Reversable racheting wrenches

[BlueJeeper]

What is a good brand of reversable racheting box wrench?

I broke the racheting mechanism in my 1/2" Craftsman the first time I used it tonight.

I want to replace it, so was this a fluke or is there a better choice? The Craftsman broke very easily.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Rick Bernotas
What is a good brand of reversable racheting box wrench?

I broke the racheting mechanism in my 1/2" Craftsman the first time I used it tonight.

I want to replace it, so was this a fluke or is there a better choice? The Craftsman broke very easily.

Sounds like a fluke to me. I have a set that has been used mercilessly and no failure as of yet. I'm not very nice to tools and have broken many of their ratchets including the polished ones.

[BlueJeeper]

Thanks Blaine. I will give Craftsman another shot.

[Allen]

Originally posted by Rick Bernotas
Thanks Blaine. I will give Craftsman another shot.

I've broken my Craftsman ratcheting box wrenches too.....

Seems to me they can't take much torque.....

Maybe Blaine's experience with them is the fluke.

Allen

[BlueJeeper]

Hmmm...

I don't expect them to be able to handle as much torque before breaking, as I would a regular ratchet. Especially the box end ratchets in the smaller sizes. But the level of torque that this one broke at was pathetic. I would even go as far as to say that if in the 1/2" size or whereabouts, if this is a typical breakage, it is nearly useless for wrenching on the Jeep on the basis of reliability alone.

Are the non-reversable type any better?

Thanks for the datapoint, Allen.

[John]

When you say it broke, what happened to it? I've had these from various manufacturers for years now and every one of them has experienced a jam where they wouldn't ratchet in either direction. I've always hit them on the side of the body around the ratchet to free them up. some just have taken more banging then others to free them up.

[BlueJeeper]

I was torquing down a nut, and the ratcheting mechanism gave with a "pop" and then spooled free. It will ratchet back the other direction but when you go to tighten, it just moves freely.

The lefty-loosie still works fine, that didn't break.

[truckjohn]

Take it back to Sears for exchange...
Try out wrench #2 and see how that works.

If nothing else, they have a good exchange policy.

As a corporation, they also respond to too many returns -- case in point their #$%^&* rachets. It wasn't too long before they realized they had messed up bad with their cheap-o rachet design and re-did it.

Best regards

John

[mrblaine]

Alright, you guys are confusing the crap out of me. As I have had zero problems with my ratcheting wrenches, and it seems I am the only one, I decided to do a little crude but effective testing.

Since the wrench in question is a 1/2", I started there.

I grabbed a new 5/16's-18 grade 8 bolt x 2" long and load it in the vise. I then grabbed my 1/2" 150 ft lb torque wrench.

Put the ratchet wrench on the bolt head and stick the square driver of the torque wrench in the open end of the wrench being tested. Set it at 30 ft lbs and start pulling. Bolt spins. Grab a cheater pipe and tighten up the vise some more. Pull again, torque wrench never clicks, but I twist the bolt into.

Sorry, but if a wrench will twist a grade 8 bolt in half, it's good enough for me and I'm pretty interested in what's going on with the rest of them. Seems bizarre to me.

Either that or I have a really good set of wrenches for sale. (must be the prototypes)

[Shades76cj5]

I use Blackhawk from the Mac Tools truck. Lifetime warranty. Kinda spendy though.

[BlueJeeper]

Originally posted by mrblaine
Alright, you guys are confusing the crap out of me. As I have had zero problems with my ratcheting wrenches, and it seems I am the only one, I decided to do a little crude but effective testing.

Since the wrench in question is a 1/2", I started there.

I grabbed a new 5/16's-18 grade 8 bolt x 2" long and load it in the vise. I then grabbed my 1/2" 150 ft lb torque wrench.

Put the ratchet wrench on the bolt head and stick the square driver of the torque wrench in the open end of the wrench being tested. Set it at 30 ft lbs and start pulling. Bolt spins. Grab a cheater pipe and tighten up the vise some more. Pull again, torque wrench never clicks, but I twist the bolt into.

Sorry, but if a wrench will twist a grade 8 bolt in half, it's good enough for me and I'm pretty interested in what's going on with the rest of them. Seems bizarre to me.

Either that or I have a really good set of wrenches for sale. (must be the prototypes)

I don't doubt your experience, however mine busted somewhere south of 50 ft.-lbs. if I had to guess.

I am going to have to beat on the rest of my set some more before I make the 40 min. round trip to Sears.

The set was purchased within the last 6 months. I am not ready to shirk Craftsman for this tool yet but we'll see. Perhaps they have changed the design or materials since you bought yours.

[BlueJeeper]

Originally posted by truckjohn
Take it back to Sears for exchange...
Try out wrench #2 and see how that works.

If nothing else, they have a good exchange policy.

As a corporation, they also respond to too many returns -- case in point their #$%^&* rachets. It wasn't too long before they realized they had messed up bad with their cheap-o rachet design and re-did it.

Best regards

John

John,

You are right, I can return this under their return policy. However, if they are junk, I would like to save myself the return trip to Sears and busting another one when I need it.

I think that I would rather have a non-ratcheting one and be slow and painful about it, than have the quick and easy one that breaks. If there is no reasonable alternative to the Craftsman, that is what I will do.

Maybe I have the cheap-o design that you are talking about, if it has been re-done in the past half year.

Thanks,
Rick

[BlueJeeper]

Originally posted by Shades76cj5
I use Blackhawk from the Mac Tools truck. Lifetime warranty. Kinda spendy though.

Where does one locate these? How do they compare in reliability, in your experience? By spendy, how much do you mean? TIA.

[Jeff Weston]

Originally posted by Rick Bernotas
Where does one locate these? How do they compare in reliability, in your experience? By spendy, how much do you mean? TIA.

You can order them ONLINE, $114.39 for an 8 piece set.
http://www.mactools.com/ProductImages/bw-1400_p.jpg

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Jeff Weston
You can order them ONLINE, $114.39 for an 8 piece set.
http://www.mactools.com/ProductImages/bw-1400_p.jpg

Well, isn't that special? No list of the range of sizes covered.

[Allen]

Mine aren't anywhere near that nice.....

Mine are made of plastic, sheetmetal, and potted metal.

Allen

[Shades76cj5]

Originally posted by mrblaine
Well, isn't that special? No list of the range of sizes covered.

5/16" to 3/4" I paid 109$ for mine. Any Mac tools distributor. I also have the stubby ratcheting box ends too. 7/16" to 3/4" 59$
I have used an impact wrench on mine before. Haven't broke one yet, had them for three years.

[azdesertrhino]

I bought a set through Ace Hardware over a year ago. 5/16" through 3/4". I use them daily and I'm tough on them. I'm a supermarket refrigeration tech and I'm not easy on tools at all. Haven't had the first problem with them. Also lifetime warranty!


WOW, that was my first post, , where have I been hiding out??

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by azdesertrhino
I bought a set through Ace Hardware over a year ago. 5/16" through 3/4". I use them daily and I'm tough on them. I'm a supermarket refrigeration tech and I'm not easy on tools at all. Haven't had the first problem with them. Also lifetime warranty!


WOW, that was my first post, , where have I been hiding out??

Yeah, what's up with that? You been registered on a jeep board for almost 18 months and the only thing you can comment on are some stinking little wrenches?

[azdesertrhino]

LOL,Yea, go figure, as many times as I've been here I can't believe I never posted. Just had to reply so I'd have more than 1 post.
Actually searching for info regarding rewiring my 76 CJ-5. Wiring is a disaster. Will become more active now that I started.

[John]

Originally posted by azdesertrhino
LOL,Yea, go figure, as many times as I've been here I can't believe I never posted. Just had to reply so I'd have more than 1 post.
Actually searching for info regarding rewiring my 76 CJ-5. Wiring is a disaster. Will become more active now that I started.

Get a full replacement harness form Painless and start over. I'm in the process of reworking a hacked wiring set in a Zuk and it's enough to drive you crazy.

[azdesertrhino]

Ordered a Painless wiring harness today. Will be getting started in about two weeks when my "on call" rotation ends. I'll drop a line when it is finished.

Jim

[Shades76cj5]

Originally posted by azdesertrhino
Ordered a Painless wiring harness today. Will be getting started in about two weeks when my "on call" rotation ends. I'll drop a line when it is finished.

Jim

If you don't mind me asking what did that run you? I have a 76' Cj5 also that needs rewiring. Thanks

[azdesertrhino]

Found the best price at the link below. They are running a 10% off discount for Fathers day, (if you go to the link type in "father" for promotion code). Wound up being around $415.00 with shipping. They do have more generic harnesses for less but this has all the terminations etc.



Painless wiring harness

Hope this helps,

Jim

[BlueJeeper]

Well I have used the others a bunch now and haven't broken any more. Must be the 1/2" was a lemon. Maybe it had something to do with the packaging, the 1/2" one was in a different spot from the rest of the set so you could play with it in the store while it was still in the package. Maybe someone "traded" their busted one in.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Rick Bernotas
Maybe someone "traded" their busted one in.

Maybe someone who got treated the same way I did the last time I tried a broken exchange.

[Jays89YJ]

Originally posted by Rick Bernotas
What is a good brand of reversable racheting box wrench?

I broke the racheting mechanism in my 1/2" Craftsman the first time I used it tonight.

I want to replace it, so was this a fluke or is there a better choice? The Craftsman broke very easily.

Definitely not a fluke. IMO, Craftsman is Junk. I've been twisting on my Jeep with Snap-On & Mac. They are superior quality to Craftsman. Plus you can't even buy a complete set of TORX from Craftsman. I asked the sales clerk at Sears and he said they didn't make them. He pulled out the catalog and tried to get serious too. I also have some SK wrenches. They're pretty good too.

My stepfather used to be a mechanic. He has a ton of Snap-On. Then he sold Mac Tool for a while. I've just had really good tools available to use since I started to drive. Now I won't go back.