Where should I start when it comes to power tools?
YOU can do pretty much any DIY car maintenance or repair job with hand tools – spanners, sockets, screwdrivers and other essentials like pliers, hammers and torque wrenches. While having a power tool doesn’t mean you you’ll never use them again, it will take the strain out of a job, helping you complete it more quickly and with much less effort.
So what’s first on the shopping list? Before choosing which tool, in this era of cordless devices, you need to pick a brand or system. After you’re committed to one, you can then invest in a couple of large-capacity power packs plus a charger, and use them with a range of tools.
The choice will depend on budget, but both Draper and HiKOKI have tools in the top three of our impact wrench and drill tests. And that’s where we’d start – with either or both of these. We’d go for the drill first because it can do so much more than just make holes. There’s no end of uses for one and you’re likely to use it as much to remove rust and paint with a wire brush or flap wheel as you are to drill holes. It can also be used for removing and tightening small fasteners with a suitable bit.
For larger fasteners and wheel nuts, you’ll need an impact wrench. With a suitable jack and stands, it’ll speed up changing wheels and can give the muscle to deal with rusted nuts and bolts in the suspension and elsewhere.
The batteries can also be used to power useful kit like angle grinders, polishers and saws. But just because you have the battery and charger, it doesn’t mean you need to use them with every cordless tool in the range. Work lights are often better without having to carry a hefty battery, as are tyre inflators. And there are still areas where mains power is definitely preferable if you have a supply. A cordless pressure washer is outgunned by a mains version, for example, and you’ll clean up more quickly with a 240V workshop vacuum than its 20V-battery alternative.