**The Ultimate Guide to Testing Hand Tools: A Review of Half Inch Ratchets and Socket Sets**

Are you ready? I'm so ready! Here we go!

Today, we're testing sockets - a crucial tool for any car enthusiast or DIYer. We've got three different sets to test: a brand new set, a 50-year-old set, and a 100-year-old set. Our dad's always said they don't make 'em like they used to, but is that true? Are dad's right or wrong? I don't know, but today we're gonna find out.

We'd like to extend our huge thanks to eBay Motors for sponsoring today's video! They're your one-stop shop for cars and parts, and also have all the tools you need to get your project car on the road. Without these tools, those parts will just sit around your garage, sad and lonely, waiting for that beautiful day when they're finally installed.

And now, thanks eBay Motors! You can click the link in the description today to shop the tools you see in today's video, plus a whole lot more! And with their money-back guarantee, you'll get the angelic tool you ordered or your money back. It's just that simple!

Let's get back to the show!

All right so today we're gonna be testing half inch ratchets and socket sets from over the years. This is one of the most common sets of hand tools out there - these are used for tightening and loosening fasteners on your car.

And testing old verse new is good because you may have gotten your tools passed down to you from your father or your grandfather, or it might just be a hipster trying to use some old stuff to look cool! Right, but then that cool rich kid down the block has all new tools and he's just like...

We'll review each set of tools, comparing their performance, durability, and overall value. Stay tuned for our in-depth analysis!

This video is sponsored by eBay Motors. Not only do they have a wide selection of cars and parts, but also the best tools to get your project car running smoothly!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Are you ready?- Oh, I'm so ready.Here we go.- Three, two, one drop it.- We're testing sockets today.- We got a brand new set right here.- We got a 50-year-old set right hereand a 100-year-old set right here.Our dad's always said they don't make 'emlike they used to, but is that true?- Are dad's right or wrong?- I don't know, but todaywe're gonna find out.(birds chirping)Huge thanks to eBay Motorsfor sponsoring today's video.Not only is eBay Motors your one stop shopfor cars and parts but theyalso have all the toolsyou need to get yourproject car on the road.And without toolsthose parts will justsit around your garage.Sad, lonely, waitingfor that beautiful daythat they're finally installed.I guess you can say toolsare like little metal angelsput here on earth to getthose parts put together.(angelic music)- Wow. That was beautiful.And now thanks eBay Motors.You can click the linkin the description todayto shop the tools you see in today's videoplus a whole lot more.And with their money-back guarantee,you'll get the angelic toolyou ordered or your money back.It's just that simple.Jobe.- Yes.- Let's get back to the show.- Let's.(calm music)All right so today we're gonna be testinghalf inch ratchets and socketsets from over the year.This is one of the most commonsets of hand tools out there.These are usedfor tightening and looseningfasteners on your car.- And testing old verse new is goodbecause you may have gotten your toolspassed down to you from your fatheror your grandfather.Or it might just be a hipstertrying to use some old stuff to look cool.- Right, but then thatcool rich kid down the blockhe has all new tools and he's just like,"Oh, look at all my new stuff."- Can you get away with ahand-me-downs set of tools?- Can you walk down andgo to Bryce and say,"Hey, Bryce, my tools are better.Watch this video."- Yeah. Suck one, Bryce.- If the old ones are better,we don't know yet.- Maybe you suck one Bryce.- Maybe suck one.Maybe, maybe don't showthis video to Bryce,we don't know the results yet.(Jerry giggling)(upbeat music)Let's talk about what we have here,and what do we have here?The fanciest set of them all.- This is the fanciest set.This is brand new, hot offthe Craftsman show floor.The V series half inch drive.Everything we have here is V series.- V series hasbeen around for a while.- Up next, our second oldest set.These are about 50 years old.Now what range did they make these from?- The 60 seventies,eighties, nineties.- Okay, so realisticallythey could have comefrom time in there, butthey're up to 50-ish years old.This thing has been around forever.I think I've probably had10 of these ratchets over the years.- Then our third contestant,we got a 100-year-oldhalf inch ratchet andsocket set from Craftsman.Well, this is a forged ratchetand also made in the USA.This looks a little different,I've never seen a ratchetthat quite looks like that.Different mechanics in there for sure.We're gonna have to takethese apart and take a look.- Okay, so first on ourlist is the brand new,hot off the press Craftsman V series set.(ratchet teeth clicking)Oh, hear that.OhReally smooth, nice handle.And it's gotta extender, 'cause you knowyou gotta have an extenderdude, another extender.And then we have varioussets of socket sizes for,different size bolts.- Yeah, and these are allstandard sockets across the board.(bell dings)This is another V series socket set.How half inch ratchet, alittle bit different in termsof style than that one got anice assortment of sockets.One lone, six inch extension,and a spark plug socket.- They proudly say thatthis is forged in USA.These are not.- Made in USA.- Yeah.- Forged in USA.These are made in the States,but basically a prettystandard socket set,12 point sockets.And just like these are,pretty complete set.Nice tin case,(metal bangs)that's been around forever.Great patina, Nolan would love it.I mean I'm all for patriotism,but the fact is, goodthings can be made anywhereand bad things can be made anywhere.- So true.- So,we're gonna have to find outwhether or not it makes a difference.So today we're gonnabe putting these toolsthrough a series of tests todetermine their practicality,their usability, theirdurability, and their toughness.- Figure out if the oldis as good as the new.(upbeat music)So our first test, Jobe,how about we take theseratcheting wrenchesand take 'em apart,see what the guts look like on the inside.- Yeah, I wanna seewhat's going on in here.But we can't take this one apart.- Yeah, this is a nonserviceable item right here.We can't pull this apart.- Well it better work forever then.(upbeat music)So a lot of ratchets come apart,like the two that we'retaking apart right nowand that serves two purposes really?So this is how they're puttogether when they're madeand as you use the tool,you know these kind of toolsare meant to last the rest ofyour life when you buy 'em,especially the upperechelon, the V series, right?You can imagine over 20, 30, 40, 50 yearsof working in a shop,you're gonna get a bunch of gunk in thereand you're gonna wanna beable to take this thing apartand clean it out, and putsome fresh grease in thereand get it working likeit did when it was new.- They get gross and soyou wanna restore themto their brand new working conditions.- But yeah, that's pretty simple.The only thing that I noticehere is that it's kind of bigthese arms in here take up a lot of space.So over the years they figuredout how to make this smaller,more compact, which getsyou into tighter spotsand you know, makes the tool more useful.- We have snap-ring pliers?(bell dings)I'm so mad, you're alreadygot yours popped outand I can't...- Yeah, well, hurry up dummy.- Well, I can't get this snap-ring out.Come on baby.- I know.I'm just kidding.That's why I picked this one.(all laugh)(upbeat music)- So now that we've serviced themlet's hear what they sound like.(ratchet teeth clicking)Ooh.That's nice.- Oh, ah.All right, so what is our winner, Jobe?- Well, it's gonna bethis one, five outta five.It comes apart super easily.- You don't need a second person.This one's second, obviously.And this one, we can't take it apart.- Zero.So two out of three are serviceable.This one is not, but I thinkanother important thingthat we need to talk aboutis the warranties that come with these.- Lifetime baby.- If you took this in,they wouldn't replaceit with one of these.They might be forced to give you a new onebut that would be okay.I think, you know, theseall sort of expensiveor were in their day,but with a lifetime warranty,that's kind of worth it.(upbeat music)Now that we know that...- Let's actually use 'em.- Yeah, let's take these tools to a carand see if they do thejob they're meant to do.- I think I have theperfect vehicle for this.- Ah, for these vintagetools, a vintage vehicle.- Nolan's Imperial.- Here we go, Jobe.Nolan's Imperial.- Ooh- It doesn't run.Now we're using Nolan's carbecause this is gonna havestandard or Imperialinch-based hardware fasteners.Pretty much everythingelse is metric nowadays,but all the socket setsthat we got are Imperial.- Is that why they calledthis car The Imperial?- I don't know, but it's ahell of a coincidence if not.- So the first socket we're gonna useis the nine 16th on thisintake runner right here.So, Ugh.(ratchet teeth clicking)Oh, that's nice.- Didn't seem to give youany trouble now, did it?- Gave me no trouble.- Sounds like he's got some nice action.- Nice action.Yeah. Okay.Okay. Now let's put it back on.See our tightening.(ratchet teeth clicking)Aw. That's nice.You wanna get in therewith your older boys?- Let me do it.All right, this is the50-year-old Craftsman ratchetand 9/16 socket with a six inch extension.No big deal.I will say the teetharen't quite as tight.You know, like I could hear yours.You had so many teeth clicking.This is a little bit looserfeeling, but it did the job.Now let's go with the100-year-old ratchet in sockets.Oh, like butter.Ooh.Head seems a little bit loppy on this one.- There's a lotof play in that, huh?- But the action I'd say pretty good.- Pretty good.- I could tell with the new oneyou had a lot of teeth clicking.- Yep.- Now with this old oneit doesn't have as manyteeth in there on that gear.And so I don't get as many teeth clickingwhen I go the same distance as you,which when you end up in a tight spotcan make it a lot harder to use a tool.I'm already noticing that that new onemight have some somestuff that's worthwhile.- All right, so they alltook a bolt (laughs) which...- Who would've thought?- Who would've thank it.that they would all work?(bell dings)(upbeat music dies out)But you know that little wiggle thereand the number of teethclickings that you heard.That got me thinking,maybe we should actually go quantify thatin a more appropriate test setting.- You got any ideas?- I got something in the shop.- Let's go do it.- Let's go.All right, Jerry, what do we have here?- What we got a little device set up herethat can measure the angle of the throwfor each of our ratcheting wrenches.So when you're in a realtight space sometimesyou don't have much angle to workwith before that tooth clicks overand gives you some more leverageto pull it back the other way.- But with a nice ratchet,they got a lot of teeth.So you can click over in tight spotsand keep your job going.- And this one right here,the newest one has themost number of teeth,that has 50 teeth.And if you were to take 360degrees, divide that by 50you get 7.2 degrees.So that means in between each clickyou go 7.2 degrees,but that's theoretical.- Right, now there's gonna be playin these tools and betweenthe socket and nut.- So we need to do actual values.- Yeah, let's see whatthese things in realitytake to click over one click.- Okay, here we go.Okay. Right there.That looks like it's anywherebetween nine and a half to 10 degrees.- Okay.- Yeah, let's do it a couple times.(ratchet teeth clicking)It's doing it right aboutnine and a half, 10 degrees.That's how far you gotta go until you geta click that you can then bring it back.So not bad.- Yeah. Not too bad.- So now we're gonnatest the 50-year-old onewhich has 32 teeth, which isapproximately 11.25 degreesbetween each tooth.50-year-old, let's see it's swing.Actually, I think it clicked,but I didn't hear it.Is right there, 18 degrees- 18 degrees.- Okay, let's do it one more time.Yep. So quiet, right there.Yep, we're around 18 degrees.- Okay. So 18 degrees,the 50-year-old ratchet.I'm interested to seeif the 100-year-old puppydoes better or worse.- Okay, so our hundredyear old baby has 26 teethThat is a fun sounding(ratchet teeth clicking)ratchet right here.- It may be my favorite.- What do you got?Like what? 19, 20?- 18 and a half.- Yeah, 18 and a half.So it's closer than the previous one,but it's still not that great.All right, so I think we havea very clear winner here,the brand new Craftsman takes the cakeand then I think theseguys are tied, right?- Yeah. I'd say so.They were slightly different,but not enough to really make a differencein the real world.So I don't know.It's looking like thatnew one might be betterthan the old ones huh?- Right, I mean, yeah.That's part of it.But I think like one of the things,when it comes to the old toolsis they're just built better.They're just tougher.So how about we test tosee how tough they are?- Ah, let's.Okay, well, we've got a superscientific smacker test herewhere we're gonna drop thepointy end of a Fireman's axonto our tools and see whichone is damaged the mostwhich one's damaged theleast just to give us an ideaof how durable these tools arein terms of the materialthey're made out of.All right, y'all ready for this?Okay, we're gonna go from verticaland just kind of flop it over.(intense whooshing)(wood bangs)(slow motion whooshing)(glass breaking effect)- I think we hit it.- I think we did too.Look at that.Look at that little dent,that did pretty dang good man.- Yeah, and we hit it nice and square.I thought that might be tough,but we got it at first try.- I'm gonna say thatdid pretty good though.All right, now we gotour 50-year-old ratchettaped to this piece of wood,about to get hit withan ax, see what happens.- Okay, three, two, one.(slow whooshing)(metals bang)How's that looking?- I'd say a little more damage.It's a deeper dent, wider dent.I would really put thatin the same categoryin terms of damage as the new tool.But now let's seehow that a hundred-year-oldratchet handles this.- I'm so ready. Here we go.- All right.- Count me down.- Three, two, one.Drop it.(slow whoosh)- Whoa.- No damage whatsoever.- What?- Well maybe a little bit.- Oh dude.I barely put a Nick in that thing.Barely nothing at all.- It took me a second to even see it.- I mean, I'd put thisin a slight first place.They're all very similar, very durable,I mean, this is a six-pound headcoming to a point gettingdropped onto this.That's pretty painful.What do you agree?First place?- First place, tied for second and third.- Tied for second and third.100-year-old, took thehit and just can't quit.(upbeat music)What are we gonna do now?- Okay, how about,you really like cranking all these things.Maybe trying to get a wheel nut off a log.- Yeah, or maybe like you have a nutthat's welded to a piece ofangle iron that can't move,but you wanna try to anyway.- Yeah, see how much torque you could puton it before it goes to failure.- Yeah, that sounds fun.- Now maybe the most important testof this entire episodeis the strength test.Right, Jobe?- That's right.So we've got some angle ironand in there I welded a bolt.So we just have a bolt head sticking outthat can't be turned andwe're gonna put torque on itwhich we're measuringthrough this littledigital torque angle gauge.I'm gonna stick this here,Jack handle on it for a bunch of leverage.And we're gonna take thesethings to applied failure.- So we both think thatthese are gonna failprobably around 400.So let's try to take'em to 400 foot pounds.See what happens.All right, so for this test,we're only gonna slideabout halfway up the handle,like, you know, as if youwere using it by hand.All right, a hundred, 200, 300,(tool snaps)370, 400, 444, 454.Whew.- That's pretty freaking good, man.This is still true.- Oh, not that.- Yeah, I don't think we'veeven stressed her out.Is there any bend to the handle?- Not at all.- So the bar has been set 454.Let's see if we can get to454 with these other tools.Ready?- Yeah.We're ready.- 50-year-old?- Yep.Okay, here we go.(machine beeping)- 467.- No big deal.- You tweaked her a little bit.- Yeah?- Yeah, you tweaked her a little.- Did it bend.- It is bent, right?- Just slightly.- Just slightly. Nothing crazy.- Just a degree or two.- But to be honest, youwould've never noticed that.Okay, one more to go and then let's see-- The oldest one.- Okay, here we go.(metal snaps)- (giggles) We skipped a gear immediately.- Did it?- Yep. Yeah, we got it.It didn't even read.Why didn't it go to pick up?- Okay. All right.60, Oh, not good.I think she's hurt.We're gonna pop it apart.Just like we had at the beginningand see if there's anything obvious.- Oh no, we got chipped tooth.- We rounded up baby.- We chipped the tooth.- Yeah, there you have it.Got some, what would you call it?Spalling?- Spalling, chipping.Yeah. I mean, that's a shame.- So we took it apartand made sure that thesethree screws are tight.It's now 100% as good asit can potentially be.I'm gonna try it one more time.See what happens.(machine beeping)- 464.- Well, those teeth are working.- Is it bent at all?- I don't think so.I don't even think of a lick man.- To be honest I'm kind ofimpressed with this one.- Well, I gotta put this in first place.No bend, no damage whatsoever.Just took it in stride.- 50-year-old one, I thinkit take a second place.- Slight bend.- Slight bend on the handle.And then this one kind of a fluke,obviously there's no bend in the handleor anything like that,but because the gear'sa little bit worn out- She takes on some off the path.- Still an honorable third place.- Yeah.So what all have we looked at here today?- Well we've looked at serviceability,we've looked at swing arcthat each one of these had.We've shoved freaking ax on 'emand we've put 400 plusfoot pounds of torqueon each and every one of theseto see if they'd go to failure.- They're all honestly,in a pretty similar category,this one inching ahead.- And I think the reasonthat one inches aheadare two things for me personally.One, the number of teeth inthrow angle is the smallest.So if you're using thatin the real tight space,super crispy.And then the second thing is,if that thing breaks you just go return itand get a new one.- Yep, they're still making these,it's got a lifetime warranty.- You know, when you'reactually using toolsand you're working on stuff,you just want something that'sas easy as possible to use,and that is reliable.- Reliability is the key.And for us today, this guy.Instead of old reliable Iguess we got new reliable.(upbeat music)(angelic music)(box shuts)(angelic music)(upbeat music)You know for me, it's alittle bit of an upsetbut I don't think we haveany major losers here today.- There are no losers here today.- If you just so happento have a set of theseyou got 'em from your dad, garage sale,or you're hipster-- Great.- Yeah, they'll work.Old tools do do the job,but I don't think our dadsare necessarily right.I don't think they're necessarily better.(mimics machine beep)- Hey dad, the only loserin this test is you.- Sucker.He's gonna be like, whatare you talking about?YouTube videos?- Yeah, what do you do with your life?You can see what we do withour life by following us.- Follow Jeremiah @JeremiahBurton.You can follow me @ZachJobeand don't forget tofollow Donut @DonutMedia.And of course pleasesmash the like button,hit the subscribe buttonand we'll see you guys next week.- I have to fight for March and Jesse.- Oh, who would win that fight?Probably Jesse, no Nolan.No Nolan would.- Nolan's not very strong though.He's pretty weak.- You say Nolan?- Yeah.- He's got so much rage though, dude.(Jerry laughs)- He does rage.He's a rager.- We'rerolling on this, you wanna-(Jerry laughs)