[cryptz]

I have owned a husky set and a stanley black chrome socket set. I love the look but both ratchet sets break fairly quickly. By break i mean i will be using them and they will just randomly lock up or switch direction.

i am trying to find a good set, but matco, snap on both dont make a black ratchet set. i think matco has a 3/8 but not a 1/4.

i know its a stupid problem to have, but i figure there has to be something out there at a higher quality then a homedepot brand.

[Mintsopoulos]

Snap on has definitely made some black ratchets but not sure anything in their latest lineup. Might want to check ebay. I believe its called their industrial finish.

The snap on part numbers are GF936 (3/8") and GT72 (1/4")

[GenXer]

I would give these a try.

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/79754008

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/79753984

However they're owned by Black and Decker and it used to be Stanley Proto.

[cryptz]

thanks, i think i am going to give the proto 90 tooths a shot. I like the snap ons, but i wasnt able to find a whole set on ebay. i was looking at these guys previously, its $371 bucks for 1/4 3/8 and 1/2 90 tooth models. Hopefully its money well spent.


just an edit, its $333 for the set on toolsource

[GenXer]

Going for the really good stuff I see. Excellent. I don't wrench enough to need 90 teeth one.

[Rmtt]

I get all my guys at work Proto tools. They work great and hold up well.

[383vett]

Aren't black ratchets harder to find when you drop them down the abyss?

[Nuckle]

Mac or Snap On, I don't care about color.

[NorCalAthlete]

If you're willing to shell out for Snap-On, I've heard of them making custom color / anodized / whatever tool sets for people. Not sure they'd do it for such a small order but it's worth asking I'd say.

[vreihen16]

I was at Hazard Fraught Tools about 10 years ago, to stock up on Chinese-made fake plastic dog poop. They had a display near the registers of 3/8", 72-tooth black/gray composite (plastic) ratchets in sale for $6.99...with a claimed lifetime warranty. I picked one up, to serve as the centerpiece of the top drawer in my race car hauler's roller tool box (the cheap tools to discourage people from asking to borrow them). It is funny to see how people pass on borrowing Harbor Freight and other cheap tools, out of fear of breaking them.

Let me tell you, that ratchet has taken everything that I have thrown at it...and laughed in my face! I've jumped on it to break frozen exhaust port flange nuts, used a big pipe to break the head bolts on my aircooled VW engine, whacked on it with a small sledgehammer to break stuck bolts, and any other abuse short of a torch. I bought it as a joke, and the joke was on me for sure.

I'm only a weekend warrior (and not even that any more due to medical issues), not an everyday professional. If I was still able to race/wrench on weekends, I would have gone to Hazard Fraught a long time ago to pick up the matching 1/4" and 1/2" plastic ratchets to have the complete set.

Oh, and this plastic ratchet now resides with the good tools, in the bottom drawers of my roller box in the race car hauler. Its place in the top drawer was filled by a Craftsman 3/8" ratchet that I've had since I was a teenager...sentimental value and all...in the throwaway tool drawer.....

[NorthCountryGuy]

Originally Posted by Nuckle

Mac or Snap On, I don't care about color.

Or German Stahlwille.

https://www.stahlwille-americas.com/...ooth-ratchets/

Color not an issue...

[Yapakanichi]

Am I the only craftsman fan? Granted they aren't Mur'can made anymore, but I always dreamed of owning a set. Now I do. I love them honestly. Even have the black chrome too.

[corn18]

Haven't used a ratchet since I bought this:

[NorthCountryGuy]

Originally Posted by Yapakanichi

Am I the only craftsman fan?....

You might be...
I have a large amount of Craftsman tools. Bought them bout 25 years ago. Put a lot of mileage on them. About 5 years ago the ratchets (of varying sizes) started to fail. Went to Sears and they replaced with there equivalents on the spot. The moment I had them in my hands, I knew they were less than my broken originals. Was doing brakes, shocks, coils on my truck and I had to go back to Sears twice for the 3/8 and 1/2. They didn’t even last days through the job.
Twenty years for the good ol' stuff vs. days.
Went to Stahlwille for my ratchet armentarium.

[MPOWER5266]

I have a black Snap-on 1/4" that has been okay but I pick up my Pittsburgh Harbor Freight ratchets more often. They have been awesome. I don't have the composite(black ones) but I think the mechanism is the same.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by NorthCountryGuy

You might be...
I have a large amount of Craftsman tools. Bought them bout 25 years ago. Put a lot of mileage on them. About 5 years ago the ratchets (of varying sizes) started to fail. Went to Sears and they replaced with there equivalents on the spot. The moment I had them in my hands, I knew they were less than my broken originals. Was doing brakes, shocks, coils on my truck and I had to go back to Sears twice for the 3/8 and 1/2. They didn’t even last days through the job.
Twenty years for the good ol' stuff vs. days.
Went to Stahlwille for my ratchet armentarium.

Craftsman were awesome back in the day! Walk into Sears with anything even if abused....and they would say go get another one.

[Conissah]

Harbor Freight has some black "composite" ones in 1/4" up to 1/2". Might be too cheap for most of you here, but I've beat the hell out of my 1/2" one, used it as a breaker bar with a jack handle on the end, and it still works great. If it does break, just take it into the store and get a new one.

[smyles]

Originally Posted by Conissah

Harbor Freight has some black "composite" ones in 1/4" up to 1/2". Might be too cheap for most of you here, but I've beat the hell out of my 1/2" one, used it as a breaker bar with a jack handle on the end, and it still works great. If it does break, just take it into the store and get a new one.

Like this one? Looking for replacement to some noname I managed to break after 20+ yrs.

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by Yapakanichi

Am I the only craftsman fan? Granted they aren't Mur'can made anymore, but I always dreamed of owning a set. Now I do. I love them honestly. Even have the black chrome too.

The older stuff was good. I have a few of their older ratchets that work great. The new China stuff is well.. from China.

For a weekend warrior I don't get paying Strap-on prices. I'm not gentle on tools, and I work on BMWs, Jeeps, rusty antique farm equipment, etc and the only stuff I've broken has been China Craftsman. The Harbor Freight sockets, and used SK stuff from ebay has worked out very well. I'm not going to pay the price for Mac or Snap-on for something I'm going to use as a hammer occasionally.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

I'm not going to pay the price for Mac or Snap-on for something I'm going to use as a hammer occasionally.

The right tool in the right situation

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by smyles

Like this one? Looking for replacement to some noname I managed to break after 20+ yrs.

That's the one that I wrote about above. Bought as a joke, and wound up being my go-to 3/8" ratchet.....

[Conissah]

Originally Posted by smyles

Like this one? Looking for replacement to some noname I managed to break after 20+ yrs.

Yep, pretty close. I didn't like the size of the handle on the grey ones, so I went with the black and red. Much slimmer, work great.

https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-t...het-62619.html