Tool box Insanity

[mrholeshot]

Looking at a few tool box threads and being in the business since Jesus's 3 birthday I notice a disturbing trend with many technicians. The will buy a +-10,000 dollar toolbox and looking in the boxes they will have tools laid out where there is 2 inches of room between each tool. Things like a set of 8 screwdrivers in one 16X28 drawer. or 12 extentions in a 40X28 drawer, then a bottom drawer filled with papers, old parts, etc. You see where I'm going.

If you took every tool out of this box (like a Snap-On 1023) you would do good to moderatly fill a 26 wide 8 drawer Craftsman bottom box. Then when you look at the tools It has Craftsman, HF, Titan, Gearwrench (not knocking those brands) and just mediocre tools and then some real no name ****. (had a few of these guys roll through my shop). Why??

When I first started out I had a Silver with red drawers Craftman top box. When it got full I bought a bottom box. Now when I say full I mean full. There were no fancy wrench holders back then and a drawer was so full of wreches you had to shake them down to shut the drawer. Not the most organized but thats how it was. When that bottom box got full you bought another and set beside it. It was always nice to get a new toolbox but you bought it because you needed the room. If you have a tool box so big that your 24 inch 3/8 drive extention rolls from the front to the back of the drawer you have made a serious mistake in judgement. many people say "This toolbox will last me a lifetime and it will be the last toolbox I'll ever have to buy" I said the same thing about a set of Snap-On 550/555 I bought in the early 80's. I out grew them in 5 years (even with the 2 side boxes) and the toolboxes showed a substancial amount of wear.

i guess I just don't get it as to why some guys will spend 10,000 or more on a toolbox and only have 6-7 hundred dollars worth of tools in it. Thats a pretty radical example but I've seen it. I can see keeping some room to grow but when you could take every tool you own and put them all into one drawer youve made a serious error in judgement.

I had one new guy who had a Snap-On 1001 (not huge but nice size) ask me one day. "have you got a 3/8 ratchet I can borrow" Me "do you need a flex, stubby, long, what?" No just a reg 3/8 ratchet, I took mine home to work on a buddys car and forgot to bring it back this morning" Me "thats the only 3/8 ratchet you own?" "yeah,I'm going to get more when I get the toolbox paid down" I don't like to pry about what tools my employees had or what kind as long as they could get the job done. Their toolbox was like thier home so I didn't want to invade their privacy but I had to ask this kid to give me the tour of his box. It was pitiful. I ended up giving him some old (but very useable) tools to get him by but I am seeing a disturbing trend of guys just like this.

Do you see this? whats your thoughts? Snap-On men please chime in. (Not singleing you guys out but you just seem to be the only tool salesman on this forum.)

 

[ZRX61]

My boxes are all full. When I fill one I buy another.

 

[Theloniousmonk]

I AGREE... priorities are way out of wack. It's a ******* contest. Been in dealerhsips w/ similar situations w/ young guns in an arms race over box size, hardly any tools - just the basic 250pieces including rags, no specialty tools, etc... And no offense to the truck guys, but SOME help perpetrate the nonsense - take advantage of kids that never picked up a tool until tech school and are caught in the mystic of shinny things that cost alot, it's a fad.

nobody in our shop has a box larger than 36"....or double bank, we have a commons area for specialty pullers/compressors, and that is it. I'm the only one w/ a top and bottom but it's only waterloo and i've filled.

good luck paying off a 10k box w/ a 20k year job, unless someone is living in their parents basement.

 

[Beerman]

Probably due to the "bling" factor with this younger generation. Everyone can see your big, shiny, impressive toolbox at work. Not matter what box, they can't easily see how many ratchets, extensions, sockets, etc. you have.


Beerman

 

[Robert Haas]

After using a top and bottom box for decades that held my "go to" tools and then having several doubles in the back that held the "spares" and specialty stuff I have to admit using a big (72 x 30) cab set up I just bought does give me a much more organized set up.

Also the days of seeing all my wrenches stacked up on one another and having to dig through them to get to a specific one was never that great, with a little bit of room I now just reach in and get what I am after.


My tools still out costs the box 20 to 1.

 

[shotgunfatcat]

I only have a KR-59 and the bottom box to go with it (can't remember the model number, 8 drawer, single wide) it is pretty full, all of my electrical stuff I have had to move to my workbench drawers (which I like better anyways). I don't have things piled in my drawers, but for instance, my stubby wrenches are on end to give me more room not in a rack, my vice grips are piled in a drawer with my snap ring pliers (this is really messy), and my punches looks like your kitchen junk drawer, same goes for my bottom, jeez, I think I have my timing light, l inch impact, body hammers, valve spring compressors, that one I have to go digging in.

I do have things nicely laid out where I can, my screwdrivers are not piled in, but they are nicely laid out next to another. My sockets are all on rails standing upright, and my ratchets are laid out as well.

I am just a home mechanic, my upper and lower snap-on box cost me 600 bucks with a matco roll cart. I probably could use a bigger box, but I haven't found it yet, and I won't buy new. I am waiting for a certain set up to come along and I will grab it, but I can wait.

 

[Cobra4B]

People are stupid and the stupid ones breed more than the smart ones. You see this behavior in many aspects of life. Dude at the grocery store wearing $1000 in clothes/shoes using WIC or food stamps to feed his kids. Guy with the Hummer H2 who can't afford to put normal tires on it when they wear out using mismatched used ****, etc. etc. etc. People's priorities are out of whack and too many people have no understanding of finance and debt. It's all about "what are my payments?" with no consideration of ever paying anything off, or how much they actually spent when factoring in interest paid and the return they could have been making on that money if invested.

My first job out of college was as an insurance adjsuter so I spent lots of time around dealerships and bodyshops etc. I was in complete shock when the guys started talking about how much their boxes and tool etc were worth. They'll try to justify it all day long saying that it helps them work faster and make more money blah blah blah.... but reality is that every dollar you make is penalized by the interest you're paying on that $10,000 toolbox.

I'm just a hobby wrencher who builds and maintains my racecars, but I get along just fine out of my 2 C-man boxes. For Christmas last year we got my father a nice Matco (can't remember the model) lower box/bench and I really don't see how you'd need much more than that. But my point of it is I got it used from an out of work mechanic for $1400. It was a $5000 box a year and a half prior. Why not go buy used if you want a big fancy box? Let that other bozo take the depreciation hit.

 

[larry_g]

Probably due to the "bling" factor with this younger generation. Everyone can see your big, shiny, impressive toolbox at work. Not matter what box, they can't easily see how many ratchets, extensions, sockets, etc. you have.


Beerman

I probably don't belong in this conversation but Beerman said "with this younger generation." When I was the younger generation the Hot Car was what served for 'bling'. All the emerging generations have there own thing that separates them from the older generations. Now in the mechanics circles its the size of your tool box. I'll also wager that if you check their phone its is something to brag on. In my day the Corvette in the low rent district was the thing that got the older generation wagging their tongues. All our children seem to go through this stage. They are finally on their own, and free to set their priorities.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[griff99]

I definitely think it is the bling factor, and or the keeping up with the Jones's. I took my 02 Trailblazer into an NTB and started talking to the guy putting on my tires and his box was in that $10K range, it looked nice and seemed full but I didn't check it out that closely. I am a shadetree guy, I have a couple of Craftsman boxes, I had a top and bottom that got full so I added a middle, and now I have added a 6 drawer bottom, all 26" and I paid less than $600 for all 4 pieces. I now have probably more room than I need but not to the point where I will be wasting space by only having 1 thing in a drawer. But I also probalby won't be buying any more boxes for a few years. I am sure that the Snap-On or other truck brand boxes are 100X the boxes my Craftsman's are, but I don't think I could ever justify the $10K+ price tag and/or the 20%+ interest that the credit card is probably charging these guys. Just my $0.02.

 

[Chadro]

Don't look at me, I work outta a junky *** Craftsman box. It does get the job done but I would like a bigger box, not anything huge though.

I wonder if theres a Snapon Mr big or a Macsimizer superstation out there that has actually been filled to capacity. I know as a truck mechanic, there just isn't THAT many specialized tools for us so unless I buy duplicates of everything, I'd never fill a huge box.

 

[shotgunfatcat]

I wonder if theres a Snapon Mr big or a Macsimizer superstation out there that has actually been filled to capacity.

There are boxes in the "Show us your toolbox thread" where people could easily do this with having a top box on it. If I could afford the box, I know I could fill it up.

 

[HandyManny]

Here's the way I've always set mine up:

All pliers in their own drawer

SAE Wrenches in their own drawer

Metric Wrenches in their own drawer

Ratchets, extentions, adapters, breaker bars together in their drawer

All Sockets in two drawers seperated as metric or SAE

Pullers in one area

Screwdrivers, nut drivers, hex/torx drivers, punches in their drawer

Power and air tools at the bottom large drawers

volt meters, electronics, etc in their own drawer

Scrapers, cold chisles, prybars together

Gauges, feelers, calipers, micrometers, measuring tools all together.

Air hose fittings and accessories together.

Etc. etc, etc.....

Everything else either lays on the bottom shelf of the two workbenches or hangs on racks or shelves on the wall behind one workbench.


The kickers - No space between tool hardly at all in my boxes. They all snuggle up with each other. Hell, I've never even keep my tool drawers lined with anything. My main tool chest is a Kennedy, and a smaller one is a Waterloo. My portable boxes are a Craftsman and an old Stanley 4 drawer portable box that's better made than anything high-end today.

 

[jam0o0]

i think i fit in that new generation group. but i was brought up right. i have caved a bit tward the 'spending when you don't need to'. but i'm way better than most people i know. no debt and i have a good job. my trouble is saving for the future. if it's concrete i can save. if it's nebulous i have trouble.

i'm just a garage guy but i've got a 42" craftsman ball bearing box. i just needed an upgrade from rubbermaid bins and the plastic 3 drawer case and cheep blow molded cases my tool were thrown into.

cars, stereos, phones, tool boxes, wheels, it's all people who haven't learned to pay up front. credit is gunna kill us. i'm just hoping those of us without huge credit debt aren't gunna be saddled with paying for everyone else's stupidity.

rant off

 

[ZRX61]

My largest, most expensive box cost a hair over $700...

My *go* box was pulled out of a dumpster, straightened & painted...

 

[Theloniousmonk]

Oh, yea... i'd pickup a Mr Big and fill it with oldworld tools in a heart beat IF I COULD AFFORD IT (lottery winner or wallstreet exec) and not have to rely on it for my livelyhood.

all my pliers are stacked two high, by size/brand and flipflopped in the drawers to utilize every last inch. same w/ screwdrivers (i've recently taken all but my high-use drivers out), sockets fill the top deck, little room for anything but a finger. ratchets are like the screwdirvers, tucked in the drawer nice and tight. I like shallow drawers and lots of them, seems like a better use of space than a 6" deep drawer, and on... i'm a organizing bug and hate "white space"... part of which comes from my previous design days.

 

[Packard V8]

It's not just the $10k box; they're also paying interest on the dually F250.

First Law of Economics: Never pay interest on a depreciating asset.

jack vines

 

[shotgunfatcat]

First Law of Economics: Never pay interest on a depreciating asset.

jack vines

So you are telling me I shouldn't get married than????

 

[HandyManny]

It's not just the $10k box; they're also paying interest on the dually F250.

First Law of Economics: Never pay interest on a depreciating asset.

jack vines

I'd rather pay interest on an F250 than on a tool chest. To me an F250 is a damn useful truck. But I don't even factor in resale value when ever I buy a truck. I drive them until they cost me more than blue book value per year to keep in operation. Basically I get at least a couple hundred thousand miles out of them

 

[LEVE]

So you are telling me I shouldn't get married than????

Uh... would that asset be her, or you?

 

[scott37300]

I'm just a home mechanic, I would love a nice big tool box and could pretty easily fill a decent sized one or two. I have 7 small to medium uppers, one single bay bottom, and two craftsman work benches with drawers that are all full plus shelves to hold my tools in cases, all of these are used. My thinking ahs always been that I could spend money on tools to get the job done or skip some tools and get a box, I always choice more tools. Someday I will find a good deal on some used boxes but until then I will continue to use the boxes I have and what doesn't fit I keep in cheap plastic tool boxes. And will keep getting more tools, I would rather have the tools to work with than a fancy place to put them.

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

not too many smokin deals on used boxes around here
my junk is paid for

 

[Boiler]

I had all of my tools packed into a craftsman 3 pc 26" wide box for about 10 years. I had new sets of ratcheting flex wrenches folded into an L and packed in with my power tools because I had nowhere to put them.

So Sunday night I started moving everything over to my craigslist Mac box. I've now got the drawer for standard, drawer for metric, sockets, ratchets, drivers, etc. I have about 7 out of 19 left to fill and I'm sure I'll fill a few more this week.

I know for me, I HATE looking for my tools, I have to have them out in the open where I can get the one I wan't quickly. So I wipe them and put them back where they go when I'm done with them. Shaking a drawer of wrenches to get it to close is insanity to me. I had that with my stepdads box growing up and it just takes forever to dig and find what you need.

I will agree, people seem to love to buy too much box. But I can see having those nice snap on boxes in a pro environment. Keeping things organized and in the open is a major timesaver. Anyone working for rate that digs through a drawer full of wrenches is crazy.

 

[dankicksass]

I'm young and I have a 26in 3pc Cman box set, a 19in 4-drawer carry box, a dozen blow molded Stanley USA boxes for specialty tools and a big Knaack-type locker that I keep power tools in. It's not ideal and it's not what I want but I got a really good deal on all of it new and it does an okay job in my personal garage, all things considered. It doesn't do a great job. The top box drawers don't hold long wrenches and the bottom box drawers are all tall so there's wasted vertical space where I have wrenches there. I don't like having things piled on top of other things. I'd love to have a big Snap-On box with a top hutch but I think I'd rather have a new (to me) Jeep and a US General big bottom box more. I love Snap-On but it's tough for me to get past their prices for a few pieces of folded metal and some ball bearing drawer glides today. When I was younger and not quite as smart, I did sign my soul over to the Snap-On truck for a shiny blue big box but not too long after that I sold everything. Can't do it again. Won't.

not too many smokin deals on used boxes around here
my junk is paid for

Definitely not a lot of value on NNJ or CNJ craigslist.

 

[mrholeshot]

I've had my Macsimizer and side box for it so full the wheels fell through the 3/4 Plywood tile coverd floor of my race car trailer. I also had several other boxes filled to capacity including a old snap-on Taco wagon, Snap-On 660, Husky Pro top and bottom with side box (still have that one) and a elcheapo craftsman filled with nothing but porting equiptment (still have that one as well).

It's fine to have a mega dollar tool box so I'm not pushing that part. It's just why won't these people buy some tools before spending so much on a box. Most of these guys could work out of a 26 inch box with no problem. I also understand the status that comes with owning a big nice high dollar toolbox. But it's like someone who wants to be an executive but buys a Rolex before he buys a decent suit. Make it, then bragg about it.

 

[GDA]

Lack of proper guidance and priorities are way out of whack...

I think they believe they are perceived better by having a cool toolbox; rather, its the skills and knowledge that make the person. Tools are merely the accessory and having quality and lots of them to be able to complete the task does go a long way in helping meet that perception. Last in line should be the evaluation of being a great mechanic merely by being seen with a cool toolbox.

Just my opinion as a weekend wrench

 

[griff99]

The top box drawers don't hold long wrenches and the bottom box drawers are all tall so there's wasted vertical space where I have wrenches there. I don't like having things piled on top of other things.

Dan,

I was checking out searspartsdirect.com because I was thinking the same thing, my 2 bottom c-man chests have a total of 5 6" drawers, and 6" is too deep for wrenches and stuff and not deep enough for a bunch of my power tools. Because I have the 2 boxes I had the luxury of pulling a few drawers out of the new one when it arrived, and the interior mounts are plentiful for the ball bearing sliders, as such I plan on ordering a couple of spare 3" drawers from sears at some point down the road and replacing a couple of the 6" drawers, it will make the boxes that much more useful to me.

Just a thought.

 

[ihredo4]

I started out 30+ years ago with a 1/4" socket set in its box. I found it laying beside the road one day. When I started working my first job all I had was a 18"X 6"X6" box. It was so packed I had to take the stuff out to find what I had. I would move up to a bigger box as needed. Now I have a 60" tall Lista cabinet. There is so much in there that I had to add my old Craftsman roller cabinet back again. I would have never bought the Lista had it not been for it being dropped. I picked it up when I was on vacation so the shipping didnt cost anything. Got it for $600 or so and then they gave me another 10% off when they dropped it in front of me. This is a $2500+ cabinet.
Would I like to have a giant Snap-On green toolbox? HELL YES.
Can I wait to find one already scratched? You bet cha.

 

[rsieracki]

im 29 and a weekend wrencher, got my first box at 8 for (still have it). i have a 41" top/bottom husky and 2 41"+/- hf bottoms built into a bench. and 2 kra53's (basement and woodshop) plus 2 craftsman Workbench w/ 8 drawers each in the woodshop too, none are filled to capacity. lately ive been shuffling stuff around and trying to get "complete" sets in each spot in reguards to whats appropriate and have less clutter (drawers of assorted ****) its comming along. the 41" husky and 2 hf boxes are in the garage and have auto tools plus some others and are far from empty but not near capacity but getting there. id rather be organized and have everything in once place then cluttered. if i ever come across a KRL triple bank for super cheap ill get it and consolidate into 1 box and sell the smaller ones... but that will never happen

 

[dankicksass]

Dan,

I was checking out searspartsdirect.com because I was thinking the same thing, my 2 bottom c-man chests have a total of 5 6" drawers, and 6" is too deep for wrenches and stuff and not deep enough for a bunch of my power tools. Because I have the 2 boxes I had the luxury of pulling a few drawers out of the new one when it arrived, and the interior mounts are plentiful for the ball bearing sliders, as such I plan on ordering a couple of spare 3" drawers from sears at some point down the road and replacing a couple of the 6" drawers, it will make the boxes that much more useful to me.

Just a thought.

I've been thinking of putting in a R-L sliding shelf half the width in a couple of the drawers to recoup some space that way and maintain organization. Just a little plywood and sheet metal should do the trick for me. I'll be moving on to US General big bottoms and keeping the boxes stationary sooner than later, and I'll give the Cman box to my father.

 

[plinker]

I'd like to get one of the Masterforce 41" boxes Menards has, but I need most of my tools portable for work. I would have the box full and still have my S-O KRA-59G on top of it.

If I had all my tools in my current set up they wouldnt all fit. (I hate digging for tools)

My current set-up,

Early 90's C-man 26" chest w/ S-O kra-59 box on it,
Clarke 26" box on a metal file/storage cabinat, both holding service & speciality tools.

I would not get rid of any of the boxes I have though, as I am going to need storage for woodworking tools.

 

[Seanbev24]

I went the opposite way and started with a 40" kobalt box from lowes. I spent most of my money on SnapOn tools while I had a student discount.

When I started working and had to buy more tools the kobalt box got full. I cleared some space by getting a small matco cart off CL. Then, a short time later the kobalt box got full again. Fortunately, that was about the time I got a smokin deal on a KRL722.

I've since switched to a HF 5 drawer cart (best $120 ever spent) and have a little room left in the SnapOn box. I'm not looking forward to needing the top box.

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

Looking at a few tool box threads and being in the business since Jesus's 3 birthday I notice a disturbing trend with many technicians. The will buy a +-10,000 dollar toolbox and looking in the boxes they will have tools laid out where there is 2 inches of room between each tool....
.....Do you see this? whats your thoughts? Snap-On men please chime in. (Not singleing you guys out but you just seem to be the only tool salesman on this forum.)

I have thought the same thing....
I have been talking to my SO man about the trend I see in most of thier sets -- maybe you guys have noticed it too -- the plastic trays that stuff comes in usually make a decent way to keep the tools organized, so I would very often use them permanently. Lately, the trays have more space between the tools - more "dead" space eating up room in the tool box. Look at the new set of screwdrivers on the right comapared to the old set to the left.

With that said - I'll admit, the box I just got seems like it's only half full. The old set was stuffed, so I jumped up in size (KRL1022,1201,1012). In the process of switching everything to the new box, I chucked a lot of excess **** that had been accumulating in the backs / corners / bottom drawer sort of space. I prolly could have put off buying the new box a year or 2 if I just reorganized and lightened the load.

I recently went back through again and took out all the old lay-down style soctet racks and got the taller stand-up types and made about 25% more space in that drawer.

 

[wendell]

Conspicuous Consumption.

It's what keeps poor people poor.

 

[Theloniousmonk]

... and rich people rich.

 

[Hiball]

Conspicuous Consumption.

It's what keeps poor people poor.

... and rich people rich.

I dont have a Fancy toolbox... I have a 2 old Snappy rollarounds and 2 old quality top boxes, along with a HF black rollaround and a couple Ace hardware (JUNK) boxes that you better think twice before you leave a drawer open as it might tip over. LOL... My Wife was Curious the other Nite and i guess she didnt have anything better to do so she took my Snappy Box and added up the Value of the tools inside using the snap on Shopping cart and to her suprise she exceeded 12K... Which Reminds me, If you see "Hiball" selling a bunch of Snappy tools in the Classifieds. Its probably my Wife. LOL. I never kept track of my Purchases but i would venture im into my Snappy tools at around 40% of Retail. Id Love to Have a New Shiny box, But my Priorities have always been to Grow from the Inside out. Ive kept this Same aproach in My Home Purchases, When i Moved to Mexico, MO (small town) I purchased a Home It was relatively Cheap at 50K (13 years ago) and Now its paid off and worth around 75K. Once i paid my House off i looked into buying some Acreage, I found 57 Acres not to far away from my Grandfathers place and i made a substantial purchase. I plan on building my final House within the Next 2 years and maybe then ill splurge for a Fancy box.. Dunno? My Point to this Drawn out Post is "Poor" financial decisions dont only Plague the Poor, I have numerous co-workers who are finding themselves in Financial Hell due to Poor Credit Usage decisions and i suspect if we here at Gj are completely Honest there isnt many of us who could say that we didnt make a poor impluse buy at one time or another. I know at one time in my Late teens i had over 8K worth of Stereo Equipment Purchased on Credit in My New 94 Ford Probe. When those Easy Payments became less than Easy, I was fortunate to Have a Grandfather who had some Money and "Loaned" me the Money. I say Loaned because He Sat down with me, Looked at my Income and made sure i was put on a Repayment schedule, It was a lesson that i took to Heart. I believe there are just as many "rich" People who make poor financial decisions, Its just harder to see from the outside looking in and it doesnt have such a dramatic affect on them.

 

[warmpancakes]

I have a harbor freight 300 box 3 rolling cars and pallet racking its an organized mess I can find anything, anybody who helps is screwed, I want another harbor freight 42incher but cant justify buying it myself I recently offered a guy to swap his front diff and do brakes on all 4 for a HF box and he buys parts hes still saving 400.00 and I avoid buying another box,

 

[Theloniousmonk]

@hibill:

I agree... I kept most of my reciepts over the years (rubbermaid container) - everything from replacement blades to wrench sets. I have no idea, nor to I want to add it all up either. I too made a few mistakes when young, i.e. new car, big stereo, lots of clothes... it's fun until it's time to pay. I guess people can take a bad decision and learn from it, and turn it into a good decision w/ time (like keeping the mega $$$ box for life) - then your value vs. cost w/b squared.

 

[back2class]

I see with almost 100% reliability here and in the real world that the silly guys buying these boxes new are on credit. Like 75% of Americans they spend more than they have and want the BLING. Not the tool salesman's fault. To me the real idiots are the ones paying cash for new 10,000 toolboxes on 30k jobs. A few are guys who have some comofort who don't splurge on other stuff. We all have one thing or another we waste money on.

But as I said, it is almost 100% of the time that you see younger guys with big new boxes on credit. Pretty stupid way to go and a shame. But we need stupid people to make capitalism work. Same stupidity you see with 20 year olds who make 20k a year driving 25k cars.

How many people do we know that leave us scratching our heads? People who make decent incomes who are constantly broke or just above water. Seems like 1/2 the people I know. I have never made a very good income. But at 28 I had a $170,000 house paid off and no car payments. Yeah, I financed one car. A 5 year old Accord that I was 2k short on.

The real irony is while doing this I let my student loan slide since I don't use any credit and never had "extra" money for it. I am working on it now though. I must have 200k net worth, but was not hired as a cop last year because of credit. Seems I was at risk for taking bribes...LOL! Yet they hire idiots up their necks in debt who's financial situation is like a house of cards that could fall apart any day.

Yeah, anyway. Back to boxes. Someone has to buy this stuff new so we can get these great deals on used stuff. Like when I sell snap-on tools for 10cents on the dollar here some days....LOL

 

[mrholeshot]

I dont have a Fancy toolbox... I have a 2 old Snappy rollarounds and 2 old quality top boxes, along with a HF black rollaround and a couple Ace hardware (JUNK) boxes that you better think twice before you leave a drawer open as it might tip over. LOL... My Wife was Curious the other Nite and i guess she didnt have anything better to do so she took my Snappy Box and added up the Value of the tools inside using the snap on Shopping cart and to her suprise she exceeded 12K... Which Reminds me, If you see "Hiball" selling a bunch of Snappy tools in the Classifieds. Its probably my Wife. LOL. I never kept track of my Purchases but i would venture im into my Snappy tools at around 40% of Retail. Id Love to Have a New Shiny box, But my Priorities have always been to Grow from the Inside out. Ive kept this Same aproach in My Home Purchases, When i Moved to Mexico, MO (small town) I purchased a Home It was relatively Cheap at 50K (13 years ago) and Now its paid off and worth around 75K. Once i paid my House off i looked into buying some Acreage, I found 57 Acres not to far away from my Grandfathers place and i made a substantial purchase. I plan on building my final House within the Next 2 years and maybe then ill splurge for a Fancy box.. Dunno? My Point to this Drawn out Post is "Poor" financial decisions dont only Plague the Poor, I have numerous co-workers who are finding themselves in Financial Hell due to Poor Credit Usage decisions and i suspect if we here at Gj are completely Honest there isnt many of us who could say that we didnt make a poor impluse buy at one time or another. I know at one time in my Late teens i had over 8K worth of Stereo Equipment Purchased on Credit in My New 94 Ford Probe. When those Easy Payments became less than Easy, I was fortunate to Have a Grandfather who had some Money and "Loaned" me the Money. I say Loaned because He Sat down with me, Looked at my Income and made sure i was put on a Repayment schedule, It was a lesson that i took to Heart. I believe there are just as many "rich" People who make poor financial decisions, Its just harder to see from the outside looking in.

I lost my home to Hurricane Hugo during a tornado that spawned on the backside of the hurricane. I had 15 arces out in the country that I bought to build my "dream home" We bought a 2000 square ft modular home so we would have some place to live until we got out new home under construction. Business got busy and we kept putting the house on hold. The home we planned to build was going to be about 200K (lot of house here in 1990) but we paid off our modular home in 3 years and after about 3 more years with no morgage and countless house plans we decided we liked the no morgage thing. Still in the same place without the pressure of a morgage I can't pay. Gave each one of my kids an acre so my taxes wouldn't be high and figured out my real dream home was one that was paid for, clean and insured heavily. With all the health problems that hit me it was one of the best moves I ever made. I know lots of people in my area who lost their homes last year including one of my sons. He stayed in our camper for 3 months until he could get a foothold. The company that sold him his house and their finance sold him his home knowing he couldn't afford to keep it unless he worked two jobs.

 

[00S4Boy]

Mrholeshot I have a very reasonable answer for you.

So I purchased one of these megabox's a KRL1024.

Three deciding factors went into purchasing it. Size and storage, i had recently purchased a lot of large case tools that you can't really take out of the storage case(slide hammer, hub tamer, others) and to put it bluntly my classic 78 was cramped as hell with all my tools in it. As well as my shop isn't built like fort knox so if someone decided to break in with ease they could pick up any of the 26" craftsman units my coworkers have and toss them into the back of a pickup. Trying to move a 9 foot long 1600lb box isn't an easy task.

Pricing, at the time there was an instant 2000 dollar rebate on purchases over 10k. I got 3000 for my classic 78 which was pretty beat up and with my student discount I had only paid 2200 for my classic 78. That still wasn't enough for me my dealer then to seal the deal took another 1300 right out of his profit to make the sale. So i ended up paying 10500 with tax for my box.

Building my credit was my final deciding factor. I have a car that is in decent shape that i love so i don't need a new car. I plan on being in the industry so i invested in something that I need.

Everyone at my shop gives me **** about the box. One kid is like if I was gonna buy something like that I'd buy a house. He doesn't seem to comprehend the concept toolbox 10k, house several hundred thousand. A minimum toolbox payment is 280 a month, not a mortgage payment of 1000 or more.

In the end the box gives me a 9 foot personal work bench, all the storage room I need, security, a way to build credit for when I do want to take out a big loan for a house or a car when I need one. And being 21 making 60k a year living at home I can afford it.