ratchet rebuilding tools; especially for the ball bearing/spring ***'y

billymade · Jan 24, 2009

Hey guys... Merk and I have been discussing "official" tools that make rebuilding ratchets easier; the main struggle seems to be the spring/ball bearing that goes under the pawl, of most pear shaped ratchets!

Danaher/Craftsman tool:

There is a "U" shaped indention in the tool to hold the ball bearing in place.

One side is for 1/4" drive and the other side is for 3/8" and 1/2" drive.

Snap-On tool part # SPP744:

The Snap-On tool is a improvement over the Danaher tool!

The "holes" keep the ball bearing in place and would work better; hopefully keeping chasing ball bearings down to a minimum!

These tools are a god send; if you rebuild ratchets very often, I would recommend you get one!

If anyone else has pics of other brands tools; please post them!
Hey, Merk... is there a different tool for 1/2" ratchets? I see this tool is stamped for 1/4" and 3/8" ratchets...

Bull · Jan 24, 2009

Are these fairly easy to find, or like hen's teeth?

billymade · Jan 24, 2009

The Snapon tool costs a whopping .98 cents with free shipping!

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/sear...nsfr=true&search_type=Part&store=snapon-store

riley.m · Jan 24, 2009

i shot my first ball bearing into space the other day,i tried taking a piece of stainless tig rod and hammering the end flat.luckily it was a c-man ratchet that i never use.anyway i put the spring back into the hole put some lube on the bearing so it would stick,pushed the bearing down with the flattened rod,while holding the drive switch in place and as i was just about to place the guts i twitched and the bearing shot down onto the floor,and now it is lost forever.next time i will drill a tiny hole into the rod.

bchee · Jan 24, 2009

I like how it says "wear safety goggles" so the ball doesn't pop you in the eye.

I think it's weird there is a 1/4 and 3/8 because I would think the ball is about the same size on those drive sizes. I can see how the 1/2 ball would be bigger.

PSU Engineer · Jan 24, 2009

Bull said:
Are these fairly easy to find, or like hen's teeth?

I can only comment on the Danaher/Craftsman tools.
When I asked my the Sears employee for my ratchet rebuild kits, he produced the kit and that tool that billymade posted. He said that I would need this to repair the ratchet. Maybe the tool is free from Sears if you ask the right person and you ask nicely.

Tony

daveblank · Jan 24, 2009

Bull said:
Are these fairly easy to find, or like hen's teeth?

PM me your address & I'll ship you a Matco one.

billymade · Jan 24, 2009

daveblank, does the official Matco one look like the Danaher/Craftsman one? Got a pic? Inquiring minds want to know!

Merkava_4 · Jan 24, 2009

billymade said:
Hey, Merk... is there a different tool for 1/2" ratchets? I see this tool is stamped for 1/4" and 3/8" ratchets...

I asked pablo-snapon that question one day and he said there wasn't. I've used the 3/8 hole for the 1/2 ball; it's a little more tricky, but it still works. :dunno:

Coach James · Jan 24, 2009

I never knew there was a special tool for this. When I've put ratchets back together, I used the smallest flat blade screwdriver I had to hold the ball in place.

Coach

Merkava_4 · Jan 24, 2009

Coach James said:
When I've put ratchets back together, I used the smallest flat blade screwdriver I had to hold the ball in place.

That's what I used to do too, but keeping the ball centered on the screwdriver blade against spring pressure was a batch.

Blacknwhitepit · Jan 24, 2009

Merkava_4 said:
That's what I used to do too, but keeping the ball centered on the screwdriver blade against spring pressure was a batch.

Don't you use a small dab of grease?

I rebuilt an old snappy a week ago for my Father in law, but had to use a tiny dab of Crisco since he had no grease. Worked like a charm.

By the way Billy, Great info and pics! I am going to get one of these tools.

-BWP

Merkava_4 · Jan 24, 2009

Blacknwhitepit said:
Don't you use a small dab of grease?

I'm never going back to that little screwdriver ever again.

PowderKeg · Jan 24, 2009

Coach James said:
I never knew there was a special tool for this. When I've put ratchets back together, I used the smallest flat blade screwdriver I had to hold the ball in place.

Coach

That's what I've always done - accompanied by plenty of colorful commentary and spittle spray...

Just put that Snappy tool on the buy list.

nissan_crawler · Jan 24, 2009

I'm so confused as to what these are for...

I've done my round heads, 710, 936, and t72, not sure where this would be used?

krusty the clown · Jan 24, 2009

nissan_crawler said:
I'm so confused as to what these are for...

I've done my round heads, 710, 936, and t72, not sure where this would be used?

it hold the detent ball and compresses the spring for the pawl.

nissan_crawler · Jan 24, 2009

Ah, I looked at a parts page. I guess I've never had an issue with it.

billymade · Jan 25, 2009

Ahh, those parts are nice and tiny; do you want to chase that little ball bearing all over the place and actually find it? (ask me how I know!)

When you are putting this part back together; it makes it easier to have the tool IMHO! I've done it with and without the tool; I prefer to use the tool!

Here is my: "snapon TML830 ratchet rebuild" if anyone would like to check out a rebuild of a 800 series snapon ratchet:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20906&showall=1

Blacknwhitepit · Jan 25, 2009

All I ever did was use a small screwdriver with a dab of grease on the tip to hold the ball bearing in place, it works very well.

But I still would like to have the "proper" tool :lol_hitti

-BWP

Merkava_4 · Jan 25, 2009

If word gets around too much, Snap-on might move the decimal over in that price.

mkdive · Jan 25, 2009

billymade said:
The Snapon tool costs a whopping .98 cents with free shipping!

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/sear...nsfr=true&search_type=Part&store=snapon-store

w/tax it came out to a whopping $1.01
Thanks Billymade, that will make ratchet rebuilds less frustrating from now on! :thumbup:

beelsr · Jan 25, 2009

a. if you really want a 1/2" tool, buy another 1/4"-3/8" tool and drill out the hole a little bigger.

b. hazet has a special tool for this as well. you can see it in the Galileo video near the end. I screen printed it and was going to fab one up but now, I'm just going to buy the SO tool. I hate those little Sears clips.

+1 Billy, you made my day! :thumbup:

Nova72 · Jan 26, 2009

part number doesnt work on snapon's sight... guess they caught on.

mkdive · Jan 26, 2009

your right it isnt?! hope mine is still being shipped out!

billymade · Jan 26, 2009

Man, I should've orderd it last night!

64merc · Jan 26, 2009

Darn, I was waiting until today for some reason. Oh well....

mkdive · Jan 26, 2009

I called SO,my order is still good. They can place an order for the Ratchet tool over the phone for the same price I picked mine up for......$.94 + tax.....just give them a call @ 877-762-7664. Their website is under maintenance right now....that might be the reason why the part # doesn't come up?!

billymade · Jan 26, 2009

Its back up and working!

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/sear...nsfr=true&search_type=Part&store=snapon-store

64merc · Jan 26, 2009

billymade said:
Its back up and working!

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/sear...nsfr=true&search_type=Part&store=snapon-store

Thanks, I just ordered 2 of them.

Merkava_4 · Jan 26, 2009

64merc said:
Thanks, I just ordered 2 of them.

Why just (2)?

I ordered (10) when I got mine since they're so inexpensive........

krusty the clown · Jan 26, 2009

Merkava_4 said:
Why just (2)? I ordered (10) when I got mine since they're so inexpensive........

he may not be obsessive/compulsive :bounce:

Hoot · Jan 26, 2009

64merc said:
Thanks, I just ordered 2 of them.

Yep, so did I.

I was trying to put one of my ratchets back together the other day and I let the ball slip by the screwdriver. It shot straight up and came back down behind me. Luckily, the grease on the ball made it stick to a plastic tarp that I park my wife's Mustang on. I looked down at where the sound came from, and there it was. For the second or two the ball was airborne, I had visions of a rebuild kit in my immediate future. If this tool works as well as everyone says, it's the cheapest "peace of mind" investment I've ever made...... :bounce:

Tool Pants · Jan 26, 2009

The local Snap-On truck goes to a local auto repair complex where 2 different and very small shops in the same complex have worked on my Boxster and Toyota pickup. I met the driver last summer when I was visiting the owners of both shops, as I became friends with the mechanic/owner of the shops

On one of my visits the truck showed up. I asked the Snap-On guy for a catalog. Did not have any. Went into the truck and saw a used one. Kind of a ****. Clear he was not interested in me.

Between the 2 mechanics they gave me their Snap-On, RWD, and Mac catalogs that day. Then I went back into the truck with the Mac catalog and asked the Snap-On guy if Mac was any good. Good for firewood he said. All in fun and I understand that.

So this morning I asked my Porsche mechanic if he can get me SPP744 from the Snap-On guy. My mechanic called the Snap-On guy and there is one on the truck for a Wednesday delivery. And if I bring the ratchet by the shop the driver will rebuild it for me. So I am going to bring all my Craftsman ratchets over.... That is what I wanted the SPP744 for. Firewood Craftsman.

I will bet the one in the truck is what the driver uses.

Nova72 · Jan 26, 2009

guess it was just a website update. i ordered two of the snappy's today.

daveblank · Jan 27, 2009

Tool Pants said:
On one of my visits the truck showed up. I asked the Snap-On guy for a catalog. Did not have any. Went into the truck and saw a used one. Kind of a ****. Clear he was not interested in me.

Are you sure that the catalog you saw wasn't the one that he uses to look things up & show them to the customers?

Tool Pants · Mar 21, 2009

I survived all these years without that thing, but just had to get one.

I asked the Porsche mechanic to get one from the truck guy. Because you people ordered so many of them it was backordered. 2 months later here it is.

And I used it on a Craftsman...

billymade · Mar 21, 2009

So, did it make the rebuild process... easier for you?

d33pt · Mar 21, 2009

i lost the ball on my 1/2" craftsman ratchet the other day. noticed it was about the same size as a BB, so i put one in and it worked!

Tool Pants · Mar 21, 2009

It made no difference. I have taken about 20 ratchets apart, some ratchet adapters, and some torque wrenches. I have always managed to put them back together without the Snap-On tool.

I forgot to say. When the Snap-On guy said he had one in the truck it was indeed the one he used. So it was ordered for me back in January.

Merkava_4 · Mar 21, 2009

Yeah, try and rebuild an F936 with the separate ball and spring without that tool; you'll wish you had it.

ratchet rebuilding tools; especially for the ball bearing/spring ***'y

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