Tool boxes

[RC3]

I know some of you guys are professional mechanics and what not. Due to my work, I needed a decent amount of tools and a no frills tool box. Well, a little over a year after I purchased my first tool box, I traded it in today. I feel guilty and kind of wish I walked away. I went from having a good blue tool box to a bigger bad ass desert tan one with a power drawer. I could have saved so much money just buying a craftsman one.

[gjohnsoniv]

I'm used to Snap-On black and red, but that tan is suuhhweeettt.

[hipower]

Looks good. My tools, such as they are, reside in a stacked set I bought from Sam's Club probably 10 years ago. That and a couple of Harbor Freight rolling car/drawer box combo units.

But I don't make a living with mine; so I can't justify an expensive box.

[2.ooohhh]

My box paid itself off several times over throughout my career wrenching, and I'm proud to still have it for my hobbies paid off in full. I do love that snap-on royal blue though.

IMG_5754 by Erik, on Flickr

Edited October 25, 2017 by 2.ooohhh

[Dane]

You wouldn't have saved much in the long run with a craftsman box.  After replacing it 2 or 3 times you would have wished you had just bought the one have now.  

[bersaguy]

Back a year before Dale Earhart sr. was killed my son purchased a Mac brand Dale Earhart top of the line Tool box with the Stereo built in as he was a die hard Dale Fan. Right after Dale died he went back to using my old Snap On boxes that I used for 30+ years and purchased a nice Mac Cover for the Earnhart box and now it sits in his den in his house. He has had several really nice offers from folks wanting to buy it but he just smiles and politely says "it's not for sale"

[VERO1]

Sorry, I just purchased a couple boxes from Harbor Freight at a fraction of the cost of a Mac or Snap On, it will last my lifetime at least, after that, I really don't care  

[2.ooohhh]

32 minutes ago, VERO1 said:

Sorry, I just purchased a couple boxes from Harbor Freight at a fraction of the cost of a Mac or Snap On, it will last my lifetime at least, after that, I really don't care  

I tossed my craftsman professional on craigslist, before it I had cheap harbor freight(dumpster). When actually chock full of tools the harbor freight had issues with the slides locking up, on the craftsman while the slides were better, the drawers sagged in the center of the span enough to catch the drawer below and not allow opening. This occurred to the point I was having to open 2-3 drawers to get my socket drawer open, which with the three heaviest upper drawers open also became a tipping risk. I bought the others before I was a full time mechanic, but I didn't run out an buy a snap on just because it was shiny. I actually liked MAC's boxes a little better but we just didn't have a reliable route rep for them, and my snap-on rep gave me a great price on a repossessed snap on, which got upgraded by my insurance when a customer hit my first snap on box with their car. 

 

Not saying a cheaper box won't work for lots of mechanics, but they just didn't cut it for me, at least when I was working out of them full time.

[RC3]

3 hours ago, VERO1 said:

Sorry, I just purchased a couple boxes from Harbor Freight at a fraction of the cost of a Mac or Snap On, it will last my lifetime at least, after that, I really don't care  

For the amount of tools I have in the top drawer alone, a harbor freight tool box wont cut it. My dad bought many of them and they all broke. Its one of those you get what you pay for.

2 hours ago, 2.ooohhh said:

I tossed my craftsman professional on craigslist, before it I had cheap harbor freight(dumpster). When actually chock full of tools the harbor freight had issues with the slides locking up, on the craftsman while the slides were better, the drawers sagged in the center of the span enough to catch the drawer below and not allow opening. This occurred to the point I was having to open 2-3 drawers to get my socket drawer open, which with the three heaviest upper drawers open also became a tipping risk. I bought the others before I was a full time mechanic, but I didn't run out an buy a snap on just because it was shiny. I actually liked MAC's boxes a little better but we just didn't have a reliable route rep for them, and my snap-on rep gave me a great price on a repossessed snap on, which got upgraded by my insurance when a customer hit my first snap on box with their car. 

 

Not saying a cheaper box won't work for lots of mechanics, but they just didn't cut it for me, at least when I was working out of them full time.

Only reason I went with snap on is because mac nor cromwell stops at our shop. My first box was a display model, and it saved me 1/4 of the price and I got the full sticker price on trade in. When I pay this one off, I wont get another one. If I need more room, I;ll just get a craftsman one and unload all the stuff I dont use often.

And my tools are all over the place. 90% of my sockets  and wrenches are craftsman, power tools are all milwaukee (got a hell of a deal on them) and everything else is snap on. I had some mac stuff, but I gave it to my dad.

Edited October 26, 2017 by RC3

[TripleGGG]

5 hours ago, bersaguy said:

Back a year before Dale Earhart sr. was killed my son purchased a Mac brand Dale Earhart top of the line Tool box with the Stereo built in as he was a die hard Dale Fan. Right after Dale died he went back to using my old Snap On boxes that I used for 30+ years and purchased a nice Mac Cover for the Earnhart box and now it sits in his den in his house. He has had several really nice offers from folks wanting to buy it but he just smiles and politely says "it's not for sale"

That was the day NASCAR died. 

[bersaguy]

33 minutes ago, TripleGGG said:

That was the day NASCAR died. 

Yep!!!!!

[monkeylizard]

6 hours ago, VERO1 said:

Sorry, I just purchased a couple boxes from Harbor Freight at a fraction of the cost of a Mac or Snap On, it will last my lifetime at least, after that, I really don't care  

I don't think I've ever had anything from HF last a weekend. When I get coupons for free stuff at HF, no purchase required, I still don't bother. Even at free I feel like I got ripped off.

[RC3]

2 minutes ago, monkeylizard said:

I don't think I've ever had anything from HF last a weekend. When I get coupons for free stuff at HF, no purchase required, I still don't bother. Even at free I feel like I got ripped off.

We bought a few things for the shop from them as temporary stop gaps. The ac pressure tester broke after one use, and a few other items were complete crap. Only things that last from them are jacks and jack stands.  Bought a jack a few years ago for a friend and its been beaten and missued. Still works flawlessly.

[bersaguy]

I turned wrenches professionally for 35 years and was finally forced out by my doctor after my seventh hernia surgery and had all the mesh put in so turned the shop and business over to my son which is also an ASE Master techincian today. When I left the business after managing it for a couple years I told him it was his baby now and I gave him 2 three tear SnapOn boxes with side boxes hanging on each side filled with nothing but snap on tools. I had my Snap-On tool man give me a rough estimate about the value of the tools and boxes for insurance purposes and it tok him a week or two until he got back to me. Over the 35 years turning wrenches I had accumulated $197,000.00 dollars in tools and boxes and since then my son has spent almost 40 grand more just buying scanners and all the high tech stuff needed to work on this late model junk they build today. He specializes in Transmission rebuilds but they do about everything from the smallest repairs to replacing engines.

[Murgatroy]

6 hours ago, TripleGGG said:

That was the day NASCAR died. 

 I am not a NASCAR fan.  I can't recall any other race I have watched. But on a chance, I remember the day that one happened. Richard Petty is the only other NASCAR driver I hold in similar esteem.

 

Being in 'that' scene, I told my wife when Paul Walker died, and Dale in discussion, if I go out doing what I love, and how I lived, don't mourn me. Celebrate that I did what I did on my terms.

[DWARREN123]

Depends on use. The better box will pay for itself over time.

Most new boxes are made by just a few companies and are not really heavy duty.

[TripleGGG]

6 hours ago, Murgatroy said:

 I am not a NASCAR fan.  I can't recall any other race I have watched. But on a chance, I remember the day that one happened. Richard Petty is the only other NASCAR driver I hold in similar esteem.

 

Being in 'that' scene, I told my wife when Paul Walker died, and Dale in discussion, if I go out doing what I love, and how I lived, don't mourn me. Celebrate that I did what I did on my terms.

Richard Petty was a child hood hero. I met him when I was about 10 years old at an event in Daytona Beach. I had a bunch of his stuff and he took the time to autograph every single item, talked to me like he had known me my whole life. He stayed probably 2 hours past the event closing until everyone that came to see him had their turn.  It left a lasting impression and my signature today is a result of me trying to copy his style signature after meeting him. 

[bersaguy]

Well I guess I have been a NASCAR fan as long as I can remember but I am slowly beginning to have issues with it as NASCAR in constantly playing games with cars, car owners and drivers. They have made so many new rules it is almost impossible for everyone involved in just 1 race car team to know and remember. I also don't like the 3 stage race programs. When I watch a race the only time I want it stopped is in case of a wreck. And this new 5 minute  clock on working on a wrecked car before it is done for the day sucks too. I still watch it because I like to watch Kyle Busch race. He reminds me of the old Dale in a lot of his driving ways. Of course NASCAR has stopped a lot of that also. Back when Kyle first came to NASCAR if you were not as fast as he was and you tried to block him to keep him from passing you he would do the DALE on them and put a bumper to them. Do that today and you will get black flagged. Yea, a year or two more of that bull and I will quit watching them along with football .  

[RC3]

Nascar jusf doesnt do it for me. Formula one on the other hand, is a whole lot of monster. 

[bersaguy]

3 minutes ago, RC3 said:

Nascar jusf doesnt do it for me. Formula one on the other hand, is a whole lot of monster. 

Not me, those Formula 1 cars remind me of Coffins on wheels..........JMHO

[peejman]

I lost all interest in NASCAR in the aftermath of Dale Sr's death. They handled that situation horribly.  Shortly after that it switched from being about racing to being about entertainment.  It's become a medium for marketing, the "racing" is secondary. 

As for tool boxes.... pros with lots of heavy tools need a pro quality box. The average shade tree handyman will be served just fine by the consumer grade stuff.