I'm a Matco locking flex head fanboy. But I didn't want to pay to upgrade to comfort grips, so I put heat shrink on them. Works good for a non slip grip.
I like snap on chrome handles, yes I have big hands too. The chrome handles wipe off easy and because in 1/4 and 3/8 they are smaller in tight spots you can ratchet more. My favorite is my 15” 1/2 drive ratchet. Don’t have any flex heads. I work on dump trucks.
My 1/2 drive flex head Snap On ratchet lasts about 2 years. I had people leave comments saying that's not possible that ratchet has to be rebuilt every two years, Snap On lasts forever. That ratchet gets used more than the rest of them.
2:05 says don't listen to the guys on the internet says a guy on the internet lol 😉😉😂😂😂😂😂 tool preferences are 99% opinion based and influential I've broke everything it's a mechanical and they can all fail. Thanks fun vid! My go to rachet is the cordless one because what mechanic especially a flat rate one has that kind of time to use a rachet more then 10% of the time.
Very true many guys buy marketing and opinion over what they actually like in use. I bought a mid grade ratchet that I really wanted to like. Now this was expensive for me but not snap on or Marco prices. I tried to love this thing and found myself grabbing a ratchet I paid half the price for twice as often. Use tools that work for you. Not tools you have to work to use.
We don't have any trucks but a Snap-On and MAC. I've got the old style handle on my snap-ons and the hard handle on a MAC. The hard handles have always reminded me of popsicles 😂
No obstructions or odd positions to consider, My favorite 3/8 ratchet is a 1990's 36 tooth standard length, comfort grip Snap on with Cheveron EP 2 red grease . My favorite 1/2 Ratchet is a Stahlwille 512 36 tooth comfort grip with the same grease, being no weird obstacles to overcome. I find a course tooth rachet with high pressure grease is smooth and lasts forever. I have a 17 inch Mac pair head also course tooth count same grease , they are reliable mules. Fine tooth rachets ,I use 100% Teflon grease very thin like a heavy oil. A little tiny tube is $60.00. But it really extends the life. How you maintain a hand rachet can be just as important as what brand you choose.
Ironically the shop I work at we have several long handle matco long ratchets, we have to because they break so frequently! , snap on's don't break as often and if they do ,at least we can get them warranted!
Matco is moving away from AJ, easy way to tell is the new ones are laser printed not stamped.(this started with the pink ones last year. Also anything else that comes in the soft foam tray made in the US comes from the same place.) They are being made in Ohio. This is the reason a few months back they had a shortage of rebuild kits and had a qc issue with the first few batches of paws as they were weak and would snap really easy.
Just bought bought matco love it except light use teeth are skipping now he's gonna rebuild it Friday when he comes I'm not saying it's bad things happen but I love the grip and feel of it and the fleshed lock
I don't know about you but I use what works the best until I find something that works better. After working on cars for a long time you find different things will work better for you . I like snap on rachets but I have one tiny 1/4 matco and I love it. It so much smaller than any other ratchet and saves me alot
I think this is great advice. In hindsight, I think I could have actually saved a good amount of money by only buying ratchets on the tool truck vs buying online. The online ones were only slightly cheaper, though some of them seem to be of comparable quality, but I ended up buying probably twice as many as I need because I ended up not really liking about half of them.
The Matco locking flex head was the first tool I ever bought on a tool truck and I love it. If I have to use the Snap-on I use the old plastic hard handle one like you showed I don’t like the other grip as much from them.
Those snap on flex head ratchets that become loose can be repaired. Take the torx screw out and slide the head from the handle. There’s a small thrust washer between the handle and the ratchet head. (Recessed in the ratchet head) (try not to lose it). It looks like a lock washer. Your snap on dealer should have them.
I have mostly Snap-on (due to BoGo sales), gearwrench 120xp (love them), my original tekton bent handle from like 8 years ago (love it’), the new icon gold 3/8” ratchet (love it, and yes it’s a go-to’) ... I’ve gotten rid of craftsman and as new up to 78 tooth? Or whatever weird count that was..... and I just acquired an extended handle soft grip 1/4” CORNWELL soft grip. Personally I love the cornwell square blocky grip, they don’t hurt and you can get a good grip on them....I don’t care what brand it is, but if there’s too much backlash I delete it . Tooth count manufacturing has a direct reaction to tight or sloppy backlash and rarely do I ever see other mechanics/people reference the true degree it takes to apply “work”..... I’ve felt 80tooth Snap-ons as tight (or tighter) than 120xp or sk xframe wrenches (which have 244 positions with 6 tiny pawls) ..... as Mike just said, it’s 100% preference BuT you have to FEEL it for yourself!
I’m a diy guy so cost wise I’m at a lower scale of ratchets, I own old craftsman, Stanley, kobolt, gearwrench, and Pittsburgh pro. I never use the old craftsman they’re square handles suck, the kobalt is a tank, the Stanley is in my portable stuff and for the price isn’t terrible, I’ve broke the Pittsburgh several times however it’s easy to warranty, gear wrench is my newest and my go to the 120xp is nice and as a diy probably the highest end I’ll buy. I bought a 36 tooth snap on at a garage sell two days ago for $25 and cleaned it up I used it to change my oil just because it’s not bad but I prefer my gear wrench handle and the 120 tooth count is nice
I have at least 30 ratchets all makes my personal preference is my snap on green comfort grips and sk lp90 and even a Stanly 72tooth quick release from Wal-Mart thats 20 years old. I just got some really old proto 1/2 that I'll be using soon,I have a snap on f80 that's was a waste of money the handle is to short for my liking but feel good still
I have a snap on like that red handled on (in periwinkle blue!) With a fixed head, a snap on locking flexhead with the comfort grip, a matco locking flex head with a chrome handle, and a cornwell flex head with a chrome handle. The blue snap on is my favorite, but I'm not really sure it's because of the handle. I think I just feel more secure because it's a fixed head and I've broken the flex head about a billion times. When my matco broke at the flex, it took him almost a year to get the replacement because they were going through a redesign and weren't available 🙄. I don't use that one much anymore because we don't have a matco guy in the entire city. I do much prefer their locking flex head to snap on's, but if it breaks... 🤷♂️
my grand father gave me a old -v- series craftsman ratchet it has served me well for many years ive beat it with hammer i've used a cheeta pipe an bent the piped getting a rusted truck seat bolt off this thing just wont die. now the handle isn't the most comfortable, i did try snap on an it bent an i tried newer craftsman it stripped as well as pittsburgh the plastic handle broke it was an expandable ratchet. maybe im just too hard on tools
Now I’m a snap on ratchet fan. The one Matco I’ve used I loved but no Matco guy so no option for me to get and have someone rebuild it for me. But I’ve definitely broke my fair share of snap on ratchets. Bar over every motor I run a over head on with a 1/2 in long hand flex head and I own 2 of them because for whatever reason it’s a 50 50 shot baring over a 15 liter or bigger cat if it will live. C18s it’s almost a garentee it’s going to die.
I have all of my Matco ratchets in my service cart. I leave the Snap On in my tool box. Just like the Matco feel and they do the job. Great vid as always!
Oddly Mike in the rest of the world, yes, there is a world out there other than the USA, 3/8" drive is fairly uncommon. When I sold TOPTUL they had a huge 1/4" drive selection and a huge 1/2" drive selection. Their 3/8" drive selection was much smaller. I found this odd but, according to TOPTUL in Taiwan, the ROW uses either 1/4" or 1/2". I use 3/8" drive almost exclusively. Weird isn't it.
5 dollar no name coarse tooth pawn shop ratchet is my go-to. But I mostly do hydraulic work so I can guarantee my ratchet would not work for automotive.
I have had to warranty my Snap on ratchets a few times. I wear out the teeth with use and abuse. And the Snap On guy has been great about fixing them for me and honoring the warranty. I have a Matco ratchet right now that I love to death and it is seized. And the Matco guy won't answer his phone so I could get it warrantied. Since the Matco guy has been so hard to get a hold of, I have looked at my tools and found 3 other Matco things I need to warranty- so 4 total. Done with Matco unless they start to warranty the broken tools I have. Only thing I would buy off a Matco truck is something I would never warranty, like a socket rail. Hopefully that changes. I love my Matco bent handle ratchets that I use almost exclusively on spark plug jobs.
i absolutely hate the matco handle on 3/8 or 1/2. the ball at the end just eats into my hand. i love the snap on comfort grip tho, fits my hand perfectly. i've also bent the hell out of a matco ratchet, and i've seen the locking mechanism eat the teeth and even when the lock is engaged, it doesn't do anything because of the groove. i have a long 1/4" matco locking flex and i love it, the handle doesn't seem to bother me. its nice and slim. the mac comfort grip is pretty nice as well, but i would never recommend a mac ratchet. worst ratchet ive ever owned. i don't believe in brand loyalty, get something that feels nice in your hands, you have to use it and you are paying for it. snap on or matco, they will pretty much perform the same. gear wrench has a flex head that i will call semi locking, it doesn't have an actual lock, but its not smooth to swivel like the snap on, has some teeth to keep it some what in place, great ratchet aswell.
Using gearwrench and snap on ratchets, Matco guy doesn’t come by our shop. I’ve handled the Mac ratchets and they feel like craftsman from Lowe’s, I’ve broke both once and both times it was a stuck starter bolt on a Cummins ISX. Snap on fixed next week, still waiting on gearwrench to send my ratchet back. I like the gearwrench flex head, I have an old snap on flex that is a flop, literally flops all way over with a wrist flick. However some people like that. If you want to sell those hard handle snap on ratchets I’ll buy them, love that grip Two year update, all snap on comfort grips in the box, aside from my first chrome handle, locking flex heads. still have the gear wrench 120xp for the tight spots. Do have a matco dealer now.., Bought a blue matco 15in locking flex, broke it that weekend at home on a lawnmower spark plug. dealer rebuilt wednesday no issues.. broke again thursday, dealer came by off route and replaced whole thing, broke again the next monday morning. Got it rebuilt again and sold it to apprentice... he has yet to break it, so it's me I guess. and by broke I snapped square off, next two times were stripped gears where ratchet would flip from left to right while using. My matco dealer is awesome at customer service and I'll try the new purple handled locking flex 15in when he gets them in.
As DYI person, I have the long handle 1/4 Snap On I love. My wife even bought me a second one, she won't admit it but she always asks for it when she needs a ratchet. For 3/8, I have four Snap On ones in the box that I use occasionally. For 3/8 I use the Craftsman thin profile USA ratchet 44995. I still have the 60 tooth gears. That handle is perfect for my hand. I have an extra one of those too. I really don't use 1/2 much, but the Snap On is my go to for that.
I thought I was the only person who was a fanboy of the Craftsman USA made thin profile ratchets. I've have them since the mid 90's and still one of my favorite ratchets!
I've used Snap On ratchets for 25 yrs on Caterpillars and have never broken one (unless I was misusing it). Like, pulling so hard that I was prepared for it to give. I am curious to try the Matco since you and Koon Trucking rave about them. They have a 30" 1/2 drive flex head that I've been eyeing.
100 percent agree personal preference... i finaly found a ratchett thats perfect FOR ME . .and its mac axis line. Swapped my snap on for the mac, nothing wrong with snap on racthetts , just the new mac ones work so well for me , and i love the locking feature / comfort grip
Snap-On all the way 😂😂😂 sorry, my preference Mike! Especially when talking torque wrenches! I have broken my 1/4" Snappy's, but they were doing 3/8" work...just saying! Matco has good ratchets too, but besides my 45 degree handle offset...they just never really made it in my box. Great points!
I totally agree the racbet you love is up to YOU! No one else. I bought a Marco rachet about a year ago to test out that locking flex because I thought it was a neat idea. Not long ago, I mistakenly sheared the teeth of the locking mechanism (not rachet head) I thought "oh man he will never warrenter this" so I put the anvil in the vice and turned and turned.... All I did was jump the vice, anvil edges worn, internals didn't break. Between that and the feel of handle, I'm sold on Marco!!
Buy ratchets from a tool truck. Tool truck salesman have the spare parts to repair the ratchet. I had one my Snap On 3/8 ratchets repaired once a year at no cost. Grip feel needs to be secondary decision. Keep your videos coming.
Have you tried the mac ratchets yet? I have a locking flex head 1/2' drive ratchet in the length of that snap on ratchet you dont wanna replace yet and like it a lot. I have the fhllfd80 and when that doesnt work I'll grab the MAC
I have the comfort grip snap on but it seems everyone is liking the matco mike glad to see atlanta is over the covid, with spas gyms bowling all opening back up
100% Truth and I do have a large selection of SNAP-ON Ratchets in all makes Locking and Non Locking but each ratchet serves it own purpose when called upon depending on the work at hand
This is an excellent video, thorough. My favorite ratchets are Matco Flex head and Cornwell 72 tooth, straight contoured grip. I look at dealer support and the ability to get rebuild kits. My Matco and Cornwell dealers have given the best support in this regard. All of the tools truck ratchets are excellent, you can't go wrong from a technical perspective. Your personal preference and comfort comes first.
I have that matco ratchet,I like the way it handles but teeth felt weird and I haven't had a matco guy in years hadn't used in a bit.i have all snap on ratchets at work,I don't like one of my 1/2 its been rebuilt but still handles weird
You would really like the mac locking flex head, its the best of both worlds with the matco and snap on. The button is perfect and so is the grip, that locking button is so positive on it.
I got away from the mac locking flex heads because my button kept getting stuck and wouldnt work properly that being said my preferred ratchets are the mac flex head ratchets
Love my Icon ratchet from harbor freight its taken quite a beating 😅 broke my snap on ratchet and had it warrantied, but i havent touched it since i got the icon.
Agreed I bought alot of ratchets to find them with appropriate knurling, its gotta bite in abit. I realize most guys on this channel probably arent big on knurled handles, but I work in industrial, and I am always covered in hydraulic oil, slurry, wastewater from pumps, whatever. Never found a comfort grip or even hard handle that holds up. Blackhawk round flexhead, with knurled thumbwheel for 3/8 Proto (actually made by Facom) round flex head for 1/2
Any ratchet will break when you jerk and yank on them vs pulling slowly. It's completely operator error 80% of the time if you break it. That being said I'm all Matco 88 locking flex in every drive size now and won't ever switch to anything else after trying a ton of different brands.
My go too 3/8s is a halfords flexhead, my 1/2 is a cheap extending one not got many 1/2 untill I get my new snap on SHLF80AG on monday I hope that does me well. and 1/4 Ahh Not sure depends on if I need the extendy for length or if for speed I go my cheap air ratchet other wise it's either the 1/4 driver handel or last is my 1/4 blue point It works I just feel like the handle is ewwww and I'm either looking at the gearwrench 1/4 flex or a snap on roto head. We did / do kind of have a mac Guy but I don't hear much about Mac apart for peole choosing other over it?
Just like vehicles. They all have different features and they all break. The ratchet debate will go on forever. Just buy one of everything and you'll have the best/worst of all world's.
I really like my Snapon ratchets. Eventually the oil and transmission fluid eats up the comfort grips so one by one I’ve been installing old school hard handles on them. I put a screwdriver hard handle on my long 3/8” flex head which is perfect for my needs.
I have a 1/2" flex head Snap On ratchet that I bent with a pipe, but the head and gears stayed solid. I also have the same 3/8" flex head Snap On you showed here and never had any issues with it in the 5 years or so I've had it. I did pick up the long comfort grip 3/8" Matco a couple weeks ago and I like the thinner head design over the Snap On.
Having three different style ratchets myself, snapon comfort grip and the hard handle and cornwell. My go to is the hard handle snapon. The reason is ALL of the soft handle ratchets are susceptible to the harsh cleaners and chemicals found in the repair industry. They get a gooie fell to them after a while and start to break down.
Thanks for the video. For some reason, I only have snapon ratchets. I have tryed other brands and borrowed other brands, but always went back to snapon. Only some styles of snapon. I realy like there comfort grip rather then there no grip all metal.
That matco ratchet is my go to every day as well, and for the exact same reason. That little lock is simply amazing on a flex ratchet, and I can't find any other brand that is like it. I have found some gearwrench 80 tooth locking flex heads with a similar lock but they aren't quite as good as the matco. My two 3/8 drive Matco ratchets have each been warrantied after 2 years. One got rebuilt but the other one had the locking teeth shear off. No big deal that's why I bought a lifetime tool.
Hey what’s up flat rate master. I Like your Chanel been fallowing your Chanel for some time now good job keep it up. I’m in the market for an Evap smoke machine was wondering if you can do a tool review on some smoke machine. Otc , redline thank you Best Regards, Noee
