The new Makita 1/2″ & 3/4″ High Torque Brushless Impact Wrenches are the new benchmark in the 18v Cordless lineups — Tons of power & some great innovations!
We ran these through a wide range of torque testing — not only to prove what the actual Forward & Reverse Working Torque Specs really are — we did so in all 3 modes. Right out of the box, you can tell they are powerful….but the results were surprising to say the least. For the torque testing, we used two different Skidmore-Wilhelm units — one for forward testing & one for reverse testing (The Skidmore is one of the few things out there that can accurately and consistently measure torque). Here is a quick rundown of the torque test results :
XWT08 (1/2″ Version)
- Mode 1 Forward = 645 ft-lbs
- Mode 2 Forward = 764 ft-lbs
- Mode 3 Forward = 988 ft-lbs
- Mode 1 Reverse = 698 ft-lbs
- Mode 2 Reverse = 850 ft-lbs
- Mode 3 Reverse = 1,055 ft-lbs
XWT07 (3/4″ Version)
- Mode 1 Forward = 669 ft-lbs
- Mode 2 Forward = 831 ft-lbs
- Mode 3 Forward = 990 ft-lbs
- Mode 1 Reverse = 745 ft-lbs
- Mode 2 Reverse = 893 ft-lbs
- Mode 3 Reverse = 1,074 ft-lbs
Flat-out, these are now the most powerful cordless impact wrenches on the market — in both 1/2″ drive & 3/4″ drive. They easily beat the Milwaukee 2763, Dewalt DCF899, and Ingersoll Rand W7150. We run the same test, using the same test units (Skidmore-Wilhelm testers) — and these are now the highest ranking (cordless) impacts so far. In fact, the only way to get more power is to go with a high-end pneumatic impact wrench.
One thing to note would be that the body on the Makita impacts is not a solid one-piece design. In fact, right out of the box we thought something was broken/loose with it (due to slight movement of the body while the base is stationary). However, it turns out that the engineers thought ahead about preventing failure due to vibrations and have installed a rubber bushing to insulate the battery and electrical connections from the housing. This will prevent stress fractures of the solder joints over time and will make it last longer without problems.
If you do run into issues with these — including batteries and chargers — Makita also covers all of the cordless power tools with a 3-yr warranty. Just contact them and they will fix or replace it for you free-of-charge.
Until now, the only option you have had for “High Torque” Impacts from Makita have been corded models & one (low powered) cordless unit — which was designed for construction uses such as lag bolts. The only real automotive impact wrench that they made was the XWT02Z Compact 1/2″ Impact Wrench — and although it is impressive, and very useful as a good “all around impact”, it couldn’t remove nuts/bolts that required a lot more power.
These were officially announced at STAFDA in November 2015, and they are just now hitting the US market. They are making 3 total varieties to cover a range of uses :
XWT07M / XWT07Z
- 3/4″ Drive
- 18v
- Brushless
- “Hog Ring” anvil
- 3 speed / power modes
- LED Light
- 8lbs 2oz (with 5.0ah battery installed)
XWT08M / XWT08Z
- 1/2″ Drive
- 18v
- Brushless
- “Hog Ring” anvil
- 3 speed / power modes
- LED Light
- 7lbs 14.5oz (with 5.0ah battery installed)
XWT09M / XWT09Z
- 7/16″ HEX Drive (Linesman)
- 18v
- Brushless
- “Hog Ring” anvil
- 3 speed / power modes
- LED Light
- 8lbs* (estimated weight with 5.0ah battery installed)
* M = Kit / Z = Bare Tool