Milwaukee M18 FUEL ½" Impact Wrench Review: The Lug Nut Never Stood a Chance
If you've ever laid in a gravel driveway fighting a rusted lug nut with a breaker bar and a bad attitude, this is the tool that ends that fight. I've run the Milwaukee M18 FUEL ½" impact wrench on everything from passenger-car wheels to seized suspension bolts on a diesel pickup, and it has yet to meet a fastener it respected.
What's genuinely good. The power is almost silly. The flagship model (2967) is rated up to 1,200 ft-lbs of fastening torque and 1,600 ft-lbs of nut-busting torque, and in the real world that means rusted lugs crack loose without you throwing your shoulder into it. The brushless motor runs cooler and lasts longer than the old brushed units, and the four-mode drive control matters more than it sounds — the low setting lets you run a fastener down without launching it across the shop.
One honest catch on those numbers. Those top figures need the newer high-output battery (REDLITHIUM FORGE 6.0Ah). Run it on a standard XC5.0 pack and you're closer to 1,100 fastening / 1,500 breakaway — still monstrous, but don't expect the sticker number off an old battery.
The catch — be honest with yourself. It's heavy and it's not cheap, and the price on the "kit" jumps because you're paying for batteries and a charger. If you already run M18 tools, buy the bare tool and skip that. Also: this much torque will happily snap a bolt you meant to save. Respect the trigger.
Bottom line. This is a career tool. Buy once, cry once. Ten years from now it'll still be the first thing you reach for.