Which DeWalt Impact Wrench Is The Best For Removing Lug Nuts?

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DeWalt ranks among the top brands of cordless impact wrenches with several models aimed at providing the most power in a package that fits your needs. However, if we're specifically asking which is the best model for removing lug nuts, then the only metric that matters is power.

The power of an impact wrench is measured in torque, but there are two kinds of torque that are important for impact wrenches. The first is fastening torque, the amount of rotational force applied to a fastener, nut or bolt, as it is being tightened. The other, breakaway torque, is the amount of force required to move a fastener from its tightened position, think of breaking the seal on a pickle jar lid or removing a stubborn lug nut from your wheel.

To help understand how torque is measured, we'll use pound-feet (or foot-pounds) as our baseline, although inch-pounds is another common unit of measure in the United States. One foot-pound can be described as one pound of force on a 12-inch (one foot) long lever, such as a breaker bar, ratchet, or wrench. 100 pound-feet (lb-ft) could be 100 pounds on a one-foot lever, or 50 pounds on a lever two feet long.

The DeWalt impact wrench with the most breakaway torque is the ¾-inch drive High Torque DCF964 with 1,900 lb-ft of breakaway torque. However, that much torque has the potential to destroy the lug nuts on most passenger vehicles, so let's look at it closer, and also some other options.

The DeWalt DCF964B (bare tool) carries a list price of $399.00 on Amazon, it's frequently on sale for around $343. It's also available through The Home Depot for $345.28, but you'll get it faster when ordering through Amazon, among other perks. That's over $100 more than some other highly capable DeWalt impact wrenches that are less prone to breaking things, more on that in the next section.

If you're not already part of the DeWalt universe, you'll need to add at least one 20-volt DeWalt battery to power the DCF964. An economical option is to purchase the DCF964GH1 kit, list price $529.00, but also usually available on sale. The kit comes with a 5-amp-hour 20-volt lithium-ion battery, a compatible charger, and a convenient storage bag with handles.

In addition to the 1,900 lb-ft of breakaway torque provided by DeWalt's DCF964 cordless impact wrench, it also has 1,420 lb-ft of fastening torque. That much torque is great if you're working with very large bolts, but that amount of torque can quickly change from tightening a fastener to stripping or breaking it.

In fact, redditor "jesum653" says they break out the ½-inch drive DeWalt DCF900 "when it's time to break something." For reference, the DCF900 delivers 1,030 lb-ft of maximum fastening torque and up to 1,400 lb-ft of breakaway torque, much less than the larger, more powerful DCF964.

While any of DeWalt's most powerful cordless impact wrenches can remove the lug nuts from your vehicle, they tend to be heavy, expensive, and overkill for a standard lug nut in most cases. One of the highest-rated DeWalt cordless impact wrenches is the DCF891, which lists as a bare tool option on Amazon for $233.67.

The DCF891 provides 600 lb-ft of fastening torque and up to 800 lb-ft of breakaway torque with four speed settings and a variable speed trigger to help prevent applying excessive force. It also weighs in at a scant 4.25 pounds, compared to the DCF964, which weighs a hefty 9.02 pounds.

In addition to the DCF891's 4.8-star rating on Amazon, it has broad support on forums such as the r/dewalt subreddit. In another Reddit thread, a user called Moress hails the DCF891 as a "good all-around impact, with "great power" and "medium size." However, Moress also finds the DeWalt DCF921 "more compact and works in most cases" for removing lug nuts.

The DeWalt DCF921B is the bare tool version priced at $198.15 on Amazon. It weighs a mere 2.8 pounds and delivers 300 lb-ft of max fastening torque and 450 lb-ft of breakaway torque. It also provided four speed settings for more user control.

The most important thing to remember when using an impact wrench is to properly torque your lug nuts when reinstalling them. That means using a torque wrench in a manner specified by the manufacturer to tighten them to the proper torque as specified by your vehicle owner's manual, and not as tightly as the impact will get them.