Ratchet Suggestions

[Adversary]

Got the craftsman overdrive ratchets to see what they’re about, and immediately took one apart to see the what the deal is on 180 teeth. It has a dual pawl gimmick where I assume each tooth on the gear clicks twice. I put some grease on it after reading the back drag on these are horrendous, I’ll give an update on that after using them for a while.

 

[someotherguy]

Got the craftsman overdrive ratchets to see what they’re about, and immediately took one apart to see the what the deal is on 180 teeth. It has a dual pawl gimmick where I assume each tooth on the gear clicks twice. I put some grease on it after reading the back drag on these are horrendous, I’ll give an update on that after using them for a while.

Seems like a knock-off of a Snap-on design, or maybe there were dual-pawl setups before. Anyway, I got this fixed handle 1/4" used off eBay and the quick-release button and ball bearing were stuck/inop. Seller refunded me the amount of the rebuild kit so all is well. Threw the kit in there after a thorough cleaning and lube, 15 mins later and she's like new again.

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Richard

 

[Adversary]

Seems like a knock-off of a Snap-on design, or maybe there were dual-pawl setups before.

Perhaps, the pawl setup on this one is a little different than the one you have. They are stacked together instead of on opposite sides, like a single pawl but split in half from left to right making them parallel to each other.
Likely the cause of extra friction—thus backdrag.

 

[someotherguy]

Perhaps, the pawl setup on this one is a little different than the one you have. They are stacked together instead of on opposite sides, like a single pawl but split in half from left to right making them parallel to each other.
Likely the cause of extra friction—thus backdrag.

Oh! Didn't know that since they were already out of the body in the pics. That's weird. Has the action improved since you went in and lubed it?

I'm still getting used to this fine tooth action anyway.. most of my previous ratchets were coarse action old Craftsman. I do have to say I'm digging the fine tooth Snap-Ons, though I did notice it was a little annoying the 3/8" flex head was flexing too easily while I was working in close quarters. I'm used to the Craftsman which has detents.

Richard

 

[Supercharged111]

Perhaps, the pawl setup on this one is a little different than the one you have. They are stacked together instead of on opposite sides, like a single pawl but split in half from left to right making them parallel to each other.
Likely the cause of extra friction—thus backdrag.

Gearwrench does the same with their 120.

 

[Adversary]

Oh! Didn't know that since they were already out of the body in the pics. That's weird. Has the action improved since you went in and lubed it?

I'm still getting used to this fine tooth action anyway.. most of my previous ratchets were coarse action old Craftsman. I do have to say I'm digging the fine tooth Snap-Ons, though I did notice it was a little annoying the 3/8" flex head was flexing too easily while I was working in close quarters. I'm used to the Craftsman which has detents.

Richard

My fault, here’s some better pictures.

At school all they have is snapon unless you bring your own tools and they’re so smooth you can barely feel much less hear the ratcheting. I’m not a fan of having not having the quick release though, and I’ve also noticed your same complaint about the flex head being too loose, almost like a worn out swivel.

 

[someotherguy]

Anecdotal/small sample size arguments and everything like that aside, Royalty Auto Service posts a lot of FB videos and they have been advocating pretty strongly for using low-cost alternatives for Snap-on stuff. As a test, they handed out 9 Icon ratchets to their guys to try out. Video I just skimmed over says all of them have been working well except for one, a long-handle 1/2" that is binding up a bit in the mechanism after it's allegedly only been used on 4 bolts. No description of how much effort was used on those bolts or if it was just regular use.

He goes into the discussion about lifetime warranty / time spent to go swap it out.

I'm gonna take it a step further and say, that lifetime warranty is fine, IF you have the time to go swap it out without it being a bother. IF the HF isn't far from you. IF HF doesn't change their warranty policy. IF they don't discontinue the tool line you've been buying (or significantly change it) so direct replacements aren't available.

And.. IF they don't go out of business.

You might say, how could that happen? Consider: Sears is gone, and so is the relative ease of swapping out lifetime warranty Craftsman tools. The stores that sell them now seem not up to speed on warranty replacement, so you get a mixed bag of people that will swap them without issue, or ones that demand a receipt from their store. And at least in the Craftsman example, you could be exchanging a superior older US-made tool for a junk Chinesium replacement, so while you're getting a new, unbroken tool, you're getting one that is not equivalent in value.

Richard