Purchased a Snap On 1/4 from ebay..

[whiteq12]

Hi, I purchased a T72 1/4 drive off ebay as it was a decent price and the seller had a 5 star rating and lots of good reviews.

However a few things have made me a bit unsure about it. The drive head feels quite loose? If I put my thumb on it and move it around it has 5-10 degrees play in all directions, there is also some lubricant coming out around the edges of the head. (It was listed as brand new). Ive seen some say this is normal but it doesn't feel right to me. The ratchet however feels very smooth.

The life code on the handle is an e shape and I cannot see it on any Snap On life code charts. Unless it is the 2019 code and it hasn't come out too well. I will attach some photos.

Many thanks

 

[visionguru]

What you've noticed seem normal.

The ratchet anvil is supposed to move a little bit, because there is nothing in a ratchet securing it, other than the small paw springs, of course it will move a bit when you wiggle it.

All my Snap On ratchets show some grease. The only thing between the grease inside and outside is a rubber O-ring. Due to the movement allowed, it's quite normal for some to seep out.

Based on the markings, your ratchet is very recent production. First is the "USA", the 2nd is the backing plate with patent numbers. My extra long 1/4" (THLLFD72) was purchased in 2019. The back plate is still showing "Pat. Pend."

Enjoy!

 

[whiteq12]

What you've noticed seem normal.

The ratchet anvil is supposed to move a little bit, because there is nothing in a ratchet securing it, other than the small paw springs, of course it will move a bit when you wiggle it.

All my Snap On ratchets show some grease. The only thing between the grease inside and outside is a rubber O-ring. Due to the movement allowed, it's quite normal for some to seep out.

Based on the markings, your ratchet is very recent production. First is the "USA", the 2nd is the backing plate with patent numbers. My extra long 1/4" (THLLFD72) was purchased in 2019. The back plate is still showing "Pat. Pend."

Enjoy!

Glad to hear that, thanks for the response. Do you have any ideas regarding the date code?

 

[KnurledNut]

Looks like 2016

 

[bsg1]

2019?

 

[Professional Tool User]

There is supposed to be a bit of drive end play.

 

[chipjumper]

How much did you pay? We won’t judge. I wouldn’t mind adding some SO ratchets to my collection.


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[whiteq12]

How much did you pay? We won’t judge. I wouldn’t mind adding some SO ratchets to my collection.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm in the UK and paid £38. So just over 50% off retail here, which currently sits at £80 on the Snap On website.

I don't know how sellers like the guy I bought from get their items though. If I recall correctly he was selling around 10+ T72's in total (all new) and had a variety of Snap On products on his profile for considerable discounts.

 

[jimmyin3D]

I'm in the UK and paid £38. So just over 50% off retail here, which currently sits at £80 on the Snap On website.

I don't know how sellers like the guy I bought from get their items though. If I recall correctly he was selling around 10+ T72's in total (all new) and had a variety of Snap On products on his profile for considerable discounts.

I think most buy in bulk from people who have student discounts, or if there company has a relationship with SO they might be getting them for far cheaper. Otherwise it’s either pawnshops or stolen.

 

[KnurledNut]

2019?

I believe you are right. I was wrong. Apparently the chart i have is flawed. Whoever compiled it cut off part of the 2019 code. I looked at another version and it looks correct. My bad.

 

[chrismenke]

I think most buy in bulk from people who have student discounts, or if there company has a relationship with SO they might be getting them for far cheaper. Otherwise it’s either pawnshops or stolen.

Or there is a relationship with a dealer, who's price goes down if he buys 100 ratchets instead of the 75 he was planning to buy. Reseller picks ups the slack on the hush hush and sells them for only a bit above cost, but with 0 overhead. Driver gets a better wholesale price and make more profit on the remainder.

I know SO does promos here in the States where a driver gets better cost by committing to bigger quantities, especially around product launches. Often there is some incentive freebie for the customer as well, like socks. If a driver needed to meet a quota on one of these promos, I sure could see a deal where a reseller got involved.

 

[chipjumper]

38 GBP isn’t a bad price at all.


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[bczygan]

I'm in the UK and paid £38. So just over 50% off retail here, which currently sits at £80 on the Snap On website.

I don't know how sellers like the guy I bought from get their items though. If I recall correctly he was selling around 10+ T72's in total (all new) and had a variety of Snap On products on his profile for considerable discounts.

You got it for the SEP price here.

Bill

 

[GrayEngineer]

I'd say your ratchet is the same as mine. One thing that that bothers me about snap-on dual 80 ratchets is the movement in the anvil, I'd rather have the axial movement minimal.

 

[TDen]

looks legit to me!

 

[Wamsutta]

It's normal to see grease coming out around the square drive, but not around the perimeter of the cover plate. The square drive should move a little bit, but not a whole bunch.

 

[IPFreely]

Yep grease is normal. You can take it apart and regrease it to maintain it. My drive heads move a hair, but not much.