Need a new drill/driver combo

YJJPWrangler

YJJPWrangler

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2005
Location
Charlotte
Been running a set of 18v dewalt drill/impact for a while now. I converted my stuff from 18v to 20v with the dewalt 20v adapter set. Ran great for a year. Now both batteries are completely and utterly dead. They "charge" and I get about 3-5 mins of drill time out of each one. You can forget using one in my saw or sawzall. I'm pretty sure I have a dead cell in each battery. So I'm looking to upgrade. I have a lot of dewalt stuff and am partial to the brand but always looking for better options. Found this set at lowes

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-XR-...ries-Included-and-Charger-Included/1000434587

for about $229(yes I know it was cheaper on black friday, didnt have the funds :shaking:)

Looks like I can upgrade to brushless and get better batteries plus I can use the newer batteries on my older 18v stuff with the adapter kit(which is a plus).

Any other options that are out there? I've seen good stuff about milwaukee and kobalt 24v stuff but just looking for opinions on other brands.
 
Sub'd...I'm currently at the fork in the road myself. Ran 18v DeWalt for 10+ years but now it's time to upgrade. Essentially looking to stay w/ the yella or make the switch to the red.
 
I use milwaukee at work and home. Our company uses dewalt and so do most of the guys at work.

The dewalt stuff is cheap enough that we can afford to buy 5 sets of everything to keep in each work truck/trailer. They have the same performance as my milwaukee stuff but their quality isn't as good. We have killed a lot of dewalt tools that were only 2-3 months old. Their flex volt crap also pisses me off and is nothing but a sales gimmick.

I've had small issues out of milwaukee stuff before but all I do is print a shipping label and send it off for free(5 year warranty). Usually around a week later I get the tool back with a list of parts replaced. I sent them my 1/2 impact when it stopped working intermittently, it was 4.5 years old and looked like it had seen war. They even replaced the entire tool body before shipping it back. Sent in a 4 year old hammer drill recently because the trigger was sticking, they replaced the motor trigger and the chuck.
 
I work for a big truck manufacturer. We use Red stuff on our assembly lines. We tested all different brands available and chose that one because the cost/reliability ratio is second to none. I've personally seen machines get beat on 24/5 for years without any issues. And if anything happens, the warranty and customer service is excellent.

That was enough for me to get all red stuff at my house. I usually scoop my machines/combos at Home Depot since they always have some kind of special going. Home Depot is the exclusive dealer for the main consumer market. With Christmas right around the corner, they have or will have some great deals.

You can also find some refurb units for a good deal at : CPO Milwaukee | America's Leading Online Tool Retailer | CPO Milwaukee
 
#1 Milwaukee
#2 bosch

I used dewalt tools for years, and they have continually gotten worse. I changed over to Milwaukee and bosch a few years ago and have had much better luck.
 
Y'all making it hard to buy yella, but really great feedback! This is most definitely helpful for me (and hopefully for the OP as well).
 
Back when Dewalt was better everyone ran them pretty much, but they have definitely gone down in quality. If it is just the batteries I'd buy new batteries. I use the Orange one because that was the first thing I bought over a decade ago and the batteries havent changed. Now I have 1/2 and 1/4 impacts, drill and Recip,
If I had a couple tools stolen or broke and out of warranty I'd buy red. But my batteries have a lifetime warranty on them. So I stay with Rigid for now.


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I keep hearing great things about Rigid as well as Milwaukee. Agreed with @rcalexander105 its making it harder to buy the black/yellow. The only thing that is holding me back from switching is that I have a lot of dewalt battery powered tools that would greatly benefit from new batteries.

Watched a video yesterday that tested all 10 major brands of battery powered hammer drills and the milwaukee beat out dewalt by 1 point.



Going to head by Lowes/Home Depot today to look at what they got.
 
I got Milwaukee back in May. They have been really good. But my Dewalt 18v XRP held up a long time before I invested in a new one. I have the Hammer Drill and Impact Driver.
 
YJJPWrangler said:
I keep hearing great things about Rigid as well as Milwaukee. Agreed with @rcalexander105 its making it harder to buy the black/yellow. The only thing that is holding me back from switching is that I have a lot of dewalt battery powered tools that would greatly benefit from new batteries.

Watched a video yesterday that tested all 10 major brands of battery powered hammer drills and the milwaukee beat out dewalt by 1 point.



Going to head by Lowes/Home Depot today to look at what they got.
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If you have so much invested in yella then buy the knock off batteries and keep on. $55 is nothing compared to what you'll have to spend on another color.
If you drive a Dodge and the battery is dead, you're not going to go buy a Chevy or Ford because everyone says it is better, take the chance on the knock off batteries unless you are looking for an excuse to spend money on new cool tools.

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HF
Has its place too. All depends on frequency of use and if it's doing the job. Home owner HF is generally good enough. All in what your budget is. Hilti is great! their little 12v stuff kicks ass, for little jobs but is is still more than a Milwaukee I think. I bought the company a cordless Hilti hammer drill cause the job didn't have power. They loved it. Lasted all day.

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No fries said:
If you have so much invested in yella then buy the knock off batteries and keep on. $55 is nothing compared to what you'll have to spend on another color.
If you drive a Dodge and the battery is dead, you're not going to go buy a Chevy or Ford because everyone says it is better, take the chance on the knock off batteries unless you are looking for an excuse to spend money on new cool tools.

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Except the tools are basically free and you are buying the batteries. So you might as well upgrade the tool while you are at it. I had a bunch of 18v DeWalt stuff with dead batteries, and once I looked into it, I realized I could get new Milwaukee everything for just a little bit more than replacing the DeWalt batteries.
 
HF has their place for sure. I've had great luck with their corded grinders over the years. Right now, all my dewalt stuff is 18v. I can get the new XR Brushless hammer drill/drill and impact with a 4.0AH and 2.0AH hour battery and a charger for $229. I use my cordless drills a lot for woodworking and jeep work. I'll also be able to power my sawzall and skilsaw with it as well with my 18v adapter. That's the main reason for going back with dewalt, I have a lot of other tools that would benefit from newer batteries.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Except the tools are basically free and you are buying the batteries. So you might as well upgrade the tool while you are at it. I had a bunch of 18v DeWalt stuff with dead batteries, and once I looked into it, I realized I could get new Milwaukee everything for just a little bit more than replacing the DeWalt batteries.
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That's why I say gamble with the knock off batteries, $55 wont buy a bare tool, and depending on what all he has, you are looking at $200 for a combo set, to start with.

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2 years ago I bought a Kobalt 24v brushless system. The charger died recently and after a phone call and a short wait I received a new one. I cannot afford that high dollar Milwaukee stuff right now so I rolled the dice after my 10 year old Chrafstman kit quit charging.
 
Home depot and northern tool have some killer deals going this time of year, I just grabbed some m12 kits for "go box tools" and a bunch of combo kits + batteries for less than the price of the batteries. Tis the season!

I use dewalt at work, it is OK, but the chucks on all the drills are crap and slap worn out. personal stuff is nothing but milwaukee, just bought the high torque 1/2" impact gun at northern. Milwaukee is fixing to dominate the battery powered tool market, jump on the bandwagon now so you have a bunch of 5.0-12.0ah batteries floating around to run every tool you ever owned that was once connected to a cord!

below is my $380 score today
 

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shelby27604 said:
Home depot and northern tool have some killer deals going this time of year, I just grabbed some m12 kits for "go box tools" and a bunch of combo kits + batteries for less than the price of the batteries. Tis the season!

I use dewalt at work, it is OK, but the chucks on all the drills are crap and slap worn out. personal stuff is nothing but milwaukee, just bought the high torque 1/2" impact gun at northern. Milwaukee is fixing to dominate the battery powered tool market, jump on the bandwagon now so you have a bunch of 5.0-12.0ah batteries floating around to run every tool you ever owned that was once connected to a cord!

below is my $380 score today
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I seriously thought about getting that same set from NT (credit to @jeepinmatt and his Black Friday post) but I believe I've talked myself into the smaller impact (1/2" still but with like 450lb breakaway). It's nice to have that extra power but DAYMN that thing is a big, heavy sumbitch! The weight is one thing but getting that thing into tighter spaces might not be happening (yea...I know, swivels and extensions but it's just too damn cumbersome after a while).

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rcalexander105 said:
I seriously thought about getting that same set from NT (credit to @jeepinmatt and his Black Friday post) but I believe I've talked myself into the smaller impact (1/2" still but with like 450lb breakaway). It's nice to have that extra power but DAYMN that thing is a big, heavy sumbitch! The weight is one thing but getting that thing into tighter spaces might not be happening (yea...I know, swivels and extensions but it's just too damn cumbersome after a while).

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You’re not lying, their big 1/2” that has the 4 torque settings is what I have. Honestly it’s overkill. But man will it pull a pinion nut off in no time and not even struggle. And if you just Tim the tool man Taylor free wheel it, you can feel it’s got some ass behind it. I’m probably going to pick up a 3/8 one before the new year.

I smoked a 3 year old craftsman earlier in the year. Picked up a fuel compact 1/2” drill a few months ago, I’ve only put sheet metal screws to hold the ECM panel on the inside of the firewall with it and drilled a few holes, strong little sucker too, and it’s pretty compact too. I need to finish building my RTI ramp and notch a bunch of tube. So I might do some time trials between it and my old corded Milwaukee 1/2 drill.
 
I bought this set because even without the coupons it was priced just above the price of the (3) M18 5ah batteries. Now that they sell bare tools, focusing on maximizing battery purchases via kits and "buy this get that" deals, I can now grab any bare tool I may need for less than $150 and I have (6) 5ah M18 and (5) various M12 batteries AND 8 tools for less than just the cost of the batteries.

Reading online it seems the 9ah and 12ah might have had some issues or bad batches early on, so I opted to stay away from them this time around.
 
shelby27604 said:
I bought this set because even without the coupons it was priced just above the price of the (3) M18 5ah batteries. Now that they sell bare tools, focusing on maximizing battery purchases via kits and "buy this get that" deals, I can now grab any bare tool I may need for less than $150 and I have (6) 5ah M18 and (5) various M12 batteries AND 8 tools for less than just the cost of the batteries.

Reading online it seems the 9ah and 12ah might have had some issues or bad batches early on, so I opted to stay away from them this time around.
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That's pretty much what I did. Got about 5 4.0ah batteries through kit and black Friday pricing, a 9.0, and some small battery. I did have a 9.0 battery that lacked longevity, but they replaced it under warranty no issue after nearly 3 years.

Bought a lot of bare tools since. If the 4.0 batteries ever die, I'll upgrade to the 5.0s, but honestly the battery life of the 4.0s is plenty for most things.
 
I bought a locally 24v drill driver a few yrs ago cuz the set was $100 and batteries are cheap. I don't have any complaints.

Im with most everyone else here that Milwaukee is #1. I prefer them because of tool selection and ability to find parts for years, on top of all the other reasons.
 
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