Need help with HF tool box decision!

[Smitherines]

Hey all, first post here. I'm currently a tech at a 20-bay dealership, and I'm currently using a HF 5 drawer cart, a vintage Mac bottom box, an a craftsman 12" deep top chest. I'm running out of room, and I'm getting tired of having three different keys and having my stuff strewn about 3 boxes. My eventual plans are to pick up a nice SO box down the road with a hutch, side cabby, etc, but for now, as my tool collection grows slowly, I need to get something larger than what I have now. The drawers on the Mac bottom box are not really that tall, and I'd have to bend over to take a look at the sockets I want to use. The top craftsman box being a 12" deep chest is relatively useless.

Anyways, on to the main issue at hand. I'm debating whether to get the 44" box or the 56" box. I know the 44" is 18" deep and the 56" is only 22" deep. The width can be compensated for the side drawers that could be added onto the side of the 44". What steers me away from the 56" is the inability to put a side cabinet on it, and we know as techs, some tools need to stay in their plastic boxes and to waste valuable drawer space to boxes is a no-no!

The entry price for the 44" is very attractive at $350, and addons can be purchased quite cheap. I figure worst case scenario, I could always buy another 44" to put side by side if I really wanted to extend the life of the HF setup. The $800 dollar price tag, while not as expensive as the tool truck boxes, throwing down 800 bucks at once isn't the easiest decision to make. I also don't want to put a top box on top of either box, I'd rather use it at bench/desk space.

So my questions is which way should I go? I'm torn considerably, and I'd appreciate any advice to help me make a decision! Sorry for the essay!

 

[richfinn]

Take the stuff you never use out of your current set up and thin your kit out to stuff that makes you money, save the 800 bucks, sell the stuff you dont use and wait until you can afford the SO box you really want (or the Lista box you will probably want instead after joining this site)

 

[Smitherines]

Well, everything I have in there I need, I don't buy tools I'll never use! And I'm a a few years (at least 3) out from buying an Epiq that I'd want! I absolutely need a larger box for now. I should mention the Mac bottom I have is only like 24" wide, it's actually the width of a standard Craftsman box youd get nowadays. I couldn't tell you how old it is, it's the two handles per drawer design.

 

[BOONEY7750]

I am learning to look used. I got hosed and lost out on a 40" Snap on 7 drawer KRA today that was sold out from under me for $575. I am not as on the Harbor Freight band wagon as some though.

 

[Smitherines]

I am learning to look used. I got hosed and lost out on a 40" Snap on 7 drawer KRA today that was sold out from under me for $575. I am not as on the Harbor Freight band wagon as some though.

My I have mostly SO and Matco tools in my boxes. I can't justify dropping 5k+ for a tool box now considering I have many, MANY more tools to buy. A tool truck box won't make me more money, more tools make more money!

 

[richfinn]

Well, everything I have in there I need, I don't buy tools I'll never use! And I'm a a few years (at least 3) out from buying an Epiq that I'd want! I absolutely need a larger box for now. I should mention the Mac bottom I have is only like 24" wide, it's actually the width of a standard Craftsman box youd get nowadays. I couldn't tell you how old it is, it's the two handles per drawer design.

I think you will regret buying an $800 toolbox as a stop gap, just buy something decent from ebay and trade it for the Epiq in 3 years time (when they have stopped making them)

Would a Snap On dealer take a HF toolbox in trade?

Whats the big deal with these Epiqs anyway, are they really any different from a KRL?

 

[Smitherines]

I think you will regret buying an $800 toolbox as a stop gap, just buy something decent from ebay and trade it for the Epiq in 3 years time (when they have stopped making them)

Would a Snap On dealer take a HF toolbox in trade?

Whats the big deal with these Epiqs anyway, are they really any different from a KRL?

Either way, the box wouldn't be a waste, I'd just take it home and get rid of my smaller SO boxes at home. Epiq or KRL, doesn't matter, either way they're expensive boxes that I don't want to purchase right now.

I suppose my question is mainly intended to people that actually have these boxes. I know they're built very well. You can see by the prices that I can purchase 2 44" boxes for less than the cost of 1 56". It makes it a touch more future proof. I want to put off getting a SO or better box for at least 3 years.

The 44" $380
http://www.harborfreight.com/13-drawer-red-industrial-quality-roller-cabinet-90320.html

The 56" $800
http://www.harborfreight.com/56-inch-11-drawer-industrial-roller-cabinet-67681.html

 

[DrkMtnDew]

Buy the 44''. in 3 years you can use it for the home box or turn around and sell it. At $350 and 3 years of use you'll get your money's worth out of it. you could get the 56'' but i think it would be harder to get your money back out of it.

 

[fflintstone]

Sometimes the 56" one goes on sale for $699. I was all set to buy one to replace my set up but I stumbled into a reasonable deal on a Mac.
You will fill and then crowd whatever size you get.

 

[wornoutoldman]

Buy two of the forty four inchers, leave the casters off one and stack them top of each other. You'll have all the space you could need or want till trade in time.


BTW-I just posted the coupon code for those boxes in the HF Coupon thread for $349 (good till 2/12)

 

[Smitherines]

Buy the 44''. in 3 years you can use it for the home box or turn around and sell it. At $350 and 3 years of use you'll get your money's worth out of it. you could get the 56'' but i think it would be harder to get your money back out of it.

That's what I'm saying. Even if I'm 1000 bucks into it, with two boxes, a side cab, and a side drawer box, I can always use the boxes at home, or sell stuff off to starting techs at the time. I mean, even a base Classic 78 is 2000. The only thing that bothers me is the 18" depth, but I think I can get over that. I take care of my boxes and tools, so I know I can sell them reasonably priced down the road.

Sometimes the 56" one goes on sale for $699. I was all set to buy one to replace my set up but I stumbled into a reasonable deal on a Mac.
You will fill and then crowd whatever size you get.

I'll keep my eye out, the drawer locks bother me a bit, I have them on my 5 drawer cart and they're annoying sometimes. Also $700 in one sitting is still a chunk of change.

 

[Smitherines]

Buy two of the forty four inchers, leave the casters off one and stack them top of each other. You'll have all the space you could need or want till trade in time.


BTW-I just posted the coupon code for those boxes in the HF Coupon thread for $349 (good till 2/12)

I'm only 5'6", I don't think stacking them would be a good idea I would definitely put both next to each other though. I need the top of the toolbox for the computer and doing paperwork, and throwing tools up there until I'm ready to clean up.

 

[richfinn]

Sounds like you had made up your mind before you asked for advice, I would wait a while and see what some of the other dealer techs think.

I,m guessing your 23 yrs old +- 2 yrs.

 

[Smitherines]

Sounds like you had made up your mind before you asked for advice, I would wait a while and see what some of the other dealer techs think.

I,m guessing your 23 yrs old +- 2 yrs.

Age has no bearing in this conversation. Yes, I made my mind up coming into this, my decision was to purchase a HF larger tool box, my question is which one. I know SO/Matco/Mac are not in my best interests as of right now financially, even though they are GREAT tool boxes, and rather than getting excited and buying a tool truck box, and regretting the financial decision later, I'd rather spend the money on quality tools. I think that's fairly reasonable.

 

[Skin]

If the price difference wasnt so huge i'd say the 56 but if your aim is to expand on space as cheaply as possible go the route of the 42". For similar money you can buy the cabinet, top chest, and a side cabinet. You'll have more space than you'll know what to do with initially.

 

[tyyost]

Buy the 42". I had mine two weeks and got the 7 drawer add on. I get what everyone is saying, but it was cheap, and does the job. I may add the cabinet later this winter, but most of the cases on tools I have are on my cart now.

I don't think anyone loses on the 42" box. We all would want truck boxes, but this does the job. I have the 5 drawer cart as well, and think its great. Took a hard flip one windy day, spent a ton of time resetting up ,ay hansons, but the cart was fine, even with 250 lbs of tools in it when it flipped.

 

[Sterff]

I have the 42" model and it has served me well. The box is pretty sturdy and I haven't had any major issues with it. I do want to upgrade to a 24-30" deep box in the future because the box is way too full. I painted mine to match my Craftsman boxes.

 

[richfinn]

Age has no bearing in this conversation. Yes, I made my mind up coming into this, my decision was to purchase a HF larger tool box, my question is which one. I know SO/Matco/Mac are not in my best interests as of right now financially, even though they are GREAT tool boxes, and rather than getting excited and buying a tool truck box, and regretting the financial decision later, I'd rather spend the money on quality tools. I think that's fairly reasonable.

I,m not telling you to get exited and go buy a truck tool box, I,m telling you to save your money until you can afford what you really want, thats reasonable.

What your planning to do is blow $800 bucks of your high quality tool budget on a (lets face it) poor quality toolbox that wont be worth anything in 3 years.

My suggestion was have a look for something decent on ebay first.

but your 22 and predictable, and that $800 wont spend itself

 

[rickairmedic]

Smitherines I commend you for not going "OOOOOOOOOOOOOH $5000.00 tool truck box must go in debt must go in debt" . I thing the 41" would serve you well for a while and give you time to find a nice clean lightly used $5000.00 " tool truck box " on CL for $1500.00 to upgrade into .

Rick

 

[NWphotog]

Buy 1 of the 42"ers. You'll love it. It ain't SO but it also isn't $5-$10k. Buy it at $350 and down the road you can sell it for what you paid for it. What is true for Rich probably isn't right for rest of us.

 

[dragsterdoug]

I would not waste my money on a HF box. My wife got me one for Chrisymas a few years ago. Had all kinds of problems with shipping, damage and credits. Once she got money back from them we bought a Grizzley box. Made MUCH better.

 

[Skin]

What your planning to do is blow $800 bucks of your high quality tool budget on a (lets face it) poor quality toolbox that wont be worth anything in 3 years.

I'm a little stunned by the ignorance of this statement.

Unless he crumples the boxes at work they'll be worth not much under what he paid. Simple answer being its a **** load of storage for little bucks. Say it runs him $800, i'd be shocked if he couldnt sell it, easily, for $500-$600 in 3 years.

As to the quality, its not great, but its a far cry from poor.

The only boxes that are damn near impossible to sell are truck brand boxes for anything close to MSRP. Hell even half off they're a chore to sell.

 

[Big Gus]

I'd buy the 40" box. I worked out of a box that size for a few years. I had a 26" top box on top of it, along with a side cabinet. I did the same thing as you. I worked out of the 40" box for a few years, then traded the setup in on a KRL Snap-On once I saved up enough dough.

 

[SMKS]

I have the 40", but I'm only a DIY'er. The one thing I don't like is that the drawers don't have a latching system. The 56" does have a latching system. But for the price, I don't think you can beat the 40".

 

[richfinn]

I'm a little stunned by the ignorance of this statement.

Unless he crumples the boxes at work they'll be worth not much under what he paid. Simple answer being its a crapload of storage for little bucks. Say it runs him $800, i'd be shocked if he couldnt sell it, easily, for $500-$600 in 3 years.

As to the quality, its not great, but its a far cry from poor.

The only boxes that are damn near impossible to sell are truck brand boxes for anything close to MSRP. Hell even half off they're a chore to sell.

Dream on, who would buy an old HF toolbox thats been in a dealership environment for 600 bucks when they can get a new one at the store for 800.

Thats Ignorance

 

[richfinn]

I'm a little stunned by the ignorance of this statement.

Unless he crumples the boxes at work they'll be worth not much under what he paid. Simple answer being its a **** load of storage for little bucks. Say it runs him $800, i'd be shocked if he couldnt sell it, easily, for $500-$600 in 3 years.

As to the quality, its not great, but its a far cry from poor.

The only boxes that are damn near impossible to sell are truck brand boxes for anything close to MSRP. Hell even half off they're a chore to sell.

All the more reason he should buy a used one from ebay or CL for half the price

Wheres the debate?

You call me ignorant, and then prove me right FFS

 

[Skin]

Dream on, who would buy an old HF toolbox thats been in a dealership environment for 600 bucks when they can get a new one at the store for 800.

Thats Ignorance

200-300 is a lot of money to people. You simply dont know how good the used market is for larger cheaper boxes.

All the more reason he should buy a used one from ebay or CL for half the price

Wheres the debate?

You call me ignorant, and then prove me right FFS

How did i prove you right? First it depends whats local, second it depends on how far he can stretch his budget on short notice. Even at 800 thats not going to buy you a very big truck brand box nor will it be a higher end model. Some of those lower end boxes are on par with the HF stuff.

 

[greasemonkey44]

id get the cheap 350 box; some guys really love them
i avoided it because it has goofy paint and shallow drawers and felt flimsy imo, i got the 8 drawer top and 8 drawer bottom for 300$ otd and it worked better for the shop
i saved and bought a 4 series matco box for 1400, that cheapy tided me over while i worked and saved

 

[c201971]

my local hf had a 42 inch with all the side cabinets hanging on it for display and a 56 inch sitting they on display to and the next time i went in there the had sold the 42 box and hung all the cabinets on the 56 the big side cabnet and the side tool locker sure they dont match in color but u can put them on the 56 inch box.

 

[c/o say]

If your going to get one to get you by till you can get what you want. Go with the 40 in the 56in is not worth the extra spend the extra on side cabs or drawer units. Just remember that tool boxes don't make you any cash they are just storage for the stuff that will. Yes I would love to have a big snap on box but I like cash in my hand or more tools better. So I will live with my cheap but good hf 40in top &bottom box with side locker.

 

[plierwire]

I don't have either - but I have been seriously considering purchasing one. My observations:

I hate the drawer layout on the 42" - too many shallow drawers. BUT - I called the customer service number and learned that you can order the deeper drawers for $18 and $14 (the big one and the small one, respectively). I'm really thinking about buying one and ordering two deeper drawers. This would give me an 11 drawer box with the perfect drawer layout (for me).

I played around with the 56" box in the store. For some reason, it seemed like the drawers had more slop in them than the 42" box. Just my opinion.

 

[Smitherines]

I don't see the harm in going with a HF box if it's going to hold up a few years. Just like plierwire said, boxes dont make you money, they take more money from you! =P I figure I can get the 42, and the tall side cab, and go from there. If I need more space I'll pick up another 42 and be done while I buy more tools, pack those boxes up, and save up for a KRL or Epiq.

 

[radgto]

I don't have either - but I have been seriously considering purchasing one. My observations:

I hate the drawer layout on the 42" - too many shallow drawers. BUT - I called the customer service number and learned that you can order the deeper drawers for $18 and $14 (the big one and the small one, respectively). I'm really thinking about buying one and ordering two deeper drawers. This would give me an 11 drawer box with the perfect drawer layout (for me).

I played around with the 56" box in the store. For some reason, it seemed like the drawers had more slop in them than the 42" box. Just my opinion.

What customer service number? I've been considering selling my new box because of not having enough deep drawers... sounds like just the fix it needs.

 

[diesel research]

Buy 1 of the 42"ers. You'll love it. It ain't SO but it also isn't $5-$10k.

Out of curiosity, which snapon model equivalent to this box, cost $5-10k? Interested in specific model numbers.

 

[kngelv]

I don't see the harm in going with a HF box if it's going to hold up a few years. Just like plierwire said, boxes dont make you money, they take more money from you! =P I figure I can get the 42, and the tall side cab, and go from there. If I need more space I'll pick up another 42 and be done while I buy more tools, pack those boxes up, and save up for a KRL or Epiq.

In your initial post you said you wanted to get away from three different boxes with three different keys yet this scenario will leave you in pretty much the same place other than now having larger sizes. I have the 56" HF. The extra 4 inches in depth make a larger difference than you think plus it has a larger work surface.
Check this thread out.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115098&highlight=harbor+freight

James

 

[Smitherines]

In your initial post you said you wanted to get away from three different boxes with three different keys yet this scenario will leave you in pretty much the same place other than now having larger sizes. I have the 56" HF. The extra 4 inches in depth make a larger difference than you think plus it has a larger work surface.
Check this thread out.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115098&highlight=harbor+freight

James

HF sells a lock set so everything is keyed alike. I know the depth makes a big difference, that's what I'm on the fence about. But for more than double the price, I can get more addons. I think the 42" would be good enough to grow into with the ability to add on as I see fit.

 

[diesel research]

Put the add-ons on the 56"

 

[nit2wn]

I'm just a weekend guy, but took a buddy who's been on the tools trucks buying for 20 yrs. I figured since he wrenched everyday at a 3 different dealerships he knew way more than me. I was figuring $1000 into the 42'' withe the coupons I had. The bottom was $349 along with the top and two side cabinets. I figured this would get me for at least a 10yrs. When I was in the store, that one just didn't float my boat. I didn't care for the off color red and the drawers weren't that smooth on the display. My buddy walked up and played with it and didn't care for it too much either. I saw the 56'', but never considered it because of no way for a top to exactly fit or match it. Steve looked at it and played around with it. Basically told me that was as close as I was going to get for the money to a good ball bearing box, and way better than anything Sears carries in store. I'm cheap to an extent, it has to do the job or it was a waste in the end x 2. Would I use in as a stop gap for a few years, yes in a shop but it won't last much past that in my book either. It will last me though, probably to the grave no more than I use it though. In your situation, I'd hold out for a Craiglist deal on a truck box and use Harbor Freight as a last resort. I'm cheap, but I won't buy something twice if I can possibly swing getting it done once.

 

[plierwire]

@radgto

http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/90000-90999/90320.pdf

You call the number there at the bottom of the manual - (800) 444-3353 - and ask for drawer B and drawer D. You're looking at item number 90320. I'm thinking it was like 18 or 20 bucks for the big one and 14 or so for the small one. Didn't price shipping or anything like that. The drawer slides are spaced out evenly; the big ones take two, the small ones take one. So it won't be any big deal to take out two drawers and replace them with one.

 

[Smitherines]

@radgto

http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/90000-90999/90320.pdf

You call the number there at the bottom of the manual - (800) 444-3353 - and ask for drawer B and drawer D. You're looking at item number 90320. I'm thinking it was like 18 or 20 bucks for the big one and 14 or so for the small one. Didn't price shipping or anything like that. The drawer slides are spaced out evenly; the big ones take two, the small ones take one. So it won't be any big deal to take out two drawers and replace them with one.

That's great to know. Good looking.