1-Inch Impact Wrench Showdown: Makita 18V LXT vs Milwaukee M18

Introduction

A 1-inch drive cordless impact wrench in the 18V LXT platform is the kind of tool a lot of Makita loyalists have been waiting for. It is also one of the most demanding categories in cordless tools, and Milwaukee has dominated it with its M18 1-inch pistol impact wrench for years. With the new Makita 18V LXT 1-inch impact wrench priced at $350, roughly half the cost of Milwaukee’s 2867 at $800, the value question is obvious: can a far cheaper 1-inch tool keep up with the established benchmark?

Introducing the Makita 18V LXT 1-Inch Impact Wrench

The first thing you notice with the Makita 1-inch is its sheer size. It measures 10.8 inches long and weighs 10.7 lb, sitting almost identically to Milwaukee’s 1-inch pistol, which comes in at 10.9 inches and 10.65 lb. The handle style, hanging support ring, and overall body shape are all strikingly similar too. Anyone familiar with the M18 1-inch will immediately feel at home with the proportions here.

At $350 it costs less than Makita’s recent half-inch high torque models, which is a surprisingly approachable entry point for the largest class of cordless impact wrench most people can buy.

How It Performed on the Bench

On a short five-second working torque test in forward, the Makita delivered 470 ft-lbs, which puts it well behind the class leaders right away. The standard ten-second max torque test told a similar story: a median result of 676 ft-lbs. That is a hard number to ignore, because it still left the Makita trailing Milwaukee’s Gen 2 half-inch high torque impact wrench, a smaller and older tool.

One pattern worth noting is that this Makita clearly preferred forward over reverse, which is the opposite of what teal-colored tools tend to favor on the bench. Against Milwaukee’s 1-inch pistol, which climbs toward 1,000 ft-lbs in forward during these runs, the gap is substantial.

Battery Choices Changed the Results

Makita’s small battery packs are not the most current-hungry setup in the industry, and a big low-geared 1-inch motor asks for everything a pack can give. Testing with additional options showed meaningful movement on the curve.

A third-party high-output pack pushed the max torque result up to 759 ft-lbs with gains almost everywhere on the power curve, and a custom high-drain experimental pack got it to 781 ft-lbs. Even at that point, the 1-inch Makita still could not pass Milwaukee’s Gen 2 half-inch high torque, which says a lot about how strong that older tool remains.

What the Inside Revealed

Teardown impressions were mixed. The internal layout is about as simple and basic as an impact wrench gets. There is a potted electronics board at the base of the handle, and the motor’s size, winding count, and wire gauge all look reasonable for the class. On the other hand, the grease inside is a blue general-purpose type rather than the moly disulfide lubricant typically preferred in these tools, and the planetary assembly is pressed into the rear bearing, which makes servicing more difficult than it should be.

Dimensionally, the internal components closely match Milwaukee’s M18 1-inch pistol proportions. The weak link appears to be the electronics and the current supply to the brushless motor, which lines up with the measured torque shortfall.

Overall Buying Advice

If you already own LXT batteries and need a 1-inch drive occasionally for heavy equipment work, the Makita is the affordable way into that socket class, and it is capable of real work. However, buyers chasing maximum fastening power should look at Milwaukee first: both the 2867 1-inch and even the smaller 2767 Gen 2 half-inch outperformed it in direct testing. The advertised claims for this class of tool can also run far ahead of measured reality, so it pays to prioritize verified test results over spec-sheet numbers.

Conclusion

The Makita 18V LXT 1-inch impact wrench fills a genuine gap in its battery platform at a tempting $350 price point, but its measured torque of 470 to 781 ft-lbs depending on the pack leaves it short of Milwaukee’s 1-inch flagship and even the older Gen 2 half-inch. For Milwaukee users, the 2867 remains the tool to beat, and the 2767 Gen 2 is proof that a half-inch high torque can still embarrass a larger competitor.