Made an interesting discovery about HF 44" cabinets

[k1rodeoboater]

My dad purchased me a 44" roller cabinet today from Harbor Freight as an early birthday present. As most know there are pretty rave reviews about it on here, and I haven't seen this mentioned in any of those threads.

In order to get the cabinet home we had to lay it on its side, remove the casters, and slid it into the back of my car. When we removed the casters we had figured that they were held in place by a captive/welded nut on the backside. Turns out that they're not. Instead there are 2 layers of sheet metal that they threaded rather than weld a nut onto the backside. I discovered this when we tried to put the casters back on and the threading stripped out of one of them.

Perhaps this isn't much of an issue for those who have been using these cabinets for years (though I bet most don't move them much if at all) but it's worth noting if you intend to roll this sucker around a lot. You'd never know unless you pulled the casters off. I'm going to the hardware store tomorrow to get 16 nuts and washers to put them on properly.

 

[sloppy]

I dont think this is real uncommon..

I have put the casters on quite a few box's that were the same way..

I actually moved my 44" the same way this weekend and had no issue with any stripping.. those cross brace's that they screw into are pretty thick.

 

[k1rodeoboater]

I dont think this is real uncommon..

I have put the casters on quite a few box's that were the same way..

I actually moved my 44" the same way this weekend and had no issue with any stripping.. those cross brace's that they screw into are pretty thick.

I just find it odd that it's not been mentioned before. I can't say I'm all that surprised since it's not an expensive box, even still I think it's a great value at it's price point. Just kind of odd that they threaded a hole in 2 pieces of sheet steel rather than weld a nut to the backside during assembly.

I had a bit of an adrenaline dump when I tightened down the bolt and all of a sudden felt it spin free. Felt the backside and took a look and knew right away what was up. Maybe I over tightened them or the holes were slightly larger than the should have been, but I know I didn't cross thread them.

 

[mototexas]

Hmmm... Interesting

 

[JakeKohl]

Frankly, the loads on the screws are pretty low since the cabinet sits on the casters. The screws pretty much just keep the casters in place. They probably get 10 times more load on the threads from tightening them than they ever see while in use.

 

[srmofo]

Frankly, the loads on the screws are pretty low since the cabinet sits on the casters. The screws pretty much just keep the casters in place. They probably get 10 times more load on the threads from tightening them than they ever see while in use.

Until you push it. You'd be surprised that amount of load they see when hitting a small crack or bit of **** on the floor. Like mentioned earlier though, they probably dont get rolled around alot

 

[n8n]

Same thing for even the "better" Craftsman cabinets. In fact they just use sheetmetal screws. I did drill them out and use 1/4"-20 machine screws and nuts on mine, I like sturdy.

 

[PelicanPines]

Frankly I'm one of those OCD overkill fabricator DIY'er. Just about every cabinet I have "refinished/rehab'd" has gotten a fab'd angle iron perpendicular support across the two wheels on each side with large bolts/nuts and larger swival casters all around.

Was rather happy when I unpacked my HF red 5 drawer cart this past weekend to find it had 4 swivals (2 locking). The casters even had grease fittings. I was happy because both the description and the enclosed manual clearly stated the cart had 2 fixed & 2 locking swivals.

That said, I will let anybody know... every HF box I have unpacked desperately needed lubrication of all drawers and casters. You will have to take the axel out to properly lub the wheel because the dust covers need to be popped off to get to the bearings.

It's amazing how much better everything slides with a little lube.

 

[sparky7]

i rolled mine aroudn for 2 years doing aircraft maintenance and never had any issues. Then i picked up a matco 55

 

[feFIFO]

Well now, I'm interested in how small a car you fit the cabinet into. Seem to recall someone on the Mister Moose thread mentioning he'd fit it in a Subaru Forester, which I wouldn't have thought possible. What'd you use?

 

[Arps]

It's amazing how much better everything slides with a little lube.

aint that the truth...what did you use? anything special?

 

[csp]

Another interesting item about them. They really aren't 44", they are 42". The handle doesn't count.

 

[PelicanPines]

Well now, I'm interested in how small a car you fit the cabinet into. Seem to recall someone on the Mister Moose thread mentioning he'd fit it in a Subaru Forester, which I wouldn't have thought possible. What'd you use?

Brought my HF red 5 drawer cart home in a Subaru Outback. That was FAR FROM cleaned out for the adventure. Fit like a charm.

Pretty sure I could have fit a 44 in there if I planned ahead and removed... the two large tool bags, 2 folding chairs, battery charger/compressor, audit bag (wife's) and two blankets. Considering the cart fit in there with all that ****.

By the way, the boxed cart went in upright with 1 inch clearance on top.

 

[k1rodeoboater]

feFIFO I had it in the back of a 2004 toyota matrix (same size as a corolla only a hatchback). I had about 10" to spare lengthwise with the rear door closed and to the back of the front seats which were still reclined normally. Width wise the narrowest part of the door opening was about 2" wider. The guy at HF didn't think it was going to fit but we knew it would fit based on the measurements I took the day before.

A forester would swallow this box fairly easily, my wife's 2014 has more than enough room. The only issue is the floor isn't perfectly flat like in my car. That would make getting it in harder. To get it in my car I laid it on it's back on a pallet and rotated it 90 degrees. I asked them to pick it up with the fork lift and I slid it right in. I used the cardboard carton inside my car to protect the seat backs and make it easier to slide in and out. Getting it out at home I have a modular wood work table for my motorcycle that is made up of 3 boxes that are 36"x30"x11" so I stacked two boxes and put a moving blanket on them. Slid the box out halfway out of the car and my dad and I picked it up to move it the rest of the way out. The boxes stacked are 4" shorter than the cargo area of my car. It's more awkward than heavy, but it wasn't to bad.

 

[mtesh73]

Frankly I'm one of those OCD overkill fabricator DIY'er. Just about every cabinet I have "refinished/rehab'd" has gotten a fab'd angle iron perpendicular support across the two wheels on each side with large bolts/nuts and larger swival casters all around.

That said, I will let anybody know... every HF box I have unpacked desperately needed lubrication of all drawers and casters. You will have to take the axel out to properly lub the wheel because the dust covers need to be popped off to get to the bearings.

It's amazing how much better everything slides with a little lube.

what lube are you using for the drawer slides?

 

[mtesh73]

Well now, I'm interested in how small a car you fit the cabinet into. Seem to recall someone on the Mister Moose thread mentioning he'd fit it in a Subaru Forester, which I wouldn't have thought possible. What'd you use?

VW passat wagon. casters removed. fit like a glove. twice. LOL.

 

[feFIFO]

Much appreciated, rodeoboater. Looks like I'll be bringing home a shiny new HF box this weekend, then.

 

[PelicanPines]

what lube are you using for the drawer slides?

Phil Wood green if the slides are clean. If it's a rehab, I use WD40 first... work them... then Phil Wood green.

I guess i should google it, but i also have spray lithium grease... but have not used it.

Update: I take the drawers out to lube them. IMHO... its the only way to get the back slide.

 

[k1rodeoboater]

Much appreciated, rodeoboater. Looks like I'll be bringing home a shiny new HF box this weekend, then.

No problem. You got the coupon to get one for $359? Top chests are also on sale with a coupon for $279. I'm thinking about getting one even though I dont have that many tools.

 

[cagullett1]

No problem. You got the coupon to get one for $359? Top chests are also on sale with a coupon for $279. I'm thinking about getting one even though I dont have that many tools.

Please post $359 coupon. I want to pick this up next week.

 

[feFIFO]

No problem. You got the coupon to get one for $359? Top chests are also on sale with a coupon for $279. I'm thinking about getting one even though I dont have that many tools.

Nope. Saw you'd posted one in the HF coupon thread, but I think that one expired May 4. If you've got a line on a current one, it's much appreciated.

 

[sloppy]

Well now, I'm interested in how small a car you fit the cabinet into. Seem to recall someone on the Mister Moose thread mentioning he'd fit it in a Subaru Forester, which I wouldn't have thought possible. What'd you use?

Kia soul.. had to take casters off but fit right in..

 

[Hwyflyer]

No problem. You got the coupon to get one for $359? Top chests are also on sale with a coupon for $279. I'm thinking about getting one even though I dont have that many tools.

Bought two of them and now I am thinking that for the price maybe one more might be just right..

Fred

 

[sberry]

They sold a zillion of those boxes, you hardly hear of any for sale. People keep them a long time.