Are Craftsman Ratchets Junk?
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- First off, apologies for the background buzz. It’s an area light that never turns off.
Today, I critique Craftsman’s newer generation ratchets.
If you’re curious about the long handle in the video
(And if follow this and buy something, I might get a smidgin of compensation)
Craftsman 3/8” Drive 180 position Ratchet - Gunmetal Finish CMMT82111
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Craftsman 3/8” Drive Long Handle Ratchet CMMT99427
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The original raised panel ratchets weren't too bad for their time. Most ratchets were round head. You needed two hands to switch directions. The raised panel had the thumb activated reversing lever. The quick socket release button was a feature that other ratchets of the period didn't offer. One of my most used ratchets is an 11" Craftsman Professional 3/8 flex head with black plastic handle. I bought it as it felt similar to my Mac flex head for my road service box. The quality of later raised panel ratchets started to decline before SB&D bought the Craftsman name. Sears was going downhill. The current Craftsman ratchets don't interest me as they are bulky compared to Apex and other manufacturers. I was interested in the V series as it looks similar to the Mac Axis ratchets. The non serviceable head of the V Series is a turnoff. The comfort grip handle looks to be the size of a cigarette butt. There are so many other better options at a lower price. Advance Auto's DieHard ratchets are around $35 and are serviceable with little back drag compared to Craftsman ratchets.
@@mlieser1230 hey thanks for chiming in. Recently I saw some photos of some of the old Plomb ratchets and realized that Craftsman seemed to have borrowed a bit from some of those. Then of course Plomb also had that early thin head tear droppish ratchet that I think Proto makes version of to this very day. My dad always preferred the round heads. Me, not so much. Though I keep thinking about grabbing a Wright 3430
So I used some grease on every one of my craftsman ratchets. Plus my flex heads. And I really enjoy their use. I use my 1/2 flex head every week. Work horse for my use.
@@Ponyo3816 hey thanks for joining in!
I have a compact head here that, straight from the package, is great. Picked that up after this video. Haven’t gotten to reviewing it yet. I need to put together a standard test procedure here soon.
I also have the same USA long pattern and it is my most used ratchet. The plastic ones at HF are great for shorter use. Light weight and cheap
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It’s amazing to look back at that ratchet and see what a decent piece it really was in the larger scheme of things.
The essence is that these are sold"dry"and a lot of mopes take them home and predictably over torque them.Also,good luck on rebuild kits.......just clean after use,and scrape out the innards once in a while.The best lube for the 3/8 1/2 drives that are frequently used is never seize.NOT grease,with that they slip and the teeth get stripped.
@@andrewmattson3299 I honestly there’s more to it. My suspicion is that there’s more spring tension on the pawls of the 180p to keep the pawls in place due to trying to get so many positions out of it, But I haven’t dug into to truly find out. In looking at the compact and their low profile options, they don’t seem to suffer from the same issue.
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Gunmetal chrome finish is badass. So… it LOOKS cool to my eyes!
@@stansbruv3169 oh I don’t disagree that it looks cool. I’ve just never had any that help up and so it tends to seem like a marketing ploy. Lol
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What’s so bad about the 11 inch? Even if it could be better, hating it is dramatic.
@@bowencreer3922 they’ve done better in the past. It’s bulkier and clunkier than it should be. I like 11” length 3/8 ratchets. That one is just a miss.
Agreed! Why all the bulk? So many other companies can make them, smaller, thinner, and yet, strong!
@@Snowmannorth yep. Even THEY have other offerings that are better in pretty much every imaginable way.
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I saw these rachets at Lowe's a few days ago. I thought they were over priced. Running 80, 90 dollars for a 3/8s
@@br529 when I grabbed these they didn’t cost nearly that much. Wow. That’s a scary thought. The Husky quick release ratchets are just way better executed (I’m sure their 72, 100, and 144 position are all made by Apex, owners of Gearwrench as they’re very similar to the Gearwrench 90t quick release unit - too similar)
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Hang on to the old ones,everybody wants them for their collections!! Good subject!!
@@jefftovani5535 yep that’s the plan!
Hey thanks for the support man. Much appreciated. Between you and CP and then some friend who are in the real estate field, it’s been great having the inspiration.
It entirely too many people quick to bash Craftsman as if there the only brand making mid tier tools. Thier ratchets are patterned after some of the German ratchets with the larger heads like Hazet, Gadore etc... Look at Milwaukee Dewalt ratchets Kobalt all big box brands non American made. Where those bashing videos?
@@hemi08911 the Milwaukee is actually proving itself to be a solid option. The Dewalt is sort of meh. It’s not particularly strong (mid pack) and NONE of them have the bulbous creation of that long Craftsman I have here. You can grab a vintage Plomb with 36 teeth (which the raised panel Craftsman ratchets of old were clearly designed after) and the thickness would be about the same as a current Milwaukee, Gearwrench, or Husky. And note I point out that, historically, Craftsman has done better. My point being that I wouldn’t consider majority of Craftsman’s current offerings to qualify as mid tier. Their V series tools being an exception to that.
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All of those ratchets will run much better with oil in them....Clean all that grease out and put in new oil....Any weight will do..A lot of guys just dunk a ratchet in used transmission fluid.😱😱...Just put new oil in it please.👍👍..They will spin much easier and then are easier to re-oil when they go dry.....Wright Tools specifically stamps "Oil Only" on their ratchets......All of my ratchets have oil in them and I don't have any problem.....And the newer Craftsman ratchets are ok if you can get a deal on them.....But for full price,no way.
@@pennywise8182 it just surprised me how much drag was in that 180postion one. I’ve never encountered anything like it.
If I was going to use them, I might bother. Lol Otherwise, I agree. They’re so underwhelming that it’s actually a shame. And I have plenty of far better options to use.
Thank you for chiming in!
Bought a 1/4 from Lowes. It was "locked up" Out of the package! Wouldent go in reverse. Complete crap. Had to drive back and exchange it
@@Leeroy2586 that would piss me off
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Craftsman before the turn of the century are fantastic pro/amateur tools, after the early 2000's they are totally fine for homeowners doing normal everyday repair. I have Walmart tools from the 90s that I use in road kits that are comparable to modern Craftsman. That's not all a dig, they work fine enough for a few tasks but using them everyday will not last
@@512Chaos yeah that’s essentially my view as well!
Thanks for chiming in!
Craftsman has replaced/ updated the regular ratchet to a low profile ratchet. They also have a mini head ratchet, much better than those fat ones. The V line ratchets aren't rebranded facom/usag. They are some weird combo inspired by the proto 90t and the facom. The facom is a 72t ratchet with a smaller head and its way smoother. Less back drag and different design. I own and would have much preferred them to rebrand or at least use the gear for the V line. They can't redo those old ratchets, because Sears craftsman never made anything. Craftsman wasn't a manufacturer, they had private labeled companies manufacture their tools. Most of those are closed, bankrupt. They also needed to start quickly as they paid sear almost 1b for the name only. Meaning they had to start from zero. I agree, those fat ratchets have no business having the craftsman name. Unfortunately Stanley black& decker is one of those companies that have too many brands. Basically too much fat, not enough focus or anything.
@@andrestnt interesting to hear your take. Though with SBD ownership, there’s definitely some crossover. I intend to point that out shortly as I have a kit from each to bring out as well as Teng, Milwaukee, and a couple others. Hoping to get to that this week.
My train of thought was they would have at least had the intellectual property that went with their products. Especially since they’re still producing the old raised panel (vomit). Regardless, I think they can do better. And yeah not to many produce their own. In the gun industry, you’d be amazed at how much stuff comes from Ruger’s foundry.
Thanks for chiming in!
@@gtcam723 not really a takeaway. It's what happened. Stanley craftsman does have a lot of rebranded stuff. The only way to get tools on the shelf fast. Sockets are rebranded Stanley/DeWalt/Facom. The regular long pattern wrenches are DeWalt. The pliers are DeWalt/Stanley/Facom. The V line is all Facom/usag except the ratchets. Overdrive is the Mac RBRT tech, applied to the DeWalt/Stanley tools. The only unique tools are the 120t ratchet, V line ratchets, overdrive and the USA/global materia 90t ratchet. They also got the old raised panel ratchet and wrenches(garbage). They all got compromises unfortunately. They have intellectual property, the problem is no factories or tooling to make them. The raised panel tools were the easiest to make.
@@andrestnt fair enough.
And somehow they largely keep Proto outside of it. It’s rather interesting. It seems you’re further down the rabbit hole than I am.
@@gtcam723 Mac/proto are high end top tier products. So no way they will ever rebrand usa tools for craftsman. They rebranded them in a way from Facom. Facom/usag get rebranded my Stanley to all their system brands.
Mini heads are fire
I retired 8 years ago I was a mechanic for 35 years I made my living with craftsman tools did any fail sure my son now is a mechanic he uses snap on tools has any failed him yes
@@dalepete2854 I used Craftsman for years too. Hate the idea that if I need to warranty something now, my US made part will get replaced with some China made part IF they even honor the warranty.
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You should have grabbed the mini head 72 tooth ratchets they take three spots of my six most used and favorite with TEKTON taking the other 3 spots! They are also serviceable with oil ONLY
@@chriscalderin6677 ya know, I’ve got some Tekton QR ratchets and they’re good ratchets, for whatever reason, they just aren’t the ones I reach for. Strangely I’d rather use the Husky QR pieces regardless of 72t, 100t, or 144pos. Lol
one of the best ones, but only 3 models offered. That should have been the regular offering in all sizes and lengths.
@@andrestnt of course my local Lowe’s is out. I’ll toss one in my Amazon cart for my next order.
So I checked out both the mini head and low pro versions while I was at Lowe’s, yeah, those are both significantly better than the two I had here.
@gtcam723 I switched from a bunch of different ratchets for those two brands because higher tooth count can be more sloppy. The mechanisms are to fine to work with grease so oil only.
Stanley/Black&Decker made Craftsman tools look cheap, they look like cheap Chinesium that you find on Ebay, they just charge 8 times more. If they were smart, they would've just used the original design instead of trying to make them their own, hell, even the markings on the sockets are gross looking too. Then, the warranty in a lot of places, it's like trying to warranty Stanley or Bostich hand tools, it's a 4 month long email daily back and forth session, it's awful. I won't even get into their cordless power tools, but, you might as well go find an early 90's Porter Cable cordless set, the molding on the tool cases are much smaller
@@kalybnielsen4183 that’s been pretty much my view of things. V Series stuff is decent being Taiwan made.
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I have warranted 7 tools in a year no issues and sent to me from craftsman and there mini head 72 tooth is in its own class very nice
Yes
@@stevensko9153 tell us how you really feel 🤣
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Never used the teardrop smooth handle ratchet you have, but the raised panel ones from the 90’s and 2000’s are no better than the Stanley black and decker ratchets. Sloppy junky ratchets, good for nostalgia.
@@Tad-vd2do yeah that sounds about right. Lol
I think my thing with the smooth handle is mostly that I think 11”-ish is a really helpful length without being stupidly long. That said, keeping a stubby handy once something is broken is less likely to bash into something you don’t want to damage. Lol
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Stanley black and Decker where smaller in the head and as strong or stronger
Not as good as they used to be but they get the job done for me.
@@JamesSilcox-n5e by all means man. I don’t think anyone should buy more than they need unless they actually want to. Some of us are just sort of tool geeks lol
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The mini heads 72 tooth are awesome best ratchet with the craftsman name and at lowes I use them professionally
@@chriscalderin6677 of their current offerings, they seem to be the nicest and one I’d actually use.
Have you serviced one at all?
Yes, new ones are overpriced China garbage! One frozen on me at work on its first use. Crap I tell you.
@@ToolsMethodsPhilosophies it seems, like other brands, the Taiwan made products are decent and China made are awful
@@gtcam723 the one that failed on me was Taiwan. I don’t like any modern craftsman and will continue to stay away.
@@ToolsMethodsPhilosophies man that sucks to hear. On the other hand, plenty of other choices out there that are solid! Warrant may be an issue and I don’t personally like them, but the Milwaukee ratchets are surprising. And the Gearwrench 90t compact head 3/8 too. Plenty more options as the budget opens up.
Once you go VIM ratchets these wont even be on your mind anymore.
@@pl5624 where are VIM ratchets made anyway?
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@@pl5624 vim ratchets are unremarkable. That's not their specialty