Customer Reviews

Milwaukee 9072-20 1/2-Inch Impact Wrench

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I used this wrench to remove the front wheel axle nuts on my car, so I could replace the CV half shafts. The torque spec on these nuts is 174-224 ftlbs, and the wrench spun them off with ease. It hammered for less than a second and the nuts were off. Obviously it removed the lug nuts easily as well. There's a couple of minor annoyances. The forward/reverse switch is backwards from every drill I've used - you move it to the right to loosen, left to tighten. This isn't hard to get used to, but it also doesn't have enough resistance to being moved. A couple of times I bumped the switch from right to left without realizing it, and hammered the lug nut for about a second before I realized I was tightening. If you're right-handed, it's easy to bump the switch from right to left while you're moving your hand to drop a nut out of the socket. It would be safer for right-handed people if left was loosen. I learned to check the position of the switch before every use, and be careful to put my index finger low on the trigger, away from the forward/reverse switch. The other annoyance is that the shank doesn't seem to be quite big enough, so a deep socket precesses noticeably when you pull the trigger. This doesn't hurt anything when you have the socket on a nut, but it bugs me. It could be the cheap impact sockets I'm using, or maybe all impact wrenches do this. I also wish that the tool included a little T-handled punch to press the detent pin when taking off a socket. I use a 6mm hex key.

I don't use it to tighten - there's no reliable way to know what torque you'll wind up with. I turn it to the lowest speed setting and spin the lug nuts on until they're snug, then use a torque wrench to tighten them to spec. The manual says to practice until you can estimate the torque from the duration of hammering, but I can't see how this would be reliable. The ability to specify the torque would be nice, but I've never see an impact wrench that has that feature.

I'm happy with the tool and recommend it. I've had it only a week, and I've only done one job with it, so I can't say how reliable it is. It seems to be solidly built, so I expect it to hold up well.

I bought this tool so I could work on my car. i don't have an air compressor nor did i want to invest in the money to buy one and all the accesories you have to buy with it like air hoses, air tool oil, etc. This tool does the job for me. The best thing about this impact is the variable speed dial. It really puts you in control of the torque output. It's got 12 settings (if you count the lowest setting as 1) and I only need to put it on level 5 or 6 to rip off my lug nuts at 76 ft lbs. So far i haven't found anything it can't loosen on my car. I recommendd getting a 16 foot extension cord cuz the 10 foot cord supplied with it is not long enough. it's pretty much maintenance free too. No oiling or greasing until the motor brushes get worn (which will take quite a while to wear out) then u just send the tool back to milwaukee and they replace the brushes and regrease it. i only have 2 gripes about this tool. 1. there is no electric brake on the tool. So instead of the impact stopping when the fastener spins off it keeps spinning. there have been several times when my lug nuts have flew off and almost hit me in the face while impacting them off, but that's why I wear safety goggles. 2. the tool is rather bulky and long, almost 12 inches long so it's not very compact and doesn't fit in tight spaces real well. Aside from those things its a damn good investment if u do your own car repair, and i got free shipping from amazon, so I'm happy with my purchase.

I have used the impact wrench to rotate tires on my pick up as well as remove lawn mower blades. This is my first experience with an electric impact wrench and I have been very pleasantly surprised. When purchasing this unit, I was envisioning that it would work, but not as well as some of the pneumatic wrenches that I have worked with. Again, I was taken aback by the torque and responsiveness, and am very happy with the performance. I would recommend the variable speed unit, I am glad that I spent the extra few $ for this option.

I ended up ordering this because I already had a 3.5 amp electric impact wrench from Canadian Tire. But that thing couldn't make any bolts budge. So I ordered this on Wednesday and got it Friday via Prime. I was in the process of replacing suspension at all 4 corners on a new (to me) 2002 VW Golf. The suspension components I was removing were original, so all of the bolts had been on there for about 9 years. I did the first 3 corners manually, with a breaker bar and a long piece of black iron pipe to get leverage. That was a very stupid idea because I ended up screwing up my left elbow joint as a result. And I'm left handed. Not good!

After a lot of hemming and hawing, I decided that spending the money on this impact wrench would be cheaper than screwing up other body parts. So Saturday morning, I started working on the last corner, the driver's side of the car. This involved removing very rusty bolts on the lower control arm and the bottom strut mount. On the passenger side, the lower strut nut was a big part of messing up my elbow joint. I put this tool with an 18mm socket on the lower strut nut and counterheld it with an 18mm box combination wrench. I actually started the wrench off in the wrong direction and thought it didn't have enough power to remove the seized nut... But after a few seconds, I realized it was going the wrong way! So I put it into "REVERSE" (works better that way) and put it back on the bolt. Pressed the trigger and it still didn't seem to be doing anything. But I gave it about 5 seconds and it blasted the nut off like it was nothing! I was impressed! I then put it on the front control arm bolt and it blasted that bolt off immediately. Same thing with the rear control arm bolt. Keep in mind that the control arm bolts are torqued to 52 ft-lbs + 1/4 turn at the factory. That coupled with 9 years of road salt made for some very rusty hardware. But the 9072-20 handled them without a problem.

So while I wasn't happy with spending the money on it at first, I'm glad I did. I'll be tackling the suspension on my wife's 2000 Jetta soon. With the 9072-20, I'm a lot less stressed about how difficult it will be and how long it will take because this thing will make your life a lot easier if you're doing car repairs on a car that lives in a salty area. I also recommend the 1/2" Ingersoll-Rand impact socket set that Amazon sells, those are some good sockets.

As others have said, my complaints are the lack of a brake mechanism, and also the backwards forward/reverse switch. But other than those two minor things, it's great! So buy it if you want a tool that will make quick work of seized fasteners.

One last thing - Make sure you wear ear and eye protection when operating this thing. It's very loud when operating, and it's always easier to buy new safety glasses than it is a new eye ball (or two) if something comes flying off.

This Milwaukee 1/2" impact helped my brother and I remove lower control arms off a 1998 Honda Civic. The bolts holding the lower rear arms were big and beefy. I would of cried having to do it on the floor without the help of this gun. It is kind of bulky in some tighter areas but you could always buy yourself a smaller 3/8" cordless impact for small bolts or screws. I was satisfied with the torque output this small electric motor can put out. I'd recommend this to anyone who doesn't own an air compressor but wants the ability to use an impact to speed up their work. Get a long heavy gauge extension cord and you're set! (assuming you already have impact sockets)

I'd like to see how it holds up in a busy shop environment, it'd be interesting to see if it could take the abuse. So far this one has held up great for me.

Building an oak log home, I had been using a pneumatic wrench to drive the 2 1/2" X 5/8 lag bolts that hold the beams to the logs supporting the second level. This drives the bolts about twice as fast as the air gun, very easy to handle. I forsee lots of use in this project and others.

I used this to take the bolts off when I redid my trucks leaf springs and it had no problem removing them, even the really rusty ones.. Blows right through the wheel lugs like nothing. The adjustable speed feature is nice for when you don't want to go crazy on something. Two small negatives are that 1- it doesn't come with a case, and 2- it is very easy to accidentally hit the forward reverse selector switch without knowing it when your maneuvering the thing around. Other than that, its a great tool and a solid alternative to a pneumatic impact.

Xmas gift for hubby. this was better than we thought. its been 6 months and the thing is still like new.

Love this impact wrench! I work on my cherolet blazer all the time and does a good job getting those stuck rusted bolts off no problem! Did extensive research and was torn between the dewalt and milwaukee and glad I choose the milwaukee!

I was kind of skeptical about an electric impact wrench, knowing they are not quiet as powerful as the air tools. But I had no trouble at all taking the lug nuts off my wheels which were torqued at 100 FP. As with any impact wrench, I would not recommend of course installing anything with it due to over torqueing and maybe stripping a bolt or nut. Also, get off your wallet and buy some good American made sockets. I've had the imports crack on me.