Back drag

[cookiemonster]

Hi, I am still looking into ratchets and wanted to know what types of ratchets have minimal back drag to them. I have only owned the quick release tear drop style and these have what I consider a lot.

 

[cmandp]

Proto 24 tooth.

 

[Outlawmws]

Back drag is the fallout of the strength of the Pawl springs, and the friction of the "bearing" surfaces the driver head has both round and flat on the plates of cavity surfaces.

Getting those surfaces as smooth as possible may help and many have trimmed springs for overly strong springs. take one of your existing rats apart that is particularly bad ad clean it, then lightly lube it, and see where that gets you.

If it still needs improvement, smooth those surfaces, and if they are already smooth, use some old fashioned Clover Valve Lapping Compond to smooth them further, then attack the springs, SLOWLY.

 

[CWP1616L]

You can minimize back drag by just simply lubricating your ratchet properly. Some of these ratchets come from the factory with very little lube or none at all.

 

[Scout Driver]

Trim 1/2 a coil off of the spring at a time until the "feel" is where you want it.

Scott

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

The slickest ones I have used are ancient Plomb or the modern Proto with the same Plomb setup...these things use extremely light springs on the pawls and somehow also function with no tendency to skip. New ones and ones that have been used so much that the pivot holes and pins for the pawls have wear you can measure with a ruler both operate slicker than butter with no skipping. By modern standards they have a low tooth count and the design makes the head bulkier than some, but I think they set the standard for back drag.