Help me ID these Craftsman ratchets please

[GarageDan]

Help me identify these Craftsman ratchets please. I don't want to sell them or anything, but I'd like toknowwhatihave. If one breaks and I return it I would like to know if I sho us keep and rebuilt or what. I think the 1/2 are slipping.

Thanks ahead of time.

 

[stonesfan68]

Re: Help me I'd these Craftsman ratchets please.

The Sears part numbers are stamped on the ratchet handles. I'm not sure what other information that you need?

 

[FiendFX]

Re: Help me I'd these Craftsman ratchets please.

Those are the old 36 tooth ratchets. Mechanism on those are horrible.

 

[jacked_72]

Re: Help me I'd these Craftsman ratchets please.

You've got a bunch of different eras there. The ones with the black selector switches are newer. The round ones with the push button release are know as RHFT (round head fine tooth) and are great ratchets. Sears no longer has rebuilt kits, but the Allen brand ratchets used the same internals. The ones marked "v" are older, pre 1986 I believe and the ones marked "VF" are post 86, probably 90s vintage.

The round head ratchet in the top picture that does not have a push button release is the same as the Allen. I believe its referred to as a tri wing.

Out of all of them, the only ones that I'm pretty sure you can get rebuilt are the ones with the black selector switch. The other ones they'd want to trade you for a new Chinese import. Most people wouldn't make that trade on this board.

Here's one site which talks about Craftsman markings. http://junkyardtools.com/tool_history/craftsman There are a number of others too. This page shows the date ranges based on the letters used, eg, "v" or "vf" http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84807

 

[87Pomona]

Re: Help me I'd these Craftsman ratchets please.

The Sears part numbers are stamped on the ratchet handles. I'm not sure what other information that you need?

He wants the research done for him; he's lazy lol

 

[billymade]

Re: Help me I'd these Craftsman ratchets please.

Sears does not offer rebuild kits for either of the round head ratchets shown in the top two pics; Quick Release Fine Tooth Round head Ratchet is a great ratchet (the other one get rid of , poor design), you can find rebuild kits through other brands. The rest of the teardrop Craftsman designs; are all rebuildable through your local Sears if they have the kits in stock.

 

[GarageDan]

Re: Help me I'd these Craftsman ratchets please.

The Sears part numbers are stamped on the ratchet handles. I'm not sure what other information that you need?

Not sure what I can do with them.

You've got a bunch of different eras there. The ones with the black selector switches are newer. The round ones with the push button release are know as RHFT (round head fine tooth) and are great ratchets. Sears no longer has rebuilt kits, but the Allen brand ratchets used the same internals. The ones marked "v" are older, pre 1986 I believe and the ones marked "VF" are post 86, probably 90s vintage.

The round head ratchet in the top picture that does not have a push button release is the same as the Allen. I believe its referred to as a tri wing.

Out of all of them, the only ones that I'm pretty sure you can get rebuilt are the ones with the black selector switch. The other ones they'd want to trade you for a new Chinese import. Most people wouldn't make that trade on this board.

Here's one site which talks about Craftsman markings. http://junkyardtools.com/tool_history/craftsman There are a number of others too. This page shows the date ranges based on the letters used, eg, "v" or "vf" http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84807

Thanks so much. I'll take a loot at those sites.

He wants the research done for him; he's lazy lol

It's not that I"m lazy, I just don't know where to start.

 

[Joe B.]

Re: Help me I'd these Craftsman ratchets please.

Is that a 1/2" drive thumb-wheel ratchet in there? I don't think I have seen one of those before. (I'm sure everyone on Garage Journal has one except for me.)

 

[chrenan]

Re: Help me I'd these Craftsman ratchets please.

Agreed, are all those thumbwheels Craftsman? I have a 1/4 Craftsman, I really want a 3/8 Craftsman and I've never seen a 1/2 Craftsman! More details please.

 

[GarageDan]

Re: Help me I'd these Craftsman ratchets please.

So I have these two. Let's call them "Ratchet A".

Using the link above the -VK- was manufactured Danaher, ca. 1996 - ?. The VN is Danaher, ca. 1999 - 2001. And this is a tri-wing? I like these little 3/8" ratchets, but how do they rank in terms of being a good ratchet or not.

I bought these used and paid a fair price for them. I've had them 7-8 years and basically paid what a new one would cost thinking they were better quality than Sears had at the time.

 

[GarageDan]

Re: Help me I'd these Craftsman ratchets please.

Then there's this one. (Let's call it Ratchet B) I bought it new a few years back because I liked the long handle and flex head.

Is this the one you said was a RHFT that is a great ratchet? Letters match up as VVW = Danaher, ca. 2008.

 

[GarageDan]

Then we have "Ratchet C". VL = Danaher, ca. 1995. I think I got this as a set about 1995 so that matches. Is it another RHFT?

 

[Joe B.]

A: Those are generally not perceived as positively as other Craftsman ratchets.
B & C: Those are teardrop ratchets that come in just about ever Craftsman set for the last 20 or so years. They are not the RHFT. (These recently started coming from China and are supposed to be slightly different now)

 

[GarageDan]

Ratchet D is one I inherited from my Granddaddy.

That site with the link reads: V = Moore Drop Forge, ca. 1946 - 1967

V (continued) = Easco, ca. 1968 - 1986 perhaps as late as 1991 as NOS

Since it is dated 1971, I'm guessing it's from about that time frame. Does this one have a nickname and is it a good ratchet?

 

[Joe B.]

D = Round Head Fine Tooth RHFT. Most here would consider this to be the best ratchet style among the ratchets you posted.
Use this to get the rust off:
http://www.evaporust.com/

 

[jacked_72]

Top picture (ratchet A) is the tri wing. People don't like those.

The RHFT have a push button release in the middle and a knurled wheel you can turn by thumb and forefinger. Those are desirable. I thought I saw some in the original pictures, but maybe not as they were kind of blurry. EDIT: the one from granddaddy is a RHFT.

The lower pictures (Ratchet B) are just the standard craftsman pear head ratchets. Not the RHFT.

Do some searches for tri wing and RHFT Craftsman and you'll pull up a lot of threads and info.

 

[GarageDan]

Ratchet E

VL = Danaher, ca. 1995

This is a 1/2" ratchet. Probably came in the set with the other 3//8" ratchet from about that time.

 

[billymade]

Ratchet "A" #43175 is a round head; I am not a fan of those ratchets, personally... I think those are one of the worst designs Craftsman sold, swap 'em for something else. This is my personal opinion; some here think its a great ratchet, I think the body/handle shape wasn't bad but the mechanism had a tendency to "free wheel" when trying to change direction, jam and just drive me nuts, especially when your hands are oily and you want to change direction.

The "good" round head is the 1/4" RHFT "round head fine tooth" that is shown in the 3rd picture from the top next to the 1/2" teardrop Craftsman ratchet; ratchet "D".

Your flex head is a quick release teardrop ratchet "B"; rebuildable and is currently still shipping, although it is probably a newer design made in China now.

The teardrop designs after they went to the plastic lever; are not the most durable head designs and tend to need to be rebuilt pretty often if used allot. They seemed to cheapen the design and the machining of the head, metal treatment of the internals and use of plastic lever degraded the durability of the ratchet mechanism overall; which was a shame because it was a good ratchet, for many years before the revision!

Again, allot has to do with the vintage of the ratchets you have; many here, claim they have never had to have a Craftsman ratchet rebuilt! So, it depends on the vintage, amount of use and which design you have; when maintained, a typical Craftsman ratchet should be ok for around the house light to medium usage. If you use your tools hard and allot; the weaknesses of the mechanisms will start to show up.

Just like anything in life; you get what you pay for and ratchets are not any different. For currently shipping ratchet or those made in the past five years or so; these are most durable:

Craftsman Thin Profile Ratchets

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...0P&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=31-69168097-2

Craftsman Premium Grade Ratchets

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-3-pi...p-00929498000P?prdNo=5&blockNo=5&blockType=G5

 

[GarageDan]

Last one. Ratchet F:

V = Moore Drop Forge, ca. 1946 - 1967

V (continued) = Easco, ca. 1968 - 1986 perhaps as late as 1991 as NOS

This obviously isn't as old as the 1971 even through it has a "V". I think I rescued this one from somewhere.

 

[jacked_72]

F is the one I grew up with. Does it have an oil hole and ball bearing at the top? If so, I believe it would be pre 1968 if no, post '68. You can search on the date. I'm going from my memory. I don't think Sears has rebuild kits for this one any longer, but I could be wrong.

 

[billymade]

They started reproducing the rebuild kits for the "F" style ratchets in the last number of years; go to your local Sears store and see if they still have the rebuild kits for them.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83846

 

[kythri]

You've got a bunch of different eras there. The ones with the black selector switches are newer. The round ones with the push button release are know as RHFT (round head fine tooth) and are great ratchets. Sears no longer has rebuilt kits, but the Allen brand ratchets used the same internals. The ones marked "v" are older, pre 1986 I believe and the ones marked "VF" are post 86, probably 90s vintage.

Yes they do. I'll try to post kit part numbers tonight, the stores should have zero issue getting them. They only stopped selling the RHFT in the last couple of years.

The round head ratchet in the top picture that does not have a push button release is the same as the Allen. I believe its referred to as a tri wing.

I think Sears calls this the "full polish round head" - I'll confirm this tonight as well, but yeah, tri-wing is a good reference, but not to be confused with the Chinese/Taiwanese full polish tri-wing with thumb wheel which were Sears Canada (Stanley manufactured) and apparently sold for a short time here in the US.

Rebuild kits for these are still available as well.

 

[kythri]

So, the RHFT ratchets:

1/4" RHFT (43187) uses repair kit 43426
3/8" RHFT/RHFT Flex (43781/42794) uses repair kit 43436
1/2" RHFT/RHFT Flex (44977/44983) uses repair kit 43446

The round-head tri-wing (Sears.com calls this the "Full Polish Fine Tooth Round Head" (see link: http://www.sears.com/craftsman-3-8-in-drive-full-polish-fine-tooth-roundhead/p-00943175000P) which makes things confusing, because it's certainly not a fine-tooth (36 teeth?), it's got a machined finish to it, not full-polish, and it confuses it with the RHFT above that have the thumbwheel and quick release):

1/4" 43174 uses repair kit 43425
3/8" 43175 uses repair kit 43435
1/3" 43176 uses repair kit 43445

As of a couple weeks ago, all of these kits were still attainable by stores, and I see no reason why that would have changed, unless they've just now gone out of stock.

 

[Farmall450]

A: Those are generally not perceived as positively as other Craftsman ratchets.
B & C: Those are teardrop ratchets that come in just about ever Craftsman set for the last 20 or so years. They are not the RHFT. (These recently started coming from China and are supposed to be slightly different now)

Why are the "A" model, specifically the VN, bad?

 

[GarageDan]

I never thanked everyone for their help.