Who makes Mastercraft Maximum Ratchets?

[Handyandy23]

Any fellow Canadians out there know who makes the new 90 tooth Mastercraft Maximum ratchets at Canadian Tire?

I know GearWrench makes their ratcheting wrenches (or at least used to, my older Maximum wrenches say GearWrench on one side), and these ratchets look very similar to the GW 84T design, but not 100% identical. That said though the changes are cosmetic and could have just been how Mastercraft wanted them.

Also has anyone seen them go on sale yet? They are kind of pricey as individuals at regular price, but like everything at CT I'm expecting to see them at 50% off at some point in the flyer.

 

[Rattle]

My best guess would be Apex which is the same manufacturer as gearwrench.

 

[Professional Tool User]

Hard to say. It's not like their ratcheting wrenches where it's literally stamped with the Gearwrench trademark. The head looks suspiciously like Gearwrench. It could be Apex tool group, but what I don't get is why they decided to go with a 90 tooth mechanism instead of a 84, 88, or 120 tooth mechanism. If there is a manufacturer making 90 tooth ratchets in China (probably where it's made) like there is in Taiwan, this could rule out Apex tool group. there's nothing more I can say unless we can compare the internals of the Maximum and Gearwrench ratchets or if there is any insider information. They are about as overpriced as GW from an authorized dealer in Canada at regular price.

 

[bricktoronto]

First post for me. I believe their maximum stuff is the same as Tekton ratchets. Even the previous gen were identical.

 

[scooby074]

Even though crappy has a relationship with Gearwrench, I dont think their ratchets are GW. Pretty sure GW doesn't make a 90tooth. Tekton does make a 90 tooth and the ratchets look pretty similar.

My local ct ***** *** now anyways. I wouldnt give them the sweat off my bag. Treat you like a ****** criminal just to buy one of their cheap-*** sockets. Instead of crappy, check out the Platinum Series ones at Napa. They are Gearwrench and sold in the US as Carlisle if you want to read some reviews. Great ratchet particularly at sale prices.

 

[Professional Tool User]

First post for me. I believe their maximum stuff is the same as Tekton ratchets. Even the previous gen were identical.

The problem with this assumption is that I've never seen a Mastercraft or Maximum tool that's Made in Taiwan. Unless we are talking about the old Made in Canada stuff, it's all Made in China unless there's old stuff out there that said Made in Taiwan or Imported by Canadian Tire on the packaging when it was new. Tekton's sockets and ratchets are made in Taiwan these days.

 

[Jazz1]

Don’t know but the Mastercraft ratchets are excellent. I bought a couple Mastercraft kits for my other vehicles and now use only Mastercraft ratchets in garage. They are nicer to use than my vintage Craftsman or Gray. I have never broken a Mastercraft 1/4” ratchet, can’t say that for my Snapon 1/4” ratchet. Sold that POS the second time it broke

 

[Handyandy23]

I looked at the Tekton and to me there are too many differences. Especially the flex heads - the Maximum has a pivot below the head with a similar head design as the straight ratchet, just like GW. While the only flex heads I saw from Tekton were the round pivoting heads.

Also one poster pointed out GW makes the Napa ratchets, and they are 90T. Seems to add up to me.

As far as quality, I have the old 72T design and it seems to have held up well. Just recently the 1/2" ratchet has started skipping between forward and reverse which is annoying. I guess we'll see how these new 90T ones fare.

All of that being said though, I can still get a full set of GW 84T flex head ratchets from Amazon cheaper than I can get the Maximums, unless they go on a really good sale, which I haven't seen yet. If the Maximum are actually made by GW there's not a lot of reason to pay more for one or the other.

 

[buckwheat_la]

To be honest I doubt the individual ones ever do on sale, however I am pretty sure the whole tool set was just on sale for $400 a few weeks ago

 

[Handyandy23]

To be honest I doubt the individual ones ever do on sale, however I am pretty sure the whole tool set was just on sale for $400 a few weeks ago

You might be right, I can't remember seeing the individual ratchets on sale either. And they don't package them as a ratchet set, just in those jumbo tool sets. Which is a shame, because I have no need for another set of sockets.

You also know the markup on them is huge. The 90T 3/8 ratchet is regular price $69.99 on its own, and right now they have a hex bit set on sale for $19.99 that comes with that 90T 3/8 ratchet in it. That's like 70% off plus a bunch of socket bits! I've been tempted all week to buy it, but I don't need the bits and I also don't need another short 3/8 ratchet.

What I was hoping would go on sale sometime are the long flex head ones, but maybe that'll never happen. And at $90 each they're definitely not worth it.

 

[eschoendorff]

You might be right, I can't remember seeing the individual ratchets on sale either. And they don't package them as a ratchet set, just in those jumbo tool sets. Which is a shame, because I have no need for another set of sockets.

You also know the markup on them is huge. The 90T 3/8 ratchet is regular price $69.99 on its own, and right now they have a hex bit set on sale for $19.99 that comes with that 90T 3/8 ratchet in it. That's like 70% off plus a bunch of socket bits! I've been tempted all week to buy it, but I don't need the bits and I also don't need another short 3/8 ratchet.

What I was hoping would go on sale sometime are the long flex head ones, but maybe that'll never happen. And at $90 each they're definitely not worth it.

$90??? That’s approaching Snap-On territory.

 

[buckwheat_la]

You might be right, I can't remember seeing the individual ratchets on sale either. And they don't package them as a ratchet set, just in those jumbo tool sets. Which is a shame, because I have no need for another set of sockets.

You also know the markup on them is huge. The 90T 3/8 ratchet is regular price $69.99 on its own, and right now they have a hex bit set on sale for $19.99 that comes with that 90T 3/8 ratchet in it. That's like 70% off plus a bunch of socket bits! I've been tempted all week to buy it, but I don't need the bits and I also don't need another short 3/8 ratchet.

What I was hoping would go on sale sometime are the long flex head ones, but maybe that'll never happen. And at $90 each they're definitely not worth it.

You know what IS worth looking for a deal on, is the Tekton stuff through Amazon. They often go on sale for 10% off and even at regular price are well priced. I know Tekton doesn't have much support in Canada, but Tekton rep here has assured me he would move heaven and earth to warrantee/support their product. I will be keeping a eye out for deals on it.