new professional grade harbor freight ratchets

[tbaggz]

 

[tbaggz]

 

[Tronyadorable]

Draw.......................aim.........BANG
OK. I'm pulling the trigger on the composites.
I figure WTF. All 3 for under $30.
Lookin all sporty in medium charcoal sittin in a $2500 tool box

I'll get my guy to pick them up.Don't want to catch anything from walking in there.It's like Walmart without the sweathogs in pink.

 

[panknuckshovel]

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!! **** on a rack.

 

[MagnumForce]

Bought the two long flex and the new long composite yesterday. Sad to say it but they look great and feel even better. Used 25% coupons for all three of them, went into the store three times and went to different cashiers so I got a real deal. If HF keeps going this way nobody else will be in business. I like the fact that the flex is a true flex and doesn't have detents. I hate detents as they force you to go to a specific angle. The flex heads are stiff, as they should be and appear to be adjustable for tightness as well. Seem fantastic so far.

The long composite is a thing of beauty. Perfect feel and perfect length. The standard HF composites are great but the handles are too thick, and I have XL hands, so, if they are too thick for me they must be too thick for a lot of people.

HF keeps getting smarter and smarter. If they ever decide to move slightly upscale with their power tool lines they will be devastating to that industry.

If only so much other stuff they sell wasn't absolute ****...

 

[BirdMobile]

Thanks for the comparison! Do you know if the Carlyle ratchets have the same or similar internals as the new HF ratchets?

Took apart my 1/4 drive 72 tooth Carlyle ratchet.
The mechanism is completely different from the other Taiwanese ratchets, including the new HF professionals. Photo attached.

 

[71goldss]

Picked up the 3/8" long handle composite ratchet while on my lunch break today. Very nice! I love their original 3/8" composite, so I'm sure I'll be just as happy with this one! Looked at the new long handle flex ratchets while there and was very impressed with the chrome on them. Much nicer than my GearWrench 120XP's where when I received them new! I'm not impressed with the HF's not having detents on the flex head though. Seems like the ratchet would be hard to control when under force. I almost have control issues now with the 120XP's, and they have detents! Can only imagine what it would be like with none?

 

[JDSV]

Took apart my 1/4 drive 72 tooth Carlyle ratchet.
The mechanism is completely different from the other Taiwanese ratchets, including the new HF professionals. Photo attached.

Thanks for doing that. You think one has the edge over the other?

I have a NAPA local so I was looking into Carlyle, but if I wanted to give HF a try I would have to drive to the next town. I wouldn't mind giving the new HF ratchets a try for the cost though. I plan on making a trip into town next month and while I am there I want to get the new 3/8 long composite, might pick up the 1/2 long flex as well.

 

[RWhyde]

I must be out of touch. I'm still using the Craftsman professional grade for the 3/8, but got on eBay for a used Snap-on 1/4 drive. I know you can throw the HF stuff away if it breaks and buy a new one, but I never do that and just collect them expecting to fix them some day. I want to have tools I can get parts for. I get attached to them I guess.

 

[paranoid56]

I must be out of touch. I'm still using the Craftsman professional grade for the 3/8, but got on eBay for a used Snap-on 1/4 drive. I know you can throw the HF stuff away if it breaks and buy a new one, but I never do that and just collect them expecting to fix them some day. I want to have tools I can get parts for. I get attached to them I guess.

why throw it away? just walk back in and exchange it under the lifetime warranty.

 

[BirdMobile]

why throw it away? just walk back in and exchange it under the lifetime warranty.

That.

 

[BirdMobile]

Thanks for doing that. You think one has the edge over the other?

I have a NAPA local so I was looking into Carlyle, but if I wanted to give HF a try I would have to drive to the next town. I wouldn't mind giving the new HF ratchets a try for the cost though. I plan on making a trip into town next month and while I am there I want to get the new 3/8 long composite, might pick up the 1/2 long flex as well.

My gut tells me the Carlyle is probably the stronger design of the two, but it isn't without a downside. The Carlyle is kind of "sticky" occasionally when changing directions, I sometimes need to apply a tiny bit of "back pressure" to the ratchet spindle before the lever will move easily. Not a huge deal, but it's something I've noticed about the Carlyle that the other Taiwan ratchets don't exhibit.

 

[BirdMobile]

P.S. The little 1/4 drive 72 tooth Carlyle is a screaming deal, a little under $15, it's definitely my favorite little chrome 1/4 ratchet.

 

[brkosk]

Man... I think I'm going to stop by HF tomorrow and pick up the new composite...

I don't even need it though! AHH!

 

[Gmonkee]

This is unbelievable to me.

Bum rushing the place to get cheap ratchets. They'll make more, lots more......
Just bide your time and wait for the guys that got one already to report in on how good they really are after actually using them.

Its not like too many of us don't have one that is a personal favorite already.

 

[bagsanthony]

I picked up the 18" 1/2" flex actually because I needed a long 1/2" flex. My Craftsman RP long flex *****, I was all set to buy a Carlyle or Snap On.

 

[Gmonkee]

On that I'll agree, the only thing any CM RP ratchet is good for is holding resale value among those that haven't ever had anything better.

Jamming a bent screwdriver into the drive end of the socket is better than the plastic lever models. I have attempted to use them as a couple of times they were the ONLY option.
ugh... not good

 

[BirdMobile]

This is unbelievable to me.

Bum rushing the place to get cheap ratchets. They'll make more, lots more......
Just bide your time and wait for the guys that got one already to report in on how good they really are after actually using them.

Its not like too many of us don't have one that is a personal favorite already.

Who knows?
Harbor Freight, being what they are, might contract the next batch to China and we'd have pure craptanium ratchets to avoid, instead of these good ones to get while we can!
I got my set while they were available and cheap... a reasonable policy when dealing with HF.

 

[Gmonkee]

Chicane hit my own theory on ratchets dead on. But I can't say so clearly these are junk mainly because I'll never try one, I'll let you guys do that.

" I don't need a drawer full of $12 Chinese made ratchets I just need a few high quality German or USA made ratchets. Quality vs. Quantity, that concept seems to be lost on many within this forum who seem hell-bent on filling their drawers up with a bunch of junk. "

I had years running on the promise of a cheaper ratchet holding up to daily pro use because I was on a budget. I spent over $300 on ratchets that all ultimately ended up in the barrel of scrap iron.
The Wurth rep offered me 'low' payments on theirs, when it was still the Facom type.
I took up his offer and and got one. Years later it looks like hell from heavy use but still works like new. $110 for 7 years of use, zero failures at all. And still ready for more.
No need for a warranty at all. Those not so low payments I made paid hugely in return.

Or over $300 of my cash making the return trip to China on the big boat full of metal chips. In 3 years time. Not so great an investment.

I'll run cheaper sockets and accesories without fear but the ratchets, well, that riddle is solved for me.

 

[NWphotog]

Most of us can make the $15 ratchet last 7+ years. You want to spend $100+ on a ratchet? Big pass on that from most of us.

 

[chipper]

Chicane hit my own theory on ratchets dead on. But I can't say so clearly these are junk mainly because I'll never try one, I'll let you guys do that.

" I don't need a drawer full of $12 Chinese made ratchets I just need a few high quality German or USA made ratchets. Quality vs. Quantity, that concept seems to be lost on many within this forum who seem hell-bent on filling their drawers up with a bunch of junk. "

I had years running on the promise of a cheaper ratchet holding up to daily pro use because I was on a budget. I spent over $300 on ratchets that all ultimately ended up in the barrel of scrap iron.
The Wurth rep offered me 'low' payments on theirs, when it was still the Facom type.
I took up his offer and and got one. Years later it looks like hell from heavy use but still works like new. $110 for 7 years of use, zero failures at all. And still ready for more.
No need for a warranty at all. Those not so low payments I made paid hugely in return.

Or over $300 of my cash making the return trip to China on the big boat full of metal chips. In 3 years time. Not so great an investment.

I'll run cheaper sockets and accesories without fear but the ratchets, well, that riddle is solved for me.

I've had the first HF composite ratchet(thinner handle) for 5 years and still works like new it was $8 back then..I have a lot of snap on ratchets too so I'm tnot a HF fanboy I'm just saying your post doesn't hold much weight

 

[AceofSpad3s]

I am seeing the long handle 1/2 flex for $30 now on their website.

 

[AndrewV]

Chicane hit my own theory on ratchets dead on. But I can't say so clearly these are junk mainly because I'll never try one, I'll let you guys do that.

" I don't need a drawer full of $12 Chinese made ratchets I just need a few high quality German or USA made ratchets. Quality vs. Quantity, that concept seems to be lost on many within this forum who seem hell-bent on filling their drawers up with a bunch of junk. "

I had years running on the promise of a cheaper ratchet holding up to daily pro use because I was on a budget. I spent over $300 on ratchets that all ultimately ended up in the barrel of scrap iron.
The Wurth rep offered me 'low' payments on theirs, when it was still the Facom type.
I took up his offer and and got one. Years later it looks like hell from heavy use but still works like new. $110 for 7 years of use, zero failures at all. And still ready for more.
No need for a warranty at all. Those not so low payments I made paid hugely in return.

Or over $300 of my cash making the return trip to China on the big boat full of metal chips. In 3 years time. Not so great an investment.

I'll run cheaper sockets and accesories without fear but the ratchets, well, that riddle is solved for me.

Lmao, really dude. Yeah we all have an opinoin. But your saying anything but top tier is ****.
Gearwrench is made in china, and in as many shops as Snappy.
I regularly go for my cheap williams made kobalt over my dual 80's. It's all prefferance, then budget.
Then again, i have $2k in ratchets sitting in my work box. Mostly Snappy.

 

[scooternut]

Again, what is with "wrong" side selector switch as i've called it. The directional selector is all wrong, same as my proto. My father gave me my proto, so I keep them around for that.

The switch is all wrong on every HF ratchet. Flip the switch left but go right to do business, just seems counter intuitive and Ill reach for my snap ons or craftsman every time for that reason. Not only seems wrong, it just is wrong.

 

[Gmonkee]

No Andrew. I am saying that the cheaper ones I tried did not hold up to pro use 6 days a week. I never had a HF, GW or any D80 snappy offerings so I have no idea how those would have served me. Those all came later on and not in my market.
I had bad luck finding a good cheaper one, grabbed at straws on the Wurth and it has been my mainstay brand and model since.

Others may not use theirs as hard as I had to use mine (NWphotog) or found a great cheaper model that holds up to the hard use. I didn't find it but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Look at the numbers in my experiences. The Wurth for me makes financial sense as it is paid for long ago and continues to go flawlessly. No further investment and no repairs. Your experiences will differ because you have different options than I did and different uses.
Use what you want to, I have my preferences.

You are reading more into this than what I typed.

 

[BirdMobile]

Again, what is with "wrong" side selector switch as i've called it. The directional selector is all wrong, same as my proto. My father gave me my proto, so I keep them around for that.

The switch is all wrong on every HF ratchet. Flip the switch left but go right to do business, just seems counter intuitive and Ill reach for my snap ons or craftsman every time for that reason. Not only seems wrong, it just is wrong.

Meh.
I have ratchets set up for both, hardly ever notice it.
If it's turning the wrong way, I just flip the lever.
Deal breaker for some... non issue for others.

 

[supersteve]

Most of us can make the $15 ratchet last 7+ years. You want to spend $100+ on a ratchet? Big pass on that from most of us.

Why did you guys pick 7 years? Is there a statute of limitations or something on buying crappy HF tools?

 

[MagnumForce]

What won't we argue about?

 

[supersteve]

What won't we argue about?

To quote my last girlfriend,"Who's arguing? We're not arguing, we're disagreeing."
F@#^&%g b&@&h would argue about whether you were arguing or not.

 

[92integra]

i love how there is so much hate going on for these things............. try it before you knock it likes its total grabage. just bought the long 3/8ths today and i can say these ratchets are going to move to the top of things to buy from harbor freight. i'm loving this cheap snappy clone that i spent 21 bucks on. do you're self a favor and go buy one, in my mind its the best thing that they are selling right now. a wise man once said you can never have to many ratchets.

 

[BirdMobile]

Why did you guys pick 7 years? Is there a statute of limitations or something on buying crappy HF tools?

Is there a statute of limitations on irrational disdain for tools you've never used? Or for disliking a tool just because company X manufactures it?
These new HF professional ratchets are better tools than almost anything that was available 25 years ago, and beat the HELL out of things like Craftsman raised panels and Stanley stuff. People have accomplished countless well done projects and made a good living for themselves and their families using tools far worse than these.

Doesn't it get old bashing stuff just because it isn't a top-tier brand you paid top dollar for? Maybe other people out here want to find tools that will work well for them and leave enough cash in their wallets to have a life with... and maybe some of us just want to find what works best for us regardless of how much it does or doesn't cost. I have Snap on in my boxes. I also have Harbor Freight, Craftsman, Kobalt, Carlyle, Thorsen, and many other brands. I am happy with it all, and don't consider any of it to be "**** tools" - if it isn't working for me, I sell it and find something else that does. Something I've NEVER done, though, is put down a tool or manufacturer without actually trying it first... a practice that seems to be the norm around here. I just don't get it... but then again, I was raised to believe that results matter - not appearances or status derived from spending levels. I guess that makes me a minority of some sort.

 

[Gmonkee]

Why did you guys pick 7 years? Is there a statute of limitations or something on buying crappy HF tools?

That is how long I have had these good ratchets, nothing more.

I stuck to the facts of the date of purchase of the first one.
I don't know HF tools are **** either. The color anodized 1/4" sockets I was sent have seen regular use without fail and clearly are not ****. Maybe not the greatest but they serve my needs.
I've not had any others to know first hand. For me its a 4 day drive to the nearest HF store if they have one in SoCal near TJ.

 

[Hiball]

i love how there is so much hate going on for these things............. try it before you knock it likes its total grabage. just bought the long 3/8ths today and i can say these ratchets are going to move to the top of things to buy from harbor freight. i'm loving this cheap snappy clone that i spent 21 bucks on. do you're self a favor and go buy one, in my mind its the best thing that they are selling right now. a wise man once said you can never have to many ratchets.

It's not a New Ratchet design by any stretch of the imagination, the ratchet mechanism has been out for quite awhile. I guess Don't get the Snappy Clone comments? Sure the handle looks similar, but outside of being a pear head and having a round Pittsburg emblem on the head, I don't get it. I'm not knocking the ratchet by any stretch of the imagination, if it works for you as a consumer that's great.

 

[MagnumForce]

Again, now if only so much other stuff there wasn't total ****.

 

[monomach]

Again, what is with "wrong" side selector switch as i've called it. The directional selector is all wrong, same as my proto. My father gave me my proto, so I keep them around for that.

The switch is all wrong on every HF ratchet. Flip the switch left but go right to do business, just seems counter intuitive and Ill reach for my snap ons or craftsman every time for that reason. Not only seems wrong, it just is wrong.

With the Proto and HF design (also Kobalt, Tekton, Genius, etc), you move your thumb to the left to loosen fasteners and to the right to tighten fasteners. Lefty loosy, righty tighty...so that seems logical. If yours are operating the other way around, someone took off your selector switches and reinstalled them backwards, which is a sweet practical joke.

The way you're talking about with your CM and SO is actually the backwards way, where you move the switch left to tun things right and move the switch right to turn things left.

In any case, I'd call the selector correct simply because the original ratchet mechanism of this style, the 24t Proto, is the only thing other than cockroaches that could survive a nuclear holocaust. If they'd made the Titanic out of Proto ratchet innards, it would have blown right through that ice cube with no problems.

 

[supersteve]

That is how long I have had these good ratchets, nothing more.

Lol, I know, I just like watching people sqwawk and flap their arms over nothing. The occasional trolling is a guilty pleasure of mine. Hell, I just got two whole paragraphs outta my last victim. Hope his fingers didn't get tired.

Truth be told, I also have an eclectic assortment of tools including *gasp* Harbor Freight. Yes I agree, some of their stuff isn't ****, although I can usually make it from one end to the other of an HF store without seeing anything I want. That's quite a feat for a tool junkie like me.

 

[ATC]

I picked up the Long 3/8' Composite today. It feels amazing! I can't wait to put it to work. I practically stole it for $11.05 OTD with a free tape measurer...

 

[nicksnothereman]

Who knows?
Harbor Freight, being what they are, might contract the next batch to China and we'd have pure craptanium ratchets to avoid, instead of these good ones to get while we can!
I got my set while they were available and cheap... a reasonable policy when dealing with HF.

At the price they're offering these I doubt it. If the price comes down significantly it's possible but still unlikely because most of this stuff is "rebrand" meaning there's a manufacturer churning them out and stamping whatever on the handle, it's not being specially made in a harbor freight factory. Which is why you can find a lot of the same stuff (or very similar) in different retail locations with wildly different pricing.

 

[bobbycos]

the 3/8s are 19.99 and 24.99 composite is 13.99

1/2" are 24.99 and 29.99

They are listed in the last flyer they sent me.

i used the 20 % off coupons and picked up all except the 1/4" drive

i also got the composite 3/8" and when i ran into my Mac guy I got the 3/8" drive in a 1/4" body

 

[bubinga]

I think that's a blanket statement that's not entirely correct.
Many of us like a lot of tool options, and extra ratchets so we're not always swapping sockets during a job.

Also, what "quality American or German" tool company makes stubby roto ratchets? Super low profile long handled ratchets? Composite rarchets?

That's what I thought.

Don't bring up the price and then turn around and claim the price isn't an issue. That's ridiculous.

Also, they're not made in China.

Got to be careful making blanket statements, too. Those make people say things you really don't want to hear, like this:

As for judging quality vs quantity, my Taiwan-made Harbor Freight composite ratchet keeps booking hours on ROs. Every single tech in my shop has at least one as well. Your post history is threads in Free Parking asking people how to fix your car. I'm going to go ahead and question your qualifications as the guy who gets to tell us that the tools we use to make money are junk. After all, we're the guys you're making threads asking advice from, right?

It seems like this whole forum is guys calling our tools ****, accusing us of thievery, and then asking us to help them fix their vehicles.

Thats Funny, Probably true though,
also Taiwan-made tools have been decent to me.

Have you actually used the ratchets? The composites are nice for the $$$ and I'm no HF fan boy.

I have SO, Mac, Cornwell, Craftsman, Williams, I like good tools,like the new SO fine tooth.
I have gear wrench too. I have the 3/8" flex long gearwrench ratchet, and the HF looks like it.
I think I'm gonna take a ride today and get the long flex HF 1/2" drive ratchet, and the composite 3/8" too.
Don't really need 2 more ratchets, but you know how it is?
Someone is gonna have a hell of a auction or estate sale when I die.............LOL

Could you post links to German ratchets you can buy new with a lifetime warranty for the actual HF sale prices ($20-40) ?

Not going to happen