TRIED AND TESTED

A powerful impact wrench and a handy LED pocket torch.

SEALEY CP2600 - CORDLESS IMPACT WRENCH, £400

In an ideal world everyone would have a huge workshop with a big compressor and a professional air-powered impact wrench. When it comes to trackdays and road rallies everyone else would have the same kit on a lorry following them around – unfortunately life isn’t like that. Where most cordless impact wrenches fall down is their lack of ability to take of the more stubborn wheel nuts and other rusted bolts. After all the reason we’re looking in the first place is to get all the power of a professional compressor with the portability of something the size of a hammer drill, right? And changing wheels quickly and easily is usually the biggest attraction, especially on the side of the road in the rain.

Anyway this is where this 26Volt impact wrench from Sealey comes in – they claim it’s one of the most powerful on the market.

Using Lithium Ion technology rather than the usual Ni-Cd batteries, this item is built to give maximum power with minimum discharge, for as long as possible. There’s clearly no compromise on construction either featuring a chunky half-inch drive adapter (ideal for deep wheel and impact sockets) and a super-tough, grippy outer casing. You also know you’re getting plenty of quality because this one is properly heavy. In this case that’s a good thing.

Verdict

For this sort of application it’s all about torque and this particular bit of kit has bags and bags of it. You have to consider the fact that you usually torque on wheels at around 95lbf.ft but this will pull off nuts at over three-times that, it’s rated in excess of 450Nm / 335 lbf.ft.

What’s more the huge 26-Volt Lithium Ion battery lasts forever and, even when it doesn’t, you’ve only got an hour to wait for a full charge. It’s a great tool that’s not just aimed at the DIY market but also ideal for professional garages and body shops that need their gear to last a couple of lifetimes under heavy use day-in and day-out.

While it’s pretty ‘up there’ on the price scale, it’s worth remembering this one is the flagship model – Sealey also stock three of four at more entry-level prices. These come with the same build quality and range from 12 to 24-Volts with varying maximum torques. If you’re looking to make short work of wheel nuts and rusty bolts check out their range – if you’re looking for the ultimate workshop helper, save up and get one of these!