Socket rails in the tool box lid?

[orca8589]

Has anyone ever mounted one or more socket rails - of any type - in the lid of a tool box? I've got an old Duplex, and I'd like to make it my travel box. The problem is that the 1/4" & 3/8" drive socket sets (SAE & Metric) and related tools take up a lot of room in the bottom. I'm trying to work this box to hold my Milwaukee cordless impact driver, the battery and charger.

I'm thinking of mounting a couple of the old school metal socket rails into the lid to make use of that space. The sockets would hang down, but some of the clips I've got are very stiff, so the sockets dropping off the rails shouldn't be much of a problem.

What do ya'll think? Great idea, or the full-on dumbest thing you've ever heard of?

~Chris

 

[JR 42]

I've got a couple of the magnetic Kobalt rails, and dinked around with mounting them inside the lid of a hand box. I didn't have any trouble with the sockets falling off the clips (black plastic clips w/ ball bearing retainers), but it was a pain to keep everything spaced just so to close the lid, and I gave up on the idea before using the box much, so I don't know how well it would have worked long term.

JR

 

[Ben1967]

I think it a good idea, just to make sure with deep sockets you have enough room to close the lid!

 

[Billy Jack]

I did that to my first "travel box", a 20" Craftsman, back in the 70's. I cut a piece of 1/4" hardboard to fit inside the lid, laid out all the sockets on the old-school metal rails of the day, then attached a bunch of 1 in. "L" brackets to the board and bolted the rails to the brackets. That way, the sockets all stood erect when the lid was open and didn't hang down into the top tray space. I had it covered with SAE and metric 1/4" and 3/8" sockets, both short and deep. Every now and then I'd find a larger deep socket or two had fallen, but most of 'em traveled thousands of miles and stayed in place. Everything bolted to the underside of the lid with 4 1/4" bolts with acorn nuts showing on the outside. It worked well enough that I repeated the setup in the smaller road box that travels in my El Camino to this day.

Bill

 

[shawhite]

how about these?

https://www.mechanicstimesavers.com/Vertical-Lock-a-Socket.html