Luke
I have a good assortment of power tools and the Makita does seem to hold up to any of them.
I have figured out a set of brushes can bring one back from the dead if you stopped using it as soon as it started making that horrible noise. (before you burn the commutator) Ace has brushes but you will have to find them.
Start near the power tool parts and they will be in a little parts box most employees have never opened [Linked Image]

Greg Fretwell