Ratchets For Professional Use

My friend has a shop (small gas’s station) and he is always braking ratchets.  It is to the point that when I work there I bring my own tools. He lets me work on my stuff there and I help him out with things every now and then. I want to get him a couple good ratchets. Some that can stand up to commercial use. 

Free lifetime replacements are nice but I would rather get ones that you don’t have to keep doing that. (Like what he has now). There are five or six broken ones in his drawer at the moment. Yesterday I got annoyed and welded one solid so I had something to use that would not skip/slip. 

You’re going to have to spend some coin at the tool truck to get anything commercial-ish that’s easily available.

I’ve beat up my 3/8” Snap-on flexible ratchet after my MAC one died a horrible death after 20 yrs of abuse. Sure it was $120, but it’s still worth every damn penny I spent.

Throw us a bone - what brands has he been breaking? None are indestructible if mistreated badly. Point being, if the broken ones are SnapOn, he needs to change how he treats tools. 

Good ratchets cost a couple hundred bucks nowadays.

I was peeved that we finally had a Snap-On guy come around to replace my on-center flex-head and the replacement he gave me had a plastic handle.  NO!  I do not want child's toys in my toolbox.  So he did some figuring and put my old handle on the new ratchet head, and all is well.

Other than that, I have Matco ratchets, primarily because we only have Matco service because the local MAC guy retired and Cornwell were complete d-bags to the old Cornwell guy and I refuse to do business with them and buy new Matco tools to replace worn Cornwell ones out of spite.  If you want my old Cornwell tools to warranty for yourself, too bad, they are melted down into soup cans now.  Some things make the Eastern European "hold a grudge forever" part of my blood boil and that situation is one of them.

Any ratchet can be expected to only last 12 months or so no matter what, things wear out and things break, this is the nature of anything mechanical.  But they work much better in the time before they are broken, and it is much better than the maybe 2 weeks you get out of cheap crap.

When I really need to go to town on something i have snap-on industrial with long handles in 1/4-1/2” drives.  The biggest problem ive had is the lever to flip directions on the 1/4 and 1/2 ones fell out and disappeared.  Wonder if the tool truck can fix that.  

With such consistent issues like that I'd imagine he must be abusing them. Bouncing/jerking on them etc. Nothing is really immune to that kind of abuse, but his best bet is probably something off a pro truck. (Snap-On, Mac etc.)

What is he using now?  

I was a full time tech for several years and only ever broke anything by jerking on them. Even at that, as long as you fully engage the pawl before bouncing and don't let the pawl back off and partially disengage you're usually pretty safe.

My primary ratchets are Craftsman's and are notorious for breaking, but I've only had to exchange one in the last 25 years.

His latest batch were the husky professional line (not sure that is really a thing) All three lasted about a month maybe a bit more. He has a couple snap on ones that have lasted longer. Maybe 6 months but are now broken. 

I don’t mind paying good money for a good tool.  

I guess the other option is to get 4-5 cheep ones with the lifetime warranty. It is just annoying to literally run out of working ratchets when working on something. 

I realize I've never met the guy, and generally refrain from comments like this, but dude needs learn how to use a ratchet properly. 

However, for the sake of friendship it's probably best to just back away quietly. 

There is some of that as well as being in the rust belt tends to kill tools faster. 

Crackers said:I was a full time tech for several years and only ever broke anything by jerking on them. Even at that, as long as you fully engage the pawl before bouncing and don't let the pawl back off and partially disengage you're usually pretty safe.

That is part of the problem... when you have factory-Loctited fasteners, or rust-locked fasteners, when they initially break free, they can do so with more force than just jerking or palm-slapping.  In a lot of cases the recoil is hard enough to flip the ratchet pawl the other way.

A few weeks ago, I had to breaker-bar some stuff off and the recoil was so harsh that I think I broke something in my left wrist/arm.  It hurt like hell and it still hurts if I make certain motions.  Maybe cracked forearm bone, maybe ripped tendon, who knows?  The funny part is that I had to use an extension and I twisted the 1/2" extension around almost 180 degrees.

Breaking ratchets is a lot of why I finally invested in breaker bars.  Break it loose with the breaker bar, and THEN use a ratchet or impact gun.  Or break your ratchets and sit there making noise with your impact gun without loosening the bolt, it's your choice.

Warranty his Snap-On stuff for him.

TBH, I forget that using a breaker bar is not a given. 

I suppose I do take for granted the fact my time as a tech was in Los Angeles, but Dean's friends issues sound excessive. 

Sounds like he needs a breaker bar and an education on the proper to for the job?

In reply to dean1484 :

I think you may need to buy him some breaker bars, not ratchets.

breaker bars are the only way to go. Your buddy needs to invest in some and learn how to use them

After years of frustration newer Craftsman and Husky ratchets the wife bought me a couple Matco ratchets.  They are far better than current box store ones.  

mad_machine said:

breaker bars are the only way to go. Your buddy needs to invest in some and learn how to use them

I've been wrenchin' for about 40 years now.  I'm not a professional, but 40 years of amateur wrenching should certainly add up.  In that time, I've broken or worn out one ratchet, which Sears replaced under duress.

I have been wrenching for 35-40 years and I have broken more rachetts and breaker bars than I can count. I have two half drive sears rachetts and two half drive breaker bars that I sheared off the nub you put the socket on. I was trying to get the nut pff a Mazda three half shaft.  

In reply to Dr. Hess :

They don’t make ‘em like they used to.  I have one of my grandfathers that works fine and my fathers are ok.  The ones I got in high school wore out fairly quick and newer ones faster still.

Some folks need to learn some mechanical empathy.

My newest ratchet was bought in the early 90s. I don't break them and never have even when I was flagging 60-80 flat rate hours per week. Yes, they are Snap On brand, but respect is the golden rule of using any tool. If things are getting too serious, step up to a breaker bar or a larger drive size.  Why would I want to abuse a 100-400 dollar ratchet ? 

I'm going to be the opposite voice of reason. S&K ratchets are what I use because I got tired of having to chase down a snap on truck to replace/repair there ratchets that seem to break every 3rd use. I'll cut you a deal on a 3/8 and 1/4 inch drive snap on ratchets. I hate mine.

Ive broken one ratchet over the years of working on cars, im not a professional, just someone who works on his own cars. I think your friend needs a breaker bar.

An off the wall suggestion is Harbor Frieght stuff. I know....a lot of what they sell is junk but ive been pleasantly suprised with their ratchets. The had a huge sale and i bought a few oddball ratchets including an offset small plastic ratchet, a swiveling head one and a few others but the real suprise is the extending one.

Itll extend to twice its length so you can use it as a breaker bar too. Ive had it for 3 years and the worst treatment its had was when i needed to break free some very rusted lugnuts without a better tool for the job. I was literally jumping on it to break loose the lugnuts. It did the job, and works fine to the day. Not bad for $10

Another unconventional approach is the Euro brands. I'm really impressed with the Wera tools I got recently, including the ratchets, though I haven't had them long enough to speak to their longevity. I have a Facom 3/8" ratchet that I've had for a very long time that still works perfectly. But I also go for breaker bars quickly when confronted with stubborn fasteners.

I'm usually the go-to guy for breaking things loose and other than the super-crappy ratchets that I think most experienced techs can spot by sight or even feel, I've basically never broken a ratchet. I think all the exceptions involved cheater pipes. Even then, I still keep a couple of 1/2" Craftsman ratchets around for cheater pipe work, and i've had no problems with that either. The most expensive ratchet i've ever bought in my life was $55, less than any single one of the ~30 or so ASE certification and recertification tests i've taken. My 3/8 ratchets for the last several years have been an old Cman 'triwing' (like the thumbwheel), and old Stanley that i tinkered with the innards of to make it feel nice (no strength issues), and a long-handle flex head Harbor Freight (which is great other than the flex head getting loose). My $55 ratchet is a Gearwrench Xp120 1/2" long handle flex head which im just ok about. I certainly don't think it's any stronger than my 1/2" long handle flex head harbor freight ratchet, it just has better tooth count (degrees between clicks) and slightly lower backdrag.  

I think mechanical empathy is the key factor at play here. I've NEVER felt the need to buy an 'expensive' ratchet. Now, impact wobble sockets? Sure. 1/2" air impact? Sure. I would even argue that there's a compelling argument for expensive open end wrenches that don't even have moving parts. But there are perfectly good ratchets out there for $30. 

dean1484 said:

I have been wrenching for 35-40 years and I have broken more rachetts and breaker bars than I can count. I have two half drive sears rachetts and two half drive breaker bars that I sheared off the nub you put the socket on. I was trying to get the nut pff a Mazda three half shaft.  

Funny. I broke two brand new breaker bars back to back, in an extremely similar fashion, on a mazda 3. Sheared the Male nub clean off. They were "gm performance " ones bought from pepzone mere minutes before I broke them.