Best ratchet wrench? SO, Mac and Icon +more tested.

[baldy343]

I suppose there are people with such incredibly tough hands that the can withstand 200# of force on their hand from a skinny wrench handle. I am absolutely not one of them, even with gloves.

This is where the newfangled wrench extenders come into play. With the ratchet mechanism for precise positioning and an extra foot or two of leverage, you can easily achieve this.
I use my extender when I'm in an awkward position and don't wanna have to struggle. Though I can't say I've ever broken a ratchet wrench in this manner, I did blow one up using it as a backer for a suspension bolt that got impacted on.

 

[AJHD]

These are available at Canadian Tire under their Maximum brand made by gearwrench. 72 tooth and twelve point. They go on sale regularly.

Those are sold under Gearwrench as well. And other brands. I'm sure most of them are made by Apex. Although Snap On also has one.

 

[Steve_P]

Video confirms the rumors of how bad Honda quality has gotten...

Rumors? Honda is ranked #5 in the current Consumer Report survey for best reliability. Toyota is #9. My Tacoma, 1950s-70s technology, less a few exceptions like VVT, airbags, ABS, has had more problems than all three of my ex's Civics, combined.

Subaru was #1, IMO primarily because the similarity between models and relative simplicity of their lineup. Jeep is the last in line at 32

 

[Hohn]

Rumors? Honda is ranked #5 in the current Consumer Report survey for best reliability. Toyota is #9. My Tacoma, 1950s-70s technology, less a few exceptions like VVT, airbags, ABS, has had more problems than all three of my ex's Civics, combined.

Subaru was #1, IMO primarily because the similarity between models and relative simplicity of their lineup. Jeep is the last in line at 32

The Consumer Reports survey is not the be-all.

And reliability and durability are NOT the same thing.

 

[Ohio Andy]

The Consumer Reports survey is not the be-all.

And reliability and durability are NOT the same thing.

I remember noting at one point that the fancy cars (such as a Cadillac) required many repairs, but when you do crazy things such as add head light wiper blades, there are simply a bunch of things that can break. The more things that can break, the more things will break even if each part is equally reliable. Not sure I worded that well, but you get the idea.

 

[LWB]

Those are nice, good quality but too expensive imo. They are also made in Taiwan.

I don't believe any are American made anymore. Not in this length, anyways.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

I have these in my Snap-On wish list.

$400 ... a little hard to swallow

I have a set of Icon flex head but they are non-reversible which I don't like.

 

[AJHD]

I have these in my Snap-On wish list.

$400 ... a little hard to swallow

I have a set of Icon flex head but they are non-reversible which I don't like.

Icon has reversible too. Just sayin'.

 

[ecotec]

Rumors? Honda is ranked #5 in the current Consumer Report survey for best reliability. Toyota is #9. My Tacoma, 1950s-70s technology, less a few exceptions like VVT, airbags, ABS, has had more problems than all three of my ex's Civics, combined.

Subaru was #1, IMO primarily because the similarity between models and relative simplicity of their lineup. Jeep is the last in line at 32

Subaru is probably amongst the best companies to be a tech for because they have the least platforms.

I think that Honda would also be a good choice for a tech to work for.

 

[Hohn]

I remember noting at one point that the fancy cars (such as a Cadillac) required many repairs, but when you do crazy things such as add head light wiper blades, there are simply a bunch of things that can break. The more things that can break, the more things will break even if each part is equally reliable. Not sure I worded that well, but you get the idea.

Exactly right, IME. There's some basic math that illustrates this.
Let's say I design a system with 1000 parts and each of them has 10ppm reliability over 100k miles. 10ppm is 0.001%, or 99.999% reliability for each part. But with 1000 of them, the total chance of failure is (99.999%)^1000 or just 99.048%.

If I double that to 2000 parts (all of 10ppm reliability), the reliability is 98.0186%.

In more sensible numbers, at the same 10pm reliability, a system will have:
-- 1 in 100k will fail if it has only one part.
-- 1 in 101 will fail if it has 1000 parts.
-- 1 in 51 will fail if it has 2000 parts.

At some point, complexity itself it the main obstacle to reliability.