Ratchet recommendations - Husky tools from USA, Teng / Wera broken

[BuckfastMan]

Don't know if its been mentioned already but I don't think the Halfords ratchets are covered under the lifetime warranty .

[JohnBoy]

dont get me started. im getting vexed!

You'll love this so.

On the one hand, not my proudest moment, but on the other hand it got the job done.

Back in the day I had a focus, formerly of the UK so everything underneath was a bit crusty, as English fords tend to be. I was replacing the wishbones and couldnt get the ball joint pinch bolt out. It was seized solid in there. without a lift it was very hard to get a good angle on the thing to hit it with a hammer with any combination of power and accuracy needed to shift a 10-12mm bolt rusted in situ. It had a flange headed nut on it though so I spun that on a few turns, put a socket and extension on it and then I could hit the end of the extension. But that mofo was tight! the hammer was doing nothing for me.

So I ended up resting the socket extension on an axle stand and sledging it. and it took a lot of sledging. The poor extension has never been the same since, it's hard to capture mushrooming on a picture, but it's bad.

PXL_20221129_112739758.jpg

But, I was able to drive to work the next day, so the end justified the means.

[Boris]

I take it you're also against using the ratchet as a hammer too so?

Or even using a Ratchet to crack a nut.

I'm not a heavy user at all,my trusty teng set is on the go 20 years I'd say. One of the stupid little things I like with Teng is that, the lever to change direction goes with the direction you want to use it. I.e. flick it left clockwise for it to tighten.

[Mark2]

dont get me started. im getting vexed!

[JohnBoy]

I take it you're also against using the ratchet as a hammer too so?

[Mark2]

Are they tools more for looking at, than for beating with a hammer? That walnut cabinet is beautiful, but come on!


A friend of mine has a heap of Beta tools. And he asked me around to give him a hand on his car. I brought my socket set just incase we needed double of something. The job turned out to be dirtier and harder than he thought. So he asked, if I minded if we used my set. Ahhh poor baby Beta tools can't get dirty or beaten with a hammer..awww. And back into their prestine tool cabinet they went. My crappy tools did the entire job!

whats the obsession with beating tools with a hammer? with the right tool for the job, rarely if ever do you need to beat anything with a hammer.
and then at that, there are tools designed to be hit with a hammer.

anyone who hits a ratchet of all things, with a hammer is an ape. taking care and pride in tools and not abusing them is hardly a trait to be scoffed at is it...?

[Danberry]

Can they be purchased anywhere a bit more "convenient"? Any European distributors around I wonder...

[gofaster_s13]

If the quality is there, I'd buy this ratchet.

3/8"sq. Long Ratchet Handle (90-Tooth) | nepros Tools

The quality is there, they set out in the late 80’s/early 90’s to make the best hand tools in the world and in typical Japanese fashion the build is 100%

[Danberry]

If anyone feels like splashing out on what are probably the best tools available I’ll just leave this link here.

https://neprostools.com

If the quality is there, I'd buy this ratchet.

3/8"sq. Long Ratchet Handle (90-Tooth) | nepros Tools

[markcro]

If anyone feels like splashing out on what are probably the best tools available I’ll just leave this link here.

https://neprostools.com

Are they tools more for looking at, than for beating with a hammer? That walnut cabinet is beautiful, but come on!


A friend of mine has a heap of Beta tools. And he asked me around to give him a hand on his car. I brought my socket set just incase we needed double of something. The job turned out to be dirtier and harder than he thought. So he asked, if I minded if we used my set. Ahhh poor baby Beta tools can't get dirty or beaten with a hammer..awww. And back into their prestine tool cabinet they went. My crappy tools did the entire job!

[gofaster_s13]

If anyone feels like splashing out on what are probably the best tools available I’ll just leave this link here.

https://neprostools.com

[Danberry]

I've a old halfords advanced set, probably its 15 years old. All amazing quality. Probably partially due to the low cost I've given the 1/2 ratchet awful abuse. Pipe, hammer, etc.
A pity if the quality has dipped, still the no hassle replacement is nice.
Agree on teng they just arent worth the money. Hazet are good but quite pricey. You can get home depot to deliver to an post addresspal, I have done it but you will get hit with customs. May be worth it if you have a reliable goto brand.

I didn't know getting things posted from the home depot to Ireland via An Post was an option! Is this from experience? I'm trying to look into this and can't even get the website to open without using my vpn and picking Canada as the country. Then when the site loads it's immediately popping up that home depot wants to know your location. I get access denied message without vpn.


Some good replies in this thread, I never heard of Hazet before, might look them up. I have a lot of Teng stuff, has been pretty much my choice this 20 yrs but to be honest imo Teng have gotten very expensive and and a bit over rated imo. I wouldn't buy there plastic ratchets anyway.

[Mark2]

If I could only have one, I'd probably go for the hazet too. Smoothest mechanism. One thing that annoys me about the snap-on is the resistance in the ratchet system. If a nut for example is loose but still too tight to undo with fingers, the snap-on will definitely have the first tendancy out of them all to wind it back on.

I use the TENG or bluepoint for dirty work. The rubber handle on the snap-on gets destroyed with oily hands.

TENG wasnt made today or yesterday!

[Username]

I'm the third generation to own my current go-to ratchet, a Hazet. I've bought plenty more of their stuff over the years and I'd have no problem recommending them.

The Halfords Advanced range is good too, especially if you have a trade card with them. It's handy that the repair kits are easily/cheaply available.

[markcro]

Yeah I have Halfords Advanced stuff from about 10-15 years ago. And the spanners and rachets have gotten plenty of smacks with a lump hammer, and all are still going strong. The only thing that I broke was a breaker bar. But in fairness I had a 1m pipe on it and two of us jumping on it! And they still replaced it, no questions asked. Can't go wrong.