As we’ve been doing some car audio installation work around the Toolmonger shop this week, we’ve taken a sudden interest in any kind of tool that’ll help us get at difficult-to-reach fasteners. (You haven’t truly lived until you’ve tried to reach a screw that’s 6″ inside the dash with a 1-1/2″ clearance. Damn!)
Besides picking up a Skewdriver (which we mentioned a while back and saw some great comments on — watch for a hands-on soon), we’re also thinking about grabbing Spec Tools’ “dual action ratchet.” Think of it as a GearWrench-style pass-thru ratchet that also rotates when you squeeze the handles.
Seriously, if you’re planning on doing any serious work inside your vehicle, you’re going to need a full compliment of 0-degree-swing-angle tools like the Skewdriver and this. Any job behind the dash starts with a stream of absurdly-placed and ludicrously-tight fasteners.
The dual action ratchet comes with fifteen differently-sized sockets (scattered across the range of metric and SAE sizes), and you can always turn the ratchet normally if there’s room.
Froogle finds one for $41, but most retailers sell it for $50. There is a knockoff on eBay for $6 if you want to play around a bit before you commit. Amazon has ’em for $51. I think I’ll order mine now.
Dual Action Ratchet (SQL-200M) [Spec Tools]
Street Pricing [Froogle]
Buy It Now from Amazon
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7 Responses to Finds: The “Dual Action” Ratchet from Spec Tools
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Have people that have hands on experience with this or similar tools found them to generate enough torque?
I have a similar set that I bought for a specific pair of bolts on a Fiat 124 in the early 1970’s. It has been used rarely since then, but occasionally, it’s the only tool that will get into a really tight spot where there’s no room to swing a ratchet. Most recent use was on the carburetor mounting bolts on a wood chipper. I was able able to apply enough torque that the gasket compressed and I got a good seal. How much torque? Apparently enough.
i don’t know… i have one of these and while i have not measured the torque, i find it pretty useless for un-fastening. nut just won’t budge. but i work in theatre, not cars, so perhaps it’s just a matter of it being a specialty tool.
I’m with Sam on this one… I had one but gave it away.
I can think of many times that I didnt’ have enough room to swing a ratchet and this would have REALLY sped up the process of tightening a bolt/nut.
It doesn’t need to produce a lot of torque, as it’s main purpose would be to speed up the tightening/loosening process, one can crack it loose or snug it up with a wrench for the tough parts.
I’d pick this up if it were less than $50.. that is too much money and I’d probably just end up doing it the slow way (wrench). That is just by budget talking though.
Tim
Hi , yes a great tool not intended to either “crack” a tight fastener or to apply torque but to run the thread up quickly.Works great ,not one you use daily but jolly good when needed !!!
Actually, you can swing the wrench to loosen tight fasteners like any other box ratchet. THEN squeeze the handles to keep it going