DEWALT 18V NiCad Cordless Impact Driver, 1/4-in

This impact driver has unbelievable torque and great power. It should handle almost any jobsite application. On the downside the tool is a bit heavy and the battery life is a little short. But overall this driver is a great addition to my toolbox.

I use one of these on the work site very often, they work well, and get the job done. They are durable.

I occasionally use this driver at work, and I must say I wish I could use it more! This driver packs a good punch and although myself and my coworkers don't extensively use it (main use is drilling 1x2's to hold wall tile in place before we get the material and the go ahead on the baseboard tile) the battery seems to be a tank! In the past month, I've only seen it changed once. Although it's obviously not the main tool in a tilesetter's arsenal it probably sees an hour of action everyday at work. If I could afford this little beast, I would've bought it ages ago!

I used the Dewalt 18v Impact Drill/Driver in my work as a Commercial Framer for a number of years, and have to say that compared to other similar drills, this one is my favourite. For one, it’s durable and lightweight which is great if you’re moving around a lot and having to complete a lot of different tasks at once; you don’t want something heavy that’s going to slow you down or break often. Most importantly, it’s an absolute monster when it comes to driving screws. I’ve spent money before on drills with similar features, and have to say that this one was the only one worth the money. It also has a long-lasting battery which, if working in construction, is key. I used the Makita 18v Cordless drill before this one and found that I had to change the battery pretty much every hour, which was a huge nuisance. This drill is also pretty durable and has more torque than you would expect from a compact drill, which definitely justifies the price. I also found that the LED work light is a nice little feature, especially if using it on construction sites where lighting hasn’t been installed or isn’t available. Overall, I would recommend this product for pretty much anyone, whether working in the field or at home on a do-it-yourself project. Dewalt has a reputation for building quality, long-lasting tools and the 18v Impact Drill is no exception.

We had two big projects where this impact driver beat out our regular drill driver: ripping out a rotting deck and replacing it with a new one, and installing 2x4 walls in the basement. The extra torque that you get with an impact driver came in handy when unscrewing old deck screws and screwing in three inch lag bolts. If I had to use my old drill (another DeWalt) I'd still have had to predrill the holes for the deck. The extra power also came in handy when framing the walls in our basement reno. The compact size made it easier to work in tight spaces between the joists. We also had to drill holes for wiring. We couldn't find hole saws that fit the hex-head adapter on this impact driver, but we managed to get the job done with spade bits that fit the quick-change adapter. We also found the impact driver drilled holes a third faster than a regular drill and it stripped many fewer screws. We also saved time because it is very quick to switch bits out bits with the bit adapter on an impact driver in comparison to even a keyless chuck on our drill. Impact drivers won't take regular drill bits. You need to buy a kit of hex-shaped drill bits if you want to use this tool for drilling holes with this tool. I'd recommend spending more to get a good set of these wood bits. Another option is to buy an adapter that will fit in the shaft and act as a keyless chuck, but we haven't been able to find one at the stores in our area. The batteries that come with this tool are high-end NiCads. They charge up fast and hold a charge for a long time. This means you can switch back and forth between batteries without any downtime while waiting for the cells to charge. Also, this drill driver can also take DeWalt's newer Lithium Ion batteries, which are lighter and faster to charge but more expensive than NiCads. The "tune up" mode on the charger is the same thing as the trickle charge feature you find on regular tool chargers. The tool is comfortable to use. Then handle is rubber coated and easy to grip. It can be easily used with one hand or both hands. Despite the extra power on this driver, it actually has less torque than a regular drill and is easier on your hands. We usually take good care of our tools, but we've dropped this DeWalt driver several times without breaking it. Most drills come with a clutch that you can set so that the drill won't drive the screw too far into the wood. Impact drivers don't have a clutch, so they aren't helpful for finish work of any kind. They are great for framing or building crude shelves or a workbench for the garage, but keep the drill for finish work. It's heavy for its size. My wife said she found it heavy after using for more than a few minutes. The solution here is to buy one of the smaller (10-12 V) drivers or buy the Lithium Ion version of this impact driver. Changing the brushes on this DeWalt Impact Driver is difficult to do compared to other models we checked out. This isn't a problem for us (yet) because we don't use the tool as often as a pro, but it could be a hassle for anyone who uses this tool all day, every day on the job site. A knowledgeable friend didn't recommend this impact driver for working on a car, saying something about battery tools not having enough torque to get the bolts off a wheel compared to an impact wrench or an air ratchet. If you look at the specs on the instructions you will find this DeWalt driver has less foot Ibs of torque compared to some of the electric wrenches sold at Canadian Tire. We did use it to remove our summer tires this fall, and found it did a job of removing the the bolts. On the other hand, we lubricated the bolts with WD-40 and rust was not a problem. It also did a good job of screwing the bolds back on when we put on our winter tires. This toold does not come a torque setter, so we have to do the final tightening with a torque wrench. That's when we noticed that the DeWalt didn't do as good a job as the air tool. If you do regular work on your car and are looking for impact driver for these purposes, you may want to go with an impact wrench or an air tool. This is the only reason we gave this impact driver a 4 instead of a 5 on the performance scale. The short version: This is an expensive but really great tool for doing home reno projects around the house where you can save time by not having to drill pilot holes for large fasteners. It's sturdy and holds a charge for a long time. It does a great job of rough drilling, but you will still need a regular variable speed drill for making holes in wood. If you want one to work on your car, you may want to take a pass on this model. If you don't have a drill yet (or want to upgrade to a more powerful one), you may want to consider the DeWalt drill and impact driver kit instead.