Toptul Gearless Ratchet Review

[auto-x fil]

I have bought a large number of tools from Mike, and been totally satisfied. I'm in the middle of finishing my garage, so I haven't done too much wrenching with them yet, but I did get a chance to test out my new 1/4" gearless ratchet.

It's smooth - no perceptible slop. Way tighter than my SK 72-tooth, or even an F80. And strong - this is a 1/4" drive, and that's a 9/16" drive bolt that I snapped clean off with it (intentionally). It took a LOT of force to break that bolt, and the ratchet didn't mind.

[Hiball]

Why did you have to go and bring the f8o into the Mix..... I can gurantee keyboards are smokin at this very minute or they will be, restassured. I have been happy with my toptul tools also, I havent tried to tear one up but whatever floats your boat i suppose.

[superautobacs]

My knowledge on gearless ratchets are limited, but from the literature that I've read, they can take quite a hefty torque load before they slip.

I have a 3/8" version and so far so good.

[Hiball]

Btw, How big of a cheater did you have on that Ratchet. Just curious?

[auto-x fil]

Btw, How big of a cheater did you have on that Ratchet. Just curious?

Just my arm. It was about all I could do to snap the bolt with no cheater bar, but I didn't put one on since I had no desire to break the ratchet.

[mattwgrizwald]

you mean a 3/8" bolt right? 9/16" hex head ? the size of the socket

[Hiball]

you mean a 3/8" bolt right? 9/16" hex head ? the size of the socket

By the pictures it appears thats what he meant, Regardless That is still alot of force for a 1/4 ratchet, Gearless at that. He is braver than i am, I could forsee me putting a tremendous amount of force only to have the ratchet slip and/or the bolt break sending my hand into something hard that would cause great pain for little reward.

[auto-x fil]

you mean a 3/8" bolt right? 9/16" hex head ? the size of the socket

Yes, 9/16" hex drive, 3/8" bolt. I chose that because it's the largest socket I have for 1/4" drive.

[Joelfke]

He is braver than i am, I could forsee me putting a tremendous amount of force only to have the ratchet slip and/or the bolt break sending my hand into something hard that would cause great pain for little reward.

I have a real scar and a real story to go along with that hypothetical.... :beer:

[cruiser808]

I have a real scar and a real story to go along with that hypothetical.... :beer:

Please share, kind sir. :beer:

[Joelfke]

Please share, kind sir. :beer:

haha since you insist

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu213/Joelfke/th_PIC_0008.jpg (http://s649.photobucket.com/albums/uu213/Joelfke/?action=view&current=PIC_0008.jpg)

as some of you know, ive been interning at a chevy dealer. my second week an older mechanic asked me for my help as he couldnt break loose a filler plug for a front diff on a 2008 suburban. what i did not realize is that a steel skid place sits 6 inches under the filler plug...i took the wrench and pulled down hard...harder...as hard as i could...and the bolt broke free...shooting my hand down and right into the edge of the skid plate.

it was more deep than it is long. but its gonna scar. although its healing nicely (see pic). 4 stitches later at the local emergency room and i came back and thanked the tech for teaching me how NOT to service a front differential :-P:beer:

[Diesel_Crawler]

Joelfke,

Yea that looks as if it might have hurt. Who am i kidding it must have hurt like a B!tch. When you say you thanked him did you ask if next time he wanted he wanted your help he would cover the heath care bill :spit:

[Joelfke]

Joelfke,

Yea that looks as if it might have hurt. Who am i kidding it must have hurt like a B!tch. When you say you thanked him did you ask if next time he wanted he wanted your help he would cover the heath care bill :spit:

haha well luckily for me A) it went numb almost instantly and didnt bleed much...but it hurt like hell for the next week or so. and B) even though im an intern it was AT work so workmans comp picked up the bill :)

i was sure to say how i respectfully did not want to work with him on differentials :lol_hitti

[cruiser808]

haha since you insist

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu213/Joelfke/th_PIC_0008.jpg (http://s649.photobucket.com/albums/uu213/Joelfke/?action=view&current=PIC_0008.jpg)

as some of you know, ive been interning at a chevy dealer. my second week an older mechanic asked me for my help as he couldnt break loose a filler plug for a front diff on a 2008 suburban. what i did not realize is that a steel skid place sits 6 inches under the filler plug...i took the wrench and pulled down hard...harder...as hard as i could...and the bolt broke free...shooting my hand down and right into the edge of the skid plate.

it was more deep than it is long. but its gonna scar. although its healing nicely (see pic). 4 stitches later at the local emergency room and i came back and thanked the tech for teaching me how NOT to service a front differential :-P:beer:

Joelfke - Ouch! :mad: Man, that hurts me just looking at it from 7000 miles way. I've had a few of those in my day including a little kiss from the skidplate of my FJ40 Land Cruiser. I bid you a speedy recovery my friend. :beer:

[bchee]

I've never seen the inside of a gearless ratchet before. That's pretty cool

[Joelfke]

Joelfke - Ouch! :mad: Man, that hurts me just looking at it from 7000 miles way. I've had a few of those in my day including a little kiss from the skidplate of my FJ40 Land Cruiser. I bid you a speedy recovery my friend. :beer:

thanks buddy! its healing pretty good but im fairly certain it will scar...ill have to make up a story better than that for the ladies :thumbup:

[cruiser808]

thanks buddy! its healing pretty good but im fairly certain it will scar...ill have to make up a story better than that for the ladies :thumbup:

:lol_hitti

[dledinger]

Interesting post - thanks.

[-B-]

Please tell us how this quantifies a review ? as it is typed it is merely an impression of one aspect of twice used.

[sk farmer]

joelfke, i am not disputing your pain or injury, it is obvious. what where you using when this happened? whas it a toptul gearless ratchet or something else?

[auto-x fil]

Please tell us how this quantifies a review ? as it is typed it is merely an impression of one aspect of twice used.

Please tell me how that qualifies as English.

I think we've covered everything else about the Toptul ratchets other than the gearless mechanism itself, but I can provide some more feedback if people are interested:

The chrome is very nice, like all my Toptul stuff - I recently got some SK swivel sockets, and they are put to shame by Toptul in terms of fit and finish. I'm not a big plastic/rubber handle guy, but it's very grippy - I'll see how it handles in tight spaces down the road. When I was really heaving on it I noticed the handle deformed around the shaft a bit - I'll avoid the rubber grips on items like breaker bars.

The direction-change wheel is pretty tight, but not too bad to operate with one hand. I'm a big fan of push button socket release, especially for tight spaces like this will be used in, and the button is easy enough to get to, but is recessed so it won't get hit on accident.

But again: we know all this. What hasn't been posted here before is details on the gearless mechanism: it works. It provides the ability to move a fastener with essentially zero degrees of ratchet movement, doesn't slip or chatter, and is plenty strong enough. I see nothing that makes me think it'll wear out very quickly, but of course only time will tell.

[rhandwor]

I seriously doubt this was a quality bolt more likely a grade 2.

[auto-x fil]

I seriously doubt this was a quality bolt more likely a grade 2.

What's less than Grade 2? It came from Harbor Freight, so if it's possible to make bolts out of sawdust and bubble gum, that's probably the composition of this one.

Again, I'm not trying to say that this thing is indestructible - just that it didn't break when I gave it all the force I could muster without adding a mechanical cheater. And, more importantly - it felt good when I did it. No slipping, no flexing, no creaking or grinding. I've used plenty of regular toothed ratchets that felt lousy when you heaved on them.

If the humidity stays down and I can lay some epoxy tonight, it won't be long before I can really wrench with these tools and give a proper review - this ratchet, some 1/4" wobble extensions, and some SK 1/4" drive swivel sockets were all purchased to make short work of a pretty obnoxious job: E30 intake manifolds. That'll be the real test!

[auto-x fil]

Long-term(ish) update:

Good: The ratchet is still smooth and seamless. No slipping, no clicking, just essentially 0º of rotation needed to turn a fastener. The push-button release works really well - I never hit it accidentally, but sockets come off easily when I desire.

Bad: It's a bit bulky for some apps: the head is quite thick. It also has a lot of drag, so when turning a fastener which is ALMOST free-spinning, it will tighten it when you want it to be ratcheting.

It's not the do-everything ratchet I'd hoped for, but it's still the one I reach for first, and only get a lower profile, lower-drag geared ratchet when I need it. Even when I have decent room to work the ratchet, things go faster since less motion is wasted in gear slop.