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3 month old USA Armstrong ratchet broken: 11-994

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Tarheelgarage

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:mad:

Bought the USA made Armstrong flex head ratchet about 3 months ago and it has now **** the bed...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I1WG26/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Ratcheting mechanism has locked up and will not turn either direction.
I haven't taken it apart yet.
Anyone know how to get this warranted with Armstrong or am I SOL?

I guess I'll go back to using my Gearwrench Tiwan made ratchets.


So much for good american made tool quality.
 
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fivespdcat

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Re: 3 month old USA Williams ratchet broken: 11-994

Is it a Williams or an Armstrong? You're post says Williams, but the link is a Armstrong. The first thing I would do is take it apart and see if anything is wrong. After that contact the manufacturer, they'll send out a rebuild kit.
 
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Hiball

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I've had similar issues with the gearwrench and Matco 84/88 ratchets.. Not all of them, but without warning the selector locks up and it takes a disassembly, inspection/wipe down and reassembly to remedy the problem. It doesn't seem to affect all sizes but its happened to me more than once.

Normally after it happens, I just start using my old reliable round heads.. Wright/Sk..
 
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SMKS

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Hiball said:
I've had similar issues with the gearwrench and Matco 84/88 ratchets.. Not all of them, but without warning the selector locks up and it takes a disassembly, inspection/wipe down and reassembly to remedy the problem. It doesn't seem to affect all sizes but its happened to me more than once.
Click to expand...

+1

This can happen occasionally to all the Apex Tools ratchets that use this design. My experience, as noted above, is that opening and oiling will usually fix it. My experience is that it only happened with a new ratchet. Once it was opened/oiled and used a little more it worked again.

In my case, it happened with a new GearWrench 60 tooth ratchet. It hasn't happened with my Armstrong Maxx locking flex head, which I've used quite a bit.

But, your mileage may vary...
 
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redwrench60

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I have a couple Matco 88 tooth ratchets that lock the selector and ratchet mechanism sometimes while tightening a bolt. A sharp smack on a steel workbench always frees them up.....seriously, try it.
 
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Fedwrench

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open it it up. Sometimes on those ratchets the pintle behind the pawl gear will slip out from behind the pawl gear and get wedged to the outside of the pawl gear locking everything up. Sometimes this is because you may have a 60 tooth drive gear mated with an 80 something pawl gear. After initial inspection, check the pawl gear for a number like 84 or 88. If this mismatch is the case contact Armstrong for a new rebuild kit.
Lube with 3 in one oil or Breakfree CLP etc and reassemble. Those are ussually great ratchets. Sorry for your inconvience.:beer:
 
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SMKS

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Tarheelgarage said:
I guess I'll go back to using my Gearwrench Tiwan made ratchets.


So much for good american made tool quality.
Click to expand...

As another member mentioned, these two ratchets use the same mechanism.

In my case, the GearWrench had a problem, but my two Armstrong Maxx ratchets didn't. So, it's not US vs. imported, it's just the design.

I was also going to suggest you check that the gear/pawl were mismatched, like Fedwrench suggested. But, in the threads I've read about that the posters didn't say a mismatched pawl caused locking up. It just caused the ratchet not to ratchet properly.

More info on mismatched gear/pawl in this thread:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=160511
 
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firebox40dash5

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I've had them mismatched too, it just won't hold ANY torque, I could make it skip with finger pressure. At least with a 60T pawl and 88T gear.

Take it apart, check it out, grease it up, **** it up and drive on. It's not the end of the world, cupcake. :p
 
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Chadwilliam1

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in the time it took to make this thread you cold have taken the ratchet apart and looked at what was wrong with it. It might just be jammed up for some unknown reason.
 
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