There's a sears near me. Maybe I should exchange it to help them go bankrupt faster.

Don't go throwing a wrench in their financial plans

Are you kidding me ... they have a warranty on these things ... for some dumbass reason i’ve gone through 2 or 3 ratchets over the years when removing the lug nuts from my cars. I had no idea I could go back to Lowe’s and get a replacement :mad2:

No kidding around I literally just bought another one a month or two ago :irate:

Yeah, app those broken wrenches could have been free.

But why are you using a ratchet p wheel bolts? Buy an impact gun for removal and a torque wrench for tightening!

Not necessary, but way more fun.

I only use it to break the lug then I usually use a dewalt power thing to zip them off and on then a torque wrench to finish the job.

I bought an impact gun but didn’t like the way it bangs against the bolt and dings it up.

I'm just about to the point of throwing away the last of my craftsman ratchets. The quality on the new ones is extremely poor. I exchanged two of them last year for various issues and the replacements are just junk.

On a whim I bought a new 1/2" and 3/8" from Harbor Freight around Christmas and so far I really like them. I intended for them to live in the travel toolbox (full of cheap tools that I don't care too much if I lose one of or if one walks off with a competitor). We'll see how they hold up, but there is a lot less hysteresis in the ratcheting mechanism - they're both really close to as good as the Matco 1/2" that I have.

Speaking of non-Craftsman tools, what's the line on the premium-level tool market? Among the Snap-Ons of the world, what's the best compromise between cost and quality?

I love my 15-year-old Craftsman tools, but I agree that the newer stuff is disappointing. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, it's getting less and less convenient to even find a Sears worth shopping for automotive tools. If I'm going to deal with ordering stuff, I might as well go whole-hog...

Here’s the real rabbit hole:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...d.php?t=136120

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...d.php?t=249851

The tool truck equivalent threads. It’s not like Snap On or anyone else actually makes much for itself.

Dunno if those Garage Journal threads get into it, but there's also been a lot of tool company consolidation and shifts in production (factories and countries). Worth checking this out:

https://pressurewashr.com/tool-industry-behemoths/

https://pow-jrk.netdna-ssl.com/wp-co...hat-Brands.jpg

I'll have to check out those threads when I'm on a computer that isn't so dumb about "security." But, yeah, I know that relatively few tool companies have their own factories. For as long as I'm aware, Sears never did, either, and I know there are some real tool geeks who know which companies made Craftsman tools at different times.

Still, it seems to me that branding does make a difference, in some cases. The same factory might push out open-end wrenches for three different labels, but to what tolerances and design specs are each of them manufactured -- even if they ship from the same building?