Your Thoughts On These Matco Ratchets Please

[Renchi]

I recently acquired three used Matco 88 tooth ratchets with the comfort handles. All three of the ratchets were in need of a good cleaning and lubing when I got them. I am very OCD when it comes to my tools (yes, I am a bit of tool polisher ), so naturally I completely disassembled the ratchets to thoroughly clean and inspect them. I made certain that none of the gears, pawls, and other components showed any signs of damage or excessive wear, and I used a small amount of Super Lube when reassembling everything.

These are my first Matco 88 tooth ratchets, and I must say that I am not at all impressed. Are the observations that I have described below fairly common for these ratchets, or is something else going on here?


My observations:

1/4" ratchet: After cleaning and lubing this ratchet, it kept switching directions on me. It seems to be happening less frequently now that I have used it for a while.

3/8" ratchet: The selector easily slides to the right (off), but it seems to catch on something and require extra effort to move it to the left (on).

1/2" ratchet: The selector easily slides to the right (off), but it is impossible to move it to the left (on) without rocking the gear back and forth while doing so. The ratcheting action is very noisy and generally feels like ****.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Confirm good movement of the spring which supports the pawl piston. FWIW I find those ratchets don't like goop in them. Maybe a smear behind the drive head where it meets the body of the ratchet.

1/4 inch you may want to extend the spring. You also bought used ratchets, so without fresh gear kits you can't really say you're "not impressed". They may be ready for rebuilds. Gearwrench 84 tooth kits swap right in.



EDIT: Did the ratchets act this way before you took them apart? Some ratchets require use to stay "limber". My 90tooth SK ratchet was super hard to switch direction on. Adjusting the faceplate screw tension was the first fix, then just regular use. It continues to improve.

 

[Skin]

Remove grease, use light oil only.

 

[Wamsutta]

Send all three into Matco and get replacements.

 

[woody 73]

What I find is that the extra fine ratchets seem to hate any extra lube, you might have a little to much and like someone above pointed out you might have to remove that lube and use a light oil instead.

That should (key word here) fix any problems that you are having, if not you might need new kits.

 

[bobcatdan]

The one 88 tooth I have works fine. I have 4 if I'm counting right of the older 60 tooth. All of them since new have to be rocked to shift. Talking one night with a fellow mechanic he seemed complexed by this. I showed it to him on my 60 tooth and he showed me how his 88 tooth don't do it. I'm guessing it's a flaw with the 60 that was in general fixed with the 88.

 

[d.mcfarland]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I would guess the 3/8" and 1/2" are not assembled correctly. This is based on have a few ratchets all with very similar mechanisms. I agree with everyone else that the fine tooth ratchets do better with oil than heavy grease, but Super Lube isn't too bad, but it may have too much.

 

[txvwnut]

I’ve got a 88 in 1/4” drive and I can’t stand it. It skipped like crazy, I took it apart and cleaned it lubed with a light machine oil and the skipping got a little less but still skipped plus the way the reverse lever is I am always hitting and flipping direction while using it. I quit using it and went back to a Snapon.

 

[toolenthusiast]

Super Lube is for Snap-on, oil is for Matco. Clean and oil them, then report back

 

[plinker]

I use air tool oil, These style ratchets dont like any sort of grease. New repair kits may be in order as well.

The 60tooth ratchets I've had/have seem to have more issue with auto reversing then any other tooth count of this style ratchet. Kits are cheap enough for a nice upgrade.

I put a Gearwrench 84 tooth kit in one of the Matco ratchets I have (older 60tooth, no "88" markings, not that it matters). I found the selector where the spring rides to be softer or sloppier to the point where it can lock up entirely. The metal was quite marred up.

Not sure why off hand as the Armstrong I have is pretty much the same ratchet and has seen as much or more use. Matco kits may be different/better, I have not had as much issue after installing a different Gearwrench kit though. Could be a fluke.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I upgraded my 1/2” flex head comfort handle to 88 tooth and I like it a lot. It’s my go to 1/2” ratchet because it’s just the right size for the majority of my 1/2” ratchet uses


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[Snaparxon]

I like the body and handles really well, the guts I'm not sure of. My 1/4" and 3/8" will slip occasionally during use. haven't had an issue with my 1/2" but it is a 60 tooth.

 

[lincwelder225]

Remove grease, use light oil only.

This. I have an Armstrong 88 tooth ratchet (same as the matco) and was advised by folks here to use marvel mystery oil. Now mine works like a dream. Try cleaning the grease out and use the oil.

 

[WWheeler]

My Matco BFR128LFT sees quite a bit of use, almost daily. Bought it used in 2015 for a $46 winning bid on ebay. Like the OP, I disassembled, inspected, cleaned, and superlubed before I ever put it to use, as I have always done all ratchets new or not-new, except I'm admittedly fairly generous with the lube. I spread superlube with my fingers around on all surfaces of every part before reassembly.


The 3/8"dr Matco 88 locking flex has been flawless so far. Perfect. Never any issues anything like described in the OP. I've hung all my ~185 lbs on it and put my foot on whatever and pulled for all I'm worth so many many many many times I couldn't begin to count. Never skipped. Never switched directions. One of the smoothest ratchets I have. Luv it.

 

[Wamsutta]

Super Lube is for Snap-on, oil is for Matco. Clean and oil them, then report back

That's probably correct. Super Lube don't work well in everything. My MAC ratchets don't like it. I only use Super Lube in my Snap-on ratchets; mainly because the seals are sensitive to everything else.

 

[Fedwrench]

Pictures of the offending ratchets?

I own several 60/88 tooth ratchets and I haven't experienced the issues you describe. As others have mentioned, those floating pawl ratchets prefer thinner oils to any grease.

If you're not happy with their performance, find a Matco dealer to rebuild them, or you could mail them in for warranty replacement.

 

[thesilverone]

RLL time for those Matcos

 

[CR888]

Get the grease out and put oil in them. Take some pics of guts & post to ensure things are going back in correct order. 'If' they still don't perform right, put some cheap Taiwan GW 84t kits in too restore their tool truck quality & strength. Fine tooth rats hate with little low back drag pawl springs hate thick restrictive grease old coarse tooth rats with big pawl springs don't mind it as much.

 

[PR1Gneon]

I own like 5 88T ratchets and all works perfect with fine oil.

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[Mr_B]

Can be fussy ratchets for wear issues, spring tension and lube used.
I would clean them out and do a test run with few drops of syn atf and see if improved . tend to prefer twin pawl designs as less issues with skipping and selector .

 

[powertrip]

I found that this stuff works well in fine tooth ratchets. I found this at my local Menards.

http://www.super-lube.com/super-lube-precision-oiler-14oz-model-51010-p-20.html

 

[Htscheg]

I had a set I got for free at school, student raffle, in my opinion they arent as good as my snap on, so i sold them!!

 

[Mr Ratchet]

I have a 1/4" Matco, a 3/8" and 1/2" Armstrong and two 84T Gearwrech that are all of the same design. The first time I re-lubed them, I used too much and they gave me some problems. I took them all apart, cleaned them, and lightly re-lubed them. I used Sil-Glyde each time. Now that they are lightly lubed they have never skipped a beat. The same deal with my four SO's. The Matco and Armstrong's are the ratchets I reach for in their respective drive sizes.

Clean and lightly re-lube yours. If you still have issues, find your local Matco truck and have them replace the guts for you or pick them yourself and do it.

 

[Wamsutta]

I'm surprised I'm the only guy recommending total replacements. I've been in other threads where everybody is recommending total replacements while I'm the only guy recommending a rebuild kit.

 

[bonneyman]

What I find is that the extra fine ratchets seem to hate any extra lube, you might have a little to much and like someone above pointed out you might have to remove that lube and use a light oil instead.

That should (key word here) fix any problems that you are having, if not you might need new kits.

My cutoff is 45 teeth. Less get grease, more gets oil.

 

[Wamsutta]

My cutoff is 45 teeth. Less get grease, more gets oil.

To be fair though, that Super Lube is pretty thin stuff; especially at room temperature.

 

[Jaysreal]

I too have a Matco 88. As others have mentioned, I find that super fine tooth ratchets (in general) like lighter weight lubricant. This sounds to be the issue with your 1/4" ratchet. What happens is the grease is so thick that the pawl is getting stuck on the gear or isn't being held in place enough, so any the movement of the gear also moves the pawl internally. Clean it up, nix the super lube for the time being and try running oil.

Now, here's where you potentially might have bigger issues but a little context is necessary. When it comes to the Matco 88 and by extension Gearwrench 84 (possibly others as I don't have many Apex ratchets) I have observed a design flaw where they have chosen to NOT locate the gear in the ratchet body. Newer Proto, SK LP90, and even Snap-on's have sort of like a ****** on the underaide of the gear which sits down in an accompanying cut out in the ratchet body. This serves to keep the gear teeth from torquing up against the housing when a heavy load is applied. The Matco has no mitigation for this.

Just from your description, it sounds like your 3/8" and 1/2" are suffering from the same ailment that I also found on my used 88 which is that the gear has torqued up against the ratchet housing where the teeth ride, making indentations in the body. Sometimes it visible sometimes it isn't.

Since there gear HAS to move in these ratchets with basic gear-pawl design and the gearwrench/Matco designs have no locating nub on the back, those indentations prevent the gear from moving while trying to select a direction.

What I had to do was tear it down clean it and take sand paper to the inside walls of the ratchet body but the ridges in mine were VERY pronounced.

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