I'm going on 50yrs old now and like most of you Corvette builders, I have been collecting tools my whole life. I recently had no choice but to upgrade my tool storage capacity. I know Christmas is coming up, some of you might be shopping for tool boxes also..

I shopped around and almost had a heart attack when looking at Snap-On and Mac tool boxes. I know if you want quality you gotta pay but wow.. You need a 5 year loan for a nice Snap-On..
On the other side of the spectrum, Home Depot, Sears, Lowes are all selling tool boxes with thin metal, spot welded, with flimsy plastic junk slider parts for big money.
I ended up in Harbor Freight and checked out the 72" lower cabinet for 1199, and was blown away by the sturdiness and quality for the price. Best feature being the dual slide 50 inch center drawer. Started looking at reviews online and found nothing but good things being said. Only problem was they do not make a top box to match.
I found a really nice quality Homak 72" top box from Northern Tool for only 699, and it comes in red. Happens to be the exact same color. Ordered both online, they arrived very quickly had them both within a week. The bottom box is so heavy duty (Over 500 pounds) I had to use my fork lift to get it off the palette.
The Homak 72" top box is 1/4 inch wider then the Harbor Freight 72" Cabinet, so I cut a half inch spacer out of MDF. I plan to cut and polish a 1/2 bar of aluminum for the center trim. Will handle 4000+ lbs of tools with top box and sides attached. Casters are top quality heavy duty, sprung and locking.

The drawer handles and trim are different, but not so different.. I think they fit well together.

I put the two matching side boxes on it, and came up with a 9 foot wide, 7+ foot tall total beast of a toolbox, all for a fraction of the cost of the comparable Snap-On bottom box alone.
Total was around 2300 plus 300 for shipping.
If you have the room for it, I think this is the best tool storage solution you can get for your money.
Top Box
Cabinet
Side Boxes
NewBox by Mewn, on Flickr

 

Very nice!

 

Can't go wrong with this company. I have one and prior to purchasing I was able to compare this box with a SnapOn side by side. Quality box for a resonable price. One final note is that I sold my SnapOn box to purchase an Extreme box.

http://www.extremetools.net/

 

I have the 5 drawer tool cart from HF made by the same company as the bottom unit....Very happy with it...You can catch those on sale for $159

Wish I had enough garage space for a large box like this, nice set-up.

Brian

 

SS164 that Extreme box is like 20 thousand dollars? Amazing!

 

I just added a HF box to my existing Craftsman box. and I agree the Snap on boxes nust be lined with gold!

 

Only $30.00 a week for the next 30 years. It is nice though.

 

Nice setup.

Thanks for the review

 

Home Depot has this tool box for sale, other than the loud logo, seems to be a well constructed box for $700.00.

 

Was thinking of buying this one...anyone have any experience with it?

 

The Milwaukee Looks nice, I wonder how much it weighs. It has the built in plug strip which is helpful. I also like the side handles, and the all black and red scheme.
Here is the comparable HF 44". 10 dollars cheaper then the Milwaukee, Harbor Freight says it holds up to 2600 and weighs 245 Lbs. Also I believe you can add on the side boxes to all of the HF tool boxes, they are really nice.
One way to check if a box is junk is to push on the top deck above the center of the top drawer. If it bows, it is junk and wont hold any weight. The top deck of the $1800 top of the line Lowes Kobalt toolbox would not support 40 pounds, and was actually bending and scraping the top of the drawers below.

Top Box 44"
Bottom Box 44"

 

Think that is coming out to around 50 grand. That tool box is insane. Only thing is it looks like it needs more casters for all that weight!
I'll take mine in black!

 

Hello, I was a mechanic for 35 years and when I recently retired I had to empty my service truck. I bought three tool boxes from Harbor Freight. Not the largest but the next ones down. The botton,Top and side box ran me about $800. The boxes are great as long as you don't move them around. Mine are stationary in my shop. I don't have enough room for 35+ years of tools but there a lot cheaper dollar wise then Snap-on. On craigslist by me guys are selling Snap-on boxes for upwards of $12,000. Thats without tools.So Harbor Freight does have some good stuff.

 

That fridge woud be the most used tool in my garage.

 

I was joking about the price, I do know that they are pricey, but very nice. Several years ago, where I work bought a nicely equipped SnapOn tool box, cabinet and well equipped with tools for about 12 grand.

 

The Milwaukee tool cabinet that's on sale at Home Depot weighs 380 lbs, according to the Milwaukee website.

Not all Home Depots around here (Canada) have it, but I'm going to see if i can find one to look at.

 

Been a few years, the General tool boxes are holding up very well, No rust no issues. Still giving them a 5 Star rating!
Here is what I did with my sockets. I got the crush matting and pressed in my own design. The matting is expensive, but it worked well for organization.

Lets see some of your tool drawer ideas?
[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/129412043@N05/, on Flickr
[/url] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/129412043@N05/, on Flickr

 

What is "crush matting" google didn't turn up anything....? Nice set-up BTW.

Brian

 

Hi Brian, thanks,

http://www.toollodge.com/

You send tool lodge your toolbox drawer dimensions, they send you a heavy rubber base, foam mat with fabric covering it, you arrange the tools the way you want them, and press them in with your fingers or a rubber mallet. They sink down up to about an inch or more, and the foam keeps the shape, and they are embedded. Works great, you just want to clean off the tools before putting them away, to keep the fabric clean and try to avoid damaging the surrounding foam or it can dent permanantly.