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

twinturbogarage · Feb 19, 2015

jakemac said:
A light coat of SuperLube.
Available at hardware stores, box stores, HF, and auto stores.

LOL I actually bought a tube from HF to rebuild a ratchet, never even got around to opening the tube.

Tucker99 · Feb 19, 2015

jakemac said:
There's enough flex in the lid that the epoxy would crack and crumble off in sections. That's a two-part epoxy that cures to a hard surface. You would need something for the top of the lid that can handle flex and shock from dropping things on it.

How about plastic dip??

jakemac · Feb 19, 2015

It should work, but I'm not sure what the curing time on a thick layer would be.

cheechi · Feb 19, 2015

jakemac said:
It should work, but I'm not sure what the curing time on a thick layer would be.

overnight would be a good estimate.

JMToolCo · Feb 19, 2015

SlowAl said:
The hinges are backordered.

i have the snap on hinges for my 4 drawer but didn't use and would sell

twinturbogarage · Feb 19, 2015

Can anyone explain how to remove the drawers to get to the slides? I can't figure it out.

metalgod3082 · Feb 20, 2015

twinturbogarage said:
Can anyone explain how to remove the drawers to get to the slides? I can't figure it out.

Pull the drawers all the way out and there are little levers inside the track. One side you pull up and the other you push down and then pull the drawer the rest of the way out.

SASORacing · Feb 20, 2015

I drilled out the rivets for the locks on the 5 drawer red cart. Those lock were so annoying, if i want to lock it i shut the top lid real quick.

Tucker99 · Feb 20, 2015

Snap On Hinges vs Strut Lift
Gents, Has anyone thought of going to a strut mfgr with our dilemma and request a replacement strut to raise the lid 90 deg?? There are ways of forwarding a pic to them with dimensions and they can probably figure our right away the correct strut and mounting procedure. I'm not smart enough to take a pic and "dimension" it but I see it all the time.

Tucker99 · Feb 20, 2015

cheechi said:
overnight would be a good estimate.

More like 72-hrs. They want it on heavy so it can peel off when needed. There's a web site about guys that paint their cars with this stuff. Get tied of it and peel it off and paint it another color. Amazing stuff!

cheechi · Feb 20, 2015

Yes. My Sentra hood was pretty much dry in a few hours. Granted it's a large surface area, a thin coat (comparatively) and a summer night, but by the next morning it was dry and ready to go.

That's why I said estimate.

Tucker99 · Feb 20, 2015

Do the 5-drawer carts come with the 2" wide rubber casters or the 1-3/4" wide poly casters?

twinturbogarage · Feb 20, 2015

metalgod3082 said:
Pull the drawers all the way out and there are little levers inside the track. One side you pull up and the other you push down and then pull the drawer the rest of the way out.

Sounds good awesome thanks.

twinturbogarage · Feb 20, 2015

Tucker99 said:
Do the 5-drawer carts come with the 2" wide rubber casters or the 1-3/4" wide poly casters?

I believe mine are 2 inch wide caseters

twinturbogarage · Feb 21, 2015

twinturbogarage said:
I believe mine are 2 inch wide caseters

Just measured mine and the outside roll part is 1.5 in

Buckgnarly · Feb 22, 2015

Finally got time to post some pics....I had the Lowes tool cart, kept one side shelf before selling plus scored a Snap On side shelf for 20 bucks at the local used tool place. I had to drill holes to mount and relocate the handle to the front and can holder to the bottom, but I LOVE having the folding shelf space with the cart....also added HF magnetic strips for my wrenches.

twinturbogarage · Feb 22, 2015

Very cool. Any plans to lube the drawer slides? I used Super Lube last night and the drawers are practically butter. I also bought mine last week and there was no grease, only a very minute coat of thin oil on the bearings.

Buckgnarly · Feb 22, 2015

twinturbogarage said:
Very cool. Any plans to lube the drawer slides? I used Super Lube last night and the drawers are practically butter. I also bought mine last week and there was no grease, only a very minute coat of thin oil on the bearings.

Hmm...never even thought about it or checked them. Cannot say they felt bad, but now I'll have to try!

twinturbogarage · Feb 22, 2015

Haha thats what I said when I saw someone mention it!

PelicanPines · Feb 22, 2015

twinturbogarage said:
Very cool. Any plans to lube the drawer slides? I used Super Lube last night and the drawers are practically butter. I also bought mine last week and there was no grease, only a very minute coat of thin oil on the bearings.

Was one of the first things I did... lubed all slides and took the casters apart to fully clean and lube all parts. Noticed and posted in this thread... some of the as shipped lube from hf dried up. Made a huge difference.

deafcon · Feb 22, 2015

Picked up my five drawer and put it together this weekend. I put some magnet strips on the lid, but that's my only mod so far. I've got big plans, but I'm about to go on the road, so it's going to get used as is for now.

twinturbogarage · Feb 22, 2015

Bump. Does that mean like to restart the thread or something?

twinturbogarage · Feb 22, 2015

deafcon said:
Picked up my five drawer and put it together this weekend. I put some magnet strips on the lid, but that's my only mod so far. I've got big plans, but I'm about to go on the road, so it's going to get used as is for now.

Post pics if you can would love to see it

djdaredevil · Feb 22, 2015

deafcon said:
That's encouraging and disheartening at the same time. Were the 8in a direct bolt on?

Sorry for the late reply but yes the 8in ones at HF are a direct bolt on. This was
on the 5 drawer they would not bolt on to the 4 drawer though you would
have to modify the cart to make that work.

deafcon · Feb 22, 2015

twinturbogarage said:
Post pics if you can would love to see it

As soon as I do something to it different from all the great mods that have already been posted, pics will definitely be posted.

djdaredevil said:
Sorry for the late reply but yes the 8in ones at HF are a direct bolt on. This was
on the 5 drawer they would not bolt on to the 4 drawer though you would
have to modify the cart to make that work.

Thanks for the reply. After buying the cart I had pretty much confirmed it, but it's good to know I was right. Hopefully I'll have better luck with the pneumatic casters than you did.

djdaredevil · Feb 22, 2015

deafcon said:
As soon as I do something to it different from all the great mods that have already been posted, pics will definitely be posted.

Thanks for the reply. After buying the cart I had pretty much confirmed it, but it's good to know I was right. Hopefully I'll have better luck with the pneumatic casters than you did.

You might, maybe I just wasn't using enough slime in the tubes idk.

Tucker99 · Feb 23, 2015

Picked mine up Saturday. Forgot the item number but I have 4-swivel casters and they are big. Grease fittings in the swivel as well as the axle. Drawers were tight and I greased up the slides and the grabbers. The drawer latches are screwed on and I removed them and drilled out and removed the locking mechanism. Like everybody says badge comes right off with heat gun and plastic putty knife. HF was out of stock on the side shelf so I'm ordering that on line. Plan on putting a sheet of plywood in the top to begin screwing down socket rails.

MikeF2316 · Feb 23, 2015

twinturbogarage said:
Bump. Does that mean like to restart the thread or something?

Generally, folks have the forum threads organized so the threads with the newest post is on top. So when there's no posts for a couple of days, someone may just post a "bump" to bring the thread back to the top.

twinturbogarage · Feb 23, 2015

MikeF2316 said:
Generally, folks have the forum threads organized so the threads with the newest post is on top. So when there's no posts for a couple of days, someone may just post a "bump" to bring the thread back to the top.

Oh okay thanks

metalgod3082 · Feb 23, 2015

Got my 5 drawer few days ago. Mods I've done are the rubber grommets in the screwdriver holes, swapped out the 2 fixed casters with 5" swivels from HF (blue color), ordered snapon hinges, replaced drawer liners with 3mm yoga mats, disabled the locking mechanism on the back of all the drawers so they can open while the lid is closed.

Also used the HF free coupon for the 18" magnets. Plan on picking a few more of those up. Any tips or tricks on attaching those magnets to the lid? I've heard 3M trim tape only lasts so long before it gives out so thinking of attaching with nuts and bolts. Also what is the best way to drill a hole into the lid without bending the lid or causing the paint to chip? Wanna make a nice clean cut hole.

Buckgnarly · Feb 23, 2015

metalgod3082 said:
Got my 5 drawer few days ago. Mods I've done are the rubber grommets in the screwdriver holes, swapped out the 2 fixed casters with 5" swivels from HF (blue color), ordered snapon hinges, replaced drawer liners with 3mm yoga mats, disabled the locking mechanism on the back of all the drawers so they can open while the lid is closed.

Also used the HF free coupon for the 18" magnets. Plan on picking a few more of those up. Any tips or tricks on attaching those magnets to the lid? I've heard 3M trim tape only lasts so long before it gives out so thinking of attaching with nuts and bolts. Also what is the best way to drill a hole into the lid without bending the lid or causing the paint to chip? Wanna make a nice clean cut hole.

I used a step drill bit with painter tape to prevent chipping. Used 1/4 bolts, way overkill but it fit the holes in the HF magnetic strips.

What size rubber grommets did it take? That's a great idea.

metalgod3082 · Feb 23, 2015

I got the idea from an earlier post in this thread. HF sells packages of rubber grommets for like 4.99. It had all the sizes I needed for each hole. The largest size was kinda tough to get in but if you keep working at it they will eventually go in. I was short a few of the largest and 2nd largest sizes tho so had to buy 2 sets of the packages. Now I have like 100 leftover grommets.

MadMike842 · Feb 23, 2015

Guys with the grommets. Do the screwdrivers sit well or do they fall over? Without them mine tip occasionally but I'm curious if it's better or worse.

twinturbogarage · Feb 23, 2015

MadMike842 said:
Guys with the grommets. Do the screwdrivers sit well or do they fall over? Without them mine tip occasionally but I'm curious if it's better or worse.

I was just about to say, I absolutely hate having the grommets in. All the screwdrivers either fall over or they don't stand up straight and move like crazy. Without the grommets they are fine, but sometimes the handles aren't wide enough and fall through the holes on some.

JMToolCo · Feb 23, 2015

twinturbogarage said:
I was just about to say, I absolutely hate having the grommets in. All the screwdrivers either fall over or they don't stand up straight and move like crazy. Without the grommets they are fine, but sometimes the handles aren't wide enough and fall through the holes on some.

^ this

PelicanPines · Feb 23, 2015

twinturbogarage said:
I was just about to say, I absolutely hate having the grommets in. All the screwdrivers either fall over or they don't stand up straight and move like crazy. Without the grommets they are fine, but sometimes the handles aren't wide enough and fall through the holes on some.

Guess it depends on your screwdrivers... I have vintage craftsman and fit much better with the grommets. My SK screwdrivers (laser tip) do what you describe.... kinda fit better without.... but they live in a drawer in one of my towers... when I got the SKs they came with a holder with very small holes...

twinturbogarage · Feb 23, 2015

How do you post pics?

bmxdad · Feb 23, 2015

twinturbogarage said:
How do you post pics?

Click on "Go Advanced", slide down and click on "manage attachments", click on one of the white rows in the pop-up that says "no file selected", find an image to upload, click "upload" ... now close the pop-up and your done.

Easy squeezee ...

kool_BOY8323 · Feb 23, 2015

twinturbogarage · Feb 23, 2015

bmxdad said:
Click on "Go Advanced", slide down and click on "manage attachments", click on one of the white rows in the pop-up that says "no file selected", find an image to upload, click "upload" ... now close the pop-up and your done.

Easy squeezee ...

Thanks I was thinking about posting pictures of mine when a few mods were done. I really don't have much but I'll share anyway sometime soon.

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

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