Using My New Craftsman Premium Ratchet

[Fedwrench]

The UPS man delivered my 1/4 and 3/8 drive Craftsman premium ratchets this past Tuesday. I took them to work and used them for a few days. I like them. I particularly like the way the handle feels in my hand. They're strong and smooth. Now since I am a trully sick individual, I was wondering how the Craftsman 84 tooth ratchet compares internally to the Matco 88 tooth ratchet so, I played doctor Frankenstein and took them apart, swapped pieces, put them back together to see if they would work. they did.
The ratchets share the same basic design and many components from the 17 tooth pawl, to the spring loaded bullet shaped plunger, to the orangish o rings sealing them. There are also some differences too. The pawls are marked 84 3/8 or 88 3/8, the slector switches are finished and shaped differently. The inside of the matco 88 tooth ratchet body and rear of the gear are smooth. However, the inside of the Craftsman 84 tooth ratchet body has a raised circle that meshes into a cut out circle on the back of the gear. For this reason I wouldn't recommend trying to upgrade your 84t to an 88 tooth model (even though you sicker individuals are thinking about it right now). Lastly, the Matco cover plate consists of the standard thin steel cover with a snap ring. Whereas the Cratsman 84T uses a thicker cover plate secured by two T6 screws. I would really like to see a flex head version in the near future.

 

[mspecperformance]

so the question now is, will it work with a 88 kit and what are the draw backs?

 

[billymade]

Its about time they changed that thin cover plate, with the snap ring; while it may not really make a performance difference, the new cover plate with screws.... seems much more quality and pro quality to the tool! Finally, some quality improvements for a change!

 

[Fedwrench]

so the question now is, will it work with a 88 kit and what are the draw backs?

It works, I swapped the pieces. the only real difference is the raised circle area in the craftsman ratchet body would mean that only the center of the matco 88t gear would contact the craftsman ratchet body. You can't swap cover plates.
The real question is why bother? 4 more teeth on a small gear isn't worth the time, effort, or money to change anything. you shouldn't mess with mother nature

 

[billymade]

Good for marketing and differentiation in the market place; "different" then everyone else while not really changing the design that much to begin with! Maybe Danaher wouldn't allow their flagship companies ratchet mechanism (Matco); to be the "same" tooth count, as their lowly oem work for Sears/Craftsman?

 

[mspecperformance]

yeah 4 teeth makes almost no difference, it was just the modder in me that was saying, "Ooohhhh lets add 4 more teeth!"

 

[bchee]

The ratchets share the same basic design and many components from the 17 tooth pawl

Did you swap the guts completely, or did you interchange the gears and pawls.

For example, you used the matco gear with the craftsman pawl.

I don't see how the gears can have different number of teeth, but the pawls are the same

Thanks for the picts
I'm not surprised that they are essentially the same.

 

[bchee]

while it may not really make a performance difference, the new cover plate with screws.... seems much more quality and pro quality to the tool!

I feel the exact same way

 

[blue dog]

Thank yo fedwrench for your post, i was waiting till they hit the stores so i could feel them in my before buying, now i am going to order mine on saturday. good write up.

 

[tonydanzah]

nice write up

 

[dankicksass]

I can't help but think, why 84 teeth when the 88 tooth gear works? I don't remember hearing about Matco having 88 tooth issues. In an economy of scale, having three new gears to manufacture doesn't make sense to me unless there's something wrong with the 88 tooth or it's really a lot cheaper to do 84 teeth.

 

[tonydanzah]

I can't help but think, why 84 teeth when the 88 tooth gear works? I don't remember hearing about Matco having 88 tooth issues. In an economy of scale, having three new gears to manufacture doesn't make sense to me unless there's something wrong with the 88 tooth or it's really a lot cheaper to do 84 teeth.

its a way to differentiate themselves from matco. Remember its all under danaher, kind of like corvettes and trans ams

 

[dankicksass]

its a way to differentiate themselves from matco. Remember its all under danaher, kind of like corvettes and trans ams

60 teeth in Gearwrench, Armstrong, Matco and Craftsman are all the same save for the Cman's pushbutton; the Vette just gets a different engine cover, inside it's all the same there too.

 

[Fedwrench]

Did you swap the guts completely, or did you interchange the gears and pawls.
For example, you used the matco gear with the craftsman pawl.
I don't see how the gears can have different number of teeth, but the pawls are the same
Thanks for the picts
I'm not surprised that they are essentially the same.

I did both. First, I placed the whole Matco assembly (minus cover) in the Craftsman and vice versa. Then I put a matco Gear with a Craftsman Pawl to see if that would work. the ratcheting sound changed slightly but, that's it and that might also be from wiping most of the oil off of the pieces playing around with them. If you put the gears and pawls on top of each other, they're the same size.
I don't want to turn this into a brand or money thread. The new Craftsman ratchets aren't cheap compared to the raised panel , professional series, or even the thin profile versions. The Matco BR8T ratchet lists for $73.10. The Craftsman premium 3/8 lists for $59.99 is 7/8 of an inch longer, and has a thicker, steel screw retained gear cover and has USA stamped on the ratchet head. You get a lot of ratchet for your money. Your results may vary as tools perform differently in different hands.

 

[mrholeshot]

Very Cool! I'm waiting on all three but currently out of stock. Must be pre selling like hotcakes. Thanks for the heads up. The three years of reaserch must have been done at Matco

 

[Fedwrench]

Very Cool! I'm waiting on all three but currently out of stock. Must be pre selling like hotcakes. Thanks for the heads up. The three years of reaserch must have been done at Matco

They need to cut down on the golf time if it took three years of development. No wonder we're getting our butts kicked by everyone else. Maybe it was 3 years to develop the 60 tooth ratchet this is based on. I like the handle though.
Somewhere, probably in Sparks Maryland there's a basement where engineers and product developers sit around going what if we did this.... or man every tech would buy a tool like this... I would like to visit their skunk works.

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

Cool....................

 

[Theloniousmonk]

Thank you for the writeup! I've got the "email notification" when they come back into stock... better be making more SOON. I'm excited...

 

[Skin]

this should alleviate any worries by people of what to do if Sears discontinues the ratchet due to poor sales [price]. Plenty of sources for rebuild kits.

 

[matthew]

Development time likely includes the amount of time it took to obtain the required tooling. Design time would only be a fraction of that. I'd even venture a guess that figuring out what tooling they could and couldn't share with other product lines, and what the product requirements were would be the bulk of the time between project start and production startup.

 

[mrholeshot]

I love ratchet ****!!

 

[Chief]

nice write up

Totally agreed. Boards need more posts like this.

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Whats the name of these ratchets ? or part number, or ? I cant make out exactly which ones you bought, I went to the craftsman site, and tried to figure it out.

 

[dankicksass]

Whats the name of these ratchets ? or part number, or ? I cant make out exactly which ones you bought, I went to the craftsman site, and tried to figure it out.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/Compare?...548000P&partNumber_3=00925482000P&prodCount=3

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/Compare?...548000P&partNumber_3=00925482000P&prodCount=3

Got it, Thanks !

 

[mkdive]

Good write up. Thanks for posting it

 

[Flash21]

Thanks for posting Fedwrench, excellent post and information.

Its about time they changed that thin cover plate, with the snap ring; while it may not really make a performance difference, the new cover plate with screws.... seems much more quality and pro quality to the tool!

X2 I completely agree.

 

[cglasgow]

I did both. First, I placed the whole Matco assembly (minus cover) in the Craftsman and vice versa. Then I put a matco Gear with a Craftsman Pawl to see if that would work. the ratcheting sound changed slightly but, that's it and that might also be from wiping most of the oil off of the pieces playing around with them. If you put the gears and pawls on top of each other, they're the same size.

If they have different tooth counts, they also have different tooth-pitch. Therefore, whilst it might appear that mixing and matching might work, I'll bet that you're not getting full engagement and that strength and durability are compromised.....

 

[bchee]

If they have different tooth counts, they also have different tooth-pitch. Therefore, whilst it might appear that mixing and matching might work, I'll bet that you're not getting full engagement and that strength and durability are compromised.....

That's what I was wondering.

 

[bchee]

It's almost DEC and I still haven't seen these stocked in my local store. I'm guessing most of you have already been lucky enough to play with these in the store...

 

[wrenchr]

They are @ my local sears and they are on the floor and not locked up, but they keep the raised panel terds locked..................................... duh

 

[Wes28376]

It's almost DEC and I still haven't seen these stocked in my local store. I'm guessing most of you have already been lucky enough to play with these in the store...

My store has the 1/4" and 3/8" in stock but they haven't put them out on the floor yet. I had to ask about them and they were able to find them in the back. I purchased one of each and waiting on the 1/2" to come in. You can check the Sears website to see if the store nearest you has them in stock.

 

[DewittMotorsports]

Are they really worth the $50-$80 price tag?

 

[SnowBlaZeR2]

Are they really worth the $50-$80 price tag?

This is what I'm wondering. I'm hoping they are close enough to Snap On that I don't have to buy anything Snap On again. This is what I've been hoping Craftsman would do for some time now.

 

[Toolhorder]

My store has the 1/4" and 3/8" in stock but they haven't put them out on the floor yet. I had to ask about them and they were able to find them in the back. I purchased one of each and waiting on the 1/2" to come in. You can check the Sears website to see if the store nearest you has them in stock.

I've checked online and visited the two stores the have them in stock and at both stores they look at me like I'm stupid. I had the guy check it right online in their store on their computer and he then says, not on shelf must not have them and I've never even seen those.
I ask what if I order for pickup? Then what? He says refund money if it's not on shelf. WTF Sears *****. Guess what? Matco has 88's on the truck now and he delivers right to my shop. SEARS=fail

 

[SnowBlaZeR2]

I've checked online and visited the two stores the have them in stock and at both stores they look at me like I'm stupid. I had the guy check it right online in their store on their computer and he then says, not on shelf must not have them and I've never even seen those.
I ask what if I order for pickup? Then what? He says refund money if it's not on shelf. WTF Sears *****. Guess what? Matco has 88's on the truck now and he delivers right to my shop. SEARS=fail

How much does that Matco cost compared to the Craftsman?

 

[stricht8]

Are they really worth the $50-$80 price tag?

They sure are. Can't wait for a flexhead to become available.

 

[Old Donn]

Didn't perform any surgery on mine, but initiated the 1/4 and 3/8 replacing the water pump on my '02 Chev Astro. The job was a PITA, but the new ratchets worked just fine.

 

[Daddy_Rabbit]

Awesome write-up! Thanks for sharing that info!

 

[lipadj46]

Are they really worth the $50-$80 price tag?

If you think matco and snap on ratchets are worth the money then these are a great deal.