Buying aKolbalt tool chest read here first

[UncleJoe]

I do not need one of thee but if you are considering it then know that they are probably good for a set of sockets but not big drive tools.

I was at a clients yesterday and I always like to go out and talk with the mechanics. The business has a fleet of 18 wheelers and some dozers and heavy equipment that the shop maintains. They have one of those shiny, well used to be shiny, stainless steel Kobalt tool chests you see at lowes all the time. This is what a similar one looks like new:

Now this is a heavy truck shop so they used big tools. This is what the tool chest looks like today.:

And

Looks like the weight of the tools was just too much for this box.

 

[GOLF for LIFE]

Nice, well you generally get what you pay for. BUT as you sat this is a HD truck facility and they use large and heavy tools. And may not be treated as most on the GJ would.

 

[powertrip]

It may not be for this type of pro use, more home owner type storage, but this also looks likes alot of neglect and abuse.

 

[chopper1]

I've had that exact box for about 3 years. Some of my drawers are overloaded and still work fine. I also have two friends that have that box and longer than I have, and neither one has had any issues. Granted non of us are pro's but they have almost constant use.
The box pictured hasn't been used too hard, it's been abused.

 

[franzdom]

Is the sledge hammer there so you can try to shut the drawers?

 

[cascivic]

if they want to get rid of it i would pick it up : )

 

[5mall5nail5]

Yep. I own about $30k in camera gear and use it regularly and an very careful with it. If you look at a big newspaper/magazine they have the same if not more expensive stuff and it is beat to ****. It has nothing to do with Canon L lenses being ****, it has to do with the fact that an employee is hired and GIVEN tools and they don't care about them at all. The kobalt boxes look great for home use and when I say home use, I use my tools more than most home users. I don't own a kobalt box but they are no doubt just as good as any craftsman unit. That is not a used box, its an abused box. The employees obviously have no regard for the boxes.

In fact, I applaud the management at that company for buying a kobalt box for < $1000 knowing their employees would do that to it. They could have bought much more expensive boxes and they would look EXACTLY the same.

Please explain to me how a "heavy truck shop" can fill a seemingly 10x2x18 drawer to the point of it breaking. You could fill it up with lead weights and it would be fine. Thats just called abuse. Its a standard drawer. You can pack it full of large diameter sockets, or whatever you want. To get it so that it doesn't mount is just careless.

 

[lennoxlennox]

thanks for the pics


it's really funny how you get comments from people how great their "insert low grade toolbox name here" and how it's so much better deal than "insert professional grade toolbox name here"

They spend enormous amounts of posts bagging the professional companies, it doesn't matter how many points of view you state why what they have is ****, it falls on deaf ears, etc. etc.

then you post something like this and then you get the posts saying, well they must have abused it, etc. etc.

No, the fact is it is **** - there is no abuse in a professional environment, the box is expected to stand up to the work it's their for - if it can't, don't dress it up and masquerade it like it is a professional box - it's NOT.

 

[Sage55]

Holy **** it looks like someone dropped that thing from an airplane!

Maybe one or two of these might fix things up.

 

[5mall5nail5]

No, the fact is it is **** - there is no abuse in a professional environment, the box is expected to stand up to the work it's their for - if it can't, don't dress it up and masquerade it like it is a professional box - it's NOT.

There is no abuse and disregard in the workplace. Hm. So I guess our CNC end mill was supposed to have sucked up a shop towel inside the spindle without issue, right? I mean, its expected to just work. It should have eaten the shop towel and not gave a ****.

No abuse lol. I worked at SEPTA (south eastern transit authority) and saw how the mechanics in the train yards treat shop provided tools. No abuse. Like filling an e-Station (computerized test book/clock system) up with water. No abuse lol. I love it.

 

[lennoxlennox]

There is no abuse and disregard in the workplace. Hm. So I guess our CNC end mill was supposed to have sucked up a shop towel inside the spindle without issue, right? I mean, its expected to just work. It should have eaten the shop towel and not gave a ****.

WTF

what does your cnc mill have to do with a toolbox holding tools?

this box can't handle the basic job it's meant to... stick to the discussion

 

[Mr Ratchet]

Wow, that box is beat. Granted it's not the highest quality box, but It's been abused for sure. The dents all over it are evidence enough.

 

[Super Sport]

I'm no pro, but when I go into Lowes and look at those boxes I shudder a little. They definitely don't feel like they can't hold up to much. They might look great nice and new, but I certainly wouldn't want to work out of one every day.

Cheaper boxes will work for most homeowners, but they are not on the same level as Snap On and the like.

 

[tube_guy]

Dents? If I put my tools in a box and the drawer slides gave out under their weight, I'd probably beat the thing like it owed me money too.

 

[5mall5nail5]

WTF

what does your cnc mill have to do with a toolbox holding tools?

this box can't handle the basic job it's meant to... stick to the discussion

The mill is relevant because employees dont care about whats not theirs.

Its like the people who come up to me throughout the day complaining about how their new $1500 dell work pc *****, and then 2 months later ask me to look at their home pc and its from 1995 and has been set on fire a few times. Yet their work PC *****!?!?

People do not care about items they do not own - its a fact.

It has a weight limit that was obviously ignored

 

[lennoxlennox]

The mill is relevant because employees dont care about whats not theirs.

Its like the people who come up to me throughout the day complaining about how their new $1500 dell work pc *****, and then 2 months later ask me to look at their home pc and its from 1995 and has been set on fire a few times. Yet their work PC *****!?!?

People do not care about items they do not own - its a fact.

It has a weight limit that was obviously ignored

LMAO

no it's not relevant

you bring a toy in to do a job - and you want to state..."it has a weight limit that was obviously ignored"


damn straight, the weight limit was ignored at Lowes... don't bring **** like that into a work place .... what a truck shop? and expect it to do work than point the finger at the employees and say you ignored the weight limit .... FFS


better yet.... stop making it look like the box belongs anywhere near a professional shop



anyway... over and out.... thanks again for the OP for the pics.... classic

 

[UncleJoe]

I am the op. The point of my post is that this box did not stand up to the brutal environment of a heavy truck shop. I doubt very much that it's designers had that use in mind.
At this shop I do not think they have anything as small as 1/2 drive ratchets. This shop works on heavy duty stuff. My point was that this box could not handle the weight placed in it. Once the box began to fail under load the mechanics had real work to do and had no time to baby a box that was not fit for the job. Once drawers start collapsing and you already have real work do you really have time to baby a toolbox?

As in any purchase you should buy the right tool for the job. If someone was looking at this box for heavy use then these photos may save them some grief. I have seen this very box in Lowes and examined it carefully. I think it would be ok for a home shop and a good mechanic working on cars and trucks should be able to use it in a commercial/production environment.

I guess the reason I took these photos was that I always see this box on display and others like it from different brands and they always look so nice. Well these are the not so pretty photos of what happens when weight limits are exceeded. I tend to think a 100 lbs drawer is adequate and in my shop it certainly is. In a large equipment shop it would not be hard to exceed that weight.

Once a piece like this fails can you really expect the workers to baby it?

 

[SCscoutguy]

I saw one of those exact boxes for sale at the flea market probably 2 years ago and it was in worse shape than that. What makes it funny the guy wanted $100 for it and no one would give it to him and then maybe a month later I went to the scrap yard and the same exact box was sitting on the scrap pile.

 

[TwoInch]

for the amount of tools in that box, they would probably need three of those boxes to handle the weight. i would say if its company supplied, its the person who decided to supply a homeowner grade box to a heavy diesel mechanic, and expected it to work for more than a months or two.

i stop at those boxes everytime at lowes, just to give the drawers a tug, and everytime i think "man i feel bad for anyone who takes one of these home". when the display models are falling apart, you got problems.....

 

[5mall5nail5]

My buddy owns a silicone molding company and they have a huge machine shop where they build giant presses. Huge like 3" open end wrenches and 1 1/2 impact gun ****.

They have ordinary craftsman toolboxes throughout and it works lol

If you want to be able to throw a 1 1/2" impact gun up into the top shelf of a storage cabinet from 10 ft away then a craftsman box is not for you. But then again, if I caught any of my employees doing that they'd be fired regardless of what kind of tool cabinet was in use.

I don't see why lennox is so quick to blame kobalt. I don't tow boats with my car and I don't set pins with a jack hammer. Theres a purpose and place for everything. If nothing else the management is at fault. If they are too strapped for better boxes then they have to tell the employees look you bring your own tools and treat them however you want or you use our tools and treat them right.

Its funny how every mechanics toolbox at a dealership is IMMACULATE but the communal chest is a DISASTER.

 

[shoturtle]

I would agree with you, I work at major job sites allot and company provide the heavy duty equipment. And that stuff gets the heck beat out of them.

This box was not design for the environment that it lives in. Not to many boxes will. Get a heavy duty lista or snap on industrial grade box. They tool will suffer when you start loading 3/4 and 1" drive stuff in it.

That is why most heavy duty construction sites use clamshell jobox with no drawers. Just solid welded shelfs. Those weight of the tools will cause all drawers to fail over time.

The mill is relevant because employees dont care about whats not theirs.

Its like the people who come up to me throughout the day complaining about how their new $1500 dell work pc *****, and then 2 months later ask me to look at their home pc and its from 1995 and has been set on fire a few times. Yet their work PC *****!?!?

People do not care about items they do not own - its a fact.

It has a weight limit that was obviously ignored

 

[5mall5nail5]

I would agree with you, I work at major job sites allot and company provide the heavy duty equipment. And that stuff gets the heck beat out of them.

This box was not design for the environment that it lives in. Not to many boxes will. Get a heavy duty lista or snap on industrial grade box. They tool will suffer when you start loading 3/4 and 1" drive stuff in it.

That is why most heavy duty construction sites use clamshell jobox with no drawers. Just solid welded shelfs. Those weight of the tools will cause all drawers to fail over time.

Yep all the big tools I find at my buddies shop have a shelf or wall mount. You could really hose a snap on, lista, etc., box up with only a few 4' long open wrenches

 

[shoturtle]

I do not think many members understand that the heaven sent snap on would fail in the same environment, it may take a year or so longer. But it will fail.

When you are dealing with 1/2 as you biggest, it is not a big deal for high grade boxes to last in a pro environment.

For the home owner, the kobalt will work just find as well. And even with daily uses, they will not have issues.

But once you move into the real big boy world, drawers are out, welded shelfs are in. No slider will survive. Even it they are doubled.

 

[BrokewrenchLS1]

We have a couple Kobalt tool boxes here at work. Normal stuff - screwdrivers, hammers, wrenches, etc in them, nothing too heavy. Four years after being purchased and they're holding up fine, even with regular daily use. I'd say the toolbox in the OP suffered more from being used far beyond its designed capacity, and that's why it failed.

Use a set of NWS pliers to try and cut a 3/8" bolt in half, and wind up chipping the jaws. Is it because the pliers are junk? No, they're just being used for something they're not designed to do. A $1000 homeowner-grade toolbox in a diesel shop? Don't think any brand would have fared much better, nor does it speak much to the intelligence of the person who bought that toolbox, knowing the environment it would be used in.

 

[shoturtle]

Think the OP was indirectly or directly bashing a home owners box, imho just with the way the thread was title.

 

[RedFordTruck]

My box is just a Husky (Made by Waterloo, Assembled in USA with US and global materials) but it has held up fine for what I use it for. The Hong-Kong Kobalt boxes scare me in the store. You know, the gimmick ones with the radio and mini-fridge in them? I would hate to see how they would hold up over time.

Id say this box has had a rough life, but being a cheap-azz chinese box doesnt help.

 

[shoturtle]

If you read some of the reviews on GJ, the kobalt boxes are made well. And you can get the fridge unit without any of the add ones. And overall they are a good option for a diy.

It is not a cheap *** box by any means.

 

[2oolhound]

I think the OP was making a point. There is a difference, you get what you pay for. I went 25 years out of the mechanical industry and lost all my tools that were stored over that period of time. 4-5 years ago I started building up a tool kit and some boxes. When i went around looking at boxes even after 25 years I quickly realized how cheap tool boxes were being made and refused to buy cheap ones. Just rolling out drawers and shaking them side to side revealed thin metal with cheap design (no folded lips or contours in the sides of the drawers which add structural strength). Drawers that are shorter than the standard 20" depth (usually 16" on the bottom roller boxes) to compensate for the thin metal. I couldn't afford new snappy so I bought old used boxes in good shape.

There was a local guy advertising a SO box that looked like the one here, with SO plastic logos but same thing, when I shook the drawers sideways it felt like ****. Now I think the guy had one of these that he put SO logos on. Another guy I was buying used tools from had 2 very pretty canadian tire boxes and I asked him why the bottom drawer on one was so bent out of shape. "The drawers opened up and it fell over" he said. It got totally garbled from that incident and I doubt an older box from 10 -15 years ago would have sustained that kind of damage.

Lets face it these boxes are engineered with the minimum of thickness of steel to do the task and the new generation of user can feel the limitations and instinctively knows it's limitations. There is no extra robustness included like yesteryear when everything was seemingly over built. If you buy one of these it can work for you, just keep your kid gloves on and use it accordingly.

 

[shoturtle]

well I doubt that was the point with the phasing he used through out the post. And like I said, I would on sites at times that uses huge tools, and a lista or snap on drawer would have look the same. The tools in that kobalt box are HD duty truck repair tools 1/2 and up. And drawers rail would fail even with the high end brands.

 

[RedFordTruck]

well I doubt that was the point with the phasing he used through out the post. And like I said, I would on sites at times that uses huge tools, and a lista or snap on drawer would have look the same. The tools in that kobalt box are HD duty truck repair tools 1/2 and up. And drawers rail would fail even with the high end brands.

My dads got an old box with friction slides that I unfortunately dont know the manufacturer of. Some drawers have so much weight in them you have to put some real force into them to shut, but the bottoms dont even bow in its that strong.

Keep in mind this box was made back when things were built to last.

 

[lennoxlennox]

well I doubt that was the point with the phasing he used through out the post. And like I said, I would on sites at times that uses huge tools, and a lista or snap on drawer would have look the same. The tools in that kobalt box are HD duty truck repair tools 1/2 and up. And drawers rail would fail even with the high end brands.

of course they would ... just like the kobalt


it's like I said in my first post.... justify the ****, bag the quality... go figure

 

[mudflap]

LOL....That box is mangalated. We have a kid from one of the diesel tech programs intern with us every summer, and they usually show up with a craftsman or kobalt box that dosn't make it thru the 2 months. Slides split or fall off / drawers bow/ castors snap off / etc. They tell me the bluepoint boxes they are started out with by the schools are much better, but i have never seen one in person, so i cant say. When i went through the diesel tech program (about the same time dirt was invented) we were offered 40% off snap-on boxes, i still have mine. Its built like a tank, and has been retired to the home workshop. I think part of the reason COO is not going to matter in the near future, is the kids at these tech schools are being started out on chinawaneeze tools (bluepoint), and they are being told thats the good stuff. As far as the box pictured, it obviously was not taken care of, but you cant expect any of the "weekend warrior" boxes to survive in a heavy truck shop.

 

[3dkustoms]

I am going to have to disagree with the ones calling kobalt junk. I have the kobalt that I bought on discount because of a few tiny dings in it, saved a few hundred bucks.. I will say that it may not be the HOLY GRAIL of tool boxes but it sits right beside my Snap ON 1022 and is loaded down with just as many tools as the SO box. I have had the Kobalt box going on 3 years now and it has giving me NO problems at all. A couple of the drawers are loaded down with Williams 3/4 drive sets along with many 1/2 drive sets. Both boxes get a work out daily but heck for 3 grand less than I paid for my Snap On box I just dont think I can complain with it.. In my opinion they are a great box, the one in the OP sure looks to me like it was beat to hell and abused...

My kobalt and Snap on box, I am on both sides....

 

[5mall5nail5]

I bought a '97 Ford ****** to tow my 30' boat and it sucked

 

[thesilverone]

^ lol

 

[gte718p]

Good luck getting a cool brew or tunes out of the snappy box. I personally felt the Kobalt box crossed the line of crappy. What do I know, I have one Snappy, one HF, and one Sam brand chest. I did however really like the radio in the kobalt box so my HF box now has a cheep 12 power supply, little AGM battery, radio, and speakers installed. I tend to roll it out in the driveway when I'm working on the crawler to use a work bench. The tunes are great and it only cost me $30 and the bottom right drawer. re out I'm trying to figure out an amp and sub next. That might be over kill thought.

 

[shoturtle]

My dads got an old box with friction slides that I unfortunately dont know the manufacturer of. Some drawers have so much weight in them you have to put some real force into them to shut, but the bottoms dont even bow in its that strong.

Keep in mind this box was made back when things were built to last.

I work in with industrial grade stuff. 3/4 would be consider normal. No drawer will last long with 1" drive and super big wrenches that weight 20lb each. That box was abuse, but it is far from junk. We uses to have some old lista boxes form the 50's at work, good boxes. Great for 1/2 stuff, and some 3/4 stuff. But when we started pumping in 1" drive and larger wrenches, they too started to fail.

 

[shoturtle]

I bought a '97 Ford ****** to tow my 30' boat and it sucked

How many trannys did you go through, LOL

 

[DFW-LSX]

of course they would ... just like the kobalt


it's like I said in my first post.... justify the ****, bag the quality... go figure

In regards to how you view anything not made by SO, this describes you perfectly. "Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity."

 

[MarkH]

Like the ****** bit.

Use dictates survival. The C-man and Mastercraft boxes in the home garage survive very well. Can show you pictures of them looking almost new with very frequent use.

These boxes would not survive or look like that very long in the shops where we push the boxes around with bobcats to get them to the next machine. The tugs do well since we keep the very large 1" or similar tools in wall mounted storage, ie steel shelving. Less frequent use makes that practical.

The lesson here is match the tool to the job or else this is what will happen. Do it right and it meets our usually the next owner after us is the junk man since we used all of the life the product had over more years than one would expect it would survive.