PistolWhip
Well-known member
If your not familiar with how I got this tool box set, you can check this link. In summery I won the Grand Prize in a contest that JSK (Jeff from Bend-Pak / Ranger) put on here at the Garage Journal and long story short. My trophy being a Ranger Products RTB-13DC thirteen drawer Super-Wide Tool Cabinet on casters and a RTB-8DT eight drawer Super-Wide Open Top tool chest.
I got a call today that I wasn't expecting until at least next week since Ranger is in Cali and I'm in NJ. Since Ranger not only gave me the tool chest for free, but also covered the ride from the left coast to the ole' armpit here, I certainly didn't expect it to arrive this quick, but man was I excited.
Once off the truck I immediately noticed the robust packaging. The lower was on a wooden pallet with double thick walls of quad ply cardboard all the way around it. Inside, the corners and edgers were all covered with Styrofoam and plastic wrap. The top cabinet was the same way, minus the wooden pallet.
The freight company had obviously dropped the top chest at some point because the packaging was damaged on one edge, quite extensively, but there was no damage at all to the chest. I quickly stripped the packaging down to reveal my new Treasure Chest. Unfortunately my camera battery was dead when I went to take some shots of it all packed up, so I threw it on the charger while I unpacked the box. The clouds were rolling in with the quickness and since my car doesn't understand rain and gets very nervous when left out in it, I had to act quickly.
I shuffled some stuff around and quickly made room for my new cabinet set and here it is sittin pretty in it's new home (hopefully temporary home).
For the last five years I've been working in my little 1 car attached garage so over the years I've been getting very good at making the best of the available space I have. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to squeeze this beast in there and still be able to fit my car in and out without any possibility of damage or things falling on my baby. This is pretty much what I was working with.
Here's a shot of it in use before I picked up the side box and black box.
Once I got things moved around and made use of some open wall space and some extra 2x4's I had laying around, I had enough space to fit my new Ranger safely against the outside wall. I even had room to finally hang my side box (which had been used basically as a work bench / stand alone box prior to this). As good as I am with cars and metal fab work, I have about as much skill with wood and wood work, as a ****** at a Betty Crocker cook off so don't flame me too bad on my busted looking tool box table in the distance....
Ironically enough, my dad was a Union cabinet maker for 35+ years and his son can't barely hammer a nail without taking off his finger tip, he must be so proud....
But enough about me, back on topic...
Amazingly, getting that black box up off the ground cleared me up a lot of space on the inside wall of the garage, which allowed me to pull the car all the way over there without obstruction. That way I have more room on the outside wall for the new Ranger
Here's my Craftsman side box safely hanging from the side of my new Ranger roller. The fit is perfect and the color is really kind of close too (not that I really care, but my wife pointed it out...), not too shabby
My initial observations with the Ranger set is the obvious quality of the finish and powder coating. I don't have a whole lot of experience with cabinets and boxes outside Craftsman and cheaper brands, but my brother has a huge Classic Series SnapOn set and I can honestly say that the quality of the finish is right up there with his Cranberry Limited Edition super duper house payment tool bus.
The Ranger finish clearly blows the finish away on my Craftsman boxes. You can tell that the Ranger powder coating is thicker and seems to have a tougher "shell type" feeling. I have never been thrilled with the quality of the powder coating on my Craftsman roller (the red one on the back wall that can you see in some of the above pics) and the Ranger makes me even more disappointed in it...
The next thing I noticed, which I didn't know was included, was the fact that Ranger included a full set of pre-cut drawer liners with both boxes
This seems like a minor detail when your talking about big, expensive boxes, but seriously if you've ever had to buy and fit drawer liners you know that it can be an expensive and annoying venture. The drawer liners that Ranger included with the boxes are very nice quality and are pretty thick. They kind of feel like a neoprene texture, like a thin wet suit.
Once I got it all situated in the garage, I realized that it was starting to drizzle and I had to get moving before the heavy stuff rolled in and my car got wet. I wiped the box down with a microfiber and some Optimum Car Wax and then snapped some final set up shots.
Tight squeeze with the car in there, but it'll have to do until I can get the rest of the funds I need to start my garage build. Hopefully soon
Here are some random shots of the bearing / drawer sliders. I'll be posting up a full review in the Tool section ASAP, so keep an eye out for that. So far, my initial impression of this set is that it's an amazing value at the price that Ranger sells them for.
Some of the other freebies that Ranger includes with this kit. Drawer labels, slide in handle labels with clear plastic covers, cut to fit each drawer handle. Pretty cool
I'd like to once again thank Jeff and Ranger for the opportunity to take part in this contest. I'd also like to thank Garage Journal for providing an AWESOME site to give us a place to hang out, discuss our passions, learn about new ways to generate divorce paperwork and win some cool stuff.
I got a call today that I wasn't expecting until at least next week since Ranger is in Cali and I'm in NJ. Since Ranger not only gave me the tool chest for free, but also covered the ride from the left coast to the ole' armpit here, I certainly didn't expect it to arrive this quick, but man was I excited.
Once off the truck I immediately noticed the robust packaging. The lower was on a wooden pallet with double thick walls of quad ply cardboard all the way around it. Inside, the corners and edgers were all covered with Styrofoam and plastic wrap. The top cabinet was the same way, minus the wooden pallet.
The freight company had obviously dropped the top chest at some point because the packaging was damaged on one edge, quite extensively, but there was no damage at all to the chest. I quickly stripped the packaging down to reveal my new Treasure Chest. Unfortunately my camera battery was dead when I went to take some shots of it all packed up, so I threw it on the charger while I unpacked the box. The clouds were rolling in with the quickness and since my car doesn't understand rain and gets very nervous when left out in it, I had to act quickly.
I shuffled some stuff around and quickly made room for my new cabinet set and here it is sittin pretty in it's new home (hopefully temporary home).
For the last five years I've been working in my little 1 car attached garage so over the years I've been getting very good at making the best of the available space I have. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to squeeze this beast in there and still be able to fit my car in and out without any possibility of damage or things falling on my baby. This is pretty much what I was working with.
Here's a shot of it in use before I picked up the side box and black box.
Once I got things moved around and made use of some open wall space and some extra 2x4's I had laying around, I had enough space to fit my new Ranger safely against the outside wall. I even had room to finally hang my side box (which had been used basically as a work bench / stand alone box prior to this). As good as I am with cars and metal fab work, I have about as much skill with wood and wood work, as a ****** at a Betty Crocker cook off so don't flame me too bad on my busted looking tool box table in the distance....
Ironically enough, my dad was a Union cabinet maker for 35+ years and his son can't barely hammer a nail without taking off his finger tip, he must be so proud....
But enough about me, back on topic...
Amazingly, getting that black box up off the ground cleared me up a lot of space on the inside wall of the garage, which allowed me to pull the car all the way over there without obstruction. That way I have more room on the outside wall for the new Ranger
Here's my Craftsman side box safely hanging from the side of my new Ranger roller. The fit is perfect and the color is really kind of close too (not that I really care, but my wife pointed it out...), not too shabby
My initial observations with the Ranger set is the obvious quality of the finish and powder coating. I don't have a whole lot of experience with cabinets and boxes outside Craftsman and cheaper brands, but my brother has a huge Classic Series SnapOn set and I can honestly say that the quality of the finish is right up there with his Cranberry Limited Edition super duper house payment tool bus.
The Ranger finish clearly blows the finish away on my Craftsman boxes. You can tell that the Ranger powder coating is thicker and seems to have a tougher "shell type" feeling. I have never been thrilled with the quality of the powder coating on my Craftsman roller (the red one on the back wall that can you see in some of the above pics) and the Ranger makes me even more disappointed in it...
The next thing I noticed, which I didn't know was included, was the fact that Ranger included a full set of pre-cut drawer liners with both boxes
This seems like a minor detail when your talking about big, expensive boxes, but seriously if you've ever had to buy and fit drawer liners you know that it can be an expensive and annoying venture. The drawer liners that Ranger included with the boxes are very nice quality and are pretty thick. They kind of feel like a neoprene texture, like a thin wet suit.
Once I got it all situated in the garage, I realized that it was starting to drizzle and I had to get moving before the heavy stuff rolled in and my car got wet. I wiped the box down with a microfiber and some Optimum Car Wax and then snapped some final set up shots.
Tight squeeze with the car in there, but it'll have to do until I can get the rest of the funds I need to start my garage build. Hopefully soon
Here are some random shots of the bearing / drawer sliders. I'll be posting up a full review in the Tool section ASAP, so keep an eye out for that. So far, my initial impression of this set is that it's an amazing value at the price that Ranger sells them for.
Some of the other freebies that Ranger includes with this kit. Drawer labels, slide in handle labels with clear plastic covers, cut to fit each drawer handle. Pretty cool
I'd like to once again thank Jeff and Ranger for the opportunity to take part in this contest. I'd also like to thank Garage Journal for providing an AWESOME site to give us a place to hang out, discuss our passions, learn about new ways to generate divorce paperwork and win some cool stuff.
I wasn't very familiar with this company before this contest, but after looking through their product line, I'll be purchasing quite a few things (I need an air hose reel, 20 ton press, hell maybe even a tool box!!) from them in the future. Their products look great, and if the quality is where you say it is with your new toolbox, I think I've got a new personal supplier of fancy garage items. Plus, their shade of red sort of matches the Galaxie, so I might get my picture on the cover of Garage Living (unpublished counterpart to southern living, fyi.