How to grease HF toolboxes?

[rogersmithiii]

My Harbor Freight box slides have gotten gummy, making it hard to slide the drawers.

Any advice for getting them out, and greasing the slides?

Thanks

 

[seber]

I don't own HF but I would recommend never use grease on a drawer slide. It will attract dirt and get gummy. Sound familiar? Use a dry lube. I like candle (paraffin) wax.

 

[a_whale]

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[Mthomas1686]

On all my tool boxes...I have a snapon master series, husky, and us general. Have also had a craftsman in the past. I always use fluid film. My snapon box is hands down the best for drawer slide function.
But I highly recommend fluid film for all lubrication uses

 

[Bacon!]

My Harbor Freight box slides have gotten gummy, making it hard to slide the drawers.

Any advice for getting them out, and greasing the slides?

Thanks

We'd need to see the slide construction. I've no problem using grease, but some types do get gummy after a few years. If there's plastic involved then I'd use a silicone paste grease, which tends to be less likely to separate the oil out and harden, unless it is a very dirty environment, then a petroleum grease would be much easier to clean off later (with a petroleum solvent), or as someone else already mentioned, use a dry lube instead.

Have you tried just pulling them out, putting a couple drops of oil on the contact area and opening and closing them a few times?

Getting them out, pull out as far as they'll go and there's probably a tab you bend in by inserting a long screwdriver or thin bar, or twist the bar slightly to make clearance past that stop-tab while pulling each side of the drawer past it. It might be easier to do the top drawer first, then be able to see inside with a work light to do the rest.

 

[Al Borland]

Candlewax for slider slides.
If it has bearings, a couple drops of 3-in-1.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Candlewax for slider slides.
If it has bearings, a couple drops of 3-in-1.

Even a shot or two or your favorite penetrating oil can get sticky slides moving again. Obviously friction slides need taken off for best results, but a rag and a delicate finger on the spray nozzle can do pretty well on ball bearing slides while leaving them installed. Light sprays on the bearing surfaces, open/close a few times, repeat.

I see lots of boxes with "memory" slides, from them never being fully extended. So they naturally only have a little stop point just shy of full extension. Open the drawers 100% from time to time to help prevent this.

 

[Robbie B]

I used silicone spray on my 44” box and my 5 drawer cart. It did great on the box, on the cart it didn’t seem to help all that much.

 

[MDM]

I had the same exact thing happen to mine. One of the old 44 inch ones with the textured red powder coating. I just sprayed the drawer slides with some wd40 and they freed right up. Spray it, open it, spray the length of the slide, close it, in and out a few times. Ended up being much more simple then I thought. Also, just press on the nozzle, just enough to let it dribble out using the extension tube so it doesn't make a mess.