Just how much bigger is the M12 Fuel 2404 drill?

I see a lot of discussion about how big the M12 Fuel drill is. I thought I would show a side by side comparison of the 2404 Fuel and the 2407 brushed.

The chuck is a little longer on the Fuel. I’ll gladly take that little bit of extra to have a nice metal 1/2″ chuck.

Would you?

PROTOOLNUT wrote:

Great post C-Haris!

I strongly believe that more power is better, even if its got too much power for a small task, you can easily work around that. But when you need the power, you really need it, and nothing sucks more, then a drill that lacks power. I love my 2604, and I will love it even more if I can get the chuck to stay on lol.

Thanks. I’m a big fan of Fuel and other brushless tools.

I’ve heard comments several times about someone choosing the M12 brushed drill because it was smaller. I thought it might be helpful to see them side by side.

Its almost the same size, people shouldn’t worry about a few centimeters if its an inch difference than I can see 

If they need small, they should get the screwdriver, or a Bosch. If they need a 12v drill that can get some serious work done, then the m12 Fuel is a no-brainer.

Proto, if that chuck is still giving you issues I would get some warranty going. The ownership experience should be pretty flawless, and an industrial grade tool shouldn’t need to be babied.

Justin Hernandez wrote:

Its almost the same size, people shouldn’t worry about a few centimeters if its an inch difference than I can see

From the back of the tool to the chuck they are basically the same length.

This chuck is slightly longer, but it’s an all metal chuck that will accept 1/2″ bits.

And its a hammer drill too, crazy

PROTOOLNUT wrote:

Great post C-Haris!

I strongly believe that more power is better, even if its got too much power for a small task, you can easily work around that. But when you need the power, you really need it, and nothing sucks more, then a drill that lacks power. I love my 2604, and I will love it even more if I can get the chuck to stay on lol.

Like Bremon I think I would go ahead and send that drill in for warranty.

Justin Hernandez wrote:

Its almost the same size, people shouldn’t worry about a few centimeters if its an inch difference than I can see 

 

sorry to be a picky bastard, but 3 centimers is longer than an inch. An inch is ~2.54cm

 

I agree with your sentiment, an inch is a fair difference in the length of a drill..

I used to have that Fuel drill and I ended up selling it. I wanted a compact kit and although I loved that gun, and it was a compact powerhouse, I needed a gun that was really small. The Fuel drill is actually quite large. But like said earlier, a 1/2″ metal chuck is a big deal and having the power to use it makes the drill a slick machine. I will say that my Fuel impact is really small and works awesome. I though about getting the brushed Milwaukee but I ended up with the CXS which is truly the best drill on the market for its intended purpose. With my CXS and Fuel impact I’ve got small covered! Too bad about that chuck. I have had to do two warranty returns on new tools to Milwaukee. Not happy about having to return new tools for warranty repairs and Q&C but….the ABSOLUTE BEST EXPERIENCE I have had with a warranty return. The tools are date stamped. They don’t care if you bought it new or found it in the gutter, if it’s less than five years old it’s free. That’s pretty awesome.

dwain wrote:

sorry to be a picky bastard, but 3 centimers is longer than an inch. An inch is ~2.54cm

 

I agree with your sentiment, an inch is a fair difference in the length of a drill..

Haha, your right I should have said millimeters. I’m picky too so no worries  

ChrisK1970 wrote:

I though about getting the brushed Milwaukee but I ended up with the CXS which is truly the best drill on the market for its intended purpose.

Snob.

LOL

I KNEW IT!!!!!!!

Great comparison there. I thought the brushed model was way smaller compared to the fuel. It actually was on my shoplist for compact drill. I will go with bosch then for compacts and use my dcd790 when I do need full 1/2″ chuck capacity

Thank you C Harris!

ChrisK1970 wrote:

I used to have that Fuel drill and I ended up selling it. I wanted a compact kit and although I loved that gun, and it was a compact powerhouse, I needed a gun that was really small. The Fuel drill is actually quite large. But like said earlier, a 1/2″ metal chuck is a big deal and having the power to use it makes the drill a slick machine. I will say that my Fuel impact is really small and works awesome. I though about getting the brushed Milwaukee but I ended up with the CXS which is truly the best drill on the market for its intended purpose. With my CXS and Fuel impact I’ve got small covered! Too bad about that chuck. I have had to do two warranty returns on new tools to Milwaukee. Not happy about having to return new tools for warranty repairs and Q&C but….the ABSOLUTE BEST EXPERIENCE I have had with a warranty return. The tools are date stamped. They don’t care if you bought it new or found it in the gutter, if it’s less than five years old it’s free. That’s pretty awesome.

 

i agree completely on their warranty experience. the blade clamp on my m12 jigsaw completely fell apart the second time i used it and they actually sent me a brand new saw instead of just fixing mine. i wasn’t too pleased when it happened, but having a brand new saw replacement within a week from the manufacturer sure was impressive. i’ve heard other brands take quite a bit longer to return the tools. even if i didn’t love the tools i would probably stay with the brand just for their warranty.

i can hardly tell the difference between the fuel and brushed lengths. i can’t imagine it would make much of a difference 95% of the time. how often in that other 5% would the brushed be able to do the job either? that’s why they came out with right angle drivers, right?

They should have dropped the hammer function, then it would be the perfect 12V drill.

How many holes can you even drill in hammer drill mode?

ankur wrote:

i agree completely on their warranty experience. the blade clamp on my m12 jigsaw completely fell apart the second time i used it and they actually sent me a brand new saw instead of just fixing mine. i wasn’t too pleased when it happened, but having a brand new saw replacement within a week from the manufacturer sure was impressive. i’ve heard other brands take quite a bit longer to return the tools. even if i didn’t love the tools i would probably stay with the brand just for their warranty.

Yeah ankur, that’s kind of where I was going. I’m sure it was a fluke but I wasn’t too happy about those issues. I had a ton of issues with my first gen M18 drill driver with the chuck. Got a replacement, same problem. Got another replacement, okay. I was not too happy about that. With the two warranty returns, they were so easy to deal with but again not too happy I had problems. I will say the M12 Fuel Hackzall, the M12 Fuel impact and the M12 multi tool I have are absolutely awesome tools.

Moitas wrote:

Great comparison there. I thought the brushed model was way smaller compared to the fuel. It actually was on my shoplist for compact drill. I will go with bosch then for compacts and use my dcd790 when I do need full 1/2″ chuck capacity

Thank you C Harris!

I’m glad you found it useful. I was looking at them and was surprised myself because I had heard how much smaller the brushed drill was.

Andrull wrote:

They should have dropped the hammer function, then it would be the perfect 12V drill.

Look up the 2403 it’s the same drill without the hammer function.

I use the hammer function on mine a lot. Works perfect for hanging stuff with plaster walls.

Yep, my 2403 handles anything and everything around the house.

hey

while i love my m12fuel combo hammer drill and impact i will say that you pay for the power and durability with weight more than size for a 12v tool the hammer drill in HEAVY. That being said drills are usually longer than impact drivers and if you dont need the hammer function you could get a driver that can drill too(not hammer drill) and it would be much smaller and lighter. Bosch makes a compact driver in their 10.8v or 12v line but if you already have the milwaukee m12 line and want to stick with it ypu can look at the 2401 2402 2406

C Harris wrote:

I see a lot of discussion about how big the M12 Fuel drill is. I thought I would show a side by side comparison of the 2404 Fuel and the 2407 brushed.

The chuck is a little longer on the Fuel. I’ll gladly take that little bit of extra to have a nice metal 1/2″ chuck.

Would you?

The mode selector seems to be the reason the fuel is longer. I think that its a worthy trade off especially when you add the 1/2″ metal chuck.

more power and fuel line means brush less motor so it`s better in all ways 🙂