I only have one ICON ratchet. It's the long 3/8 flex head with the comfort grip handle. I opened the box out in the car to inspect it. I really liked the firm feel of the handle and it looks and feels durable. The ratchet mechanism felt smooth but had some back drag. That is to be expected with some new ratchets. What concerned me was the flex head. It is relatively tight and stays put. However this ratchet has loose points in its range of motion. Throughout my career I used a Mac flex head that had a ball detent in the flex joint. I prefer the detent on my flex heads. I was going to go back in the store to return it and buy the DieHard version. The ICON was $55 versus the DieHard at $35. I decided to keep the ICON. When I got home I tried tightening the pivot pin. It was tight as it would go. The reason why I bought the Mac was due to seeing the non detent Snap-on flex heads get floppy with use. The Mac never developed the flop after a lot of use. I expect that over time this particular ICON ratchet is going to get floppy. When it does I'll test the Harbor Freight warranty.
I broke and old craftsman raised panel 1/2 drive ratchet. I put a cheater pipe on it to remove hub assembly bolts on a dodge stratus. I was standing on the pipe. USA craftsman. Sears grabbed one off the wall and said here ya go! Couple years before Sears sold out everything. Good video 👍
I've got the swivel-head and regular flex-head in 1/4, both comfort grip. A regular solid handle and regular flex-head in 3/8. And both lenths of flex-head comfort grip in 1/2. The only one i have a problem with is the regular 3/8 due to a little binding under pressure. I opened it up and saw that they didn't install the wavy washer between the anvil gear and the backplate. That washer closes the tolerances between the mechanism and backplate. Without it, there can be more backdrag and/or the feeling of it binding up under pressure. I'm just gonna trade it in the next time i'm over by the store. Other than that, they're great. One thing i always do now when i buy one is immediately open up the head to clean and re-lube with a high quality, synthetic oil, not grease, and I make sure the washer isn't missing. Sometimes, they miss a tiny amount of leftover machining debris when assembling the head that can cause a tight or not smooth feeling. They always perform smoother afterward, and I'm not worried about the premature wear of a dirty mechanism. I got the idea to do that about 5 years ago, and it's made a difference in my satisfaction with Icon ratchets.
You may want to open the head and clean the inside of the housing and the internals with some brake cleaner. Then, re-lube it with a good synthetic oil instead of grease. To thick of a grease will cause tightness and skipping. I use WD-40 Gel Lube Spray, and it always seems to help mine. I've heard a few people say the Icon 1/4 feels tighter than the others. I think they use too stiff of a spring between the direction switch and the pawl.
