Flinter987
Well-known member
To the mechanics out there. Is a 1/2 flex ratchet useful or necessary for your job? If so, for what applications? Thanks!
1/2 Flex Ratchet for Mechanic?
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Cummins_Tech
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I have a few, never actually NEEDED the flexibility.
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import extermination
Active member
I have the snap on extra long 1/2 flex head. I use it more as a breaker bar than anything.
Finky198
Well-known member
I have Snap On long Sl80 and long flex SF80, I prefer flex and keep the head very tight. I got by for years without the flex. If I could only have one it would def be an 18" flex.
My Main uses are Large fasteners, Brakes, Suspension, Pullers, Lugs, ball joint press...
My Main uses are Large fasteners, Brakes, Suspension, Pullers, Lugs, ball joint press...
ssdave
Banned
I didn't use one for years, then when I got one, it quickly became my favorite 1/2" ratchet. Lots of places it works really well, the one I can think of I most appreciate it is taking out brake caliper mounting bolts.
OP
Flinter987
Well-known member
What brand are they and which length do you find yourself using the most?
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d.mcfarland
Well-known member
I would only see it useful if you bought a long handle flex.
telescopic flexi is super useful, I got facom ones but ez-red do some taiwan ones with black and grey handle that not bad cheaper option, HF Pittsburgh pro long flexi would be cheapest way add one to your kit to test out .
roto heads are another super useful type, I mainly use roto and flexi heads as so versatile and makes life easier, can you get by without them! yes, do you want at least try them out! yes .
roto heads are another super useful type, I mainly use roto and flexi heads as so versatile and makes life easier, can you get by without them! yes, do you want at least try them out! yes .
Wamsutta
Well-known member
I use mine for lug nuts, motor mount bolts, and lower control arm bolts.
VinceG
Well-known member
use my long Snap-on flex head for Detroit Diesel DD13 in short hood Cascadia head bolts, to remove over tightened trans plugs on Eaton transmissions, Suspension and 5th wheel bolts, New DD13,15 engines have a front baring bolt to bar the engine over during overhead, I've used it to remove Caterpillar starter bolts,plus alot more. I work on Class 8 trucks.
bobcatdan
Well-known member
In 1/2" drive, the 16" and 24" flex heads are by far my most used ratchets. I have long non flex heads ratchets that get a fair amount of use too. My standard length ratchets are used pretty rare.
sberry
Banned
Chances are the OP is not a class 8 truck mechanic. I work on about everything they ever invented and very rarely use one. I have Cman in 3/8 and 1/2 and they are problem solvers and cant even remember when the last time I used the 1/2.
I really don't use ratchets much, did when I started but really master the 1/2 impact and can get it on most of the stuff mentioned.
I really don't use ratchets much, did when I started but really master the 1/2 impact and can get it on most of the stuff mentioned.
Cummins_Tech
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^ that.
99% of the time, I'm reaching for an impact. Time is money.
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99% of the time, I'm reaching for an impact. Time is money.
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sberry
Banned
I have half a dozen breaker bars, I do use the HF one on occasion. I did use a 3/8 flex on some spark plugs a while back, it was there and came in handy but could have done it other ways without too much effort.
sberry
Banned
Its so much easier and faster. I can get it in to caliper bracket bolts, can get it to almost all suspension parts without too much of a problem. I only use swivels or universals on occasion.
I hear it a lot,,, I cant,,, yes you can, it will fit. I had someone go to remove a starter on a truck the other day, 20 minutes later they got a pile of tools out, I cant,,, and I do it with a combination wrench.
I have specialty tools, I have tools to make it easier but most of the time I am done before I could get it out or I grab a power tool.
I am just below the threshold where it would pay to get more, I use air ratchets I already own and don't have 3/8 impact as I can seem to make the 1/2 work and its one less layer of stuff to sort thru. If I was under the hood every day at a dealership or car repair job then I would tailor it for that job. But if I lose a minute or 2 its not an issue, an hour or a day is a different matter. A little bit doesn't make up for having to sort thru more tools at every turn.
Cummins_Tech
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My ratchets look pristine and rarely get used, except for my old school bruiser Proto 5449 that I grab when things look like there about to get western. But my impacts on the other hand, look like they were aboard the deep water horizon by the end of the day.
I do use my MG325 quite a bit in smaller fasteners. One, because it doesn't wear me out. Two, because I'm just a little bit faster. Not enough to make a difference at the end of the day, maybe shave a 1/2 hour off total, but it's a good feeling to look into the other bay and see a coworker still working while your wiping down tools and cooling off. Guess it's just a pride thing.
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I do use my MG325 quite a bit in smaller fasteners. One, because it doesn't wear me out. Two, because I'm just a little bit faster. Not enough to make a difference at the end of the day, maybe shave a 1/2 hour off total, but it's a good feeling to look into the other bay and see a coworker still working while your wiping down tools and cooling off. Guess it's just a pride thing.
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sberry
Banned
One of my best Buds was a top auto/wrench turner type who worked out of his 30/40 home garage for 25 years. I cant recall if he even owned a flex ratchet but he had one of anything he needed, he didn't have everything they ever invented. If I was buying some of that stuff today would have a hard time not going to HF and seeing if they had something that would do and if I couldn't live without it upgrade on the slim chance that it didn't work.
Back when we started I bought some more quality, there just wasn't the choices, it was all mail order and a **** shoot. In the last 30 years and even more so in last 20 and another bump in the last few the quality of the cheap stuff has rocketed to the point much of it is so cheap it is almost disposable and doesn't need to be a gut wrenching decision or life long investment to get a tool a guy needs.
Getting it in hand fast beats the **** out of a big long wish list and saving till you may not need it any more.
Back when we started I bought some more quality, there just wasn't the choices, it was all mail order and a **** shoot. In the last 30 years and even more so in last 20 and another bump in the last few the quality of the cheap stuff has rocketed to the point much of it is so cheap it is almost disposable and doesn't need to be a gut wrenching decision or life long investment to get a tool a guy needs.
Getting it in hand fast beats the **** out of a big long wish list and saving till you may not need it any more.
sberry
Banned
I am fast with difficult things too. I keep it from being sloppy and will stop and do something again if it need be. I don't get the aw fukkits and jamb something together to get it out the door or skip staples where it needs to get out of the attic.
I asked a question or 2 about something in the electric forum and someone accused me of taking a job I didnt know every detail to or have forgot. You can know everything and still be a ****** installer, what makes me so good at it is that I don't try to hide **** because someone will "never see" it. I design well and drill and route properly and don't leave it a mess where the next guy says,,,, wtf?
My Bud hadn't been sued in 25 years of work, guys next door are in the same biz and in court on a regular basis. They are always on a blazing mission, constant come back but they never did anything wrong. Always on that truck gathering up an armload of **** to make it "faster". What it amounts to is a better way to bust or strip a bolt they usually try to get around fixing or seizing a lug nut.
Cummins_Tech
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That's what's great about the stuff I work on. It's either on a skid or on frac trailer. We do rebuilds in my dept, so most hardware gets tossed in scrap and all wear items get replaced. But we do have to abide by SRT times so the company can make a profit. There have been guys that were TOO fast and ended up trashing a lot of core parts that hurt our bottom line. I like to have a happy medium. Fast when I can be, methodical when I need to be. It's not hard to drop a gear on a certain part, then upshift when it's out of the way.
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Richard Cranium
Well-known member
I have a 1/2 and a 3/8 flex ratchet, Just some times they make the job just go better. I don't have a 1/4 in yet, but I most likely will some time.
Sticks McGee
Well-known member
In my box at work I have one long handled 1/2" drive ratchet. EZ-Red 22" non flex. The other 1/2" ratchet I have here stays on my cart for the job of turning the oil filter cartridge cap on my sprinters or very occasionally to run a strap wrench for my cummins stuff. That one is just a plain old standard length craftsman non flex. All of my 1/2" extensions are wobble drive. I have never felt the need for a 1/2" flex but not saying it wouldn't get used. 90% of the stuff I do at work I try to use 3/8" drive or 1/4" drive. I am only working on medium duty stuff so I am not needing large stuff for large stuff. 90% of my 1/2" drive work is done with impact as stated.
WittHay
Well-known member
Have 3 of them about 12, 17 and 24 inches long. They are mainly used as torque wrenches. You take things apart with the impact. But especially with the Milwaukee cordless there are 2 speeds barely hand tight or way too tight. On machinery and trucks when the ratchet gets over 15" long you need the flex to get around obstacles
sberry
Banned
Its no wonder they cant make any money.
trackwelder
Well-known member
I have a 1/2" locking flex in the roller cart and use it all the time. I do use an impact and swivel sockets whenever possible. A flex ratchet and a shallow socket gets in some tight spots way easier. I invested in the best tools money could by when I was young to get stuff fixed fast and easy. No regrets on my end buying
The best stuff even if the China **** is better these days.
The best stuff even if the China **** is better these days.
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Although a 1/2 drive flex head ratchet would never replace an impact wrench, they are handy to have. I have several ranging from about 12 inches to over 26 inches in length.
barneyim26
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i don't use mine every day but i use it enough id rather not be without it. im a equipment mechanic so i find more uses then your average auto guy id think. i use it alot for axle drain plugs, anything i can't get my 1/2" gun on and don't want to use the breaker bar due to speed.
that and it scares people i don't like if i hold it up threateningly lol
that and it scares people i don't like if i hold it up threateningly lol
Had the rep piece together this 1/2" drive bad boy for me.
http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/oo339/EvanSila/IMG_1242_zpscgiv8j1g.jpg
Schurkey
Well-known member
Me, too.
Me, too.
I never had one when I wrenched professionally. I should have bought one then...but at that time, a "long handle" was 18", and I had a non-flex-head that was my favorite 1/2" ratchet. There were a few times it got some pipe put over the handle to get extra torque.
Now the handles are even longer, and the tooth count is double what my previous "long" 1/2" has. The flex joint is nice. I like it for turning engines to line-up timing marks. Lots of leverage to eliminate jerky movement.
jeepinerdeep
Well-known member
I had a one, disliked it. It was a Mac, but there was nothing wrong with the quality. It felt like every time I wanted to pull hard on something, the flexible part wanted to buckle in a direction that was inconvenient.
It's been relegated to the truck bed box, and replaced with a straight snappy.
It's been relegated to the truck bed box, and replaced with a straight snappy.
Two Speed
Well-known member
Just get one. You'll use it. I was never a fan of them until, like others said, you need one.
If you work on old detroit iron, you will probably never need it, the newer, more tightly crammed together vehicles, and you don't have a straight shot at the fastener they are great.
If you work on old detroit iron, you will probably never need it, the newer, more tightly crammed together vehicles, and you don't have a straight shot at the fastener they are great.
I had a 1/2 inch Hazet composite regular ratchet and an Elora long flexhead as a professional auto technician. The Elora flex came out everytime I did suspension or brake work. Most techs had a half inch flex...free flexing, none of this locking or indentation rubbish.
It's essential for speed when a gun can't reach, and in modern cars a gun won't fit very often. As an apprentice, I hated the free flexing head as it would slip off the bolt. As experience and muscle control was developed, it became a non issue. The speed aspect occurs when one could break the bolt at flat angles and then move towards a near 90 degree to speed crank out the bolt, it had to be free flexing for this motion to change fluidly. Also often times one is unwinding the bolt where the handle goes in a diagonal motion to the head to clear obstacles, once again, the handle must be free to flex where locking mechanisms and indentations would become a nuisance to efficiency.
It's essential for speed when a gun can't reach, and in modern cars a gun won't fit very often. As an apprentice, I hated the free flexing head as it would slip off the bolt. As experience and muscle control was developed, it became a non issue. The speed aspect occurs when one could break the bolt at flat angles and then move towards a near 90 degree to speed crank out the bolt, it had to be free flexing for this motion to change fluidly. Also often times one is unwinding the bolt where the handle goes in a diagonal motion to the head to clear obstacles, once again, the handle must be free to flex where locking mechanisms and indentations would become a nuisance to efficiency.
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