar trying to undo this bolt when I worked in the trade ,it is a bit heavy but it really does the business.

Perfect for the job.

I was rather sceptical about the claims the makers made about the power of this impact wrench but having used it today for the first time I can confirm its brilliant.I had to remove some rusty bolts on my van which most likely had been on since it's manufacture in 2007, it powered through the task with ease even without pre oiling.Highly recommend this unit.