Best lube for toolbox drawer slides

Dan Jacobs · Oct 25, 2015

I have an old Snap On Taco wagon tool box The slides are not the ballbearing type They are old style plain slides. I've cleaned them but they sure slide hard
Any suggestions on lube? Don't use the box everyday

zkling · Oct 25, 2015

Wax, comonly sold as doorease.

NUTTSGT · Oct 25, 2015

I used some white lithium on one of the boxes I had and never had an issues with it.

christopher7390 · Oct 25, 2015

+1 on lithium^

hoston23 · Oct 25, 2015

dry lube like for door hinges

1949 caddyman · Oct 25, 2015

^^^^^^ +++++Dry lube won't harden or hold dirt.

rharman · Oct 25, 2015

White lithium and a quick wipe off of the excess.

Bill Ramsey · Oct 25, 2015

zkling said:
Wax, comonly sold as doorease.

kramarj · Oct 25, 2015

I sprayed mine down good with Super Lube aerosol spray and they slide very very nicely. In the past I have also used silicone spray with pretty decent results.

zkling · Oct 25, 2015

As someone that has cleaned hundreds of friction box slides. Do not use white lith grease, or any grease for that matter.

chris142 · Oct 26, 2015

White lithium dries and becomes sticky. Use motorcycle chain wax.

Darr247 · Oct 26, 2015

I've never had white lithium dry and become sticky; my beef with white lithium is it has no anti-corrosion qualities. Wipe it off the slides 5 years later and you'll find they've rusted while covered by it.

Xmoonstompx · Oct 26, 2015

I've been using motorcycle cable lube with good results.

babylou · Oct 26, 2015

zkling said:
As someone that has cleaned hundreds of friction box slides. Do not use white lith grease, or any grease for that matter.

Why?

AmishFury · Oct 26, 2015

babylou said:
Why?

collects dirt and turns to gunk/glue

zkling · Oct 26, 2015

AmishFury said:
collects dirt and turns to gunk/glue

This

Ponchoguy · Oct 26, 2015

zkling said:
This

I did mine in 2002 on my 1960 Craftsman with white lube. Still works like new.

zkling · Oct 26, 2015

Ponchoguy said:
I did mine in 2002 on my 1960 Craftsman with white lube. Still works like new.

Craftsman boxes, especially their top boxes (due to lack of "real" welded in runners) have the largest ammount of clearance in the slide channel fit. On a fully loaded drawer you may not be able to recgoinze the increase in drag as much.

Since the OP has an inferior snap on box, he will really see a difference due to the tighter fitting slide channels, esecially on the "heavy duty" drawers.

Ponchoguy · Oct 26, 2015

zkling said:
Craftsman boxes, especially their top boxes (due to lack of "real" welded in runners) have the largest ammount of clearance in the slide channel fit. On a fully loaded drawer you may not be able to recgoinze the increase in drag as much.

Since the OP has an inferior snap on box, he will really see a difference due to the tighter fitting slide channels, esecially on the "heavy duty" drawers.

I've got a Matco, Husky, Snap On and Craftsman box. From what I remember, the older Craftsmans have a full channel where the slide goes into, the later ones do not. However, all of the brands I've owned were lubed the same time with the same lube. No issues.

There goes that theory.

Kensgarage · Oct 26, 2015

Works to ice skate a tailstock on a 24 foot Leblond.
http://mclube.com/products/80

Ponchoguy · Oct 26, 2015

Also, a friend of mine used ski wax and said it worked well. I want to say Wurth among others makes a "dry lube" too.

Mark in Indiana · Oct 26, 2015

I've had good luck with silicone spray.

monkeyspanners · Oct 26, 2015

Britool recommended vaseline on their draw slides which i used to start with, then just used white spray grease. After 20 years i have retired the box as the bottom rusted out. (I do a lot of farm work)

302 · Oct 26, 2015

I give them a shot of rust check every once in a while. No problems ever.

zkling · Oct 26, 2015

Ponchoguy said:
I've got a Matco, Husky, Snap On and Craftsman box. From what I remember, the older Craftsmans have a full channel where the slide goes into, the later ones do not. However, all of the brands I've owned were lubed the same time with the same lube. No issues.

There goes that theory.

The majority of older craftsman TOP boxes did not have full slide channels, they used stamped louvered style tabs bent out from the inner wall for slide channels.

It's not a theory, it's based on experience. You are still disillusioned about your beloved craftsman boxes. I've been through more friction slide boxes than I can count, and the PITA factor on all slide related was grease. Worst ones came from body shops, as the abrasive grit got attached to the grease and wore the slide channels paper thin or clean through.

rodsnratfinks · Oct 26, 2015

Hammond organ oil.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Ponchoguy · Oct 26, 2015

zkling said:
The majority of older craftsman TOP boxes did not have full slide channels, they used stamped louvered style tabs bent out from the inner wall for slide channels.

It's not a theory, it's based on experience. You are still disillusioned about your beloved craftsman boxes. I've been through more friction slide boxes than I can count, and the PITA factor on all slide related was grease. Worst ones came from body shops, as the abrasive grit got attached to the grease and wore the slide channels paper thin or clean through.

You mean the full channels that these (and every other CMan box from the 60's and up) have that you obviously have no experience with?

zkling · Oct 26, 2015

Explain this 1975 then.

Ponchoguy · Oct 27, 2015

zkling said:
Explain this 1975 then.

Let's see the rest of the cabinet.

zkling · Oct 27, 2015

Ponchoguy said:
Let's see the rest of the cabinet.

Why? It's one of the ever so common 10 drawer top boxes. Still waiting on your explanation. :spit:

Ponchoguy · Oct 27, 2015

zkling said:
Why? It's one of the ever so common 10 drawer top boxes. Still waiting on your explanation.

Because you made the claim. The two 10 drawer units I have are full channel. So is the six drawer in the photo.

Still waiting for your explanation.

zkling · Oct 27, 2015

But you said, and I quote...

Ponchoguy said:
You mean the full channels that these (and every other CMan box from the 60's and up) have that you obviously have no experience with?

Last time I checked 1975 was 'up' from the 60's. Hence why i earlier mentioned that MOST of the older top boxes had folded channels. There were a few from the 60's that were built better than most, but those are in the minority that are out there.

You can use your grease, i will stick with the wax :beer:

zkling · Oct 27, 2015

BTW OP, snap on produced a care guide for friction boxes, and recommended wax for lubrication.

Ponchoguy · Oct 27, 2015

zkling said:
But you said, and I quote...

Last time I checked 1975 was 'up' from the 60's. Hence why i earlier mentioned that MOST of the older top boxes had folded channels. There were a few from the 60's that were built better than most, but those are in the minority that are out there.

You can use your grease, i will stick with the wax

Last time I checked, there were plenty of 60's box (and 70's) that had the full channels like I described.

Yes, we will all use what we will. After all, the original slides on my cabinets are still there and slide like new. The grease couldn't have harmed them...

justme- · Oct 27, 2015

I did a test about 6 months ago on a matco side box. Each drawer got different lube bases on a previous thread. White lithe, fluid film, viper lube, super lube. Big drawer still has white lithe, others are now FF and work much smoother. Only have the white on because I don't want to clean it off..works fine, but FF is smoother. Didn't have wax available, but I'll give it a shot when I relube sometime.

smokeyburb · Oct 28, 2015

Don't use any greasy lube, ever, because it will hold dirt & dust and will also get sticky/hard/crusty even in a clean shop environment. Instead, keep the slides clean and use a dry lube. It will sound weird but I have been pleased with using Pledge furniture polish inside and out on my boxes.

jn50308401 · Oct 28, 2015

Cleaning out the old gunk is going to pay off better than applying more lubes/grease/wax. The boxes I'm doing were greased with wheel bearing grease and it was a mess.

Power washing, scrubbing the channels with a brass brush and acetone and a million old towels later the drawers open and close nicely without any lubricant.

Check the channels for bends and cracking as well. I used a small hammer and a piece of wood to straighten a couple channels.

Per the Snap on instructions I used parrafin wax for the slides.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Aeromech · Oct 28, 2015

Lubriplate

joebachor · Oct 28, 2015

gulf wax . its a paraffin wax. its cheap and you can get it from Kroger, Meijer, Wal-Mart or amazon. look for it around the canning section in the stores. snap on puts paraffin wax on at the factory and recommends its reapplication periodically. its what I use on all my boxes with friction slides not just my snap ons.

6 & 7/8 · Feb 12, 2016

Any thoughts on using Johnson's Paste wax?

Best lube for toolbox drawer slides

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