Hitachi has come out with a new 18V brushless 1/2″ impact wrench, model WR18DBDL2 for the kit, WR18DBDL2P4 for the bare tool.
The new Hitachi brushless impact sports some strong specs and appealing features – 255 ft-lbs max torque, 4 speed and torque settings, an LED worklight, and it weighs just 3.3 lbs (with battery). On top of all that, it looks mightily compact.
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Oh, and it’s rated at IP56, meaning it’s pretty well protected against dust and water.
What’s not to like? Well, it is priced at a premium, but the kit does come with 2 of Hitachi’s latest and greatest 3.0Ah compact Li-ion battery pack.
- 255 ft-lbs max torque (3,060 in-lbs)
- Weighs 3.3 lbs
- 4-stage electronic speed control
- 0-2700 RPM (highest setting)
- 0-3600 BPM
- 1/2″ square drive (looks like ring socket retention)
- LED work light
- IP56 certified for dust and water exposure protection
- On-tool battery indicator
- Belt hook
Price: $330 for the kit, $170 for the bare tool
Both seem to be eligible for Amazon’s Spring Hitachi $20 off $100 promotion. So that would be $310 for the kit, or $150 for the bare tool.
Buy Now(Kit)
Buy Now(Bare Tool)
With the 3.0Ah batteries in the kit, you get Hitachi’s highest compact Li-ion battery packs.
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Alternatively, you might instead want to consider buying another kit that comes with lower capacity battery packs.
There’s a Hitachi basic impact driver kit for $99 via Amazon, a drill/driver kit for $129 via Amazon, and for some reason there are some 3rd party sellers offering a Hitachi drill kit for $53 or so.
Hitachi’s 18V brushless triple anvil impact driver is a phenomenal tool. Absolutely wonderful. Considering what the new 1/2″ impact wrench looks like on paper, I’d assume it’s an equally impressive tool. I’m really excited about Hitachi stepping up their game, and can’t wait to see what they come out with next.
Also, I’m LOVING Hitachi’s new color scheme.
Cr8ondt
Thumbs UP
RX9
I like seeing manufacturers raise the bar on compact impact wrenches. Compact wrenches in this class are very useful on brake/suspension components.
One area they are really lacking though, is the even more compact right angle impact wrench.
They need to come out with brushless models, capable of at least 150 ft-lbs.
fred
I agree
I’ve had an Astro Pneumatic 1828 for about a year now – and find it fits in places my old Chicago Pneumatic couldn’t go. Now if I could get rid of the air hose in favor of a cordless tool – that would indeed be something. I looked at the Makita BTL063 and Milwaukee 2668-20 – and they are pretty wimpy by comparison.
https://www.amazon.com/Astro-1828-Impact-Wrench-450ft/dp/B016Q4Y5CM
RX9
@Fred: Exactly.
The Milwaukee 2668-20 is rated a limp 60ft-lbs, and the Makita BTL063 is an even lamer 44ft lbs.
A cordless right angle impact can be done, as Ingersoll’s 20V IQv line has two of them, the W5330 (3/8″ anvil) and the W5350 (1/2″ anvil), both rated at 180 ft-lbs.
Reviews on Amazon for Ingersoll’s two right angle impacts seem to be a bit sketchy with most saying neither tool reliably hits 180. The general consensus is that they are consistently good for a respectable 100-105 ft-lbs or so.
There are some very low-profile pneumatics like the Astro Pneumatic 1828 you mentioned and the even lower-profile Ingersoll 2015/2025MAX that can hit reliably at over 150 ft-lbs, so the bottleneck is not in the impact mechanism, but rather, the motor.
I think cordless manufacturers could make much more powerful right angle impacts, but they would have to probably go with brushless motors to put up big numbers.
Steve
I think the issue is with making a compact electric motor to power the tool.
I remember hearing about a (seemingly dead end) technology a few years back… http://coreoutdoorpower.com/technology/
basically they integrate the motor into a PCB to shrink it dramatically, if someone could take advantage of this, they could probably solve the difficulty of making a compact right angle impact wrench.
ktash
I was in Lowe’s earlier today and noticed that they have lowered their prices quite a bit on many of the Hitachi items on their shelves, both cordless and corded. None of the brushless ones, though. But different lowes have different prices in my experience, so it’s always worth a look for someone.
I also looked at the Kobalt brand 24V brushless tools in the same aisle and some of those were reduced quite a bit. A brushless drill for $120, for instance.
Chris
Hitachi has really stepped its game of late. Some people don’t like how far the switch sticks out that changes the direction of drill from some reviews I’ve read. If you drop it, it might break the switch if you’re unlucky.
Toolfreak
Looks like it has a hog ring retainer on the front of the anvil, but then a ball detent retainer on the side of the anvil as well, on the top-facing side in the photo. Not sure if that’s a photo editing error or if this thing really does have both. Might be good to have a super-secure socket, but also might make it harder to remove them as well.
~$300 is not bad for a compact size, brushless motor, with two 3.0Ah Li-ion batteries.
I’m still holding out for a 12V 1/2″ cordless impact though, preferably from Bosch.
Stuart
I saw that too, didn’t know what to make of it.
After seeing your comment I dug up the user manual. (PDF)
Page 14 shows that it can be used with pin and o-ring type impact sockets.
So it has a friction ring and also allows use of socket pins and rings.
Ohhhh, so that’s what the round groove in higher end and larger drive size impact sockets are for!
Toolfreak
Ah, so it’s not a ball detent retainer, but a hole for a retainer pin.
I didn’t reaize those larger socket sizes used a pin with an o-ring as a retainer, either. Doesn’t seem particulalrly useful to me, but I guess the idea is to not rely on the friction ring or a ball detent when the larger socket sizes would be pretty heavy and likely to fall off when the impact was pointed downward. Not a big deal when working on the ground, but a falling impact socket could be fatal when working several stories up.
Chris
Highly doubt Bosch will ever make a 12v with 1/2 socket but they do make a 3/8 now and is brushless.
Toolfreak
Yeah, I doubt they will make a 1/2″, but I might just use an adapter.
I haven’t bothered with the brushless 3/8″ impact since it’s just the same thing as the impact driver with an anvil in place of the bit holder, and I already have the brushed impact driver which has more torque. I use it with square drive adapters but really want a dedicated 12V impact wrench with serious torque!
Jared Richael
I was just looking at this drill and it came to my attention that the way their batteries are designed. If Hitachi keeps this design their future higher capacity batteries are going to make the drill much taller than other drills I would think. Don’t know if it will really matter much but if they e Ever decided to change the battery design it wouldn’t be compatible with the current tools. Probably nothing big but just a thought.
Aaron
I can’t imagine Hitachi changing their battery design for a second time in their 18v platform. Their original 18v lithium batteries were post-style, and they changed over to slide-style around 2008 IIRC. I doubt they’d go through all that trouble (and make recent changes to their current batteries and tools) only to change over.
Paul
How is Hitachi’s battery design different than all the other brands using a slide style battery?
Shaun Marsden
Where do I purchase the pin and o ring for hitachi impact wrench
Stuart
Have you tried contacting Hitachi customer service? That would be the easiest way to get a lead on those parts.