platypus20
Well-known member
Lowe's is just bringing out a new 3/8" drive gearless ratchet, a ratchet that works on the premise of a one way sprag (like in an automatic transmission). They offer very little swing to get another grip, and have almost no back drag. Snap-on has just released a gearless (#FZERO) at a list price of about $180, the Kobalt set comes with the ratchet and 12 universal sockets (pure junk) that fit both SAE and metric nuts and bolts. Mac Tools offered a gearless ratchet in the 90s, made by a company named Radian, that required you to push the drive plug through the ratchet head and reattach the socket to change direction. Both the Snap-On and the Kobalt offer a directional lever/knob, to change ratchet direction.
My First Impressions
Two of the #607975, Kobalt gearless ratchet and universal socket sets, arrived at the shop this afternoon. After a quick look see inside and the usual shot of RLL (they were bone dry), I gave them a quick whirl. Less than stellar, right off the bat, the 2, I had were defective, they would only ratchet in one direction, I called the local store, they had them and would glad replace the ones I got from the main warehouse.
I carefully checked the stock at the store, 2 of the 5 on display had the same issue, I did find 2 sets that were operational. So back to the shop and to continue the trial. They have a huge head, over 1-5/8" in diameter, the head is over 3/4" thick, the QR sticks up an addition 1/4", so to the base of the drive plug to the top of the QR is over an inch. The head on the Kobalt is even larger than the one on the Mac Tools sourced Radian gearless, which I thought was borderline unusable. Its heavy, weighs more than any ratchet I have of that length.
In the pictures, I show the Kobalt # 607403, a Radian (no number), a Mac #XR8, a Duralast #73-873 (custom handled) and a Snap-On #F730.
It feels almost identical to the Radian, with no real back drag, but a good positive, solid, forward feel. The directional selector feels cheap, with no real feel whether its locked in or not. The Radian has a drive plug that has to be pushed through the head to change direction. I would love to try new Snap-On FZERO gearless ratchet, but $180 is a tad bit steep and none of the local dealers are going to stock it (they don't believe at that price, it will sell).
Seeing that over half of the first 7, I saw were defective, with the directional selector feel as poor (the source of all the defective ones), the head size and finally the weight, IMHO this is really a gimmick tool. A gimmick tool that will soon be discounted, then discontinued.
An interesting concept, poorly executed, and with almost no positive merit.
Don't get me going on the one size fits both SAE and metric sockets, they are clearly way below even the standard of which the old Harbor Freight would sell.
I will continue to try this ratchet, but based on what I have found thus far, I would avoid it like Ebola.
1 - side view
2 - top view
3 - the inside view
My First Impressions
Two of the #607975, Kobalt gearless ratchet and universal socket sets, arrived at the shop this afternoon. After a quick look see inside and the usual shot of RLL (they were bone dry), I gave them a quick whirl. Less than stellar, right off the bat, the 2, I had were defective, they would only ratchet in one direction, I called the local store, they had them and would glad replace the ones I got from the main warehouse.
I carefully checked the stock at the store, 2 of the 5 on display had the same issue, I did find 2 sets that were operational. So back to the shop and to continue the trial. They have a huge head, over 1-5/8" in diameter, the head is over 3/4" thick, the QR sticks up an addition 1/4", so to the base of the drive plug to the top of the QR is over an inch. The head on the Kobalt is even larger than the one on the Mac Tools sourced Radian gearless, which I thought was borderline unusable. Its heavy, weighs more than any ratchet I have of that length.
In the pictures, I show the Kobalt # 607403, a Radian (no number), a Mac #XR8, a Duralast #73-873 (custom handled) and a Snap-On #F730.
It feels almost identical to the Radian, with no real back drag, but a good positive, solid, forward feel. The directional selector feels cheap, with no real feel whether its locked in or not. The Radian has a drive plug that has to be pushed through the head to change direction. I would love to try new Snap-On FZERO gearless ratchet, but $180 is a tad bit steep and none of the local dealers are going to stock it (they don't believe at that price, it will sell).
Seeing that over half of the first 7, I saw were defective, with the directional selector feel as poor (the source of all the defective ones), the head size and finally the weight, IMHO this is really a gimmick tool. A gimmick tool that will soon be discounted, then discontinued.
An interesting concept, poorly executed, and with almost no positive merit.
Don't get me going on the one size fits both SAE and metric sockets, they are clearly way below even the standard of which the old Harbor Freight would sell.
I will continue to try this ratchet, but based on what I have found thus far, I would avoid it like Ebola.
1 - side view
2 - top view
3 - the inside view
