I don't mean the ones with honest wear and tear and dings, but the left out in the rain kind, I'm in the humid and sometimes rainy Southeast, and it seems I run across rusty locked up ratchets often. Recently i found a ratchet of decent make that I thought could be loosened up, maybe, but the price was too high. The seller said all it needed was some wd40, got his can out and a pair of pliers, and got it to working, still wanted too much so I passed. Hey, working is one thing, but I figured the rust had eaten too much out of the tool'slife and it would need a kit, so I passed.
I got a better deal on a Proto 5467 breaker bar. The head was rusted stuck and I got it for $2. I put it in a container of oil overnight, put the square head in a vise, and it immediately popped loose. The ball detent works fine. I got a nice old Craftsman spark plug socket with 1/2 in. drive and am going to give that to my daughter to keep in her winter car. (She lives in a climate that gets snow in the winter) The spark plug socket, 13/16, also fits most lug nuts. I also cut her a short piece of pipe for a cheater bar. Both daughters had to show me they could change a tire when they were young before they could start taking a car out of the yard, and they have both had to use that skill.
At the flea market where I got the spark plug socket, the same tool jockey had a Matco 3/8 drive flex ratchet. It had the chrome rusted off 4-5 inches up the handle and it was obvious the ratchet head had been rusted and oiled to loosen it. The flex worked fine. No interest on my part, my argument in my first paragraph applied in spades to this ratchet.
Once I got a Snap On ratchet that looked pretty good but had been misplaced in the trunk of a wrecked car, in the spare tire well which had filled with water. I bit on it and got it for almost nothing. The SO guy took it apart, told me to try grinding the inside after the guts were out. I did then got a kit and he installed it. (He's was already my favorite dealer and this reinforced my attitude) The ratchet works but is stiff. I should have ground more off, better yet, passed on the whole deal.
I once lost a screwdriver off a tractor which stayed lost for at least a year, in the pasture. I just happened to find it. Bad looking, but still works.
KEH
I got a better deal on a Proto 5467 breaker bar. The head was rusted stuck and I got it for $2. I put it in a container of oil overnight, put the square head in a vise, and it immediately popped loose. The ball detent works fine. I got a nice old Craftsman spark plug socket with 1/2 in. drive and am going to give that to my daughter to keep in her winter car. (She lives in a climate that gets snow in the winter) The spark plug socket, 13/16, also fits most lug nuts. I also cut her a short piece of pipe for a cheater bar. Both daughters had to show me they could change a tire when they were young before they could start taking a car out of the yard, and they have both had to use that skill.
At the flea market where I got the spark plug socket, the same tool jockey had a Matco 3/8 drive flex ratchet. It had the chrome rusted off 4-5 inches up the handle and it was obvious the ratchet head had been rusted and oiled to loosen it. The flex worked fine. No interest on my part, my argument in my first paragraph applied in spades to this ratchet.
Once I got a Snap On ratchet that looked pretty good but had been misplaced in the trunk of a wrecked car, in the spare tire well which had filled with water. I bit on it and got it for almost nothing. The SO guy took it apart, told me to try grinding the inside after the guts were out. I did then got a kit and he installed it. (He's was already my favorite dealer and this reinforced my attitude) The ratchet works but is stiff. I should have ground more off, better yet, passed on the whole deal.
I once lost a screwdriver off a tractor which stayed lost for at least a year, in the pasture. I just happened to find it. Bad looking, but still works.
KEH