Snapped my 3/8 ratchet today and it saved me a headache

I was torquing down a stubborn caliper bracket bolt on a 2012 F-150 and my old Craftsman ratchet literally broke in half. Turns out the bolt was cross-threaded from the last guy who worked on it, and if the ratchet hadn't snapped I would've messed up the threads even worse. Has anyone else had a tool break at exactly the right moment to stop you from making a mistake?

2 comments

2 Comments

david73911d ago

Man, that Craftsman ratchet was a REAL champ for breaking when it did. I know a lot of folks swear by the newer ones with the quick release button, but the old 36 tooth internals in those were bulletproof for most stuff. That being said, you probably COULD have backed that cross threaded bolt out if you had a good set of thread chasers, but the ratchet snapping definitely saved your hub assembly. I've got a buddy who learned that lesson the hard way, stripped the whole caliper bracket mount on his F-250 and had to helicoil it. Sometimes a tool breaking IS the best warning you can get.

leow9011d ago

Oh man, that bit about the buddy stripping the caliper bracket mount on his F-250 really hit close to home. My cousin did the exact same thing last year on his Silverado, had to drill and tap the whole thing. That helicoil job is a nightmare when it's a brake part, too much room for error. I totally agree with you, that ratchet breaking was a sign from above, better a $30 tool than a $400 hub plus the headache of fixing it. It's funny how we get mad when a tool breaks but sometimes it's just doing its job in the worst way possible.

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