Kobalt Racheting Wrench sets

[The Muffin Man]

I decided to stop at Lowes earlier today to pick up some wood to build a new workbench (and to also give me a reason to use my Milwaukee drywall gun I just got :) ) when I started to look at the Kobalt hand tools and see if anything was on clearance or on sale. I noticed they had a ratcheting wrench set that Lowes was selling for $99.99. The finish looked nice, so I went to test out the ratchet system on the display wrench. The wrench felt like absolute garbage! The amount of play in the mechanism was horrible, and they sounded like the hammer of a large caliber revolver when they clicked (even felt clunky.) I immediately went to the side of the isle in disbelief to pick up one that was not on display... yet they still had the same amount of play. Heck these Kobalt wrenches would make Harbor Freight vomit :wtf:.

[bchee]

I think they are designed that way intentionally - they claim for improved strength. They do feel pretty coarse.
There is a similar Craftsman ratcheting wrench which feels the same. It's PAWLESS.
"Large tooth profile for maximum gear contact and ratchet strength. Grease-free design with few moving parts.
Gear configuration eliminates slack for efficient fastener turning"

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00942444000P

It feels better than the old ratcheting wrenches with the exposed gears, but definitely not as good as the fine tooth ones.

I think they intended these to be used for higher torque, so you can break a stubborn nut loose, and still use the same ratcheting box end.