SK 3870 and 43875 ratchets: which to get?

zuspiel · Sep 19, 2008

Have been reading this board for a while. Tons of great info and tool p0rn... ;-)

I've been looking for a flex or roto ratchet for a while but couldn't make up my mind (I only have a stubby C-man flex). By now, I'm down to the SKs in the title. The 3870 has been around forever and many people seem to like it. OTOH, the 43875 has 72 teeth.

Given that they cost the same, which one should I get? I do like more teeth (a lot

but if it's not as sturdy as the old 3870, I might be better off with the old model...

Thanks a lot in advance for any advice.

Best,

JJ

Merkava_4 · Sep 19, 2008

Most of us on the board have already written off SK for ratchets, sockets, and wrenches; there's a lot better choices out there.

wrenchr · Sep 19, 2008

The ratchets are good. Just not my favorite's.

64merc · Sep 19, 2008

Oh boy, that is a tough one. I don't think you'll go wrong with either one. I can't help thinking that with the roto head style of ratchet you would want more teeth if possible. They seem to help with weird angles and tight spots so a shorter swing is good. Also, if you use it like a nut driver the greater number of teeth would feel better IMO.

I don't own either one of these but this is my $.02

64merc · Sep 19, 2008

Merkava_4 said:
Most of us on the board have already written off SK for ratchets, sockets, and wrenches; there's a lot better choices out there.

Hold up there sir. I think most have written them off for sockets and maybe wrenches, but I don't think most think of their ratchets as inferior (perhaps a bit large or clunky though).

ToolGlutton · Sep 19, 2008

I like 43875 (tuff version, just personal preference). I even prefer this one to the Snap on swivel-head ratchet. I really love the fine-teeth.

zuspiel said:
Have been reading this board for a while. Tons of great info and tool p0rn... ;-)

I've been looking for a flex or roto ratchet for a while but couldn't make up my mind (I only have a stubby C-man flex). By now, I'm down to the SKs in the title. The 3870 has been around forever and many people seem to like it. OTOH, the 43875 has 72 teeth.

Given that they cost the same, which one should I get? I do like more teeth (a lot but if it's not as sturdy as the old 3870, I might be better off with the old model...

Thanks a lot in advance for any advice.

Best,

JJ

wrenchr · Sep 19, 2008

64merc said:
Hold up there sir. I think most have written them off for sockets and maybe wrenches, but I don't think most think of their ratchets as inferior (perhaps a bit large or clunky though).

I have never broke one and I have broke my fair share of ratchets.
It is a very old proven design. :thumbup:

ToolGlutton · Sep 19, 2008

Wrenchr,

I caught you. It should be "broken" not "broke". :bounce:

Funny that you used to be the person who corrects us. :rocker:

wrenchr said:
I have never broke one and I have broke my fair share of ratchets.
It is a very old proven design.

philw · Sep 19, 2008

I have not written them off.
I have the 3870 and it has been a great ratchet. I also have the SK tuff 1's 1/4 drive in standard and flex head. I also have a 3/8 bent handle palm control and a flex bent handle pro. Plus I have two SK 1/2 ratchets from the late 40's to early 50's.

No problems with any of them!

I don't know what better choices are out there. If you want to pay tool truck prices you can find some better stuff.

Don't let Merkava give you the "you can get it on ebay" line either. Tool truck ratchets do not seem to go cheap on ebay.

Some members have had some problems with quality control but I have never had to warranty an SK item.

As far as Roto-head ratchets I believe Snap-on and SK both carry them. Snap on may actually be easier to warranty and maybe a little better but it also has a bigger $$$.

You can get import roto-head ratchets now. I have never heard anyone comment on the quality though.

ToolGlutton · Sep 19, 2008

I'm also a SK ratchet fan. After I opened a SK ratchet head, I believed their head design should be the toughest to break (17 teeth could engage at the same time). Not even to mention the fine ratcheting mechanism.

philw said:
I have not written them off.
I have the 3870 and it has been a great ratchet. I also have the SK tuff 1's 1/4 drive in standard and flex head. I also have a 3/8 bent handle palm control and a flex bent handle pro. Plus I have two SK 1/2 ratchets from the late 40's to early 50's.

No problems with any of them!

I don't know what better choices are out there. If you want to pay tool truck prices you can find some better stuff.

Don't let Merkava give you the "you can get it on ebay" line either. Tool truck ratchets do not seem to go cheap on ebay.

Some members have had some problems with quality control but I have never had to warranty an SK item.

As far as Roto-head ratchets I believe Snap-on and SK both carry them. Snap on may actually be easier to warranty and maybe a little better but it also has a bigger $$$.

You can get import roto-head ratchets now. I have never heard anyone comment on the quality though.

zuspiel · Sep 19, 2008

Thanks a lot for all the feedback so far. It sounds like the 43875 would be the way to go if I go with SK. I've also drooled over the S-O FX80 but it's more than twice as expensive...

Are there any other options out there that I should look at?

wrenchr · Sep 19, 2008

ToolGlutton said:
Wrenchr,

I caught you. It should be "broken" not "broke".

Funny that you used to be the person who corrects us.

As I have said before...........I'm not at work and I do not worry about such trivial thing's!! I do not judge anyone for spelling wrong. I will joke around and that is it. This is my hobby and that is it. I poke fun at people using spell check on here!! Poke being the key word, just a jab and that is it.
Lighten up and have fun. :thumbup:

zuspiel · Sep 19, 2008

I should probably also mention that I'm a weekend "mechanic" (currently doing a full teardown of our 65 Mustang). The ratchet has to be sturdy and feel decent in my hand. And by now I've outgrown the really cheap stuff (bad 'feel' and breaks too often...)

64merc · Sep 19, 2008

zuspiel said:
I should probably also mention that I'm a weekend "mechanic" (currently doing a full teardown of our 65 Mustang). The ratchet has to be sturdy and feel decent in my hand. And by now I've outgrown the really cheap stuff (bad 'feel' and breaks too often...)

As the others have said, the SK ratchets might not be the slimmest, or the most technologically advanced, but they are tough.

If you are on a budget and would like to try out a roto head ratchet you could try one from Harbor Freight for like $15 or so. A couple of guys on here have said they hold up pretty well. If you're worried about their strength, just use 1/2 drive stuff or a breaker bar for breaking loose stubborn old bolts.

zuspiel · Sep 19, 2008

64merc said:
As the others have said, the SK ratchets might not be the slimmest, or the most technologically advanced, but they are tough.

If you are on a budget and would like to try out a roto head ratchet you could try one from Harbor Freight for like $15 or so. A couple of guys on here have said they hold up pretty well. If you're worried about their strength, just use 1/2 drive stuff or a breaker bar for breaking loose stubborn old bolts.

I like chuncky and tough :bounce:

Good point. A HF just opened down the road (if Ike didn't blow it away...) I might try that before commiting to a more expensive one.

Rickster · Sep 19, 2008

I love my SK Roto-Head 3/8 ratchet (3870), it's my go-to ratchet since I added a grip to it. I also use their deep sockets. The length of their deep sockets is shorter than the Craftsman & Proto's I have especially in the smller sizes. They're sort of my mid-sized deep sockets, good to have on hand. I just picked up a 43175 3/8 drive ratchet. Fine teeth, small round head and quite long. Haven't had a chance to use it yet but it feels delicate. I'll have to give it a workout and see if it holds up.

speed bump · Sep 19, 2008

Personally I think S-K makes just as good if not better (I prefer knurled handles) rotohead than SO does. The only advantages that I have found with my SO TH747 is that the head is very very thin (honestly I don't think ive ever found a situation that the extra 1/4" makes a difference) and the handle is longer (12" versus 10").

Merkava_4 · Sep 19, 2008

64merc said:
As the others have said, the SK ratchets might not be the slimmest, or the most technologically advanced, but they are tough.

So are boat anchors! :lol_hitti

vssjim · Sep 19, 2008

The 3870 is a great old school product I have two both over 25 years old and all still original they are the Roto Ratchet every body else is a copy

hamburglar · Sep 19, 2008

Merkava_4 said:
Most of us on the board have already written off SK for ratchets, sockets, and wrenches; there's a lot better choices out there.

Nonsense. I admit that if you have a post count over a couple of thousand (you know who you are), repeating something over and over has made it reality.

...to the OP....the main thing to do is to watch Amazon for highly discounted prices on SK. You don't really ever see cheap prices on eBay or anywhere else. If you hate the tools, return them.

Merkava_4 · Sep 19, 2008

hamburglar said:
Nonsense.

Hook Line and Sinker! It was my intention to bring the SK supporters out of the woodwork and I've done just that! :bounce:

Honda 1 · Sep 19, 2008

Check the Sears online tools . I believe they are offering some clearance prices on SK ratchets. The sale prices offered were very good.
I have three SK ratchets, which are over thirty years old, and they still work great.

zuspiel · Sep 19, 2008

hamburglar said:
...to the OP....the main thing to do is to watch Amazon for highly discounted prices on SK. You don't really ever see cheap prices on eBay or anywhere else. If you hate the tools, return them.

I was looking at both SKs on Amazon and they were around $55, which would fit in my budget. Eventually, I'm sure I'll get some SO stuff (those ratcheting screwdrivers do look neat), but at the moment I junst want to get that car apart ;-)

ToolGlutton · Sep 19, 2008

Just kidding! :bounce:

wrenchr said:
As I have said before...........I'm not at work and I do not worry about such trivial thing's!! I do not judge anyone for spelling wrong. I will joke around and that is it. This is my hobby and that is it. I poke fun at people using spell check on here!! Poke being the key word, just a jab and that is it.
Lighten up and have fun.

hamburglar · Sep 19, 2008

Merkava_4 said:
Hook Line and Sinker! It was my attention to bring the SK supporters out of the woodwork and I've done just that!

I'm not so much an SK supporter as I am someone who gets tired of the tool fandom.

This latest Gearwrench fiesta makes me crazy. I can't say that I've noticed a whole lot of quality difference between brands generally. It's one thing to editorialize on something you've bought and looked at yourself, quite another to continuously pipe up about some brand or the other (be it Facom pliers, Gearwrench, or Snap On).

hamburglar · Sep 19, 2008

zuspiel said:
I was looking at both SKs on Amazon and they were around $55, which would fit in my budget. Eventually, I'm sure I'll get some SO stuff (those ratcheting screwdrivers do look neat), but at the moment I junst want to get that car apart ;-)

Seriously, if you're low on cash at all, I'd just buy a pile of Craftsman flat panels off of eBay. I managed for quite a long time (30 years?) on a set of those, the funny thing is that the cars that they touched are now worth as much as most peoples' houses. Amazon is worth watching for deals now and again, but I certainly wouldn't fixate on it.

Fedwrench · Sep 19, 2008

Ignore the rantings of the Snap on snobs and anyone named after an Israeli Battle Tank. SK is a fine choice. Every brand too include the tool trucks have quality issues from time to time. Now back to your question.
The 3870 is a timeless and durable design that's been around for at least 35 years that I know of. It is fairly bulletproof. The 43875 Tuff 1 version is slightly smaller, has 72 teeth, and is held together with a setscrew that may loosen with time. A modified retaining ring holds the ratchet unit in the head of the 3870. Either one will serve you well if you're in the market for a rotoratchet.
However, if country of origin isn't important, and you want to wait a month or two, you could pick up a two piece 1/4 and 3/8 Gearwrench rotoratchet set when they come out (just to irritate the anti gearwrench individuals) for less than the SK model. However, these are new and I haven't had an opportunity to abuse them yet.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00987661000P?keyword=gearwrench+roto+ratchet&sLevel=0

The SK rotoratchet is worth the money. :thumbup:

zuspiel · Sep 20, 2008

Thank you all so much for your extensive input. Since I've started to really like the higher tooth count ratchets, I just ordered the 43875 from Amazon. I'm not opposed to the setscrew since that also gives me a way to adjust the friction. I'm looking forward to getting this thing

Until we bought that 65 Mustang, I never paid too much attention to my tools and only got cheep stuff that worked ok. Now I'm spending large chunks of my weekends in the garage and am starting to really notice the difference. When I 'splurged' on a C-man pro 3/8 ratchet (60 teeth and polished) two months ago, that was an eye opener... I'm not ready to spend $100 on a ratchet, though...

olds88 · Sep 20, 2008

S-K makes fine tools. In my book Snap-on is #1... S-K is a fairly distant 2nd.
Don't buy Gearwrench, why send your hard earned money to a factory in Taiwan when you can get nice US made stuff for the same price or less. I avoid Matco (same company as Gearwrench) and Mac (Stanley=send as much manufacturing out of the country as possible).

I don't know why you don't just go all the way and pick up a used Snap-on ratchet on ebay. If your you have a little patience you can get a nice Snap-on ratchet for under $20: I got 2 standard length 3/8 ratchets for around $15 each (they're old... ones from 1959 and one's from 1947... but they still work like new)... and I got a long 3/8 ratchet for $21... that one's slightly more modern, from the 90s.

Merkava_4 · Sep 20, 2008

olds88 said:
S-K makes fine tools.

Back in the day they did, but what's coming out of their doors now are not the same quality product of years gone by.

Fedwrench said:
SK is a fine choice.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21177&showall=1

Look at the pictures in that thread and then come back and say that.

Fedwrench · Sep 20, 2008

Merkava_4 said:
Look at the pictures in that thread and then come back and say that.

We're talking rotoratchets not wrenches here. Besides don't you remember all of the drama threads over Snap on line wrench ends not being centered on the wrench? I recently had a flank drive plus ratcheting wrench set where Snap on forgot to machine the teeth into one of the wrenches open end. I don't care what brand you're talking about, from time to time there are quality issues. It just ***** more paying alot for a less than perfect tool. However, I don't get too excited about minor cosmetic chrome issues though because, after the wrench leaves the wrapper, it's scratched, dropped on concrete floors, thrown into tool carts from afar, immersed in all types of chemicals, and given a bath in the cuda when it's real dirty. Its ability to win a beauty contest is over. :beer:

I still feel that SK offers a durable, quality US made (for most items) tool, at an affordable price if you stay away from Sears and shop around. You results may vary. :thumbup:

a390st · Sep 20, 2008

I have a 1/2 and 3/8 round head ratchet from SK. They are older and are backups for me. If I have to do something terrible or in mud and water, they come out. They do alright.

eschoendorff · Sep 20, 2008

zuspiel said:
I like chuncky and tough

Good point. A HF just opened down the road (if Ike didn't blow it away...) I might try that before commiting to a more expensive one.

Boy, do I have a girl for YOU to meet! :spit:

Seriously, though, I have not had any problem with any of my S*K ratchets. I have a fine tooth pal control and one of the regular S*K Pros... both are great, but I like the palm control a little better.

I wouldn't write off the ratchets from GearWrench or HF.... I have not heard anything bad about the HF roto-ratchets, and teh GearWrench are damn near the same thing - probably come out of the same factory.

I personally use the Snap On roto-ratchets... but, truth be told, they are really not THAT much different than the HF ones. Just a bit better ratcheting mechanism is all (my opinion). But in real life use, you're not gonna use these in high-torque situations, so you'd probably never notice.

The only way you're ever going to settle and argument on this forum is to buy one of each and test them - with plenty of pictures. Then, only a few will continue to argue with you (I am NOT going to mention Merkava's name here) :lol:

paramudduck · Sep 20, 2008

Heck E even if you did a video with certification of authenticity. If the one name brand did a epic fail on tape they would argue.

wrenchr · Sep 20, 2008

Fedwrench said:
Ignore the rantings of the Snap on snobs and anyone named after an Israeli Battle Tank. SK is a fine choice. Every brand too include the tool trucks have quality issues from time to time. Now back to your question.
The 3870 is a timeless and durable design that's been around for at least 35 years that I know of. It is fairly bulletproof. The 43875 Tuff 1 version is slightly smaller, has 72 teeth, and is held together with a setscrew that may loosen with time. A modified retaining ring holds the ratchet unit in the head of the 3870. Either one will serve you well if you're in the market for a rotoratchet.
However, if country of origin isn't important, and you want to wait a month or two, you could pick up a two piece 1/4 and 3/8 Gearwrench rotoratchet set when they come out (just to irritate the anti gearwrench individuals) for less than the SK model. However, these are new and I haven't had an opportunity to abuse them yet.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00987661000P?keyword=gearwrench+roto+ratchet&sLevel=0

The SK rotoratchet is worth the money.

+1

ToolGlutton · Sep 20, 2008

Below is the picture:

GearWrench 2-pc. Cushion Grip Roto Ratchet Set
Sears item# 00987661000 Mfr. model# 87661
In stock $49.98

Gearwrench is now the Chinese-made Snap-On :thumbup:

I've decided to order one during the next Gearwrench 50% off sale.

Fedwrench said:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00987661000P?keyword=gearwrench+roto+ratchet&sLevel=0

eschoendorff · Sep 20, 2008

ToolGlutton said:
Below is the picture:

GearWrench 2-pc. Cushion Grip Roto Ratchet Set
Sears item# 00987661000 Mfr. model# 87661
In stock $49.98

Gearwrench is now the Chinese-made Snap-On I've decided to order one during the next Gearwrench 50% off sale.

Fedwrench said:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00987661000P?keyword=gearwrench+roto+ratchet&sLevel=0

Click to expand...

I bet those'll be just as nice as the HF roto ratchets.. which are about as nice as the Snap On

wilbilt · Sep 20, 2008

ToolGlutton said:
Gearwrench is now the Chinese-made Snap-On

You need to go wash your mouth out with soap.

ToolGlutton · Sep 20, 2008

Man, you do not need to feel offended when you do not know the meaning of "Chinese made".

wilbilt said:
You need to go wash your mouth out with soap.

zuspiel · Sep 30, 2008

Just a quick update:

I ended up ordering the 43875 and got it last week. Solid and feels nice in your hand. Fine teeth are quite smooth. Chrome handle is easier to clean at the end of the day. I hope I get time this weekend to attack the car with it...

Thanks again for all your input.

SK 3870 and 43875 ratchets: which to get?

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