That 3/8 sounds like it could benefit from some oil. But then, i have a tendency to over oil my stuff a little. Looks like the case has a metal hinge pin in the back, too. Seems to be a good deal if it's about the price of an Icon ratchet. The first thing i usually check when i pick up a ratchet is for play in the anvil and how much the direction level moves when the anvil turns. I've had a couple of ratchets that would almost change their own direction if the anvil is turned too fast.
Pretty much all harbor freight tools come with barely any oil in them. I use super lube synthetic grease. They don’t sound as good as they do before you do it but they have less back drag and more consistent operation. My snap on repair kit came w the same super lube as they sell at harbor freight. I use it every day at my work and it’s incredible. I always say it’s the best thing hf sells. I have the older version of this set and nobody mentions that it has all kinds of weird sizes that are missing from most kits
Yeah the previous version that were Icon clones also had entirely different switch designs than these current versions are more similar to the Pittsburgh pro offerings, I herd the reason for this is because Harbor Freight complained to Infar the company that produces of Icon ratchets. Lucky I snagged two of the original kits up when they were still offering the icon clones.
@@scottmingersoll @ToolDemos did a teardown of this ratchet and the Icon ratchet and they definitely are different ratchets. This epAuto model is an older dual pawl design, where the Icon is a single pawl. The obvious tell is the third screw on the faceplate needed to hold the selector switch in place. The previous version of the epAuto ratchet looked to be the exact same ratchet as the Icon, from the same Taiwanese factory because it had the same model stampings with just a different brand stamp/engraving on the head. This is no longer the case.
That 3/8 sounds like it could benefit from some oil. But then, i have a tendency to over oil my stuff a little. Looks like the case has a metal hinge pin in the back, too. Seems to be a good deal if it's about the price of an Icon ratchet. The first thing i usually check when i pick up a ratchet is for play in the anvil and how much the direction level moves when the anvil turns. I've had a couple of ratchets that would almost change their own direction if the anvil is turned too fast.
Pretty much all harbor freight tools come with barely any oil in them. I use super lube synthetic grease. They don’t sound as good as they do before you do it but they have less back drag and more consistent operation. My snap on repair kit came w the same super lube as they sell at harbor freight. I use it every day at my work and it’s incredible. I always say it’s the best thing hf sells. I have the older version of this set and nobody mentions that it has all kinds of weird sizes that are missing from most kits
Yeah, those are different ratchets than the ones they had before. No longer are they the same ones as the Icon models.
Yeah the previous version that were Icon clones also had entirely different switch designs than these current versions are more similar to the Pittsburgh pro offerings, I herd the reason for this is because Harbor Freight complained to Infar the company that produces of Icon ratchets. Lucky I snagged two of the original kits up when they were still offering the icon clones.
@@scottmingersoll @ToolDemos did a teardown of this ratchet and the Icon ratchet and they definitely are different ratchets. This epAuto model is an older dual pawl design, where the Icon is a single pawl. The obvious tell is the third screw on the faceplate needed to hold the selector switch in place. The previous version of the epAuto ratchet looked to be the exact same ratchet as the Icon, from the same Taiwanese factory because it had the same model stampings with just a different brand stamp/engraving on the head. This is no longer the case.
Yeah the ones I have are single pawl and stamped RS2 just like the Icon.
They were the same ratchet, Icon were upgraded, Amazon were downgraded, not sure how the strength of the EpAuto ratchets were affected
Those sockets are terrible, I wouldn't spend $40 on this kit.