US General 26" wide toolbox organization?

[CZ Eddie]

Those of you with the US General 26" wide boxes, what are you using for socket and wrench organizers that fits our toolboxes?



I'm not sure what to get for wrench organization in the slim upper chest drawers.

I've got one of these and it fits well in the bottom drawer of the upper chest in a lengthwise way.
Only good for short sockets, not deep well of course. Not sure what to do for those.

 

[Al Borland]

Either put sockets in the top of the box, or get Lisle-style racks for the deep wells so they lay sideways

 

[AGuinn]

I went a different route on my 26" stack, although in my garage the box is close enough for me to work out of instead of pulling socket rails out. This is the top drawer in the bottom box, metric wrenches below that, and all my SAE and Torx/ETorx below that. Ratchets and extensions live in the bottom-most shallow drawer in the top box. Foam gym mats cut very easily with a trim router.

 

[Draftpick1]

I would like to get one of these boxes I like the Hansen trays and I can’t really use them in these boxes with all the shallow drawers

 

[Rabid Badger]

The drawer layout just isn't conducive to keeping sockets and ratchets at the top of the box.

Mine is set up like this:

Screwdrivers/picks
Pliers
Ratchets/extensions
Sockets
Wrenches
Hammers/punches/pullers
Impacts/prybars/torque wrenches
Misc.

Edit: My bad, I didn't realize the OP was talking about the top chest for the 26" box.

 

[CZ Eddie]

The drawer layout just isn't conducive to keeping sockets and ratchets at the top of the box.

Mine is set up like this:

Screwdrivers/picks
Pliers
Ratchets/extensions
Sockets
Wrenches
Hammers/punches/pullers
Impacts/prybars/torque wrenches
Misc.

My top chest is top-to-bottom like this.
Bits (allen, hex, speciality, etc) in the tri drawers.
Allen wrenches
Standard wrenches
Metric wrenches
1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 ratchet wrenches and extensions
1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 sockets



I try to keep the most-used items as high up as possible because my lower back doesn't like bending over to reach the lower drawers.
Screwdrivers are in the top-drawer of the lower box.

 

[CZ Eddie]

Hey while I've got this thread open... does anyone else have this problem with the upper box?
The bottom drawer of the top box does not open as far as the other drawers.
It stops short about 2" short of the distance the upper drawers can open.

 

[GeoBruin]

I have the old series 1 26" and I keep sockets in tekton rails (in the rail trays) in the top of the box. They fit perfectly. When I upgrade to a series 2 box, I'm looking forward to squeezing in another row!

 

[Draftpick1]

I have the old series 1 26" and I keep sockets in tekton rails (in the rail trays) in the top of the box. They fit perfectly

1/2 deep well will fit on the tekton and still close the lid? With a Hansen tray is about 3.75 tall and I don’t think the top of the box is that deep

 

[andyvh1959]

Perfect timing for this thread, I just bought the same 26" bottom roller. I'm still using the 26" wide x 12" deep Stack-on top chest, as it leaves me a 9" wide "shelf" area in front of the top chest. I plan to eventually add the 14.5" side cabinet to the base roller. I really like the 22" deep drawers in the bottom roller. But I have a lot of deep well sockets so I need a way to organize the sockets laying down to fit in the upper drawers of the roller.

 

[CarsonConcepts]

Hey while I've got this thread open... does anyone else have this problem with the upper box?
The bottom drawer of the top box does not open as far as the other drawers.
It stops short about 2" short of the distance the upper drawers can open.

The slides on mine were a bit stiff the first time opening the drawers. Needed a decent yank to get everything to slide past each other in the slides the first time (and the first time after removing the drawers). Check if you can see the release tabs on the slides to determine if it is indeed open all the way or if it needs a bit more force.

 

[Ditchdigger]

This thread made me curious so I just pulled two drawers out of one. By the looks of the multiple height option holes for the rivet it seems like they planned for a few different drawer layouts. Best case scenario you could drill out some rivets and relocate a deep drawer to the top. Worst case scenario you would have to measure and drill a few new holes to do so.

 

[andyvh1959]

I'm ordering these for my 26" roller base:

Tool Sorter: Socket

Page for socket organizers

www.amazon.com

 

[crewchief888]

when i had 26" wide boxes i always had my sockets in the top of the box. my last service truck still had a 26" wide CM top in it. only had enough room for some of my 3/8" & 1/2" drive sockets. all 3/4" and 1/4" dr stuff was stashed in other compartments in the service body. pics are whats left of the '98 CM top after being in several service trucks since '04

 

[Mccool]

I use these for sockets in the 5th or 6th drawer of the bottom cabinet. Can't remember which exactly. I love the 26" US General boxes

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N7ZHQLL/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[jmarkwolf]

Those of you with the US General 26" wide boxes, what are you using for socket and wrench organizers that fits our toolboxes?



I'm not sure what to get for wrench organization in the slim upper chest drawers.

I've got one of these and it fits well in the bottom drawer of the upper chest in a lengthwise way.
Only good for short sockets, not deep well of course. Not sure what to do for those.

I've never had enough floorspace for toolboxes wider than the 26in you cite. Which has shallow drawers, dictating "flat" tool trays, as opposed to trays that stand the sockets upright.

I have a "flat" socket organizer that I acquired from an old early Communist China socket set that my dad bought in the early 80's as I recall. I was dismayed that he bought it, but I liked the tool tray a lot (maybe that's why he bought it also), so I commandeered it, pitched most of the original sockets, plugged in my own SK and Craftsman sockets and extensions. It fits shallow drawers, it's easy to see if any sockets are missing, although some sockets are missing because none of my sets contains 32nd sizes, and it's easy to grab the whole tray (nicely balanced) and a ratchet and take it to the project.

I don't know where any like this can be had, I've had mine for 40 years. Maybe it could be fabricated by 3D printing.

 

[arbadacarba]

A few years ago I ordered 2 small drawers from them directly (Took a while) and swapped one of the deep drawers for 2 medium ones. For me its about square inches of shelf space rather than cubic inches of drawer space.

The spacing worked almost perfectly... I have one large and one small gap between the drawers but you really have to look for it and it is not a functional difference.

(Oh, and yes, that thing is SOLIDLY chained to the wall)

 

[jsmeece]

Wow, I didn't know you could order drawers for the 26 inch boxes. I knew you could for the older lockers.
Probably can't anymore since I have the older 18 inch deep version.

 

[CZ Eddie]

A few years ago I ordered 2 small drawers from them directly (Took a while) and swapped one of the deep drawers for 2 medium ones. For me its about square inches of shelf space rather than cubic inches of drawer space.

Looks like you also swapped some of the lower drawer positions around.
I didn't know this was possible.
Was it easy to do?
Are the drawer runners already configured or did you have to unscrew/screw things around?

 

[thr3squared]

I went a different route on my 26" stack, although in my garage the box is close enough for me to work out of instead of pulling socket rails out. This is the top drawer in the bottom box, metric wrenches below that, and all my SAE and Torx/ETorx below that. Ratchets and extensions live in the bottom-most shallow drawer in the top box. Foam gym mats cut very easily with a trim router.

Do you happen to recall where you got the gray foam mat?

 

[arbadacarba]

I don't remember them being riveted in place... I just popped them out to try them in other positions... They are not exactly multiples of a base number in size but they are close enough to work. Being certifiably insane - I drew it up in AutoCAD to test options and then ordered the new drawers. I was slightly constrained by the reality of the drawer mounts but I'm pretty happy with the organization I was able to employ.



Crazy easy but it takes time if the drawers are fully loaded. (Oh and this configuration let me keep the drawer locks.


Organizationally I used a lot of Ernst products but I got it to the point that my wife can get me ANYTHING I need and in a pinch my 4 year old can get me most things he can reach. (Maybe I should put the most used tools in the bottom? - Nah, he'll be taller than I am by next year ;P)

 

[Jeff]

Wrenches, left open/combo, right ratcheting.

 

[AGuinn]

Do you happen to recall where you got the gray foam mat?

Available in black, grey, or blue and in 1/2, 3/4, and 1 inch thick. Mine are 1/2" grey.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013A4ASRW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I was worried about chemical resistance, but they've handled oil, grease, and brake cleaner without issues for several years.

 

[Renegade1LI]

I bought a 26 top & bottom it's almost like the full bank cart, just easy to roll around, haven't really set it up yet, just laying stuff in the drawers.

 

[Trapps]

Earnst/Tekton:





Not perfect and the drawer still needs work. I have added a 1/2" piece of ply under the back tray which allows them all to sit flat and not move around and the drawer is opened and closed.

In the 26" cabinet you'll need to drop down to the medium or medium/large drawers.