I am in the market for a tool chest. I am looking for opinions on brands, styles and options from people that have tool chests. I am not a professional mechanic so I cant justify spending the cash for a snapon type tool chest, but I do spend enough time in the garage that I want to get a decent chest. I have been looking at the craftsmen and the kobalt chest. Are the ball bearing drawers worth the extra price? Are the ~26" wide chests wide enough for regular use or should I spend the extra for the ~40" wide? In the past I was always a craftsman guy and even bought one for my dad for Christmas, but since their tool chests are no longer made in the states I have been leaning away from them. Kobalt tool chests are still made in the states right?

Here's my big one when I first got it.


I've since added some rollarounds etc..
Here's my bay at the dealership(actually I have 3 bays,one two post,one four post and park bay)

They all have a purpose,the little one is my laptop cart for CEL diagnosis etc.(have another cart I use currently)
The big rollaround is for throwing tools in for big/long jobs,and the big matco is my base of operations.
The touchscreen computer comes in handy for keeping various stuff and getting on ford technical site.

My shop at home uses mostly pegboard,with a big blue rollaround cart exactly like the black one.

I love my big 48" wide.
It gives me a working surface,I hate the tall skinny boxes.
I know Kobalt screwdrivers are made by snap on,I think all Kobalt is.
Craftsman sucks till you get up in the professional series,and for that money I would just look for a used matco,Mac or snap on box.

The cheap ones have really thin crap sheet metal and will not last.
I really dig my ball bearing slides,no fighting with drawers.

Go to a local dealership and get the number for the matco,snap on and mac guys.
Give them a call,they get trade in's all the time and almost give them away.
That and craigslist,always good stuff coming up.

[This message has been edited by DefEddie (edited 01-12-2010).]

I have never been much of a fan of roll around tool boxes. I have a couple of basic tool boxes on the bench with the vast majority of the tools on a 4x8 peg board.

Here are my last 3 garage setups using a very similar setup:



Current setup:

Get the roller barrings and the extra width you will alway buy new tools. I have a large Matco box with all the goodies. I owne a shop. so I like having the extras. It is worth the money.

I was looking at Craftsman and Homak.

I got a 41 inch wide roller base and top Homak. It has roller bearing drawers and liners included. Homak I found makes their own line and private lines for Napa, Summit Racing and others. It is as good and nearly the same as the Craftsmans.

But it is heavy it is almost 500 pounds empty.

I have a Mac roller too but I needed more room.

I don't wrench for money anymore so the Homak is just fine for me. Plus I got it at cost at work also helped me pick it over the Craftsman.

For homeowner-y kind of use, a 26" will work, but it won't be the greatest. Go wider if you can spring for it; its one of those purchases you won't later regret.

Ball bearing slides only. Don't get sucked into Craftsman "Quiet-glide" which roughly translated means "plastic crap".

When you go to buy a toolbox:
Pick up a 22mm combination wrench (oxygen sensor size) and a 36mm axle socket (GM FWD big pattern axle nut size) to use as a gauge.

-Make sure there's plenty of room to fit the wrench straight in the drawers of the box you plan to use for wrenches (many shallow boxes can't do this)
-Make sure there's enough room to stand sockets up in the drawers you plan to use for sockets.
-Buy enough box that your tools will only fill it to about 1/2 capacity.

I have occasionally seen tool chests at Sam's Club and Menard's that are decent size and would be tough enough for around-the-house use. This seems to be hit-n-miss, (sometimes good ones, sometimes crap) so shop a lot.

x2 on sniffing around the Snap-On guy and Mac guy. Trade-ins happen all the time but the inventory of used is far from regular.

[This message has been edited by KurtAKX (edited 01-13-2010).]

Make sure you have the bottomless checking account option.

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1988 GT

I got a nice roll-around type tool chest setup at Harbor Freight about 3 years ago. I've had no problems with it -- the drawers all still work properly. Maybe I'll take a picture this evening if I remember.

I bought mine quite a few years ago from Costco.
They were excellent! Brand name is Kennedy.
They're the only ones that I know of that crinkle paint their tool boxes.

Not sure if they still sell them or where you can get them anymore...

Kit

I happened to come across a tool box at lowes as I walked in the door one day. It was for sale for $1300 because it was the display model and had a ding in the bottom droor where someone had apparently rammed it with a cart. The box is made by Kobalt, it's stainless steel, over 6 feet tall, roughly 5 feet wide and 2 feed deep. It has a pioneer cd player and 2 pioneer speakers built into it and the mack daddy of all tool box features..... A built in BEER FRIDGE!!! I was concerned a little about the quality versus my snap-on box that's similar in size, but I was able to talk the manager down to $1000 on the spot and I took it home. Having owned it for a year now, I am almost ashamed to say that my snap-on has been parked in my storeage unit and I continue to use the Kobalt box. It's appears to have every bit of quality that the snap-on box has, it always looks cleaner, I don't worry about knicking the paint, I jam while working on my rides, and my beer is only 4 steps away at all times. They list this box for $1899 and I now that I have owned it, I can testify that it IS worth every penny that they ask for it. I would have paid that all day long again and again. Hell I would probably pay $1899 a year rent on it just to keep it. It's awesome. Enough said.

quote Originally posted by fieroguy123: I happened to come across a tool box at lowes as I walked in the door one day. It was for sale for $1300 because it was the display model and had a ding in the bottom droor where someone had apparently rammed it with a cart. The box is made by Kobalt, it's stainless steel, over 6 feet tall, roughly 5 feet wide and 2 feed deep. It has a pioneer cd player and 2 pioneer speakers built into it and the mack daddy of all tool box features..... A built in BEER FRIDGE!!! I was concerned a little about the quality versus my snap-on box that's similar in size, but I was able to talk the manager down to $1000 on the spot and I took it home. Having owned it for a year now, I am almost ashamed to say that my snap-on has been parked in my storeage unit and I continue to use the Kobalt box. It's appears to have every bit of quality that the snap-on box has, it always looks cleaner, I don't worry about knicking the paint, I jam while working on my rides, and my beer is only 4 steps away at all times. They list this box for $1899 and I now that I have owned it, I can testify that it IS worth every penny that they ask for it. I would have paid that all day long again and again. Hell I would probably pay $1899 a year rent on it just to keep it. It's awesome. Enough said.

I know what one your talking about, I got a smaller Kobalt one, I LOVE it. Maybe when I am making more money I can justify having a tool box thats worth more than my cars

Damn you guys,now I want a new box with a stereo and fridge.

I added on a 12v system to one of my tool carts that allows me to charge my laptop on the go and power my surround sound system along with various tools,chargers etc..
But for the fridge I had to buy a mini-fridge,still haven't found a place to put it yet.

I wanna see pics of those awesome boxes.

I'm with you guy's on the Kobalt tool box. I bought one a little over a year ago at Lowes. This particular box normally sells for about $ 1,000.00 + tax. It was on sale, so I got it for $ 852.00 w/tax. The drawers are roller and are self closing. I just love the stainless steel finish. I recommend this Kobalt stuff highly. Ernie