Harbor freight 44 suggestions

[Jwych]

Disclaimer:

I own a hf 44 and use it professionally and its an ok box. And for the money is a great deal.



But why is it every time someone asks about a truck brand box all they hear is " BUY A HF 44 YOU IDIOT DONT YOU KNOW ITS CHEAP?" Well sometimes people WANT to buy a nice truck box and are not asking for information pertaining to why they should buy a hf 44. If you have never used or been around a truck box you have no idea how nice they actually are! The differences between the Snapon box in my service truck and my hf are great. Drawer layout in the so box is better and the slides are a huge upgrade. The slides make a big difference when going into your box 40+ times a day because it's annoying to fight a drawer all day.

I guess all I'm ranting about is if you can't add to the op's original question don't chime in with "BUY A HF 44" because really it has nothing to do with what they are asking!!!!


Rant over

P.S. If I could afford a truck box i'd have one, someday I will!

 

[RedneckWelder]

Disclaimer:

I own a hf 44 and use it professionally and its an ok box. And for the money is a great deal.



But why is it every time someone asks about a truck brand box all they hear is " BUY A HF 44 YOU IDIOT DONT YOU KNOW ITS CHEAP?" Well sometimes people WANT to buy a nice truck box and are not asking for information pertaining to why they should buy a hf 44. If you have never used or been around a truck box you have no idea how nice they actually are! The differences between the Snapon box in my service truck and my hf are great. Drawer layout in the so box is better and the slides are a huge upgrade. The slides make a big difference when going into your box 40+ times a day because it's annoying to fight a drawer all day.

I guess all I'm ranting about is if you can't add to the op's original question don't chime in with "BUY A HF 44" because really it has nothing to do with what they are asking!!!!

This. So much this.

I don't think that for the money you can find a better box than an HF44 or 56, but a higher quality box is desired by some of us, and we are willing to pay more. We aren't idiots or "tool whores" as some seem to think.

 

[redwrench60]

Nothing wrong with those HF 44" boxes, hard to beat for the money. I just need more drawer space and load capacity. The sheer weight and volume of tools and equipment I have to store dictate the need for a big box with large weight capacity.

For an example a HF 44" box has 14,200 cu. in. of storage space and a 2633 lb load capacity.

My main box at work has 115,249 cu. in. of storage space and a 6800 lb load capacity. So it would take OVER 8 HF 44" boxes to equal the stack I have at work. Theyd have to give me another stall just for all the boxes!

 

[justme-]

Lets compare apples to apples - we're talking about base HF 44, not a 72" Macsimizer with hutch and top cabinets, and side boxes hung on. The physical size of the box should be compared to the same physical size of the box. I'm interested to see in a couple years how all these HF44s being used in "professional" environments are holding up compared to the truck brands which we know will last for decades. The other issue we forget is HF boxes are single configuration, but truck boxes are available in lots of configurations from drawer sizes to left or right banks, to levels (base line, basics, up to top line). That makes it hard to do real meaningful comparisons on volume, which is also misleading since so many boxes with deep drawers are 3/4 empty by volume in actual use, and capacity if higher line boxes have higher weight limits with the way we simply throw a brand name around.

No one should be insulted for the choice of tool or box they make and fully understanding what it out there for options would help a lot more people however 90% of the people touting the HF44 as the be-all, end-all of boxes are magazine editors who don't have enough tools or wrench turning experience in life to actually know what they need and home owners who want a "snap on" looking box.

 

[paramud]

The issue is you see people saying "I am starting as a mechanic, I have no money" Financially it doesnt make any sense to finance an item that does not make you money.

After a year or 2, if you are still a mechanic (a lot arent) then get a quality box because you will probably now have enough tools to fill a bigger one. Then use the harbor freight one as a home box.

Or lets see it from the mechanic that doesnt want to do it anymore after a year.

Buys a 350 dollar HF box. Sells it for 250. Out 100

Buys a 1500 dollar box. Can sell for around 800. And can trash your credit.

 

[Jwych]

The issue is you see people saying "I am starting as a mechanic, I have no money" Financially it doesnt make any sense to finance an item that does not make you money.

After a year or 2, if you are still a mechanic (a lot arent) then get a quality box because you will probably now have enough tools to fill a bigger one. Then use the harbor freight one as a home box.

Or lets see it from the mechanic that doesnt want to do it anymore after a year.

Buys a 350 dollar HF box. Sells it for 250. Out 100

Buys a 1500 dollar box. Can sell for around 800. And can trash your credit.

I can see your point here but even guys who have been wrenching for awhile and ask for an opinion on a box get told " you could buy 12 harbor freight 44's for that kind of money" well that's impractical and terrible advice

 

[BirdMobile]

Meh...
It's just a box. Whatever you want to buy and whatever makes you happy.
I'll never understand flame wars over tool choices - life's too f'ing short.

 

[volleyball]

Who decides what is pertinent? Unfortunately, it is not you or me. It is whoever posts. I don't get the rant posts over what people post. Do you want to know my value of this thread?

 

[jjjrmx5]

Disclaimer:

I own a hf 44 and use it professionally and its an ok box. And for the money is a great deal.




P.S. If I could afford a truck box i'd have one, someday I will!

So you pretty much *&*^ answered your own question and rant.

No one ever said Truck brand boxes were NOT worth the money if used daily and in a professional or industrial setting.

it's just many if not MOST folks cannot afford one in the first place. Thus why you see so many repo'd if you talk to a driver or work in a facility with a lot of tool users or on a big route.

It's a chicken and egg battle in that you need tools to do the job, but you learn soon after that a crappy box can slow down/hamper your work pace at times. And what it REALLY gets down to is that well made items are not cheap but in a lot of cases those that need them do not make wages sufficient enough to purchase one unless supplied by your employer.

I need one but I cannot afford one, but if I change career paths for more money, I find I really don't need one now so why spend the money.
Back to chicken and egg.

For the home and semi-pro user the HF 44 is great. For the pro, used or new big $$ is where it is at.
Homak, Montezuma and others offer options, but good boxes are not cheap unless used.

But you knew that.

 

[zkling]

Disclaimer:

I own a hf 44 and use it professionally and its an ok box. And for the money is a great deal.



But why is it every time someone asks about a truck brand box all they hear is " BUY A HF 44 YOU IDIOT DONT YOU KNOW ITS CHEAP?" Well sometimes people WANT to buy a nice truck box and are not asking for information pertaining to why they should buy a hf 44. If you have never used or been around a truck box you have no idea how nice they actually are! The differences between the Snapon box in my service truck and my hf are great. Drawer layout in the so box is better and the slides are a huge upgrade. The slides make a big difference when going into your box 40+ times a day because it's annoying to fight a drawer all day.

I guess all I'm ranting about is if you can't add to the op's original question don't chime in with "BUY A HF 44" because really it has nothing to do with what they are asking!!!!


Rant over

P.S. If I could afford a truck box i'd have one, someday I will!

Nothing wrong with those HF 44" boxes, hard to beat for the money. I just need more drawer space and load capacity. The sheer weight and volume of tools and equipment I have to store dictate the need for a big box with large weight capacity.

For an example a HF 44" box has 14,200 cu. in. of storage space and a 2633 lb load capacity.

My main box at work has 115,249 cu. in. of storage space and a 6800 lb load capacity. So it would take OVER 8 HF 44" boxes to equal the stack I have at work. Theyd have to give me another stall just for all the boxes!

Right there. With that said, I'd take a truck brand over HF any day and a lista/vidmar/bot or other industrial cabinet over a truck brand box any day.

 

[crerus75]

Since I no longer wrench for a living, I would probably buy some flavor of HF box before any tool truck box. I just can't justify spending big money on a box now that I'm essentially a hobbyist. If I found a Taco Wagon for anything approaching reasonable money in my area, though, I'd take it over a HF box, even though it probably doesn't fit my needs as well as a 44 or 56 from HF. I also want an old Tektronix 7000-series scope, preferably a 4-holer, with a bunch of plugins. Why? Because it's cool. I'll never make my money back on a scope OR a Taco Wagon, but who cares?

Most of us are here because we LOVE tools, building, and fixing. Some of us take pride in getting a good bang for the buck, like with an HF 44. Fair one. Others take pride in buying a gorgeous, limited edition Snap On box. Also a fair one. Plenty of room here for all of us.

 

[crewchief888]

i've been wrenching on const eq for 30 years, and have accumulated more than my fair share of "working" tools.
i also have a fairly large selection of tools sitting in my garage.

todays choices in toolboxes are HUGE compared to what was available 30 years ago.
most guys had a set of CM boxes, i started out with a set of kennedy boxes.
i knew i'd continue with my choice of jobs after 2 or 3 years, so i upgraded to truck brand boxes, and have really never looked back.
i've owned several non truck brands over the years, bought or traded used, mostly for home use.
my main working box is a late 90's CM top thats seen a very rough life in 4 different service trucks.

when i bought my 1st SET of truck brand boxes, i was hoping i'd never need another box...
i was very wrong...
but i still have those boxes, and many more.
even after 20 years of hard use, one set of slides were replaced in the roller cab about 10 years ago.

IF i needed tool storage at home, (i dont), i wouldnt be looking at a NEW truck brand box,
i wouldnt hesitate to head down to HF or menards and put down my hard earned cash on something they offered.

just my $0.02

 

[cheechi]

I know why this thread was started and I fully agree.

The issue is too many people can't see past the end of their nose. Whatever works for them, whatever is in their own budget, that's the answer for everyone.

If you can make it with the HF 44" box go for it. More money for tools and hopefully you didn't have to charge it, you're good to go.

If you need an 'outside the box' box and have to go custom, you have limited options and pay for the privilege. Hope you don't have to charge it, but you have to wait. once it arrives you're good to go.

The above two situations really only cover a home garage/diy, a guy that just bumped up from lube tech, or someone who knows their own needs better than you can suggest anyway. Everyone else is in the middle. Is it worth it to pay for a used truck box vs a new HF or other store brand box? Maybe. Each situation is different. Simply insisting the HF box is best in every one of these situations is ignorant. Especially from people who have been here for a while.

There is no one size fits all. And even if so the HF isn't it. Coming from someone who owns multiple.

 

[DirtyWeRX]

Next time someone tells you how stupid you are for purchasing a HF box, tell them to either; A: "Dont talk out of your own wallet". or B: "Eat a d!ck".

I remember back when I was shopping to build my computer. The saleman showed me their hard drives. I picked out a 1 Tb spinning hard drive. He asked me why I didn't was a solid state hd. I told him that Im not really worried about the speed difference, the hard drive I picked was about $80 and the SSD was about $250 at the time.

He said, "Alright, if you don't want your computer to be fast..."

Damn near took everything in me to not react like a mad man for his belittling comment. I was standing there thinking about "does this guy think Im an idiot and making a poor choice?"

Bottom line, It just wasnt in my budget and I never regretted it. My only retaliation was that; at this store, sales associates get to put a sticker with their names and a bar code on it so that the cashier can scan those and the associate gets the credit for selling items. When I was done picking stuff out, he said, "here, let me just stick these on your items".... and while he was printing them out, i just pushed my cart up front to pay. **** that guy.



Doesnt matter what you own as long as you get the job done. Im sure your boss doesnt care what brand box you own as long as the work get finished on time.

 

[MikeF2316]

Plus don't forget the crowd that say KRAs are ****, you need to get a KRL...

 

[rexer]

crerue75 : Most of us are here because we LOVE tools, building, and fixing. Some of us take pride in getting a good bang for the buck, like with an HF 44. Fair one. Others take pride in buying a gorgeous, limited edition Snap On box. Also a fair one. Plenty of room here for all of us.

well said

Amen.......

 

[87FoRunner]

I never put down anyone for any tool they purchase.

I get sick of the folks that say 12 points are useless, when I personally use them daily on big truck driveshafts, PTOs, and other misc car jobs.

I get sick of folks that say beam wrenches are useless, when I use them daily for hydraulics.

Oh, and standard wrenches, I use those daily as well. In fact, only one of the smaller lower side drawers in my HF44 top and bottom have metric wrenches where 3 big and 2 little drawers have standard sets.


I am going to have a hard time giving up my 44 setup in my environment, but if I worked in a shop where I only had Hondas or Chevrolets pull in, I would have a Mobtezuma or a KRL in a heartbeat.

 

[txdude87]

If anyone has complaints bout their HF boxes let me know where you live. I'll come with a trailer and permanently fix that problem for you.

 

[whitetrash1]

My only complaint about my hf44 is its not big enough lol

 

[tdkkart]

I just went and bought another HF 44 yesterday, I have a use for it, a place to put it, and for what I want it for there's no better deal out there.
Don't like my choice, kiss my ***. And yes, I will continue to recommend them to anyone looking for tool storage, simply because they may not be aware of what's available, and nobody can deny that they're a good value for the money.

While I was there, I looked really hard at their ratchets, tried really hard to like them, but just couldn't put my money down for something that says "Pittsburg" on the side.
I know the Pittsburg products have gotten much better in the last few years, but I just can't get past the fact that just a few years ago anything that said Pittsburg on the side almost always self-destructed the first time you used it.

People can say what they want about Harbor Freight, but while I was there I will say that it was the busiest retail store of it's size I've been in for a LONG time. The store is only about 6 aisles wide, 3 checkout lanes, you couldn't have thrown a wrench in any direction, anywhere in the store, without hitting someone.

 

[cheechi]

I remember back when I was shopping to build my computer. The saleman showed me their hard drives. I picked out a 1 Tb spinning hard drive. He asked me why I didn't was a solid state hd. I told him that Im not really worried about the speed difference, the hard drive I picked was about $80 and the SSD was about $250 at the time.

He said, "Alright, if you don't want your computer to be fast..."

I love this story. Part of the reason I don't work in a PC store anymore.

I think a lot of you are missing the point of this thread. This isn't a 'me too with my HF 44' type of thread. It's a recommendation that maybe everyone buying a tool box isn't going to see their needs met with this particular box. Go reread the OP.