Modifications to the HF 4 and 5 drawer service carts - what changes have you made?

[cheechi]

Ford Guy: Your photo makes me think that re-doing that center bracket to hold the extra hinges so all 4 small drawers can be put on top is a good idea. I haven't been inside one of these in a while, what would prevent that from being done?

Either of you, was it possible or feasible for you to mount the bottom box right below, so the gap would be at the bottom? The outlet idea is good but I can think of the bottom being a better place for 'bulk' items than between the two. Do you have the space of the top section without its lid working for or against you?

I like the idea and may wind up going this route instead of the red one when I finally get around to buying myself one again.

 

[Colin Len]

cheechi:

1) I too thought it would be much easier to have the drawers stacked smallest to largest but it did not look simple, more than I wanted to take on. There are a couple of issues:
- The bearing tracks are riveted in, so you'd need to drill them out and re-rivet
- The two top drawers are not as tall as the middle drawer, so it's not as simple as swapping the two small drawers from the lower assembly with the middle drawer from the top assembly. You'd end up with a gap on the top assemly and not enough room on the bottom assembly. This is of course assuming you were trying to use the original holes for the rivets.
- Since there are two drawers side by side they require something to mount their bearing tracks to in the center. You'd need to find a way to securely mount a second set of these inner tracks to the upper assembly right below the ones that are already there. I'm thinking this would 100% require it be welded in place, but maybe there's another way.

2) This would definitely be possible. I originally didn't consider this since each drawer assembly first rests on a lower "ledge" and then bolts to the vertical supports at the top. This led me to believe that you really needed both the lower and upper support structures to keep it sturdy. But after messing with it a bit during fabrication I think that lower support probably doesn't do much, and the lower support I rigged up for the lower assembly doesn't even come into contact fully with the drawer assembly. Some items to consider:
- You'd need to cut off the full front/rear metal parts off of the lower assembly (the panel that Ford Guy put his outlets in and which I trimmed/gusseted)
- If you cut these off you're weakening the structure, in particular the support system for the inner bearing tracks for the two small drawers.
- I think you could probably retain some of this front section (similar to what I did, but no gussets) and then rivet that lip to the lower edge of the top assembly. This should provide plenty of support.
- If you designed it right you could mount the lower drawer assembly and have the top assembly rest directly on it, this would negate the need for the lower support "ledges" for the upper assembly.

Hmm, I wonder if there are any other issues with that... now that I think about it, it's tempting to make those changes and give it a try. But really, it's a bit tricky getting the alignment of all of these pieces correct, so there's a lot of places to mess up. This is why when I did mine I tried to be conservative and re-use as much of the original design as possible in hopes of retaining as much of the original strength as possible.

 

[ford guy]

Ford Guy: Your photo makes me think that re-doing that center bracket to hold the extra hinges so all 4 small drawers can be put on top is a good idea. I haven't been inside one of these in a while, what would prevent that from being done?

Either of you, was it possible or feasible for you to mount the bottom box right below, so the gap would be at the bottom? The outlet idea is good but I can think of the bottom being a better place for 'bulk' items than between the two. Do you have the space of the top section without its lid working for or against you?

I like the idea and may wind up going this route instead of the red one when I finally get around to buying myself one again.

I originally did the layout, and planned on putting all of the small drawers on top. They wouldn't fit without a lot of mods, so I left it alone.

It's always good to keep the **** out of the drawer slides
Here is an "in progress" pic while I was cutting the squares for the outlets.



Bob

 

[cheechi]

lots of good info there, thanks both of you.

 

[Kev442]

Not what you guys are expecting, but today I put few 2 x 10's across the top of my 4 drawer. I placed a jack on there and used this in conjunction with my 4 post to install a 4 speed ******! It beat rolling around on the floor as I haven't bought a ****** jack for my lift.

 

[kapster]

Terry, I went with your pry bar mod. Thanks for posting it. Instead of using a hole saw, I borrowed a conduit knockout punch from work. Don't remember the conduit size but it made about a 1 3/4 hole. After getting the holes in, used my bosch multi-x with metal blade to connect the holes. Worked very well.



On the screwdriver side I only have one that's to tall. I made a plastic plug to drop it down.

It was so nice to close the lid tonight, gets kind of dusty and dirty around the shop. Should stay cleaner now
EDIT: one more thing, if you notice on my snap on strut in the picture I re drilled the lower mounting hole. To anyone doing this mod make sure the hole isn't to high or the end of the strut hits the lid preventing it from closing all the way. Speaking from experience...

 

[jjjrmx5]

To anyone doing this mod make sure the hole isn't to high or the end of the strut hits the lid preventing it from closing all the way. Speaking from experience...

What strut?

All I see is the Snap-On chrome hinge mod that you did that I came up with years ago in that last pic.

 

[DAVID_P71]

Anybody ever use mountian mag wheels? http://www.pricegrabber.com/outdoor...es-mtn3345mag/m-873477209/?force_view=desktop

Or know of any place that sells nice looking casters?

 

[turtl631]

I finally picked one up with the $165 coupon. Really nice to have some legit tool storage space finally- I'm a home tinkerer and previously everything lived in a variety of crappy plastic toolboxes, tupperware containers, etc. I'll post up some pics once I have everything organized.

 

[ilovevocs]

Anybody ever use mountian mag wheels? http://www.pricegrabber.com/outdoor...es-mtn3345mag/m-873477209/?force_view=desktop

Or know of any place that sells nice looking casters?

Those look interesting...

 

[Colin Len]

Not exactly a modification to my tool cart, but a modification to a leftover part. Since I combined two of the 4 drawer carts I had an extra handle left over. Part of my project made it impossible to continue using the magnetic paper towel holder I had been using, so I made new holder from the handle.

Simply cut off one of the mounting tabs



And bolted it to the bottom of a shelf unit I have above my workbench



I'm also re-purposing another leftover part to hold some pry bars, breaker bars, and torque wrenches. Should have some pics after this upcoming weekend.

 

[ford guy]

Colin,
Nice job on the paper towel rack. Since I have a spare handle, consider your idea stolen! What are you going to do with the spare lid? I've got mine propped up in the corner, waiting for your next idea...

Bob

 

[Colin Len]

Haha! I did save the lid, but don't have a use for it other than I think I'll test out my new paint gun with it. I've never sprayed paint from a gun before and wanted to give it a try so I bought a cheap HF HVLP gun. The lid seemed like a great practice piece. I was thinking though that it could make a neat fold down bench top. It wouldn't be sturdy, but it could be a really simple way to gain a little extra space if needed. Seems like it'd be pretty easy to mount on the wall and have it fold down horizontal.

As for the pry bar holder I decided to make... I used the leftover lower tray, cut a piece off of it, and drilled some holes in it. It already has the mounting holes to mount to the side of the cart.





I haphazardly threw that together in a few min while working on the rest of the tool box. I originally only intended it to be for my 3 prybars but cut more holes figuring I'd use them eventually for other stuff. Of course the next day I determined what those things were going to be and of course the holes were less than ideal in regard to size/spacing. Ended up doing some "quick and dirty" mods so I think it should work OK. But knowing what I was going to do in the beginning would have been helpful. Also helpful would have been having more than one size hole saw at my disposal.

 

[matt_m]

deleted

 

[Attackcammel]

I did a few things like mout an air tool rack on the side of the cart and I'm making two new smaller draws to replace the big one on the five draw cart this is the only pic I have right now but I'll put more up of the whole box and draws either later tonight or Tom

 

[jjjrmx5]

Re: Modifications to the HF 4 and 5 drawer service carts - what changes have you ...

Anyone put larger casters on one so it will roll on gravel or grass?

I don't see why it would be a problem.

They need to be "load rated" to the box and if you use swivels (at least 2 of course) you may have to shim the base or make brackets so the larger dia. tires will clear the bottom lip flanges.

Same mount size casters are ideal for bolt in's but , hey, it's a cost efficent tool cart.

If inside/outside I'd go pneumatic and souce your local Lowes/HD/Tractor Supply/Menards/Feed and Seed for what they have or can get.

It can get expensive quick, sadly.
BTDT

 

[ihateminimumwage]

Still been holding up great at the shop.

 

[Attackcammel]

Here's a pic of my whole cart and what I'm doing with the draws hope you guys like it.







I still need to do a little painting and get a pair of slides and some of that Crome trim and ill be good to go.

 

[jjjrmx5]

\

I still need to do a little painting and get a pair of slides and some of that Crome trim and ill be good to go.

I've got some plastic chrome trim off of my Snap On servcie cart that I replaced with new last week.
Still fine.
FREE and I'll ship on my dime if ya need it.
Should be 24 or 26" long. I'll cut or send whole length.

I just replaced it with new.

PM me and I;ll get a pic.

EDIT: Bummer
Pitched the trim with the last clean out.

I'll post a P/N for what I used.

 

[alpinewhite]

I still need to do a little painting and get a pair of slides and some of that Crome trim and ill be good to go.

Got pics of the new drawer guides? What did you use?

 

[motobilt]

I have thought about buying a couple of the red ones to mount in the race trailer. Seems like a decent box

Dan

 

[jjjrmx5]

I have thought about buying a couple of the red ones to mount in the race trailer. Seems like a decent box

Dan

@ $165 w coupon it more than a "decent" box.

HF slowly but surely is sliding in quality so let that be a warning.

I see it monthly there with any purchase.

You should see pricing and quality of sets of items I bought 2007 vs. now. Sad.

 

[Attackcammel]

I've got some plastic chrome trim off of my Snap On servcie cart that I replaced with new last week.
Still fine.
FREE and I'll ship on my dime if ya need it.
Should be 24 or 26" long. I'll cut or send whole length.

I just replaced it with new.

PM me and I;ll get a pic.

EDIT: Bummer
Pitched the trim with the last clean out.

I'll post a P/N for what I used.

Aww that would of been great thanks for the offer though

Got pics of the new drawer guides? What did you use?

I don't have guides yet I'm thinking about trying to call harborfreight and see if they'll send me out a replacement set and the trip piece I know they wouldn't sell the draws by themselfsbut ill ask about the guides

The only thing the draws won't have are the plastic locking button to keep the draws closed when the top is open anyone have any ideas on that?

 

[cole_CT]

Woohoo just finished reading this entire thread. I like one guys idea of adding that side cabinet. I have the HF 4-drawer and the only mod that I've done is mounted a bright LED light (previously a headlamp) to the inside of the lid. The one problem that I've found with the cart is that a good 70% of my screwdrivers won't fit in the stock screwdriver holes on the top tray because their handles are just a little too long for me to close the lid completely.
I saw someone in this thread who recessed the screwdriver holes to accommodate their pry bars. I don't think I'll do that for my screwdrivers since I can always just put them laying flat in one of the drawers.
Since I won't be using the screwdriver holes on the top tray, does anyone have any ideas to repurpose those two "screwdriver" areas in the top tray? I don't like wasting space haha...

 

[kool_BOY8323]

Woohoo just finished reading this entire thread. I like one guys idea of adding that side cabinet. I have the HF 4-drawer and the only mod that I've done is mounted a bright LED light (previously a headlamp) to the inside of the lid. The one problem that I've found with the cart is that a good 70% of my screwdrivers won't fit in the stock screwdriver holes on the top tray because their handles are just a little too long for me to close the lid completely.
I saw someone in this thread who recessed the screwdriver holes to accommodate their pry bars. I don't think I'll do that for my screwdrivers since I can always just put them laying flat in one of the drawers.
Since I won't be using the screwdriver holes on the top tray, does anyone have any ideas to repurpose those two "screwdriver" areas in the top tray? I don't like wasting space haha...

i put a flexible grabber tool, a hydrometer, tape measure, ladies foot prybars, stubby screwdrivers, or just about anything else that will fit in the hole there...

the pic is a few months old but you get the idea...as for my 2 longer prybars, i take them out and put them underneath at the end of the night. i havent had time or materials to do that mod yet..but i will eventually!

 

[cole_CT]

i put a flexible grabber tool, a hydrometer, tape measure, ladies foot prybars, stubby screwdrivers, or just about anything else that will fit in the hole there...

the pic is a few months old but you get the idea...as for my 2 longer prybars, i take them out and put them underneath at the end of the night. i havent had time or materials to do that mod yet..but i will eventually!

Are you still able to shut the lid? Thanks for the feedback

 

[kool_BOY8323]

Are you still able to shut the lid? Thanks for the feedback

yeah. just lose those 2 large prybars, move a couple things off the lid, and it closes and locks just fine. i had to mod the lid just a bit after i added the side cab, but nothing a few minutes with a cut off wheel couldnt fix.

 

[Colin Len]

Finally wrapped up my tool box modifications with the addition of my pry bar, torque wrench, breaker bar holder:



And since I added the second set of drawers I had to re-organize everything. It's not perfect but it's an improvement. Only bad thing is there's not a lot of room to expand from here as I will inevitably get more tools. Front view of finished product w/ magnetic items stuck to the lid.


Top tray for metric sockets, metric t-handle allen wrenches, screwdrivers, 2 hand files, air pressure gauge and tool, hammers, flashlights, safety glasses, scissors, tape measure & utility knife.



Top drawers: left for ratches and socket related accessories, right = "junk drawer"



2nd drawer: metric wrenches



3rd drawer: cordless drill, dremel & associated bits, wheels...etc (If I have to expand in the future this stuff would likely have to go elsewhere to make room for something else)



Space between drawer units holds mechanics gloves, notepads, and zip ties - basically another "junk" space



4th level drawers: pliers



5th drawer: SAE wrenches, SAE sockets, c-clamps, and some specialty tools like valve adjustment tool, ball joint separator, crank pulley holder, spanner wrenches, and clutch disk alignment tool.



6th drawer: Another hodge podge with angle grinder, 3" air cutoff tool, hacksaw, carpenter's square, OBD2 scanner, heat gun, timing light, and the parts for my homemade camber gauge.



It's nice to have this all done so I can hopefully start working on my car again. It's been months now of taking a day here and there when I have the time to get the garage re-organized and ready for my engine build/swap.

 

[cheechi]

Is that a huge bag of Dremel sanding drums? You sir are a gangster.

 

[Colin Len]

Haha, yeah, but actually it's TWO bags! My dad is a jeweler so when I was younger I got a lot of experience with the "flex shaft" tools he used. I was totally spoiled having access to those. Once I was out on my own and got my own Dremel I mentioned to him how expensive all the accessories were and he ordered me a bunch of stuff from a jewelry supply place (stuff I was familiar working with in his shop) and shipped them to me as a gift. I had to get some different sized collets so I could use some of the different shank sizes but now I have a nice assortment of drums, grinding wheels, and a couple carbide burs.

 

[cheechi]

That is an awesome story and I think I may have to quote you.

 

[Colin Len]

Haha!!

 

[Duker]

That is an awesome story and I think I may have to quote you.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Colin Len View Post
when I was younger I got a lot of experience with the "flex shaft"

LOL - That is going to make me re-read my posts!!
Well Played sir... well played....

 

[pauls_workshop]

Has anyone ever thought about using the 4 drawer cart as a kitchen rolling butcher block/cabinet? Thinking if you wrapped it all around in wood, then put a nice butcher block or similar top on it, veener the drawer fronts in wood also, some cabinet little doors for the open bottom part, might be nice for low cost. Thinking about this as a project. - Paul

 

[jakemac]

Tag - your it. Let us know how it goes ...... and post pictures.

 

[ihateminimumwage]

Has anyone ever thought about using the 4 drawer cart as a kitchen rolling butcher block/cabinet? Thinking if you wrapped it all around in wood, then put a nice butcher block or similar top on it, veener the drawer fronts in wood also, some cabinet little doors for the open bottom part, might be nice for low cost. Thinking about this as a project. - Paul

That does sound like it would work well. If you move forward with it, keep us updated.

 

[03protege]

You should see pricing and quality of sets of items I bought 2007 vs. now. Sad.

With the exception of their carts and tool boxes can their quality in general really get much worse?


I have noticed the price creep though. Coupons are not nearly as "potent" as they use to be.

I like them though because they are actually a tool store, probably the only one around here unless you count sears tool department but Sears doesn't carry nearly the selection of HF.

 

[Breen11]

I got the 5 drawer rolling cart a week ago & love it.

 

[ckblum]

I love mine but it's now completely jam packed!
I just sold my little craftsman 6 drawer cabinet so all that junk went into the cart. I was debating between buying the "44" roller tool cabinet or just doing the side box mod I've seen people do. I need to reclaim some space in my cart badly.

 

[TerryH]

I have thought about buying a couple of the red ones to mount in the race trailer. Seems like a decent box

Dan

I bought mine specifically for my race trailer. I transfer the tools I need at the track from my SO boxes into the cart and roll it in the trailer. Works perfect. Can't beat it especially for the money.