Field Toolbox Organization

[seanb02]

Hello, this is my first post on here, this forum looks to be a very active community, so hopefully someone can help me with my issue. I have researched this topic in depth, and have not come across a solution that appears to fit for me. A little background, I have a standard type top toolbox that resides in the back of my Suburban. I use my vehicle and tools for farm repairs, now I do take care to drive as cautiously as possible, however tool movement is inevitable on farm roads and even somewhat from normal highway driving.

Now I do have a system that works for me for standard size socket organization currently, and have plans to upgrade storage solutions in regards to that at some point in the future as I phase out my old Craftsman tools and get higher quality replacements.

The issue at hand here is wrench organization. As near as I can tell rails will not work, wrenches will bounce right out and be all over the place in no time. I would like something magnetic, and I came across one thing that MIGHT work, made by Mechanics Time Savers which is designed to hold the end of the wrench on a tool cart or the like. Maybe it would work in a drawer, maybe not - but the reviews I read on the product were pretty bad, so I haven't tried it.

Wrench racks that grip the wrenches tight enough would probably work okay, but that appears to be highly dependent on wrench thickness. Like my old Craftsman wrenches fit their holders just fine, but the GearWrenches I have are much too thin for it to grip them firm enough to keep them in place.

I just upgraded my wrench collection to SK, the metric set of which arrived today. While I have been researching the wrench organization issue for a while, now with the new wrenches it is pretty mandatory to get the ball rolling on something as I don't foresee the bag the wrenches came in to be a very long term solution.

Here is what the metric wrench drawer looks like now, thoughts on storage for the impact sockets would be wonderful as well.



Here is the wrench set and screwdriver set I received today. I decided it was time to upgrade to higher quality than the incomplete Craftsman set I had been using for a while. I figured that SK should be a good quality brand to go with, and I have used their tools in the past. The metric set is from 6mm to 24mm in the long pattern, the fractional set should be here on Friday in sizes from 1/4" to 1& 1/2"



I also need suggestions in regards to screwdriver organization, dividers maybe?

 

[Murphy'sSidekic]

Kaizen foam from FastCap, hands down.

 

[wttwoa]

a cheap idea for the screwdrivers would be pool noodles cut in half with slots cut for the shanks of the screwdrivers, i cant remember where i saw it but it was on here somewhere. another idea is those cheap metal socket rails like mdbeck1 uses here, but you probably have to watch out for deep scratching since its a road box. magnetic rails are always and option for the wrenches, and if they dont fit any rails you have good enough or pop out a lot put 2 eye hooks at the top and 1 at the bottom of the rail and hook a rubber band around the hooks so they will keep the wrenches pushed down into their slots.

if you can post up your toolbox over on the Let's see your toolbox thread

 

[countryroad82]

If noise is a concern, I would shadow the box. Time consuming, but very effective. Plus it allows you to see if something is missing at a glance. I myself (up until a few weeks ago, motor started knocking) drove an Astro van with a service body for work. Had the thing loaded down heavy with all my **** as I'm a mechanic first and general maintenance man second, so I have to keep my vehicle loaded down with more **** than anyone else at my job. After awhile, you tend to drown out the noise tools make lol. Heck it's even fun when you have a passenger and they ask how you can stand all that noise

 

[TBrian]

I'm a huge fan of the Sortimo products
They have all kinds of storage solutions.... and if they don't have it they can probably custom build it for you!

Attached also a solution for wrenches

http://www.sortimo.com/products/cases-boxxes/l-boxx/

 

[crewchief888]

just need to have so much stuff crammed in the drawer that nothing moves...







been a field service mechanic for a lot of years, theres really no "one size fits all" storage solution...

 

[Finky198]

Exactly what I do in my pelican box ^^^ Its packed so full the tools barely move.
For wrenches I'd just leave the in their roll its great tool control. It's what I've done for years with great sucesss. I'm not mobile any more though, but my box hasn't change much since.