Need new Tool box!

[muskaman67]

As a lot of you may already know, I just recently acquired a job at a toyota dealership. I still have yet to purchase a tool bax/roll cart for work. I'm trying to find a box for $400 and under if at all possible. I'm just trying to not have to blow a ton of money right now just to make sure that this is for me. If I like the job and decide to stay I will upgrade down the road. But I think in the mean time a cheaper box will hold me over. What do you guys suggest? Thanks!

 

[MotoDave]

Sounds like a used box is your best bet. If you want to upgrade later you can probably sell it for what you got it for.

 

[sk farmer]

montezuma crossover will hold standard and metric wrenchs and sockets plus much more. i have a thread on mine if you look in my started threads.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

Get the larger Harbor Freight tool cart similar to this one:

5 drawer tool cart

Keep it until you can (or want to) upgrade and then bring this box home. Just don't go in debt right off the bat. Save your cash and move up when you can pay for it. That way you have more cash for tools to do your job better and quicker.

Edit: If you use a 20% off coupon, you are out the door for $184 plus tax. Hard to beat that.

 

[justinmc]

If you are just starting as a lube tech or something you might want to look at the tool cart Napa has on sale for $250 in this quarters flyer. Otherwise look on your local CL, etc. The "classic" 26" snap on bottom boxes are usually in the sub $400 range or else look for a solid older 70's or 80's vintage Mac or Matco box in good shape. These are solidly built and have a ton of space.

 

[muskaman67]

Get the larger Harbor Freight tool cart similar to this one:

5 drawer tool cart

Keep it until you can (or want to) upgrade and then bring this box home. Just don't go in debt right off the bat. Save your cash and move up when you can pay for it. That way you have more cash for tools to do your job better and quicker.

Edit: If you use a 20% off coupon, you are out the door for $184 plus tax. Hard to beat that.

yeah i def. dont want to get into debt already. do you think that tool cart will be sufficient enough for using everyday at the dealership for a while?

 

[BWright]

For under $400, you can't beat the harbor freight 41" box. With the coupon they can be had for $320. Nice thick sheet metal with double slides on the deep drawers.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90320

 

[daveblank]

If you are just starting as a lube tech or something you might want to look at the tool cart Napa has on sale for $250 in this quarters flyer. Otherwise look on your local CL, etc. The "classic" 26" snap on bottom boxes are usually in the sub $400 range or else look for a solid older 70's or 80's vintage Mac or Matco box in good shape. These are solidly built and have a ton of space.

I will second the Napa cart. That's a smoking price.

 

[muskaman67]

I will second the Napa cart. That's a smoking price.

do you have the link or info on this cart? thanks.

 

[chadster1]

I will third any cart for a guy just starting out.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

The HF carts will work just fine as long as you take care putting them together. Some of the guys on here have used gorilla glue in the joints before being bolted together but mine are just scewed together tightly. As a lube tech, you are not going to be running all over the shop pushing it with you. Any of the carts mentioned (including the Napa one) will work fine.

Just don't abuse it and it will last a long time. Depending on your location you might be able to find a small Matco, Mac or Snap-on cart that will do the job. They are hard to find though (I have been hunting for a used KRSC31 in green for almost a year).

 

[justinmc]

do you have the link or info on this cart? thanks.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45789

 

[BTG]

I agree with going with a tool cart at first. Like it was said earlier, get a cheap one at first and save up your money for a bigger and better professional one when you really know what you want and need. There is a black 4 drawer HF cart on sale right now for 149.99 and you could get 20% off that. There is probably enough room below it to put another small box.

Down the road you'll find a smoking deal on a box from a tech getting out of the business and you'll have the dough to upgrade in style!

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95659

 

[muskaman67]

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45789

oh i see. thanks. that cart looks nice. i wonder how it does in comparison to the hf one.

 

[volvo420coupe]

There have been lots of days at the dealers I worked at where I would go all day long, turn 10-12 hours and never open my big box.

A tool cart (I have a three drawer mac) will hold almost everything you need for 90% of the work you will be doing at the dealer.

 

[JustAHedge]

Hey muskaman, when I started out as a tech at Toyota 3 years ago I bought my friends large service cart. It was the Blue Point version of the HF one and Napa one already posted. It lasted me for the first year before I needed to upgrade to a large rolling box. I think this is your best bet and will be plenty of room if you're just starting out doing lube tech stuff.

If you have the opportunity try and sign up for one of the votec programs offered by Matco or Snap-on. It really helped me out.

 

[Zrexxer]

Another vote on a good service cart... there have been a bunch of them coming up for sale lately around here on Craigslist - I had two Cornwells until i got my really big box, then I sold one. You can find them in the $300- $350 range, they're VERY heavy gauge steel and have roller bearing drawers. They're larger than you'd think and hold quite a few tools.

 

[Danglerb]

If you don't need to lock up all your tools, a cart can also be seriously expanded with hang on or screw on additional tool holders. The "time saver" series of magnetic holders let you keep everything you use the most out and ready to grab or stick back on the rail.

I'm putting a Sunex 8011BK locking screwdriver and pry bar holder on the end of mine, and also putting on a TimeSaver Magna Rack for extensions and misc.

 

[muskaman67]

i like the whole tool cart because its simple and very mobile. but i am afraid that i will out grow it fairly quick. i want to be able to lock all my tools up at the end of the day and i think having an impact gun with all the sockets will take up a lot of room and not leave much room in the top part for my chrome sockets and ratchets. i think i might go check out the 42" hf box. i hear it is decent quality for the price and i know i won't out grow that anytime soon.

 

[Thumper]

Those carts are fairly roomy. Unless you have a buttload of bulky air tools you should have plenty of room. I second the cart idea.

 

[ImportTuner]

Sears has a Craftsman ball bearing set for $398 .. I went and picked up the top box recently ..

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...ls&cName=Tool+Storage&sName=Tool+Chest+Combos

 

[GDA]

+1 on looking for one of the newer big carts... Zrexxer is spot on. Go used, save a ton of $ and you will be off to a great start with a high quality truck brand box.

Here's one in DFW for $300 just to show you those are out there at a very reasonable price so be patient and you should be able to pick one up.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/tls/1388527208.html

 

[justinmc]

i like the whole tool cart because its simple and very mobile. but i am afraid that i will out grow it fairly quick. i want to be able to lock all my tools up at the end of the day and i think having an impact gun with all the sockets will take up a lot of room and not leave much room in the top part for my chrome sockets and ratchets. i think i might go check out the 42" hf box. i hear it is decent quality for the price and i know i won't out grow that anytime soon.

See the pic of the Cornwell cart above.. there's a ton of room in those things and unless you need 3' between each rail of sockets you could easily stuff the top full of all shapes and sizes of impacts, impact swivels, chrome sockets and get a hang on "clip" to hang your impact gun off of. Put your ratchets, extensions in one of the other drawers, toss your screwdrivers in the other and wrenches and stuff in the bottom. A hang on locking prybar rack will expand your storage even more. Just a thought. Depending on the dealership setup you might not have your own dedicated bay at first and need to be able to shuffle quickly between 2-3 different lube lanes.

 

[Dust]

I was essentially a lube guy for the first six months of my employment, and I only had a small Stack-On flip top box and a Craftsman road box, the storage capacity probably less than a small Harbor Freight cart.

I did just fine.

The new Harbor Freight cart, or any cart with two or three drawers, would work perfectly fine and probably hold you over for at least a year. Our lube guys work exclusively out of tool carts.

 

[muskaman67]

thank you for the feedback everyone.

 

[Stick Figure]

you can check out the tool box thread .... i have the smaller harbor carts, one at home and one at work, plus the harbor tool box .... http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=564784&postcount=2163 that should give you a good idea of what you can actually fit in one.

 

[muskaman67]

i like it. do you think the top drawer of your bottom box the 41" box (the widest drawer) can house hansen trays and still close? and also, how do the drawers slide with all the weight in them? thanks.

 

[speed bump]

i like it. do you think the top drawer of your bottom box the 41" box (the widest drawer) can house hansen trays and still close? and also, how do the drawers slide with all the weight in them? thanks.

The 41" box can house Hansen trays in the top drawer just fine. Personally mine never moeves around so its okay but if it did I would suggest upgrading your casters and watching what you put in there because once I got my bigger drawers loaded up noticed that the drawers are feeling pretty scary to the point that I am glad that I only open that drawer every couple of months.

 

[global72]

For under $400, you can't beat the harbor freight 41" box. With the coupon they can be had for $320. Nice thick sheet metal with double slides on the deep drawers.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90320

This is a great first box for $320

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

you know you should lock your junk up

 

[volvo420coupe]

Don't forget that you can leave all your SAE stuff at home, You may have lots of tools but you will only be using a percentage of those at your job.

The more unnecessary tools you can eliminate from your work box, the faster you will be able to work.

Don't worry about the "odd" jobs that may come in that you might not have tools for, those jobs represent less than 1% of your income. Concentrate on the other 99%.

 

[Stick Figure]

i like it. do you think the top drawer of your bottom box the 41" box (the widest drawer) can house hansen trays and still close? and also, how do the drawers slide with all the weight in them? thanks.

i've never owned the hansen trays, so i would go w/ other comments on those. As far as weight, i haven't had a single problem w/ the box or the carts loaded up. The box has been moved loaded a few times now as well w/ no caster problems, and by moved i mean on moving trucks, tow trucks, trailers etc. it has a couple new dings in it but other than that no problems.

Really my only complaints are:

i wish it had a couple more long drawers. I would like to move my sockets back to the "main" drawer, but since its the only one long enough for my 1/2" torque wrench, and some of the breaker bars and extensions, i'm stuck w/ those in that drawer.

i wish it had just a slightly deeper drawers as well, i would like to free up some room in my pliers drawer, but the plyworx racks need 2.5"s so that leaves me out.

The finish is a pain in the **** to clean!


Overall i think this would work great for you. I'm pretty out of room in my set up, but i am also expected to have all the tools needed to do regular mechanic type work, as well as a lot of custom fabrication. On top of that i store some stuff that i will never need for work, but simply don't have near enough box at home yet.

 

[muskaman67]

Well guys i went ahead today and bought a tool box. but it wasnt the hf 41" box i was originally wanting. after reading all your comments and myself thinking it over for a while, i got a tool cart instead. for $153 after the 20% coupon i think its a steal. normally $230, they had it on sale for $180.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95272
i liked this one way better over the other ones bacause it actually had real hinges and a little better drawer setup.

 

[muskaman67]

do you guys think it would be smart of me to go buy some rubber matting and put that in the bottom of the drawers? or should i just keep the "foam" mats that came with the box. i feel that they will rip fairly easy once i actually use the box.

 

[tpolley]

here's the horrible freight service cart. he's asking $99 "half the price of a new one". a new one retails for $229 but you can get it for $183 with a 20% coupon. he also didn't bother to edit out the malfuntioning drawer lock...:tard: i didn't know but there are two 5 drawer service carts. the black one is much smaller than the red one. i would buy the red one in a heartbeat if i used my tools every day.
red cart video

red cart
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95272
black cart
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=95659

 

[muskaman67]

ya the service cart i bought out does the other two by a lot. the hinges arent even "real" hinges imo on the other ones. and the drawers on the one i got are a lot sturdier and slide better.

 

[rebrewer]

Where are you located? I'll bet there is one of us nearby with an extra box to sell.

 

[Chris Adams]

do you guys think it would be smart of me to go buy some rubber matting and put that in the bottom of the drawers? or should i just keep the "foam" mats that came with the box. i feel that they will rip fairly easy once i actually use the box.

I think you made a wise choice. Not a fancy cart but serviceable.
Those 'foam' mats hold up better than you would think. I have some of those in a couple intermediate boxes that were actually intended to be HF cart drawers (you can see where the tool box part can be unbolted). Anyway, those were abused for about a year, the cheap mats are still fine.

Very best of luck on your new job;
Chris

 

[muskaman67]

I think you made a wise choice. Not a fancy cart but serviceable.
Those 'foam' mats hold up better than you would think. I have some of those in a couple intermediate boxes that were actually intended to be HF cart drawers (you can see where the tool box part can be unbolted). Anyway, those were abused for about a year, the cheap mats are still fine.

Very best of luck on your new job;
Chris

thank you. i guess i will be keeping my mats till they fail.

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

The mats should hold up just fine (mine have) and I think you made a VERY wise choice for a tech just starting out on their career. Of course I might have a slight bias here....

Good luck with your new job.