Sears ratchet exchange

[juiced10]

I was working at Smith College in Northampton ,MA this week and broke my 3/8 raised panel ratchet. On the way to the hotel in Hadley,MA I passed a small Sears store. Pulled in and asked about an exchange. He had no more raised panel ratchets but threw me this instead.

BTW the bent handle on my ratchet was not the reason for the return. It had been like that for 15 years. I just wanted to share a positive experience on here.


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[deberly12]

Wow!!! I wish I had that luck!!

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[Ole Slewfoot]

They gave you a ratchet with plastic, and you left happy?

 

[rjvjeepster]

Where was it made?

Did they have those 75 tooth ones?

 

[LB-1911]

Where was it made?

Did they have those 75 tooth ones?

Taiwan

W/ that style handle - No

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=292515

 

[sberry]

They gave you a ratchet with plastic, and you left happy?

It aint broke and cant help but be better than the one he had.

 

[juiced10]

They gave you a ratchet with plastic, and you left happy?

Finished the job and got paid. Yes very happy.


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[Dookie2122]

I recently picked up that Extreme Grip ratchet, excellent value for the money.

 

[stage20]

my sears in no way shape or form would have done that. they are so bad they will not even give you a new one off the shelf of the exact same one. they will tell you to come back next week. always out of ratchets. sometimes 2 or 3 trips to get one. not worth it anymore.

 

[ken w.]

I lucked out at my local Sears. The younger guy working in tools / lawn dept will rebuild your ratchet if he isn't too busy with customers. I have also been given better ratchets for discontinued models.

 

[michaelf]

never had a complaint with Sears

 

[jakemac]

............ if he isn't too busy with customers. .......

View media item 38280
At my local Sears, I can't even find an employee in the tool dept., let alone one who's too busy.

 

[tym]

I had a 3/8 flex head break on me a few years back. They didn't have anything equivalent for exchange, so they agreed to credit the purchase price towards a new ratchet. At the time, what I grabbed was one of the 84T Professional Premium ratchets (USA made). Got it for $40 or $50 as I recall.

Looking at the ePrey prices now, I should've bought a case of 'em. LOL

 

[cherrybomb]

Some how Sears has changed,and I don't believe it's for the better.

 

[Cato]

It aint broke and cant help but be better than the one he had.

I dunno...the OP abuses his tools enough to bend ratchet handles. Either his name is King Kong or he's using cheater bars.

 

[jakemac]

Read the OP again.
The bend happened 15yrs ago and the ratchet has been in use since.
One moment of extreme use in 15yrs isn't a pattern of abuse,

 

[dbabicky]

Sears has always replaced any of the tools I took back to them. Never had them hand me a rebuild kit.

 

[kams1973]

Good little ratchet. I've never had an issue with mine.

My local Sears has always been helpful.

 

[7avalon7]

They gave you a ratchet with plastic, and you left happy?

It is a pretty good ratchet, smoother than the raised panel. I like it. I would be happy if someone swap my raised panel with this one.

I guess you do not like it. Care to share why?

 

[Jeremy77]

I have one of those and it's really nice. Great action on it. I'm not a giant fan of the handle but I'm that way about all comfort grips. I just prefer a hard handle. Still, a great tool. I got it for $15 iirc and feel it'd still be a deal at double that.

 

[L.Cheapo]

They gave you a ratchet with plastic, and you left happy?

Unless they've found a way to make ratchets out of poison ivy, anything is an improvement over a RP ratchet.

 

[sberry]

Considering the number of units made and how long they made it the pear Sears ratchet has to be the worst tool in the world.

 

[7avalon7]

Considering the number of units made and how long they made it the pear Sears ratchet has to be the worst tool in the world.

Haha...

I have to credit GJ for opening my world. I am just DIY guy, fixing my own cars. Doing nothing crazy here, and for the longest time, I have only 3 ratchets (different size) and they all are raised panel. It works fine, but now I have different ones, and I can see what nicer/smoother ratchet will make my life a bit more enjoyable

I still have the CF raised panels, but not using them anymore.

 

[sberry]

I got some that didnt work for 5 minutes, got tired of trading them, maybe now they have it better?

 

[Tonellin]

Unless they've found a way to make ratchets out of poison ivy, anything is an improvement over a RP ratchet.

there really needs to be a 'like' button on this forum

 

[sberry]

I never busted a Sears wrench. The ones after 80 were clumsy and not finely crafted bu they are brutally strong. I broke a quite a few sockets when they were new, never a replacement. The ratchets are a different story, I had about a dozen and the only one I never replaced is 3/4 drive but never really used it much either.
With the exception of the RP I am still somewhat a Sears fan simply due to the cost. It works, its so cheap its really disposable and lets a guy get stated with some "coverage" as its oft called here. Especially good for pieces one finds they use very little, heck I probably got a few I still havnt used but considering what I paid its not a deal breaker and even more so today at the current prices.
Any cheaper and they would be paying to have it carried out of the store.

 

[Moparman390]

That's actually the best bang for the buck ratchet at Sears, or any store in the class for that matter, great ratchet for homeowner/DIY types. 72 teeth, comfortable handle, Taiwan made, lifetime warranty, usually on sale for $15, for what it is and the market it's aimed at, you can't go wrong and would be hard pressed to do any better at retail. Too bad it's only available in 3/8. Now the sockets they market along side of it are a completely different matter. That Extreme Grip line has some solid homeowner/DIY tools in it and some to run away from.

 

[anndel]

I still have my teardrop Craftsman ratchets from 1979 that I bought for my high school auto shop class. I've replaced them with Snap Ons and S-Ks over the years but I still kept them. I just cleaned and greased them last year and they still work. No matter how much I've abused them (use 'em as a hammer, prybar, cheater bar, etc.) they still work.

 

[The Fall]

I still have my teardrop Craftsman ratchets from 1979 that I bought for my high school auto shop class. I've replaced them with Snap Ons and S-Ks over the years but I still kept them. I just cleaned and greased them last year and they still work. No matter how much I've abused them (use 'em as a hammer, prybar, cheater bar, etc.) they still work.

They definitely get the job done. The sockets were amazing (at that price point), combo wrenches great (but short) and the ratchets were the dogs of the bunch. Nevertheless, I still keep them in the tool cart.

 

[anndel]

They definitely get the job done. The sockets were amazing (at that price point), combo wrenches great (but short) and the ratchets were the dogs of the bunch. Nevertheless, I still keep them in the tool cart.

You're absolutely correct. I still have the sockets as well and they feel thick and durable.

 

[Wamsutta]

Unless they've found a way to make ratchets out of poison ivy, anything is an improvement over a RP ratchet.

OK ... that one made me smile.

 

[cherrybomb]

I've bought a lot of craftsman over the years,I personally was looking for a smoother ratchet feel.I break bolts loose with box end or breaker bar,so I rewarded myself with a fine tooth snappy and never looked back,I also have SK and Proto ratchets,a bit cheaper but just as good,a dab of super lube and no abuse will be a lifetime of service.Reward yourself a bit,it will be a enjoyable journey.

 

[sberry]

One thing for sure. A ratchet today will last me the rest of my career. While there is some obsession toward smaller over the years I have learned to use a large as drive as possible. My helper was messing with a bolt for 30 minutes, I cant, I cant and I had to poke him with a stick to pick up a 1/2 drive that was sitting 3 ft away. 10 seconds work.
I go for bigger and heavier if possible and air power if I can for the most part. Even for a single bolt if its tight. I ruined and wore out a couple 3 3/8 early in my career where so much was by hand and we act like apes with too small tools.
I probably use a 3/8 5 or 10% of what I used to and rarely stress one anymore. A lot of my routine stuff has been serviced, bolts replaced and lubed, driven apart with impacts and so much has had lock washers eliminated and can crack a nut loose with a common combo and use fingers for the rest.
This thing has been one of the best, it was in the pool and has seen a lot of use. The NAPA is a polished Sears reject in comparison.

 

[byoungblood]

RP ratchets had been horribly inconsistent from about the late 80s to early 90s. I can't recall the exact time when I received a set of CM ratchets/sockets as a teenager, but I want to say it was probably 91-92 time frame. 3/8" ratchet was the only one that had a good feel out of the box, the 1/4" and 1/2" were mushy on the return stroke. I ended up getting a Cornwell 1/2" shortly thereafter so the CM one went unused for the most part. I eventually swapped out the 1/4" drive one for one of the full polish ones a few years later and it wasn't all that bad. It is in a spare tool set I have now. I've purged all of the remaining CM 36t ratchets from my main box.

My dad still has some of the round selector ones and outside of them needing some lube and their low tooth count relative to ratchets of today, still work well.

 

[sberry]

Yes, I got suckered to trade some rounds back in the day for new pears. The old ones were pretty good.

 

[WittHay]

Growing up in the 80's on a farm, we had a few 1/2" drive Craftsman ratchets. None lasted very long and you always grabbed the stripped ratchet because the guys always put the bad ratchet in with the good ones.

I think some of the older ones were from the 70's because they didn't have quick release. So that is decades of making poor quality raised panels

 

[Qualitytools]

They gave you a nice ratchet as it's a low profile one which can come in handy in tight spaces.

 

[mudflap]

I have that ratchet...bought it with a Birthday gift card. Have used it a few times...Whats not to love..72t, recess qr, metal selector, low profile head, very smooth, no backdrag..a rare win for CM these days. For $15.00...awesome..

 

[hangfirew8]

Considering the number of units made and how long they made it the pear Sears ratchet has to be the worst tool in the world.

Just when I write off sberry's incoherent writings, he comes up with this gem.

Definitely some pear head RP have been better than others. The worst I have is the end of US production. Chrome is thick, finish is awful, action is coarse and the reverse lever is loose and self-reverses (this is true of 1/4 & 3/8, don't have that one in 1/2).

I had a "stripped" 80's era 1/2", waited too long to trade it in against US production. On a whim a pulled it apart last year, everything looked fine so I lubed it, used ATF, now it runs great again. There was nothing wrong beyond being very dry. (Note to self: re-lube pear heads every 30 years).

I have Cman pear-heads going back to the 60's (I guess). I could tell stories about each, and gotten yeoman service from all. I have newer and better ratchets now, but there's nothing "wrong" with my older US made RP's.

 

[Mechanical Noise]

Some runs of the pear head ratchet are better than others. I've opened them up and some of them are just poorly machined. And I had an early 80s era flex head which stripped out it's drive gear in a couple of weeks. The heat treat might have been screwed up, it lasted like it was as soft as butter.

All the Craftsman tools have occasional QC problems. But the pear head ratchets? I just don't get it. Alot of the pear heads were actually OK. How much more would have it cost to make sure they were almost always OK?