Ratchet lubricant?
- Thread starter Rickkyyr8
- Start date
thool
Well-known member
I use Permatex Super Lube. It is light enough to not impart noticeable back drag, and keeps parts moving quietly.
Snapped-off
Well-known member
Super lube or red lube of love are usually the GJ favorites. I personally use super lube in everything.
javyLSU
Well-known member
I was a Super Lube user until I tried the "Red Lube of Love." It's amazing, the ratchets I've lubed with it now function quieter and smoother than any others I've tried. Just be careful applying, it's as sticky as anything I've ever touched... A little dab is all you need.
mdrawde
Well-known member
I use AMSOIL NLGI 1 grease.
Steve W.
Well-known member
Great timing for this thread! 
I just received a rebuild kit for an old Snappy 730, was wondering what would work.
.
I just received a rebuild kit for an old Snappy 730, was wondering what would work.
.
I've run the gamut on lube options and have decided 3 in 1 oil works best overall. SuperLube screws up some of my fine tooth ratchets and the Red Lube Of Love expiriment wasn't all that impresssive to me. In reality, I don't think there is one best lube for all the different ratchet mechanisms out there. I just find the light oil works at least adequate on everything.
isb cornbinder
Well-known member
I do not recommend using any lube in a ratchet. I have ratchets over 75 years old. A ratchet system does not move quickly, so a build up of heat that might cause galling is not possible. I bought a torque-wrench with a ratchet that would skip without warning. I took it to MOTION for calibration and a fix. It was suggested that I do not replace the lube. What was in the ratchet had dried and was restricting the ratchet pawl from engaging.
If you insist.
lowerfriction.com
If you insist.
Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) Powder | MoS2 powder at Lower Friction
Molybdenum Disulfide Powder can be added to dispersion, grease and oil. Small amount of MoS2 additive can improve lubricity of product
lowerfriction.com
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General Geoff
Well-known member
Any oil or light grease works. Oil won't gum and cake up after years like grease will. I like ATF, marvel mystery oil, or any new motor oil. A few drops is plenty, no need for a full oil bath of the internals.
Professional Tool User
Well-known member
Super lube with any older low tooth count ratchets.
No one answer
Low tooth count Super Lube
Mid tooth count Lucas Assembly Lube
High tooth count Marvel Air tool oil
Real old and very low tooth count. Lightweight grease
My frustration with new ratchets is almost everything comes dry. Only the real high price automotive and some industrial ones have had lube in them when we got them.
Low tooth count Super Lube
Mid tooth count Lucas Assembly Lube
High tooth count Marvel Air tool oil
Real old and very low tooth count. Lightweight grease
My frustration with new ratchets is almost everything comes dry. Only the real high price automotive and some industrial ones have had lube in them when we got them.
BlakeTheCarGuy
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Super Lube for all of my ratchets. 
93Ramcharger
Active member
I just use plain old transmission fluid, light weight oil and lots of detergents in it. Works quite well for me.
Lucid Moments
Well-known member
Mine get drenched in motor oil or transmission fluid on occasion.
Duster346
Well-known member
Pretty much whatever oil is in the drain pan when the ratchet falls in there ...
gatewaysysop
Well-known member
I use Super Lube as shown above, so far in almost everything I have needed to refresh. As has been mentioned, for higher tooth count ratchets you really, really need to be sparing with the application. Snap On uses Super Lube and I think Matco kits used to come with some version of Marvel oil.
In a pinch I have used 3-in-1 without ill effects. If I had some Marvel on hand, I'd probably give that a try in higher tooth count, but if not, Super Lube works as long as you're careful.
In a pinch I have used 3-in-1 without ill effects. If I had some Marvel on hand, I'd probably give that a try in higher tooth count, but if not, Super Lube works as long as you're careful.
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anndel
Well-known member
I have a 1980's Snap-on flex bent handle ratchet and couldn't figure a way to get inside to lube it. A SO driver once told me just soak it overnight in ATF. My current drive took it apart in 30 seconds, cleaned and lubed it using what looks like Super Lube.
WWheeler
Well-known member
Super lube works in all ratchets especially newer high tooth counts.
Snap-on even includes a tiny little packet with their dual 80 rebuild kits.
I've also tried RLL but it's too thin and leaks out all over the drawer liners.
rll goes in most things. especially the proto big dawg rats.
the lube specified for the danaher style ratchets such gearwrench , matco, armstrong with 60-88 clicks is marvel mystery oil. i have tried other things but that seems to be best for them
the lube specified for the danaher style ratchets such gearwrench , matco, armstrong with 60-88 clicks is marvel mystery oil. i have tried other things but that seems to be best for them
BigLeagueSmoes
Well-known member
I have used...
Super Lube synthetic grease for course ratchets
Super Lube synthetic spray for fine tooth ratchets
ATF and Mobil 1 motor oil for fine tooth ratchets and ratcheting wrenches
In my unprofessional opinion, honestly there are so many good options that will provide rust/corrosion resistance which is what you're looking for. Yes lubrication is helpful too but in reality the amount of use it would take to wear a ratchet out just from the friction during regular use is seemingly unattainable, possibly decades and hundreds of thousands cycles. The difference in lubricity properties between something like super lube vs red lube.. so marginally small. Much more likely to rust or break before wearing out. As long as your lube isn't too thick to gum up the moving parts, you should be good
Super Lube synthetic grease for course ratchets
Super Lube synthetic spray for fine tooth ratchets
ATF and Mobil 1 motor oil for fine tooth ratchets and ratcheting wrenches
In my unprofessional opinion, honestly there are so many good options that will provide rust/corrosion resistance which is what you're looking for. Yes lubrication is helpful too but in reality the amount of use it would take to wear a ratchet out just from the friction during regular use is seemingly unattainable, possibly decades and hundreds of thousands cycles. The difference in lubricity properties between something like super lube vs red lube.. so marginally small. Much more likely to rust or break before wearing out. As long as your lube isn't too thick to gum up the moving parts, you should be good
Best lubricant for a ratchet with given tooth count and drive size?
Planning to give all my ratchets a little bit of TLC this long weekend. I have 1/2 Craftsman with 36 teeth to 1/4 Husky with 144 teeth. Since the size of each teeth will vary with both the drive size and the number of teeth, my guess is that I need different kind of lubricants for them. As of...
www.garagejournal.com
Knotgoalie
Well-known member
ATF bath.
RickyPetite
Well-known member
Superlube or Red Lube of love - coarse ratchets (note: Red Lube gets quite thick if you live in a very cold climate)
Starrett Tool and Instrument Oil - fine ratchets
Starrett Tool and Instrument Oil - fine ratchets
I'm a superlube fan in most ratchets- SK round heads, old school Proto, Blackhawk, Williams..... But it does just not work in the new 90T floating pawl ratchet like the Tekton and the SK. It's too sticky and the pawl sticks to the main ring gear. So the answer is that it depends on the ratchet if you want to use Superlube.
WWheeler
Well-known member
The Super Lube 21030 synthetic grease pictured in the third post on this thread is what I've always used in every ratchet old and new no matter the thread count. Not really sure why some think it's not that great for fine tooth rathets. It works flawlessly in all of mine lasting a looong time with the least backdrag of any other I've tried, including RLL. It's the exact same lube that comes in a little packet with Snap-On's dual 80 rebuild kits. The same lube Snap-On supplies their dealers with for rebuilding all of their ratchets. Don't pack a ratchet with too much. A tiny bit goes a long way.
EDIT: Outahere a few posts below this noticed the tube pictured in the 3rd post is actually a heavier grade of Superlube (NLGI2) whereas the little packets in the snappy kits are NLGI 00.
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Bubba Fett
Well-known member
3 in 1.
WWheeler
Well-known member
Just for good measure to accent the point I made in my last post, I dug out one of the rebuild kits I've got so you can see for yourself what lube Snap-On uses in their dual 80 ratchets.
I checked the SuperLube part number on the little tube in my dual80 kit, and it reads 82345/00. The /00 suffix indicates that the lube is a NLGI 00 grade. The larger tube of 21030 is a thicker grease, a NLGI 2 grade.
Synthetic Grease - Multi-Purpose Lubricant | Super-Lube
Heavy-duty, multi-purpose lubricant synthetic grease with Syncolon® (PTFE) to form a premium lubricant that provides longer life protection against friction, wear, rust and corrosion.
WWheeler
Well-known member
That's a good catch. I checked the back of the tube in mine and you're correct. Damn fine print! I need to add an edit to my post above to reflect that. I assumed the tube of superlube grease with PTFE pictured was the same stuff. I just did a cursory search and I'm not even seeing where that NLGI 00 is available in a small tube or even in a pack of 10 or 20 or so of those little packets. I did see at the superlube site you can order a 14oz tub or cartridge for $20 + shipping which is another $20 to where I live anywho.I checked the SuperLube part number on the little tube in my dual80 kit, and it reads 82345/00. The /00 suffix indicates that the lube is a NLGI 00 grade. The larger tube of 21030 is a thicker grease, a NLGI 2 grade.
Synthetic Grease - Multi-Purpose Lubricant | Super-Lube
Heavy-duty, multi-purpose lubricant synthetic grease with Syncolon® (PTFE) to form a premium lubricant that provides longer life protection against friction, wear, rust and corrosion.www.super-lube.com
Handyandy23
Well-known member
SuperLube worked well in my 72 tooth ratchets, but totally buggered up my 90 tooth ratchets. It was too thick and caused them to skip and self reverse like crazy. Cleaned it all out and used RLL with success. I've also put 3-in-1 in my 120XP ratchet because it's even thinner.
Basically a thicker lube like SuperLube will give you a smoother ratchet, as long as the teeth aren't too fine. But first and foremost you need to make sure what you're using isn't too thick. RLL seems like a reasonable middle ground that works well in "most" ratchets.
Basically a thicker lube like SuperLube will give you a smoother ratchet, as long as the teeth aren't too fine. But first and foremost you need to make sure what you're using isn't too thick. RLL seems like a reasonable middle ground that works well in "most" ratchets.
Steve W.
Well-known member
I finally got around to opening up my rebuild kit. That little tube of lube that WWheeler shows was included.Just for good measure to accent the point I made in my last post, I dug out one of the rebuild kits I've got so you can see for yourself what lube Snap-On uses in their dual 80 ratchets.
Now I need to figure out what is not working properly with that ratchet. The face that holds everything together does not seem to fit correctly, and it I try tightening the screws, it just binds up the mechanism. Seems like the drive (the 3/8" drive and ratchet gear) is too thick for the available space.
.
rick carpenter
Well-known member
All four of my Gearwrench 90Ts work very well with 3-in-1.
Chumly
Well-known member
Looking through all this I feel like Jeff Goldblum and nodding, "There ya go, use lube."
Bringing back to life, to me, would be opening them up and restoring whatever action they previously had, if you can. Action could be the guts and gears resting in rust remover over night as lube ain't helping with a slight build up in a cog holding things up. If you can really take it apart, it's serviceable. I don't see harm, if they've really sat around a while, to rest the head in rust remover (pick one) over night then soak it in 3-in-1 marvel just to get it back to life.
Tools at rest, stay in rust. Tools in use, stay in lube. There's got to be a known law about this by now. Take that Newton!
I have rusty industrial finish tools because I don't use them anymore. Tools at rest...
Bringing back to life, to me, would be opening them up and restoring whatever action they previously had, if you can. Action could be the guts and gears resting in rust remover over night as lube ain't helping with a slight build up in a cog holding things up. If you can really take it apart, it's serviceable. I don't see harm, if they've really sat around a while, to rest the head in rust remover (pick one) over night then soak it in 3-in-1 marvel just to get it back to life.
Tools at rest, stay in rust. Tools in use, stay in lube. There's got to be a known law about this by now. Take that Newton!
I have rusty industrial finish tools because I don't use them anymore. Tools at rest...