DEWALT DW290 1/2-Inch Heavy-Duty Electric Impact Wrench

DEWALT DW290 1/2-Inch Heavy-Duty Electric Impact Wrench Review

Ideal for home auto work, DeWalt's 1/2-inch electric impact wrench is a burly, no-nonsense tool that delivers 240 foot-pounds of torque and 2,700 impacts per minute. The tool is well balanced, weighs 7 pounds, and is 10-7/8 inches long. The trigger, a two-finger toggle switch, lets you comfortably rotate between forward and reverse--a feature especially handy for rocking loose stuck nuts. The impact wrench also features a detent-pin retainer that lets you lock a socket on the anvil (to remove, you depress the detent using a small pointed object, then simply pull the socket off). The motor's brushes are easily accessible and replaceable, too, and thanks to DeWalt's advanced brush system, which automatically stops the tool just before the brushes wear out, you'll know when it's time to replace them. All in all, an impact wrench isn't a particularly complex tool: you want one that's solidly built and packs plenty of power. DeWalt's DW290 is exactly that. --Jon Groebner