I've been using my ratchets as a lubrication test bed over the years. I'll go ahead and change to a different lube just to see what the sound difference is like. The test subject is a Snap-on FLF936. Every time I would grease up the ratchet, the ratchet would be quiet for about 30 minutes and then gradually get louder and louder. Today, I pulled the cover plate off the ratchet to take a peek and see what's going on. There was grease still applied to all sections of the ratchet interior, but the gear and the surrounding interior wall was wiped clean; that explains the noise. So at that point, I extracted all the grease from the ratchet's interior and switched over to an assembly lube called "Sealed Power" by Federal Mogul.
This is not the first time I've tried assembly lube; I've tried it several times before. The assembly lube makes an excellent lube by making the ratchet run quiet, but over time, the lube leaks out. Now even though it leaks out, it still leaves behind a residual film on the interior wall as well as the gear. So what that means is that over time, the ratchet will gradually get louder, but never quite as loud as it does when it has grease in it. So what I've concluded is that the assembly lube seems to be a good compromise; it's messier to use because it seeps out over time, but it seems to be superior to grease in terms of lubrication for said application.
This is not the first time I've tried assembly lube; I've tried it several times before. The assembly lube makes an excellent lube by making the ratchet run quiet, but over time, the lube leaks out. Now even though it leaks out, it still leaves behind a residual film on the interior wall as well as the gear. So what that means is that over time, the ratchet will gradually get louder, but never quite as loud as it does when it has grease in it. So what I've concluded is that the assembly lube seems to be a good compromise; it's messier to use because it seeps out over time, but it seems to be superior to grease in terms of lubrication for said application.