HF 56 Drawer latches

[so2315]

Just had 2 plastic drawer latches break on my 56" roller cabinet. Black Plastic handle on front fell off and the spring spring shot off inside the drawer. I have no idea where the rest went. This was just with a normal gentle depress of the latch and no yanking or abuse.

Is there anybody here that removed these from their cabinet and might want to part with them? I emailed Harbor Freight to see if they sell replacements, but have a sneaking suspicion they wont have these replacement parts available even though they sell a ton of them.

 

[930dreamer]

I looked at the toolboxes at HF Saturday and a few had them missing, so I'm guessing its a common problem.

 

[Holmesx10]

I’m pretty sure I remember seeing somewhere on the garage journal someone saying that their is a way to get parts for the us general boxes. However I don’t remember the source but it might be worth the time investigating.

 

[ChrisLS8]

If you have the newer model with detents just remove the latches completely

 

[kngelv]

Just had 2 plastic drawer latches break on my 56" roller cabinet. Black Plastic handle on front fell off and the spring spring shot off inside the drawer. I have no idea where the rest went. This was just with a normal gentle depress of the latch and no yanking or abuse.

Is there anybody here that removed these from their cabinet and might want to part with them? I emailed Harbor Freight to see if they sell replacements, but have a sneaking suspicion they wont have these replacement parts available even though they sell a ton of them.

PM me. I took all mine off my top box.

James

 

[Mr_B]

Try and replace with the bolt on latches over riveted ones as they do look little more robust (might not be in real world use as only observation made from display models)
The wanky plastic latches a real issue on these, should of been dealt with on series 2 improvements, maybe series 3 lol !

 

[BDT/NWMN]

If anyone needs to order parts for the General tool boxes:
Write down the model information found on the sticker on the box.
Download the manual for the box if You don't have one.
Make a list of the parts needed, and their reference number from the manual.
Have a credit card handy.
Call customer Service.
Your parts will be shipped direct from the factory in China.
The estimated time given Me was ten weeks.
If You need drawer slides; the parts for a slide are listed separately, so three components must be ordered to assemble a single slide.

This is what I found out a few years back.
At least the parts ARE available

 

[87FoRunner]

I called customer service last week about the EXACT same scenario...
The latches are a few weeks out and they will notify me when they are available, I put myself down for plenty of spares. The person on the phone was very knowledgeable and pleasant.

 

[71goldss]

If anyone needs to order parts for the General tool boxes:
Write down the model information found on the sticker on the back of the box.
Download the manual for the box if You on't have one.
Make a list of the parts needed, and their reference number from the manual.
Have a credit card handy.
Call customer Service.
Your parts will be shipped direct from the factory in China.
The estimated time given Me was ten weeks.
If You need drawer slides; the parts for a slide are listed separately, so three components must be ordered to assemble a single slide.

This is what I found out a few years back.
At least the parts ARE available

Slightly off topic, but when I first purchased my two 56’s in late November, my son and I removed them from my truck by removing the drawers first. Unfortunately, we were in a bit of a hurry putting the drawers back in and we messed up one of the slides. I called HF’s customer service about a week later to order another slide, and also order a couple extra for backups. I told the guy on the phone how I had damaged the slide and wanted to purchase, but he said he’d just warranty them and asked for my purchase date and store location. Not having my recipe handy, he just looked up my name in their system and then asked how many I wanted? I told him three, thinking I’d have two spares. He also told me 10 to 12 weeks to receive. I just received them by FedEx yesterday, and was very surprised to find that they sent my 6 total. A pair for each drawer. I didn’t realize it at the time, but there is a left slide and a right slide. Other than the long wait time, HF’s customer service was fantastic!

BTW, my slides came fully assembled, with no need to order individual pieces to make a slide.

 

[Yarpo]

As stated above, they will be able to get them to you but we also waited about 2 months for them. This was at my last employer so I have no idea if the process has got faster or slower, but certainly doable

 

[Jlbc212]

I bought a slightly dented HF56 a couple of years ago. It also had a few broken drawer locks. Somewhere on the internet, might have been on GJ, I read about attaching a magnet to the back of the draw. I bought several long magnetic tool holders on sale at HF a couple of months ago. I'd like to tell you it's an excellent solution, but the project of emptying the drawers, bolting the magnets to the back of the drawers and adjusting the space between the magnet and the rear of the box has yet to rise to the top of my things to do list.

 

[so2315]

Well I called Customer Service at Harbor Freight and they said they no longer support the series 1 models.....So I sent you a PM KNGELV

 

[Mr_B]

series 1 - 2 latches the same pretty much ...

 

[Ditchdigger]

I called HF to order new latches for my 56 back in early November. They said they will take 6 to 8 weeks to come in from China and they will send me a post card when they are ready for me to pay for them. They would not let me order 10 of them. I was able to order 9 though.

Still no post card. This has happened before with drawer slides for the same box. It took closer to 16 weeks but when I did receive the post card they got here quickly.

The latches are under $2 each though.

 

[Mr_B]

No idea why can't keep some latches slides and locks in stock even if mail order only .

 

[Ditchdigger]

By coincidence the letter from hf stating my parts were in stock was in the mailbox today. Date of order was November 11th. So around 12 weeks.

Amount due $16.45 for 9 latches.

 

[kngelv]

Here is a problem with the latches. I removed the ones from my 56" top which had two screws holding them on. This is the box with the detents. My bottom box latches are riveted on and there are no detents. These I have left on. so2315 had PM'ed me to get a couple of latches. While out in the garage today I grabbed one of the latches and compared it to the bottom box. The latches that are screwed on are much larger than the ones that are riveted and will not fit into the riveted box cutouts that hold the drawers in place. Here are some pics.

James

 

[APS2000]

Slightly off topic, but when I first purchased my two 56’s in late November...

BTW, my slides came fully assembled, with no need to order individual pieces to make a slide.

Can you advise the part number for ordering the slides?

 

[71goldss]

Can you advise the part number for ordering the slides?

Sorry, no part number, but item #8 on the user manual for box 64457. Unfortunately, the packaging for the new slides don’t list a part number either.

 

[APS2000]

Sorry, no part number, but item #8 on the user manual for box 64457. Unfortunately, the packaging for the new slides don’t list a part number either.

Thanks. I'll give Harbor Freight a call.

 

[sgtgeo]

With the seeming popularity of this box I'm surprised nobody is making aluminium or steel replacements to retrofit.

I'm not a machinist but this can't be that hard to make. Mill the profile on a long piece of stock and crosscut to the correct width?

I'm not ready to buy the box yet but I'd buy some metal latches ahead of time to fix what sounds like the only weakness of this box.

 

[timmyisme22]

With the seeming popularity of this box I'm surprised nobody is making aluminium or steel replacements to retrofit.

I'm not a machinist but this can't be that hard to make. Mill the profile on a long piece of stock and crosscut to the correct width?

I'm not ready to buy the box yet but I'd buy some metal latches ahead of time to fix what sounds like the only weakness of this box.

I was thinking aluminum or brass (though now that I think of it, I have phenolic that's about the right size). Pretty much any small piece of scrap could be cut into new latches no problem (saving for a house so no machines unfortunately).

Hell, it could easily be done by file or sander for the slide angle.

 

[Mr_B]

If making some they ideally want like a nylon face to the latch angle face .
The bolt on latch is stronger by looks of it, you got buy your HF boxes wisely to get better made ones .
beyond belief they didn't change latches for series2 as they pretty ****, at the least could make effort stock them in 4 packs so quick and easy fix .

 

[ElusiveKandyDC]

With the seeming popularity of this box I'm surprised nobody is making aluminium or steel replacements to retrofit.

I'm not a machinist but this can't be that hard to make. Mill the profile on a long piece of stock and crosscut to the correct width?

I'm not ready to buy the box yet but I'd buy some metal latches ahead of time to fix what sounds like the only weakness of this box.

This would be the bees knees

Sign me up for a pre-order if anyone is down for the task