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Best Ratchet ever made?

ryoken said:
ya can using 12 point sockets... :whistle: ;)


that's why I always kinda chuckle at mechanics who act all hardcore with, "12 point sockets are stoopid, 6 point are all anyone needs!" :rolleyes: there are circumstances where you better own 12 points as a mechnick... :deal:


I have a 3/8 BP breaker bar.... don't own a 1/4"..

my 1/2" is the 36" Snappy... the king of breaker bars... that see's some use..

the 3/8's rarely get's used...
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When something is tight enough to require a breaker bar, i just use a 1/2" bar with an adapter.

But at a point, it turns into "how easily do i want to break this bolt".

My main toolbox at home is all 6pt sockets, and 12pt wrenches. But, i have a set of 12 point sockets in the truck if i really need them. And I have the 6pt wrenches, but really, hate the fact that they exist. Rarely do i want a 6pt wrench.
 
I LOVE the Snap On ratchet I have. When I get to the point of being able to work on some of my projects I'll buy some more. I've just got a 3/8 flex head ratchet.

I broke it once with a long pipe. Other than thst it's been flawless, far better than every other ratchet I've used except for the fine tooth snappy ratchets. Generally once a bolt is broken loose I just use a 1/4 ratchet with a 3/8 adaptor on it anyways.
 
just sayin.. ;)


the whole "tight enough to need a breaker bar" really isn't the point... the ratchet's gear/pawl setup isn't really designed for the shock loads placed on it to break most fasteners loose from standard tightening specs for each size/style fastener.....

will it do it? of course, we all prove it daily.. is it good for the ratchet, no... that's why they fail/skip after a while.. it's not just some sudden "the gears explode into dust" action..


on 12 points...

perfect example for me is Crusader exhaust in the boats.. they run 3/8" 12 point bolts in the elbows


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that can only be effectively taken out with a 12 point swivel socket due to the recess they sit in...



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you could use a 12 point wrench, but it would take forever, and a gearwrench doesn't fit... so before I ever bought swivel sockets, I had that particular swivel socket... your not saving anything buying sets from Snappy, so I only bought the one I needed at first...
 
Not sure I've ever run into a 12 pt fastener. More just like the wrenches due to ability to index to more positions
 
that too.. all my combos, standard and stubby are 12 point box... I have a couple odd 6 point boxes that I've found in boats..

but honestly, with Snappy's flankdrive tech, the gain with anything 6 point over 12 point is pretty negligible..
 
12 pt is generally more of a specialty or performance type deal isn't it? The only 12 pt fasteners I have, that I know of are the ARP bolts in my eagle connecting rods.
 
I've had to get 6 point sockets in order to get half the fasteners off my rusty old trucks--salt whittles bolt heads away in short order around here,and a 12 point is useless in most cases...the only 12 point bolts I run into are the one on the steering shaft to box at the rag joint,and some header bolts once in a while..

Look in my tool box and you'll see most of the 12 point sockets are like brand new--because I rarely use them ,they are pretty worthless on old fasteners..I also use the Irwin bolt out extractors almost every time I need to work on my truck...only thing I dislike about those things is the fact they are so big you cant always use them where they are needed the most..without them I'd have to torch everything off or use a sawsall!..
 
dhcomp said:
Not sure I've ever run into a 12 pt fastener. More just like the wrenches due to ability to index to more positions
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Until you round off a few bolt heads from them being so tight, that's where the 6 point box end wrenches are great. Tighter fit,,, IMO. :D
 
certainly not as common as a hex fastener, but they are out there... I see plenty on Cummins and Mann's in the boats too..

just trying to make a couple points with both those posts.. that may pop into people s brains when doing jobs... maybe everyone will look at their ratchets a little different the next time the are beatin the snot out of them getting a stuck bolt out...

in all reality.. every DIY/mechanic/yada is better off having 12 points for sockets if they are only gonna have one set.. 12's do everything a 6 does and more...

it's just 6 pointers have this "it must grab, have better contact" mystique to them.. which in some cases, especially with cheaper tools, is true... but imo, the 12's indexability, plus the 12 point fastener aspect make it equally as important and more often needed than that 6 point contact thought....
 
4xcrazy said:
Until you round off a few bolt heads from them being so tight, that's where the 6 point box end wrenches are great. Tighter fit,,, IMO. :D
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Agreed, but really, I've never had the problem.

I HAVE had issues getting 6pt wrenches to turn what i need them to turn, due to indexablity.

Rarely will i turn a bolt manually, repeatedly, by hand with a box end. But, when the need presents itself, it tends to be where only a 12pt will work.
 
While on the subject of 6 point wrenches--does anyone else hate cheap flare wrenches that spring open and round over a brake line or tubing nut every time?...
I'll never buy any of the import trash ones again...an open end tightens brake lines better without rounding them off than those things,its like they are made of rubber or spring steel..I now need to buy a 3/8 x 7/16 and a 1/2 x 9/16 flare wrench,I seem to LOSE those 2 every time!..had good luck with Craftsman flare wrenches in the past--not sure if they are as good as they were though..

I've learned to never use a wrench to remove brake lines if you plan on saving the fittings (because some are hard to find metric weirdo's factory on some vehicles)..I now cut the line off flush with side cutters or a hacksaw,and use a 6 point socket to unscrew the fitting without rounding it off hopefully..then i can drill out the old line and re-use the fitting..

Oh yeah--if you go to use that new nickel-copper never rust brake line,you'd better leave a little extra length on them in case you ever need to unscrew one in the future..for some reason it seems that stuff expands inside the brake line nut fitting once you tighten it--and it'll refuse to let the nut spin and unscrew,it'll make macaroni twists instead till the line snaps off--so your forced to cut the fitting off and put a new one on and re-flare it..
 
The flare wrenches, are like everything else. You get what you pay for.

The cheap ones sure suck, and most likely have looser tolerances most times too.
 
ryoken said:
don't see any rust in my line of work..... :whistle:




000_0004-22.jpg
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Yikes,it looks just like my 6.2's manifolds!..:eek1:...no foolin!..the underside of my truck looks just that bad--only where oil sprayed from leaks is "preserved"--the rest looks like battery acid was spilled on it everywhere..:doah:

Not saying I "never" use my 12 point sockets,I just dont bother reaching for one when I see a bolt that looks more like a rivet..I do use them on "good" bolts and other chores around the house...
 
they also run 12 point bolt's on many marine exhaust manifolds, big blocks.. the ones that run into the head... I see all that stuff fairly frequently, but than again, in my biz I see a vast amount of poo most don't, on ALL front's, from electrical to finishes to drivetrains, etc.....

that said, I'll take my "bleeding every day torture" over being a dealer mechanic............................. I think... :haha:


I have the snappy "twist" sockets, and they do get fubared bolts out a fair amount of the time when rotted like those head bolts, but it is often a carbide burr/die grinder gig on a few of them... "pipe wrench the stud out after" gig...

the head bolt's where a nightmare just due to the torque of the fastener..


the funny part of being a marine guy is when I got into the biz, I had a fiberglass background with the resto of Mack trucks and such, had painted 2,000 cars in the collision shop, went to school yada..

but gelcoat cosmetic stuff? that requires every bodyman color-matching skill I could EVER muster... making a crashed BMW look like it had never been hit? no big deal at all... gelcoating a boat? truly, truly requires all the bodyman skills I've ever learned..

anyway.. :whistle: back to tools...

my one boss buys complete cr@p.. HF stuff... borrows stuff constantly... he's a smart mofo too, I'd like to see what he could actually do with some quality snappy stuff! :haha:

even for guys in my biz.. you can get by with craftsman type stuff... but over the long haul, for your daily hand tool needs, the high-end stuff pays for itself in those little "space-saving, grip better. etc" type situations...

and with snappy stuff, believe it or not, it is the odder things you wouldn't think of.. screwdrivers.. chisels.... weird stuff... that you find the huge advantage in addition to the staple sockets, wrenches and such... ain't a cold chisel around that'll hold an edge like a Snappy..
 
I have a 1/4 drive gearwrench ratchet. I use at work, nice fine tooth with no issues and like it. Pretty much gave up on craftsman ratchets. Still use my craftsman ratchets at home, won't buy anymore.

As far as snap on except for specialty tools way over priced and are mostly polished imports just the same.
100+ bucks for a couple of ratchet wrenches, negative.
Some dumb not plumb dumb!

My duralast 1/2 ratcheting breaker bar works great. 30 bucks lifetime warrenty.
Good for doing spark plugs on fords 3v 5.4's
 
My personal favorite ratchets are the matco 80 or 88 tooth ones that are super fine. I have 1/4 and 3/8 versions. I Have stripped out my snap-on 1/4 but not my matco 1/4.
 
Just once in my life I want to own a fine ratchet...are the dual 80's the stuff? or are all the Snap-On 3/8 ratchets top quality?
 
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