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You can use the cordless electric ratchet wrench to fix your car or even do some tasks around the house, such as loosening or tightening bolts.
Having a good-quality electric ratchet wrench set enables you to work faster and more effectively. What’s the best cordless electric ratchet wrench?
The Enertwist Cordless product, which is number one on our list of electric ratchet wrenches, has many features that make using it convenient and comfortable, plus it gives you two hours of battery life.
There are many electric ratchets on the market, but unfortunately also products that are of low quality.
Read on to discover the best cordless ratchet wrench set as well as four alternatives, and why you should purchase them.
Best Cordless Ratchet Wrench Set in 2021
Best overall: Enertwist Cordless Electric Ratchet Wrench Set
This product has a 0-400 RPM speed setting to help you remove bolts much faster, but it offers much more than just speed.
Benefits
- One of the things you might not think about when using an electric ratchet wrench is its brakes! This is an important feature to prevent you from tightening bolts too much. This Enertwist product has an electrical brake protection.
- It’s really safe to use. Thanks to its “Forward/Reverse” switch, that’s located on the back of its head, you can easily and safely change directions during use.
- If you need to use it in small spaces, this one’s the perfect product. It’s got a sleek and compact design.
- It has LED lights on the front that can brighten up your work surface if you have to do tasks in a dark environment.
- It also has a fuel gauge on the side so that you’re always informed of how much power it has left, which makes it very user-friendly.
Extra Features
- It has a non-slip grip that further makes using it safe and comfortable, even if you’re working with it for a long time.
- This battery ratchet wrench comes with a charger, and only requires 50 minutes to reach full charge.
- It comes with two lithium batteries included.
Drawbacks
- Some users have reported that customer service leaves a lot to be desired.
Buying Advice
It’s really budget-friendly as compared to other electric ratchet wrenches you’ll find on the market, and quite versatile with nice attention to detail.
It’s the best battery powered ratchet wrench on the market.
Runner Up: Milwaukee Electric Tools 2558-20 Fuel Ratchet (Tool Only)
If you want an electric ratchet that’s professional, fast with variable speed, and reliable, then this Milwaukee model is the one to purchase. Here are reasons why.
Benefits
- It has up to 60 ft-lbs of maximum torque as well as 175 RPM with variable speed. This makes it ideal for various tasks, such as maintenance jobs around the house or fixing your car.
- It’s also perfect for working in really tight corners as its head is small and compact.
- Users have reported that this product has excellent battery life.
Extra Features
- It comes with a five-year warranty on material as well as workmanship, which is an excellent feature.
- It has a light to help you work in dark areas.
Drawbacks
- The product is made of plastic.
- Some users have reported that they are not sure that the product has 60 ft-lbs of torque because it doesn’t seem to deliver that much power.
Buying Advice
This Milwaukee cordless electric ratchet is a bit more expensive (compared to others), but with its great features and excellent warranty, it’s definitely worth purchasing if you want a professional product for home or car use.
It’s the best battery ratchet wrench for people who use ratchet wrenches regularly.
Alternative 1: ACDelco G12 Cordless Ratchet Wrench Tool Set
If you want a product that makes fixing things around the house feel more enjoyable, this cordless ratchet by AcDelco is worth checking out.
Benefits
- It has a user-friendly forward and reverse lever so that you can easily switch from one to the other during a task without any hassle.
- Sometimes working on a task for a long period of time can make your arm tired, but this G12 cordless electric ratchet has an anti-fatigue and anti-slip ergonomic design to make using it much more comfortable.
- This cordless ratchet has an angled head to make it even easier to work in tight or uncomfortable spaces.
Extra Features
- This rechargeable ratchet wrench has a speed range of 0 to 240 RPM with variable speed, which makes it highly versatile for a range of different tasks around the home.
Drawbacks
- Although a case for the product is said to be included in the delivery, some consumers have reported that they never received one with their electric ratchet purchase.
- Other users have complained about difficulty regarding customer service from the manufacturer.
Buying Advice
It’s one of the most budget-friendly products on our list, so it’s perfect if you don’t want to spend too much money on a product that you don’t use that often.
Alternative: KIMO Cordless Electric Ratchet Wrench Kit
One of the biggest selling points about the cordless ratchets from Kimo is that they doesn’t make a noise like many air ratchets do. Let’s take a look at its other features that make it stand out.
Benefits
- This electric ratcheting wrench has a maximum torque of 40 ft-lbs at 400 RPM and variable speed, so you get a powerful, fast product.
- One of the best features of this product is that its motor is made from copper. This makes it durable, lighter to hold, and it stays cooler! It’s also said that copper is more effective than other materials, such as aluminum.
- It’s the perfect tool for working on your car because it’s light in weight (only weighing 2.2 pounds) and has a very slim design. It can also get to tight spots to ratchet bolts and nuts without a hassle.
- Battery life is sometimes a hassle with cordless electric ratchet wrenches, but Kimo has been improving its batteries for decades and it’s been said that every Kimo 12V battery has a minimum life expectancy of 1,000 cycles.
- This ratchet wrench is made to be durable. It contains two pieces of rubber that give it extra protection against corrosive materials. This rubber also makes it more comfortable to hold.
Extra Features
- This ratchet makes it super-easy to change a spark plug in your car, which is a task that a regular wrench cannot do.
- It has a fuel gauge to keep you informed of its available run time.
Drawbacks
- The product comes with a nifty lock switch but some users have reported that the switch lock on this product was difficult to move with their hands and they needed to use a screwdriver to lock it.
- It also comes with a switch that you can use to change directions during use, but users have reported that it’s difficult to change by hand because it’s hard and small. You might need pliers for this one.
Buying Advice
It’s a great tool to have handy if you work on your car a lot because it has such great features to make your job easier, as long as you can overlook a few niggly issues regarding its ease of use.
Alternative 3: ACDelco Power Cordless Ratchet Wrench
ACDelco makes the list again, this time with a more budget-friendly option. However, this cordless ratchet wrench has some notable features. Let’s jump into its benefits.
Benefits
- This ACDelco cordless ratchet wrench is lighter than the other ACDelco product we featured, coming in at 2.3 lbs instead of 5lbs alongwith variable speed.
- As with other products in the company’s G12 series, this ratchet wrench has a longer metal structure in its design that has many benefits for the user. It’s sturdy and durable, while giving you the chance to make use of its torque power.
- It has 45 ft-lbs of maximum torque and 100 ft-lbs torque for tightening by hand.
- It has 170 RPM and comes with an electronic brake to give you greater control.
Extra Features
- It comes with all the standard goodies you can expect from a high-quality and the best cordless ratchet, such as ergonomic design to prevent hand pain during tasks and an LED light to make using it in darker areas much easier.
Drawbacks
- It doesn’t have a lock switch included.
- It doesn’t have a battery charge indicator.
Buying Advice
This ACDelco is quite cost-effective without compromising on quality as well as the excellent features that come standard with ACDelco products.
Although it does lack some extra features, such as a battery charge indicator and lock switch, it’s a solid product that will get the job done.
best Cordless Ratchet 2021 – FAQ
After reading through the best cordless ratchet wrench sets that you can find on the market, you might have some questions about these products and how they work.
Let’s look at some commonly-asked questions about the cordless ratchets.
What is an air ratchet used for?
Air ratchets are used for more delicate work than impact wrenches. You use an air ratchet for loosening or tightening low-to-medium torque bolts.
The reason why you would choose it over other wrenches is because you don’t want to damage the bolt heads, and an air ratchet will be kinder to those heads!
Air ratchets are used in various industries, such as heavy construction and automotive industries.
They basically use force from high-pressurized gas and transform it into torque that’s both powerful yet controlled through the use of ratchets, gearboxes, or turbines, as It Still Runs reports.
There are quite a few differences between air ratchets and impact wrenches. Although air ratchets tend to have less torque than impact wrenches, they typically do make less noise as compared to impact wrenches.
In addition, they have greater precision and are smaller in size, which makes them easier to use in smaller, tighter spaces, such as when you’re working on fixing something in your car.
Many air ratchet tools will also have reversible features. This means that you can install nuts or bolts as well as remove them, which makes them a valuable and versatile tool to keep in your garage or shed.
How to use air ratchet?
It’s really easy to use an air ratchet. No matter what model of air ratchet you have purchased, they basically work in the same way.
Here are some general tips to help you get started with using an air ratchet.
Whenever you want to use your air ratchet wrench, you should put a few drops of air tool oil into the male plug beforehand.
To tighten or install threaded fasteners, you need to choose the “forward” or “reverse” knob and move it in a counterclockwise direction.
Press the trigger to get started.
To loosen or remove threaded fasteners, you’ll turn the same knob in a clockwise direction and press the trigger again.
Choose the power you want by adjusting the settings on the air hatchet. For example, the first setting will probably offer you the least amount of power while the highest setting will maximize the power.
Try them out to find the amount of power that works best for the task you’re doing.
After using the air ratchet, make sure that you turn it off, detach the air supply, and release the throttle (or turn the switch off) to prevent accidents.
Can you use an impact wrench as a drill?
We’ve talked about air ratchets in depth, but what are impact wrenches?
These are power tools that work in a similar way to air ratchet wrenches but they give you more torque with minimal effort on your part.
There are many reasons why impact wrenches are so popular. Not only do they give you the power you need, but they’re highly convenient.
You can use them to loosen lug nuts from trucks and cars, and they’ll make your job easier and faster so impact wrenches are a must-tool to have in your garage.
If you want to use your impact wrench as a drill, then you might be confusing an impact drill with an impact driver.
The two are quite different!
An impact driver will deliver a strong rotational force when hit with a hammer and it’s often used to loosen large nuts and screws by mechanics.
Impact drivers are great for use when a regular drill doesn’t have enough power you need. Impact wrenches are not really suitable to use for general purposes, such as drilling holes or driving screws into walls, as The Saw Guy reports.
Impact drivers, not wrenches, are actually ideal for driving screws in a faster, more effective way. They can be used as a drill. To make a small hole in a light steel or soft wood, use a hex-shank drill bit, Popular Mechanics reports.
The site goes on to say that if you want to make larger holes in hardwood or heavier steel, then you need a bit that’s especially designed for an impact driver.
Should you use an impact wrench to tighten lug nuts?
When you reach for your impact wrench to torque nuts, you have to be careful and be informed of some important tricks in order to prevent the lug nuts from breaking.
Here are tips to bear in mind when using an impact wrench to tighten lug nuts.
Use your hand first.
When tightening your car’s lug nuts, you should first use your hands to do so. The reason why is because you want to be able to feel that the lug nuts are correctly secured onto their threads.
If they’re not and you start tightening them with the use of an impact wrench, you could damage the threads.
Tighten the lug nuts in a star pattern.
This is something you should always do, whether you’re using an impact wrench or torque wrench. The star pattern is when the lowest left nut gets tightened first, followed by the top nut, then the bottom right, then the left and right nut to make a star pattern.
Why should you follow this pattern?
It gives you a uniform tightening process and prevents pressure being put on any lug nuts that haven’t been tightened, as Do It Yourself reports.
Work slowly and carefully.
When using the star pattern to tighten lug nuts, you want to take your time with it and stop the impact wrench in time.
If you don’t, then you’re doing what’s known as “over-torquing.” As Do It Yourself explains, this can damage or even break the nut.
When tightening the lug nuts with an impact wrench, you should work in short bursts then remove the impact wrench and reach for a torque wrench.
This is an essential tool to use as it will show you if the nuts need to be tightened more or not.
Although this process will take more time because you have to stop and start, it will be better than if you damage the nuts!
Conclusion
There’s no doubt about it: a ratchet wrench is a tool everyone should own, whether they use it often or not.
Using a ratchet wrench can save you time on tasks around the car and home, but it’s not always easy to know which one to purchase. There are tons of ratchet wrenches available on the market, but some are not worth purchasing because they’re not durable.
Choosing the cordless electric ratchet wrench is always the best idea because you can take it anywhere. These products usually come standard with features such as batteries and battery chargers to keep them powered up whenever you need to use them.
This makes them very useful for when you have to use them in a part of the house or garage where you don’t have a power source.
In this article, we’ve featured the best cordless electric ratchet wrench set by Enertwist.
We’ve also looked at four other types of products in our cordless electric ratchet wrench reviews so you can find ones that are cheaper, ones that have (or don’t have) extra frills, and more, depending on what’s most important for you to have in selecting the cordless ratchet wrench to get the job done.
Finally, we’ve answered some common questions people usually have about using the cordless electric ratchet wrench sets, such as how to use an air ratchet and the differences between air hatchet wrenches and impact wrenches, so you make the most of this precious tool that can save you money and time.
