Lowes Kobalt ratchets really, realy ****

[slackdaddy1]

Picked up a 3## piece set on clearance for less than 1/2 price.
The Ratchets blow,, really bad.
The direction selector on all 3 ratchets slips out of position just everytime.
If you "wrench" to fast it slips into the middle or opposite direction, or if your finger gets within a 1/8" of the selector it jumps out.

Also, 300 plus pieces and not a single 18mm socket or wrench,,,

 

[four.cycle]

^ nobody at the Kobalt factory drives a Ford.

 

[Fretters]

Also, 300 plus pieces and not a single 18mm socket or wrench,,,

How often have you seen an 18mm head?

 

[turbodave]

How often have you seen an 18mm head?

Trans bolts, ball joints and motor mounts on my Dodge are all 18mm. 10,13,15,18 are the most worn wrenches in my toolbox.

 

[Gmonkee]

15 and 18 mm are pretty common on a lot of late model cars. I certainly find more than a few at work.

 

[amalik]

iirc, kobalt has lifetime warranty

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[bimmer630]

How often have you seen an 18mm head?

Work on some German cars. you see 18mm ALL DAY

 

[TheEuronater]

The no 18mm is crazy to me. Would cost them pennies to include that

 

[tonyciambrone]

Pretty sure Chrysler uses 18mm....

The perfect compromise between 17 and 19 I guess..

But Kobalt ratchets, 3 for $30, what could go wrong?

 

[Coach James]

I have some Kobalt ratchets and they work fine for me. They don't get used every day, but still, I've had no problems with them.

Coach

 

[patchap]

My sisters dodge entire suspension is 18mm. All the replacement parts have used 19mm heads

 

[slackdaddy1]

Every single day wrenching on a Jeep, or removing Durango lug nuts, or,,,,,,

How often have you seen an 18mm head?

 

[RAS61]

The Ratchets blow,, really bad.

Must be a re-badged Craftsman

 

[nh_yota]

Well now you know why it was on clearance.

 

[dutchgray]

How often have you seen an 18mm head?

The last steel frame I worked on had all 18mm M12 bolts and nuts, the DIN sizes are going away even here.

 

[Gmonkee]

Box store ratchets are usually pretty poor in my experience. Two survived and the rest back on the slow boat to China. I had to step up to premium ratchets, impossible to look back.

The sockets and the rest makes good users, use them. Just add in a decent clicker or two.

 

[HanShotFirst]

I have some older Kobalt ratchets that work just fine. I rarely use them though, they're far from my favorites...but mine have been perfectly serviceable.

 

[Moparman390]

Yeah 18mm is important to me. My Challenger has 18mm on the brakes and suspension among other places.

HF has the same problem 18mm is missing from a lot of their socket sets and the 18mm wrench looks like this:
https://m.harborfreight.com/8-inch-steel-adjustable-wrench-67150.html

 

[jfcasey]

I've been using 2 kobalt 3/8ths ratchets that came in those 8 buck spark plug maintenance kits for 5+ years with zero issues. That's a lot more than i can say for some gear wrench ratchets I owned in the past.

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[Ole Slewfoot]

put some grease in it so it cant flick as fast.

 

[tonyciambrone]

I was going to buy a bostitch mechanics set, like 300 pieces or some such nonsense.

1/2" drive went up to 20mm....WTF

 

[ishiboo]

I've had zero issues with the Kobalt ratchets. I'd actually say they were pretty good. I believe same internals as the HF composites which are well-liked.

 

[WhiskeyRanger]

I bought a set 8 years ago and they are still going strong. Used them as my main set for 5 years, and some times after that still benched my Snap On ratchets in favor of the Kobalts for particularly annoying fasteners.

 

[Farmall450]

Hey, they'll be upgrading to Craftsman soon.

 

[jonesg]

I bought a set 8 years ago and they are still going strong. Used them as my main set for 5 years, and some times after that still benched my Snap On ratchets in favor of the Kobalts for particularly annoying fasteners.

I don't own them but I like them.
I never bought them but everyone should.

 

[Tenex]

The older Kobalt/Danaher were decent. I have a 3/8" flex head that I keep in my travel box and I like it quite a bit. It can't compete with the new fine tooth ratchets but it suffices for 95% of the work I need to do.

 

[Jtels85]

My Challenger also has 18mm bolts as well as my 2002 Durango. Pretty common size if you ask me...

 

[M_George]

I've used the same SK set for almost 50 years. Forget that foreign junk and put up for the good tools. Then give them to your grand children.

 

[BMack37]

The 3-piece 90-tooth set is made in China, the ones being sold as single are made in Taiwan and probably better quality. Their real gem is the 72 tooth mini heads they just came out after clearancing the Toptul-made ratchets which were also really nice.

 

[KEH]

Take it to Lowes, they are good at warrentys on Kobalt tools.

KEH

 

[CJ7VFR]

Pretty sure Chrysler uses 18mm....

Yes they do. My 2005 Chrysler 300C has 18mm stuff on it. I wonder if that was because back when I bought the car in 2005, Chrysler was owned by Daimler Benz.

Jim

 

[zbyler]

On a recent trip to Lowe's I found myself checking out the 3 pack of 90 tooth ratchets that we're on sale for something like $30-$40. Considering 1 of the 1/2" ratchets is that price by itself, I checked the back of the box for COO. The 3 pack said "Made in china" where as the bare ratchets said "made in taiwan". Needless to say, I didn't buy the 3 pack as I was concerned about their toughness. Could have something to do with your issue.......

 

[Bcom]

I have the 90 tooth Kobalt ratchet. No problems as of yet. I enjoy having the extra teeth for these tight areas where you can only swing the ratchet a tiny bit.What ratchet did you get that you think is a turd?

 

[openwheelracing88]

These ratchets are just fine, especially the ones made in Taiwan. Excellent quality for the price.

 

[unslow1]

I have a few and have no complaints.

 

[mfewtrail]

The selector on one of the Kobalt 90 tooth Chinese ratchets I handled recently was the same way, it moved if you looked at it wrong. I forget if it was the 1/4'' drive or 3/8'' drive, but one of them was like that while the other selector was fine. The ratchets "felt" ok. They appeared to be about an inch shorter than other 90 tooth ratchets I have and the heads were a bit smaller as well. If I actually use them, I'll maybe review them. For now, they're in a car tool kit that likely won't ever see any use...

 

[RAS61]

These ratchets are just fine, especially the ones made in Taiwan. Excellent quality for the price.

Most Taiwan tools are very good, now China on the other hand...? I wonder if the OP's wrench has a country of origin on it, as has been already stated, Kobalts are made in both places.

 

[Furious Filipino]

The last steel frame I worked on had all 18mm M12 bolts and nuts, the DIN sizes are going away even here.

It is interesting that the typical hex head size between ISO and DIN is the same for all fasteners except for the following:

Fastener ISO DIN

M10 16mm 17mm
M12 18mm 19mm
M14 21mm 22mm
M22 34mm 32mm

 

[ishiboo]

Waaaaay more ridiculous than missing 18mm sockets was when they had the stubby wrench sets which ended at 11mm, and didn't even sell a 10mm.

 

[Bcom]

I agree with the Taiwan tools being pretty good. I've had my Metrinch ratchet set for over 20 years and they are absolutely the best and they are also made in Taiwan. I have the 90 tooth Kobalt ratchet and now that people have mentioned it, the lever on them does move too easily on its own. I thought it was just me,but now that I read this, I have the same problem. However the problem isn't bad enough for me to hate the ratchet. Perhaps a bit of grease on the internals will keep the lever from moving so easily.