In-depth review
Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V P262 Impact Wrench Review (2027)
Ryobi's P262 gives ONE+ households 600 ft-lb of breakaway torque for tire swaps and trailer work. Our research verdict on the homeowner mid-torque.
Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V P262 Impact Wrench
The homeowner mid-torque: real lug-nut power on the ONE+ batteries a household already owns.
Our verdict
The P262 succeeds because it understands its assignment. It is not a pro tool and does not pretend to be: it is 600 ft-lb of breakaway torque, a forgiving Auto mode and a Tri-Beam light, delivered on the ONE+ batteries already charging in millions of garages. For factory-torqued wheels, trailer hubs, mower blades and deck hardware it does the complete job. Its ceiling is equally clear: corroded and shop-over-torqued fasteners belong to stronger classes, and the P262's owners are happiest when nobody asks it to pretend otherwise.
What we like
- 600 ft-lb of breakaway torque and 450 ft-lb of fastening torque cover car and light truck lug nuts
- Four-mode control with an Auto mode that slows run-down to limit overtightening
- Up to 3,200 IPM keeps hardware moving quickly on decks and trailers
- Tri-Beam LED worklights and the huge ONE+ battery ecosystem behind it
What to watch out for
- Build and refinement trail the pro brands, with more plastic in the housing
- Sustained heavy work heats it up faster than the flagship mid-torques
- Bare tool, and it gives its best output on HP batteries rather than old compact packs
What owners report: Ryobi ONE+ HP 18V P262 Impact Wrench
Synthesized from recurring themes in long-term owner feedback.
Most praised
- It takes factory-torqued car and SUV lugs off without a breaker bar first
- Auto mode makes putting wheels back on calmer for newer users
- Owners with a drawer of ONE+ batteries call it the easiest tool purchase they own
Common complaints
- Over-torqued shop-installed lugs can stall it where a pro mid-torque would not
- Long sessions on big hardware get the housing noticeably warm
- It feels less solid in hand than the pro brands it gets compared with
Who it is for
Ryobi ONE+ households doing their own tire rotations, seasonal wheel swaps, trailer and small equipment maintenance.
Real lug capability, with the asterisk printed
Six-hundred ft-lb of breakaway and 450 ft-lb of fastening put the P262 at the genuine threshold for passenger vehicle wheels, and owner reports line up: factory-torqued car and SUV lugs come off without a breaker bar warmup. The asterisk is the wheels a tire shop hammered on last year or a winter of road salt: those can demand double the breakaway, and no honest mid-torque at any brand is immune. For a maintained home fleet, the rating is the right one.
Auto mode is the beginner feature that matters
The four-mode control's Auto setting slows the tool as a fastener seats in forward and backs off in reverse, which does two kind things for newer users: it limits the classic impact-wrench crime of over-torqued lugs, and it keeps removed nuts from spinning off into the driveway. Combined with the variable trigger, it makes the P262 unusually hard to misuse for a tool of this strength.
Where the homeowner tier shows
The housing carries more plastic than the trade brands, sustained work on big hardware warms it up, and refinement details like mode indication trail the pro mid-torques. It is also a bare tool that performs best on HP-branded ONE+ batteries, so the full welcome package for a new ONE+ buyer is the wrench, a large HP pack and impact sockets. Within those honest bounds, owner satisfaction is consistently high.
Key specifications
- Drive
- 1/2 in square
- Fastening torque
- 450 ft-lb (maker rating)
- Breakaway torque
- 600 ft-lb (maker rating)
- Impacts
- Up to 3,200 IPM
- Modes
- 4-mode control with Auto mode
- Battery
- Ryobi 18V ONE+, bare tool
Also consider
Craftsman V20 RP CMCF940M1 High Torque Impact Wrench Kit
High torque numbers in a complete kit, with the battery and charger in the box.
Why consider it: More breakaway torque and a battery in the box, for garages not already on ONE+
- Drive: 1/2 in square
- Fastening torque: 700 ft-lb max (maker rating)
Milwaukee M18 FUEL 2960-20 Mid-Torque Impact Wrench
The 3/8 inch mid-torque sweet spot for daily shop fasteners.
Why consider it: The step into pro mid-torque refinement and control, on the M18 platform
- Drive: 3/8 in square, friction ring
- Fastening torque: 550 ft-lb (maker rating)
Research-based assessment. TrueGear has not hands-on tested this product; this evaluation synthesizes manufacturer specifications, retailer documentation, and published expert reviews.
Questions, answered
Will the P262 remove my car's lug nuts?
If they were torqued to the manufacturer's specification and the wheels come off at least yearly, almost certainly yes. If a shop over-torqued them or corrosion has set in, any 600 ft-lb class wrench can struggle; that is a fastener problem, not a P262 problem, and the fix is a breaker bar assist or a higher torque class.
Which battery should I run in the P262?
The largest HP battery you own. Output and runtime both climb with pack size and HP packs are designed to feed brushless HP tools their rated performance. Small older ONE+ packs will run it gently and disappoint on wheels.
P262 or a cheap corded impact wrench?
For driveway tire swaps, the cordless P262 wins on freedom alone, and its torque rating matches or beats budget corded guns. The corded tool's only honest edge is unlimited runtime for a full day of project work, which is not how home garages use these tools.
Every guide on Impact Wrenches15 pages
- Topic hubImpact Wrenches
- Best ofThe Best Impact Wrenches (2027)
- This ranking is built on one measurement that matters for wheels: breakaway torque, the loosening figure. Correctly torqued car lugs yield to almost anything here. The ranking separates on the hard cases: lugs a shop over-torqued last year, rust-belt corrosion, and truck wheels tightened to the top of the passenger range. Compact-class tools are included only where their rating honestly covers correctly torqued car lugs, and the note says so.The Best Impact Wrenches for Lug Nuts (2027)
- Professional use inverts the usual ranking. The flagship high torque gun matters, but a mechanic's day is brakes, suspension, subframes and engine hardware, much of it on 3/8 inch sockets in spaces a flagship cannot enter. This ranking weights size, mode control and all-day weight ahead of headline torque, and reserves the big guns for the seized hardware they are actually for.The Best Impact Wrenches for Mechanics (2027)
- A home garage asks different questions than a shop. The jobs are seasonal tire swaps, trailer and mower maintenance, deck and fence hardware, and the occasional rusty bolt on a project car. Completeness matters more than refinement: a kit that works today beats a bare flagship waiting on a battery budget, and the platform you already own beats the platform a magazine prefers.The Best Impact Wrenches for a Home Garage (2027)
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