Choosing yours
More than any additional tool, a ratchet can last you a lifetime. Quality ratchets could be serviced inexpensively and so should never wear out. Sockets will be interchangeable because they are all standard. Ratchets Wheel Choose the greatest ratchet you can afford, even if you get inexpensive sockets to get started on with.
Socket release
Sockets happen to be 
held onto the ratchet by using a little spring-loaded ball privately of the square drive. After applying a whole lot of power, I’ve frequently found sockets get trapped on the travel and the only way to have them off is normally to hammer the ratchet on the floor or even hold it in a vice. Top quality ratchets include a button on the trunk which easily pushes off the socket when you are prepared to release it.
1/4 inch – Used for smaller sockets and precision work. Useful for dismantling individual pieces on the bench.
3/8 inch – The center sized, and in my opinion, most readily useful size for standard use on a car. A 3/8″ travel can drive sockets of most sizes. It really is big enough to apply quite a lot of force, but not too big to match into tight spaces
1/2 in . – 1/2″ sockets are generally applied for nuts and bolts from around 10mm and up. A 1/2″ travel socket can apply enough drive to undo all nuts on an automobile.
Additionally, there are 3/4″ and 1″ ratchets but these are being used on trucks, tanks and industrial machinery.
Tooth count
Inside a ratchet there exists a toothed wheel which allows it freely rotate as you tighten the nut. Each just click you hear is a tooth moving the ratchet. The more tooth there are, the a lesser amount of movement is needed on the returning stroke. A ratchet with 75 teeth will continue to work considerably faster when compared to a 32-tooth ratchet. Making excessive tooth-counts requires quality engineering and production, so as a general guide the better quality tools will have a higher tooth count.
Drive sizes
socket-drive-sizes
All ratchets accept sockets using a square drive and mostly there are 3 sizes of drive. Everywhere in the environment these sizes receive in inches – even when the sockets are metric.