Stupid Ratchet Wrench Question.

[zendriver]

I almost never use any ratchet wrench, to bust loose, or do the final tightening, of a fastener, only to speed removal, or replacement, in tight quarters. I'll either do the dirty work with the open end, or, just use a separate box end wrench.

The ratchet mechanisms, never struck me as all that beefy, regardless of who made it.

Is it just me?

 

[Skin]

They will all fail from fatigue given enough time but warranty has kind of made "abuse" acceptable.

 

[bonneyman]

I've used my S-K round heads to take off all sorts of tight bolts. Never had an issue. Heck, the truck oil drain plug was freaking tight - the last "professional" place must have put it on with a slug wrench! Couldn't budge it with a DBE, so I put my 1/2" drive S-K ratchet on the 15mm bolt and off it came. Geez!

I don't consider abuse on a ratchet so long as you're using the existing handle length and your arm strength. Abuse on a ratchet for me is a 3 foot pipe or stomping on it with your body weight. Though one of my best friends has told me, "You gotta do what you gotta do!"

I won't let him borrow tools anymore!

 

[plinker]

Some say that ratchets are actually stronger then breaker bars. IIRC, it was said a Snap-on dual 80 in 1/2 drive will go 300 ftlb or thereabouts. You dont really see many torque wrenches having a fixed head.

Some also think that just because a 3/8 drive ratchet is 15" long it will do the job of a 1/2 drive ratchet. Just because a ratchet is longer doesnt mean it's for more leverage.


edit,

Most but not all of my ratchets have the original kit yet, several are 5-10 years old. My S-K 40970 gets a pawl kit about once a year or so just from constant use. I dont use breaker bars much, I usually go up in drive size instead.

 

[Skin]

Some say that ratchets are actually stronger then breaker bars. IIRC, it was said a Snap-on dual 80 in 1/2 drive will go 300 ftlb or thereabouts.

700 foot pounds actually. OP is talking about ratcheting wrenches though. Those will fail regularly, especially the extra long ones. Either they strip out or the ring (inner or outer) snaps.

 

[Yarpo]

In both my jobs I've really tried not to break things free with the ratchet end and am pretty good about grabbing the proper wrench so that I dont, but have put a fair amount of stress on the ratcheting box ends from Gearwrench, Carlyle, Bluepoint and Blackhawk without issue. No point in shorting their life span and I'm not flatrate, so I grab a proper wrench and break it free if I can

 

[2ndGearRubber]

A solidly made ratcheting wrench should have no issues breaking free fasteners. If a ratchet of the same length can break free a fastener, I see no reason why the ratcheting wrench is somehow supposed/allowed to be weaker. And if you're breaking things free with a non-toothed open end, the ratcheting end better damn well be able to do so.



I've used my Gearwrench XLs every day for years. I finally killed a 17mm ratcheting mechanism, purchased a new one being that I got 5+ years of constant use out of it. It looks out of place with the others sporting weathered and scuffed chrome; hard to believe they all once looked like that. I'll break free control arm bushings, yank on motor mounts and anything else with them. If the ratcheting end is the only thing that can reach a fastener to hold it steady as the impact whacks it, so be it. If it's the only way to get at something (rare), that's what I'm using. They exist to make me money; and they've made me plenty.

 

[Yarpo]

A solidly made ratcheting wrench should have no issues breaking free fasteners. If a ratchet of the same length can break free a fastener, I see no reason why the ratcheting wrench is somehow supposed/allowed to be weaker. And if you're breaking things free with a non-toothed open end, the ratcheting end better damn well be able to do so.



I've used my Gearwrench XLs every day for years. I finally killed a 17mm ratcheting mechanism, purchased a new one being that I got 5+ years of constant use out of it. It looks out of place with the others sporting weathered and scuffed chrome; hard to believe they all once looked like that. I'll break free control arm bushings, yank on motor mounts and anything else with them. If the ratcheting end is the only thing that can reach a fastener to hold it steady as the impact whacks it, so be it. If it's the only way to get at something (rare), that's what I'm using. They exist to make me money; and they've made me plenty.

I love my gearwrench XLs, but do you not have the DBE ones or which ones are you referring? They're amazing for control arm bushings and such as you stated but I always get the non ratcheting box end on them if applicable

 

[Negen]

Plinker and bonneyman seem to have answered about ratchets rather than ratchet wrenches.

I have gear wrench ratchet wrenches I got last summer from Napa 25$ for sae set and 25$ for metric. Only 8 piece sets so not very complete I have used them just fine as I do not care much about if they break. But so far they hold up quite well. But a decent wrench is probably better use of a tool in some situations.

Sent from my G8141 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I love my gearwrench XLs, but do you not have the DBE ones or which ones are you referring? They're amazing for control arm bushings and such as you stated but I always get the non ratcheting box end on them if applicable

They're the double box end, fixed end offset just a bit in one direction, 12 point. The original set, not the newer 120xp with a swivel head and spline drive.



I agree, always use the fixed end when you can. Very nice thin profile. But if nothing, and I mean nothing else will fit, ratcheting end takes one for the team.

 

[Mr_B]

I beef on mine fair bit and never an issue, as long as don't go silly and don't have complete garbage wrenches they hold up pretty good, I like facom and stahlwille, kabo and infar do some fairly decent ones, the snapon ones are impressive max engineering .
Lot of the complaints come from poor quality tool or pretty extreme use .

 

[99LeCouch]

Ehh, if it is what fits, it gets used. Some nuts just don't have enough clearance or just right orientation for breaking free with an open end.

 

[Wamsutta]

I've never had a need for one. Regular wrenches work just fine for me.

 

[PhysicsDude]

The few torque tests I've seen done online seem to indicate that proper ratcheting wrenches are as strong or stronger than their equivalent ratchets.

This would make sense - they have basically the same mechanism, except standard ratchets have the disadvantage of having the square and socket not inline with the ratcheting mechanism, introducing a sideways force on it (I'm not sure what the correct term for that is). Ratcheting wrenches have all the force directly inline with the ratcheting mechanism, and don't have the added failure point of the square drive sheering off.

I could be wrong on this, I'd like to hear from someone who has a lot of experience using and breaking both.

 

[FSrepair&fabrication]

I have SEVERELY Abused a set of gearwrench flex head ratcheting wrenches with no issues yet. I also have a bluepoint fixed set still going strong. Ive done the double wrench trick for leverage on many of the GWs and they still dont break. only bad one i ever got was a new 10mm bad out of the box. Matco will warranty them anyway. Tools are meant to be used and abused thats why we pay big $ for good warrantys. I wouldnt be afraid to ruin a $20 wrench to finish a $1000+ job. If you want your tools to look pretty and match, dont use them lol...

 

[bonneyman]

Plinker and bonneyman seem to have answered about ratchets rather than ratchet wrenches.

I have gear wrench ratchet wrenches I got last summer from Napa 25$ for sae set and 25$ for metric. Only 8 piece sets so not very complete I have used them just fine as I do not care much about if they break. But so far they hold up quite well. But a decent wrench is probably better use of a tool in some situations.

Sent from my G8141 using The Garage Journal mobile app

Yep, reading back over the OP I saw it was about ratcheting wrenches.

 

[derosa]

I'm slightly on the fence on this just not enough to worry that I'll break them. I've busted a 13mm reversible gearwrench which was an older tiawan which many here claim are better, did last 10 years of moderate use. I had a set of gearwrench non-reversing XL wrenches and I put some good effort into using them, other then losing one the set was complete and functioning perfectly when I donated it. The matco double box jammed up the first time I used it just loosening a bicycle axle nut, wasn't even rusted. That wrench jams with little effort while the snap-on that replaced it has worked beautifully with no complaints. So overall I lean towards them holding up while busting things loose though I wouldn't trust a cheap one.