Choosing yours
More than any various other tool, a ratchet can last you an eternity. Quality ratchets can be serviced inexpensively therefore should never wear out. Sockets are interchangeable because they are all standard. Choose the finest ratchet you can afford, even if you buy inexpensive sockets to start out with.

Socket release
Sockets happen to be held onto the ratchet using a bit of spring-loaded ball privately of the square travel. After applying a lot of force, I’ve generally found sockets get stuck on the drive and the only way to get them off can be to hammer the ratchet on to the floor or even grasp it in a vice. Good quality ratchets include a button on the trunk which smoothly Ratchets Wheel pushes off the socket while you are ready to release it.

1/4 inch – Used for smaller sockets and precision work. Useful for dismantling individual parts on the bench.
3/8 inch – The center sized, and for me, most useful size for general use on an automobile. A 3/8″ drive can drive sockets of most sizes. It is big enough to use a great deal of force, but certainly not too big to match into tight spaces
1/2 inches – 1/2″ sockets are usually employed for nuts and bolts from around 10mm or more. A 1/2″ drive socket can apply enough drive to undo all nuts on an automobile.
There are also 3/4″ and 1″ ratchets but these are being used on trucks, tanks and professional machinery.
Tooth count
Inside a ratchet you will find a toothed wheel which lets it freely rotate as you tighten the nut. Each just click you hear is definitely a tooth passing the ratchet. The more pearly whites there are, the a lesser amount of movement is needed on the gain stroke. A ratchet with 75 teeth will continue to work considerably faster than a 32-tooth ratchet. Making large tooth-counts requires top quality engineering and making, so as an over-all guide the better top quality tools will have a higher tooth count.

Drive sizes
socket-drive-sizes
All ratchets accept sockets using a square travel and mostly there are 3 sizes of drive. All around the world these sizes receive in inches – even when the sockets happen to be metric.