Gladiator stuff...

[DrB2319]

Is it worth it?

The stuff is so damned expensive, I know it is not junk but it isn't anything special either (in terms of materials and workmanship). I mean credit their marketing team I suppose b/c they seem to live off the whole diamond plate look.

IMO every single piece they have is 25-30% over priced, and the hooks...sheesh.

Ever see any on sale cheap b/c of blemishes flaws?

 

[Trucky]

If you can only afford it, sure it's okay for the dollar.. I'll probably stick to Craftsman BB for the rest of my years.

Our opinions are similar... expensive for what it is, not junk but nothing that great. Honestly I don't know why it's there.. for people looking for something different?. Heck if I know.

I've never seen any blems for sale.

I kind of put box mfg's in two categories:

value (homeowners, WW's): Cman, HF, Kobalt, etc.
$$$ (Professional mechanics, techs, etc.): Mac, Matco, Snappy, etc.

I don't think the Gladiator stuff really has a place in there, maybe value but in all seriousness if you want to step up from Cman griplatch or something you might as well buy a used box from the truck brands.

 

[mngundog]

When I went shopping for cabinets the large welded Gladiator ones were the best for the money that I could find. They are occasional on sale for about $100 a piece. I did not go with with because I don't like the look of the diamond plate. I did go to an auction at a place that had about 50 of their workbenches for sale, there was a lot of warped/broken wood tops so if you were to buy a bench check out the top in the store.

This is the one I see for $100 every once in a while, seems well worth it.
http://www.sears.com/gladiator-30inch-wall-gearbox/p-00959036000P

Another thing is these come in a welded model and a assembled model, IMO the welded ones are a much better quality.

 

[bimmerZ5]

funny this thread is here... I just stepped into the house after 3 days of 10-12 hours everyday reorganizing my garage and installing gladiator stuff. I bought all my gladiator stuff on sale and clearance over the last 5 months. I let it accumulate and finally decided to install everything. if you get stuff on sale or use discount retailers online, its not that expensive... just think 50-70% off their ridiculous MSRP.

so far I'm very happy with the outcome. and definitely get their premier stuff that is welded. the RTA stuff isn't bad, but their premier is definitely a step up.

 

[pipsters]

The more expensive line is made in the US. In Canada the boxes are made in the US, in the US they are imported from China. Go figure that one out.

 

[Swoboda]

I have four welded and one ready-to-assemble cabinets.

Without a doubt, the welded ones are better. The RTA one is nice--better quality than many other RTA cabinets but the fit and finish just isn't as nice as the welded.

They are pricey, but they have the features (like lockable doors) that I wanted. I could have passed on the diamond plate doors, but it isn't bad/overwhelming.

I'd buy them again, at least the welded versions.

 

[MrSnicks]

I don't have a dedicated shop/garage like a lot of you guys. I have a 2 car garage with the washer & dryer and hot water heater in it. The Gladiator stuff has allowed me to park 2 cars in the garage, store all my wife's junk, have an air compressor, sand blasting cabinet, several work benches and cabinets.

Gladiator makes good use of vertical space and keeps things off the floor. I have the RTA series except for 1 wall cabinet that was welded. I bought everything on craigslist or during the Lowes clearance sales of the discountinued products.

I'll try to take and post some pictures later.

Patrick

 

[matty d]

I don't have a dedicated shop/garage like a lot of you guys. I have a 2 car garage with the washer & dryer and hot water heater in it. The Gladiator stuff has allowed me to park 2 cars in the garage, store all my wife's junk, have an air compressor, sand blasting cabinet, several work benches and cabinets.

Gladiator makes good use of vertical space and keeps things off the floor. I have the RTA series except for 1 wall cabinet that was welded. I bought everything on craigslist or during the Lowes clearance sales of the discountinued products.

I'll try to take and post some pictures later.

Patrick

Me too. In fact, I made a blog out of the whole thing:

http://matthewsgarage.blogspot.com/

 

[sarman47]

I have the Gladiator set up as well. Went with the 8 foot bench and have 4 of the welded 24 inch cabinet above with a 30 inch cabinet on each end. I have a small 20 x 24 foot 2 car garage. Basically the one whole side of the garage is gear wall, cabinet and tool box's. Just need to keep room for the wife's car ....... " Happy Wife - Happy Life" ......

I live on the border so I buy all my Gladiator on sale at Sear's in the US and never have had a problem at the bridge with customs. It is way over priced here at Sears in Canada.

Give's the garage a nice clean look .............

 

[the_saint]

I have the Gladiator set up as well. Went with the 8 foot bench and have 4 of the welded 24 inch cabinet above with a 30 inch cabinet on each end. I have a small 20 x 24 foot 2 car garage. Basically the one whole side of the garage is gear wall, cabinet and tool box's. Just need to keep room for the wife's car ....... " Happy Wife - Happy Life" ......

I live on the border so I buy all my Gladiator on sale at Sear's in the US and never have had a problem at the bridge with customs. It is way over priced here at Sears in Canada.

Give's the garage a nice clean look .............

Pictures please

 

[Kevin54]

I jumped in on the $28 Gladiator cabinets when Lowe's was discontinuing them and got 18 of them total. If they were regular priced, I would have built something more to my liking out of wood. The Gladiators are nice, but definitely overpriced in my book. For the money, you can build three or four nice cabinets for the price of one Gladiator.

 

[Strouty]

I bought all of my stuff from a local reseller, they all had a dent or scratch somewhere. I think they must have been one entire garage order, they were all keyed the same. I think I paid about 1/3 of sears price. I think they are a lot stronger than most of the lower end cabinets. Also don't think the ones at lowes are anywhere as good, they stink in comparison to the welded cabinets. I have 4 roll around cabinets, two 8' tables, and some wall shelving units. I missed out on the large cabinets, and bought the loses version, that was a mistake.

 

[DrB2319]

Just got back my from local Lowes, complete rip off. $200 for the top selling RTA wall cabinet.

2-3 clearance items, basically just hooks and brackets.

Question for those of you with this stuff, do all the cabinets that hang on the walls/tracks attach with the Gladiator brackets? B/C I'm now considering building cabinets myself and just using Gladiator brackets to attach to the Gearwall/track.

or

I've got to find a Sears Outlet store near me (Cleveland) to get some of this stuff cheap.

 

[Kevin54]

Just got back my from local Lowes, complete rip off. $200 for the top selling RTA wall cabinet.

2-3 clearance items, basically just hooks and brackets.

Question for those of you with this stuff, do all the cabinets that hang on the walls/tracks attach with the Gladiator brackets? B/C I'm now considering building cabinets myself and just using Gladiator brackets to attach to the Gearwall/track.

or

I've got to find a Sears Outlet store near me (Cleveland) to get some of this stuff cheap.

If you build your own cabinets, forget the Gladiator mounting system and look into using French Cleats. Do a search on here for "French Cleats" and you will get many fine examples. I think there is a thread or two dedicated to just that type of mounting system.

 

[Kevin54]

Here is a quick search using Ixquick as the Search Engine

http://www.newwoodworker.com/frenchcleat.html

http://woodworking.about.com/od/dealingwithproblems/qt/WedgeBrackets.htm

http://www.hangmanshops.com/en/hang...mirror-hanging/heavy-duty-cabinet-hanger.html

http://www.hooksandlattice.com/cleat-hangers.html

http://bhoweandfamily.com/2011/03/09/the-magical-french-cleat/

http://stusshed.com/2012/03/26/looking-for-a-workbench/

http://woodworkingeasy.net/french-cleat-cabinet-mount/

http://woodworking.about.com/od/woodworkingplansdesigns/ss/cabinets_7.htm

http://www.hometips.com/buying-guides/garage-storage-systems-pegboard.html

http://www.dailyartwest.com/

Also look on YouTube for a lot of good ideas on French Cleats.

 

[DrB2319]

Appreciate the links Kevin, and that approach sounds interesting, however my only problem with Gladiator is the cost, not the design or functionality. Frankly I love their design and use of space to recapture need floor space, which is what I want to do, just that the cabinets made for their system are too pricey.

But I may reconsider only using Gear wall/track for certain things and have some cabinets made using that French cleat approach.

 

[matty d]

Just got back my from local Lowes, complete rip off. $200 for the top selling RTA wall cabinet.

2-3 clearance items, basically just hooks and brackets.

Question for those of you with this stuff, do all the cabinets that hang on the walls/tracks attach with the Gladiator brackets? B/C I'm now considering building cabinets myself and just using Gladiator brackets to attach to the Gearwall/track.

or

I've got to find a Sears Outlet store near me (Cleveland) to get some of this stuff cheap.

Hey there

You can look up product literature in PDF form on the Gladiator website. This probably will give you diagrams of the brackets and bracket installation, as well as track and gearwall installation. You can also do a youtube search for videos...

Otherwise I'll take some pics of the brackets and post maybe tonite. I have some brackets laying around...

If you are handy and want to build your own cabs with GW brackets, I think you can do it, just make your cabs in the ballpark of GW specs so you can be confident about load bearing on the tracks or wall.

Yes GW is def. overpriced....however it looks cool to some. True DIYers laugh at it. However, if (heaven forbid) one has to move/relocate, you can ship your cabinets with you or sell them and get a lot of your money back.

 

[sarman47]

Hi Saint

I will try and post some tomorrow night. Have a hell of a time trying to upload pictures......

Jeff

 

[mtwaterguy]

Here are the Gladiators that I purchased during the Lowes clearance sale. These are the bolt together style. Once bolted together and then mounted to the wall, there is no flex or bend. I think the people that are concerned with they're quality and say that the welded ones are far superior just haven't compare the two styles. These are plenty sturdy for any application.

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[sarman47]

Hi Saint

Here are the pictures of my cabinets and workbench.

 

[sarman47]

and a few more ........

 

[DrB2319]

mtwaterguy, it doesn't look like you used any of the gearwall/track when hanging your cabinets?

I just got back from a local Sears Outlet store, they had 1 5 drawer gear chest, retial $499, it had some damage on one side of the outer shell (that had no effect on the use of drawers) and they still wanted $350.

I offered them $200, they said no $350 is the price and will be untill it sells, I LMAO and said stick it. Sorry but $499 brand new with zero flaws is over priced and they want $350 for damaged...that thing will sit there for 10 years.

 

[matty d]

Hey DrB2319

$350 is a rip for a damaged one; that is the Sears sale priced for a new GearChest.

My latest story: I had a GearDrawers craigslist ad for $175; seller said "brand new condition". I got all excited because this is the last major piece for my garage. I drove 30 miles to see that the top front corners were bashed and the enamel chipped. Although a good price, I said no. the seller should not have said "brand new condition". I should have asked for pics. About $10 in gas down the drain.

 

[mtwaterguy]

mtwaterguy, it doesn't look like you used any of the gearwall/track when hanging your cabinets?



That's correct. I used 2x4's.

 

[Falcon67]

I looked at that at Sears, but I liked the price and look of the Seville stuff (Sams Club) better.

 

[Cobra6]

You just have to catch it on sale - the 30 inch welded cabinets go on sale at Sears 2 or three times a year for $99 (+ $5 off coupon) with free in store pickup.

I bought the fold down desk /workstation for $99

You have to look around a little - if you can get in Direct Buy they get about 40% off plus run great specials on Gladiator stuff all the time.

 

[Rocket1]

I have a couple of the welded cabinets and I think they are well worth the money. I think the quality is great and it will last a long time. At first I thought it was expensive but once I looked at the alternatives I decided they were better quality than the other things I looked at.

 

[miketoo2]

When was the Lowes clearance on Gladiator stuff?

 

[MrSnicks]

Last year I think it was they discontinued the 2 door wall cabinet with a shelf below the doors for the full door 2 door cabinet. I got a couple for $35.00 each at that price/time. This year they are changing some of the models to a newer "quicker easier build" model and the prices and availability vary by location. I also think Lowes is clearing them out because they have their own Kobalt line of direct compete products.

I've seen the wall cabinets on clearance, the standing lockers, the casters, the wooden tops, the fold down workstation, etc...

 

[Barquero]

Question for those of you with this stuff, do all the cabinets that hang on the walls/tracks attach with the Gladiator brackets? B/C I'm now considering building cabinets myself and just using Gladiator brackets to attach to the Gearwall/track.

DrB I did exactly this, picked up a few extra tracks and bolted them to various cabinets and shelves that I already had. FWIW I installed my Gladiator stuff before I found this forum. All in all I've been happy with it, but I think in my next garage I'm going to go with a combination of Slatwall and french cleats as Kevin54 suggested.