High Dollar tool boxes

All my tools are in a box kinda like this one:

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I'll admit, after 15 years, it's getting a little long in the tooth. One of the latches is a little bent, and the lid maybe doesn't open as nicely as it used to.
 
K...my $0.02...

From a guy who kept his tools in cardboard boxes as long as he could cuz, "the box don't make you no money"...

Room for organizing tools, saves time and helps you immediately know if you left something somewhere.
A "full set" of sockets is heavy! A drawer full of air tools is heavy!
A box that holds up to day to day opening and closing just isnt cheap. Cheap boxes will not hold up to daily rigors. They will jam, bend, and usually fall apart.
(And of course... they have to hold up to being repeatedly slammed when the boss pisses ya off!)

If you make a living out out of a tool box. There is no replacement for a high quality box. And they ain't cheap! I have a Matco and a Mac. Pretty much the last thing I bought, as I bought tools. But I know I needed em, and glad I invested in them!

Aside from possible upgrading, you will only buy a good box once, for life!
 
Surprised @Blkvoodoo hasn't posted pics of his big roller that somebody peeled open with a crowbar and stole all his junk.
 
Had a buddy that I worked with a few years back that spent his children's inheritance on a kick ass snapon box full of God knows how much money in tools inside. He always bragged about how hard his box would be to break into...then one day the shop got broke into and they stole his box. Funny thing is my Craftsman was sitting right next to his and went untouched.
 
shawn said:
Surprised @Blkvoodoo hasn't posted pics of his big roller that somebody peeled open with a crowbar and stole all his junk.
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LOL, I thought about it, but It was just a lowly MAC MACZIMIZER not one of the fancy pants Snap-on boxes.

apparently there is a way to open the Snap-On boxes from behind and not do any damage, may be just a certain model, I dunno for sure, but it really doesn't matter, if someone wants in bad enough, they'll get in. the sticker on the front makes little difference ( the other box in the shop that was broken into was Snap On )

Big money means big losses, in tools and repairs to the box ( that shit ain't covered under warranty )

its been 10 years, I'm over it

and for the last 10 years I've been in a Craftsman 42" Roller drawer chest mounted in a van. Tool boxes are not intended to be used in a mobile environment, it's done pretty well, $400 well spent.
 
Blkvoodoo said:
... a Craftsman 42" Roller drawer chest mounted in a van. ...
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Thats great! When I raced my dirt cars, I had a Craftsman "home storage" (the red and grey ones) box chained in a cube van tow pig. Still have that box in the garage at home! That was 25 years ago! Craftsman, made good boxes. Guessing they may make two levels of boxes now?
 
They've had a few manufacturers over the years, and different levels of quality with ball bearing slides or not, different gauge sheet metal, etc.

Homak and Waterloo have traditionally private-labeled the better grade boxes for them if I remember correctly. I'm not sure who makes the lower end Craftsman stuff, but I don't buy it so I don't care too much.
 
ol'Jeeps said:
That was 25 years ago! Craftsman, made good boxes. Guessing they may make two levels of boxes now?
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Yeah, I think the two levels are "total junk made in China that we will warranty (for now)" and "this crap is so bad we won't even warranty it".
 
Bumping this back up because I know a ton of you suckers are cheap as hell with tool storage...I was that way for a long time. Except I got tired of loading 3 totes of various crap into the bed of the truck or in the enclosed for a ride or race weekend. Or rifling through an action packer looking for a 10mm socket or 8mm nut driver for 30 min. I couldn't get my Instacred up at national races with a bunch of rubbermaid totes and an action packer full of scattered tools sitting under the EZUp.

Not sure how long the sale is going to last, but here is to hoping some of you retire the cardboard or plastic boxes too. $49
Husky 26 in. W 9-Drawer Tool Chest-H9CH3 - The Home Depot

The 9 drawer layout worked really well for everything I usually take to an event and I've got enough room for some more spares.

Top storage: Prepped air filter, spare hardware, extra premix, feeler gauges, tape measure, factory bike tool kit and airbox was cover
Top row: (L) Pliers, scissors (R) Screwdrivers, allens, torx
Second row: (L) Metric wrenches (R) Standard wrenches
Third row: (L) Metric sockets (R) Standard sockets
Fourth drawer: Ratchets, extensions, Breaker bar
Fifth drawer: Adjustable wrenches, C clamp, stock carb jets, spare seals and gaskets
Sixth drawer: Well, you see it
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What's a claw hammer doing in a motorcycle tool box? You going to build a wall? :flipoff2:


Seriously though, that's a decent price on that box. Really wish we had a HD here.
 
$50 bones for that drawer set is a smoking deal. Even though I don't really need it.... tempted to pick one up anyway
 
rockcity said:
What's a claw hammer doing in a motorcycle tool box? You going to build a wall? :flipoff2:


Seriously though, that's a decent price on that box. Really wish we had a HD here.
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I know you travel a lot, You can always order it and have it on hold at someplace you'll be in the next couple of weeks. I've picked shit up 3 weeks after purchase before
 
RatLabGuy said:
Is that a hunk of rump roast sitting on the top shelf?
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Haha no. Air filter in a ziploc since it's already oiled.

rockcity said:
What's a claw hammer doing in a motorcycle tool box? You going to build a wall? :flipoff2:

Seriously though, that's a decent price on that box. Really wish we had a HD here.
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Yep. Gonna build a wall around my camp to keep out anyone that doesn't ride a KTM. Yamaha, Honda Kawi and Suzuki owners are going to pay for it since the Japs started WW2 and it's going to be Uuuuuuuuge. :usa:
We don't have an Austrian flag smiley so Merica.

Seriously though, if you wanted one of these and they're still on sale after this weekend I could scoop one and keep it at my warehouse off 85 and Club Blvd til you come through.
 
For only $50 I'm seriously thinking of buying one and painting it pink for my 6 yo daughter to use for her jewelry and trinkets (and tools!)
She's been begging for a pink toolbox for years since she saw one at Sears. I told her once she learns how to use the tools I'd buy her one.
 
StretchASU said:
I couldn't get my Instacred up at national races with a bunch of rubbermaid totes and an action packer full of scattered tools sitting under the EZUp.
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You'd have plenty of cred, working out of cardboard boxes...if you beat all their asses on the track.

Kinda goes along with "beware the man with only one gun"....beware the racer working out of rubbermaid totes.
 
kaiser715 said:
You'd have plenty of cred, working out of cardboard boxes...if you beat all their asses on the track.

Kinda goes along with "beware the man with only one gun"....beware the racer working out of rubbermaid totes.
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Yeah...I don't do that. I get marginal starts then play tree plinko at some point and roll across the line a battered mess. :lol:
 
Per the original year old original post...I've always been a best bang for the buck kind of guy. My top box is a damn near 50 year old SnapOn I got from my grandfather...intermediate and roller are the Craftsman ball bearing units, I think I paid $400 for...and then I have a 30 year old Mac side box I paid $50 for from my dad. I'd say its gotten above average use for the home hobbyist and significantly more the last 2-3 years. Tools are the same style, kobalt, craftsman, Mac and SnapOn...bought at yard sales, found in junkyards, inherited from relatives, etc etc.

That said, my uncle was a chief engineer at SnapOn through the 90's...any of you dealers back then, probably have a poster with his face on it. When he decides he's too old to wrench...that entire collection is coming my way. Because as noted by others...not worth it to me to buy new, but free/cheap...it's a no brainer.
 
I don't need a $8000.00 snap on tool box.
I'm not a pro, plus I have 3 car tool box that keeps most of my tools in one general area! lol
I friend of mine got a big box ( size of a small car) for 5 grand when he started out as an aviation mechanic.
The guy he got it from, used, was also a pro and had it for 20 plus years. It was full of tools .... including the one big bottom drawer full of different hammers!


Matt
 
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