mrholeshot
MEMBER EMERITUS
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2010
- Messages
- 8,043
Ok I told you I would do this so I hopped on the Goldwing and headed to town(72 degrees!!). I had the saleman at AutoZone meet me out front with my sale (called ahead of time) of a Duralast 3/8 Snap-On copy. First I would like to say my expectations wern't set to high and the price I thought was a bit steep for a Ratchet made in Tiwan. I got back home and reached in the saddlebag and grabed up my new $21.28 Duralast Ratchet and looket it over. It looks good and the Chrome looks like Nickel Chrome about like Snap-On uses. Overall it looked pretty good. I'd give it a solid 95 on a scale of 100 against the Snap-On.
The first thing I did was hook it up and yank down 200 ftlbs. It was a pass. I pulled it 6 more times in differant spots just to make sure. Thats cranking on a 3/8 ratchet. Don't let the photo below fool you, The ratchets are almost the same in size with the Duralast being a bit longer
Of course the Duralast is made in Tiawan
Here is the Plate veiw from both ratchets (The 830 was the closest I had on hand) very similar. The snap on is sealed the Duralast is not. The fitment is so good I don't see much dirst getting in.
As you can see the internals are very differant so nothing will interchange. The Duralast has a large floating pawl that appears to be very well made. The case is machined well. The gear is supported on one side(plate side) and the gear fits snug in the case. I would have liked to have seen support on the case side but it doesn't seem to have any affect on it's operation. The Snap-On pawl is small but the gear is supprted on both sides making it strong.
The gear on the Duralast is also a bit larger. Again it's the angle that makes the Snap-On gear look bigger.
The thickness of the ratchets are near identical
The handle end is a pretty good copy and comfortable as you would expect. Again the Duralast ratchet is about 3/8 of an inch longer in total length but I lined the handle up for comparison
So to wrap it up in my opinion and not have used this ratchet in a pro enviroment but being so familiar with them I'm confident when I say this (again I never expected this ratchet to pass) that it's more expensive than almost all Tiawan ratchets I've seen BUT that it exceeds the quality of most American Ratchets. I would take it over a MAC anyday or even Matco. I havent used a Cornwell in a while so I can't comment on those. At first I expected half *** quality with just a good warranty. In the end it's like buying a 36 tooth Snap-On at 1/5 the price. The Snap-On 36 tooth list for 100 dollars Duralast Lists 19.99. Is there 80 dollars differance? Hell no! This is an excellant ratchet and now having tested it I know it's a good ratchet as well. What I thought was a high price is now a bargin. Would I use it in a Pro enviroment, Absolutly with the greatest of confidence. I really thought I was going to be able to bash this ratchet but I have nothing but praise for it. If you get over the prestige of owning a Snap-On I would say this would be the next best choice and I have a lot of ratchting under my belt. Had it been a POS I would have taken it back to Autozone. I'm proud to add this one to my collection. My advice would be to buy it. I really like it.
The first thing I did was hook it up and yank down 200 ftlbs. It was a pass. I pulled it 6 more times in differant spots just to make sure. Thats cranking on a 3/8 ratchet. Don't let the photo below fool you, The ratchets are almost the same in size with the Duralast being a bit longer
Of course the Duralast is made in Tiawan
Here is the Plate veiw from both ratchets (The 830 was the closest I had on hand) very similar. The snap on is sealed the Duralast is not. The fitment is so good I don't see much dirst getting in.
As you can see the internals are very differant so nothing will interchange. The Duralast has a large floating pawl that appears to be very well made. The case is machined well. The gear is supported on one side(plate side) and the gear fits snug in the case. I would have liked to have seen support on the case side but it doesn't seem to have any affect on it's operation. The Snap-On pawl is small but the gear is supprted on both sides making it strong.
The gear on the Duralast is also a bit larger. Again it's the angle that makes the Snap-On gear look bigger.
The thickness of the ratchets are near identical
The handle end is a pretty good copy and comfortable as you would expect. Again the Duralast ratchet is about 3/8 of an inch longer in total length but I lined the handle up for comparison
So to wrap it up in my opinion and not have used this ratchet in a pro enviroment but being so familiar with them I'm confident when I say this (again I never expected this ratchet to pass) that it's more expensive than almost all Tiawan ratchets I've seen BUT that it exceeds the quality of most American Ratchets. I would take it over a MAC anyday or even Matco. I havent used a Cornwell in a while so I can't comment on those. At first I expected half *** quality with just a good warranty. In the end it's like buying a 36 tooth Snap-On at 1/5 the price. The Snap-On 36 tooth list for 100 dollars Duralast Lists 19.99. Is there 80 dollars differance? Hell no! This is an excellant ratchet and now having tested it I know it's a good ratchet as well. What I thought was a high price is now a bargin. Would I use it in a Pro enviroment, Absolutly with the greatest of confidence. I really thought I was going to be able to bash this ratchet but I have nothing but praise for it. If you get over the prestige of owning a Snap-On I would say this would be the next best choice and I have a lot of ratchting under my belt. Had it been a POS I would have taken it back to Autozone. I'm proud to add this one to my collection. My advice would be to buy it. I really like it.
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