Posted: 12/27/2009 12:43:14 PM EDT
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I'm thinking of getting a truck cross bed toolbox. I lean toward black plastic just for looks (have a black plastic bed liner). I am a little concerned about risk of theft (although I park the truck inside my garage so it's lower than if it was parked on the streets) with a plastic tool box vs a metal one. Also, I want it to be weather tight.
Also, I have to decide between a single lid and a gull wing style lids. So...plastic or metal? Single lid or gull wing style lids? I plan to keep some of the below items in it: 12 volt small air compressor Air compressor hose Air tank Battery jump power source Basic socket set Basic hand tools Jumper cables Tow straps Rachet tie down straps Power inverter Just some things I want to have with me when away from home but I do want them to be fairly secure. Of course, anyone can break into anything given enough time. I just want it to be secure from the casual thief. Thanks!! |
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Same as above, Metal single lid Saddle box.
A good WeatherGuard Saddle Box will last longer than your truck |
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Go metal and single lid. The metal makes it alot harder to get into and the plastic over the years breaks down no matter what you do to it. Any quality unit will be weathertight. Also, the single lid is easier to put and remove large items in/from. yep. i have had a delta box that has been on my last two trucks going on 4 years now. still works fine. my papers and code books arent wet yet. |
| Went through the same issue. Full size truck. I finally got a Ridgid Job Box at Homo Depot that is 2x2x4. Bolted it to the bed. Damned sturdy and lots of storage. Have room on the sides to use the tie downs. It uses Master locks in a cool configuration to lock it, and I don't think anyone will get in quickly. Sturdiest solution I have ever seen. $260 I think. |
| The gang box is the most secure but probally over kill. I use a Rawson Koenig tool box, which is the heaviest made (14 AWG), but the one lid designs are going to be weaker then a similar gull wing design. Some of the lesser brands (ie Delta's consumer line) are trivial to break into.) |
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<snip> 12 volt small air compressor Air compressor hose Air tank <more snips> Something you my consider is a CO2 tank. I.E. 20-24oz paintball tank. That coupled with a decent expansion chamber and the proper regs they will fill many tires. I know several offroaders that use these. Use the compressor as a last resort as they take forever and most are disposable in the sense that they are oilless and burn up after extended use. The bonus to the CO2 is that you can refill them fairly cheap or just order the bulk cylinders and fill them yourself. They fill off weight, much like propane. A fish 'de-lier' will do the trick. |
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<snip> 12 volt small air compressor Air compressor hose Air tank <more snips> Something you my consider is a CO2 tank. I.E. 20-24oz paintball tank. That coupled with a decent expansion chamber and the proper regs they will fill many tires. I know several offroaders that use these. Use the compressor as a last resort as they take forever and most are disposable in the sense that they are oilless and burn up after extended use. The bonus to the CO2 is that you can refill them fairly cheap or just order the bulk cylinders and fill them yourself. They fill off weight, much like propane. A fish 'de-lier' will do the trick. That sounds like a really good idea. Never thought of that. |
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<snip> 12 volt small air compressor Air compressor hose Air tank <more snips> Something you my consider is a CO2 tank. I.E. 20-24oz paintball tank. That coupled with a decent expansion chamber and the proper regs they will fill many tires. I know several offroaders that use these. Use the compressor as a last resort as they take forever and most are disposable in the sense that they are oilless and burn up after extended use. The bonus to the CO2 is that you can refill them fairly cheap or just order the bulk cylinders and fill them yourself. They fill off weight, much like propane. A fish 'de-lier' will do the trick. I had thought about that but I still lean toward the 12 volt pump. I found a pretty good one for about $100. Good idea though and I won't discount it. I also thought about the fact that the gull wing ones are harder to get into. I am leaning toward the single lid. I really wanted a plastic one to match the truck but am afraid that they won't stand up to someone trying to pry into it for long. Metal ones won't last long either but they are a lot noisier to get into. I want the usable space for things like wood and since it's a short bed, I need all the room I can get to haul sheets of plywood and planks. So, it can't be too deep and can't be bolted to the bed. Thanks again. I guess I'll start looking at metal ones. Anyone have experience with the tool boxes that Northern Tool sells? I am going to look up some of the recommendations here. |
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Go metal and single lid. The metal makes it alot harder to get into and the plastic over the years breaks down no matter what you do to it. Any quality unit will be weathertight. Also, the single lid is easier to put and remove large items in/from. yep. i have had a delta box that has been on my last two trucks going on 4 years now. still works fine. my papers and code books arent wet yet. +1 |
| If you are going to install a truck box just to ride around and look good, any of them will do. If you are going to be using them for what they were meant for, Weatherguard and Rawson-Koenig are the only way to go. I have a Weatherguard single lid box. It is tough, built well, and does not leak. I use mine in my work as a contractor, and view buying cheap boxes as throwing money down the drain. Buy a good one once and get it over with. You get what you pay for. |
| I have a metal single lid box from tractor supply, 4 years old and just as good as new. mines bright aluminum but they come in black. The box has seen alot of abuse from my labores (never me..of course) I raise mine up from the bed sides with channel iron and its all bolted down. As for security, i work in bad areas and never had a problem, but you could add a padlock if you had too. |
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Rawson, single lid. I have had this box on three trucks. It will be taken off next year and placed on my next ride. Thats what I got. Years ago I was at some telco trade show where they had a bunch of truck equipment vendors. Everybody said they had a 16 ga box- if you wanted somethign heavier, go to R-K, there's are 14 ga. RK bragged they were the choice of the railroad, as if no one abused their equipment more. Sure enough, look at high rail rucks and see how many have stainless steel paddle latches with the RK logo. 14 ga is 4-8 times stronger then the 20 ga used in some boxes intended for bog box sales. Of course, as one of the other vendors, said, if you don't plan on tossing a sledge hammer in the box, you won't dent a 16 ga box. I think I have 5 RK boxes between my truck and trailers. |
I've got a single lid Weatherguard as well. Definitely nicely built and sturdy. I have quite a bit of stuff in mine...as such, another thing you might want to consider is a low-profile box. Out of sight, out of mind...especially if the truck is lifted at all...it just doesn't draw attention.
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Quoted: I have a single lid on my 05 chevy truck. I like the low profile so you can see while backing up. It is sturdy. Nice rig above. Too bad a Dodge- hee, hee! I do not make too much fun... someday I might need you to pull me out of the mud! It's the Cummins I had to have, not necessarily the Dodge. Can't beat 515hp/1100ft-lbs to the tires though. :) Luckily it's a stick to handle all the jam. |
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I've got a single lid Weatherguard as well. Definitely nicely built and sturdy. I have quite a bit of stuff in mine...as such, another thing you might want to consider is a low-profile box. Out of sight, out of mind...especially if the truck is lifted at all...it just doesn't draw attention. http://www.speedcraving.com/keith/01dodge/wheels/rims11.jpg I like the flush low profile boxes. You could slap a tonneau cover on the bed and no one would know what's in there. |
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<snip> 12 volt small air compressor Air compressor hose Air tank <more snips> Something you my consider is a CO2 tank. I.E. 20-24oz paintball tank. That coupled with a decent expansion chamber and the proper regs they will fill many tires. I know several offroaders that use these. Use the compressor as a last resort as they take forever and most are disposable in the sense that they are oilless and burn up after extended use. The bonus to the CO2 is that you can refill them fairly cheap or just order the bulk cylinders and fill them yourself. They fill off weight, much like propane. A fish 'de-lier' will do the trick. Well you might have convinced me! I've been looking at this idea and I'm starting to like it better and better. Found the attachment to connect the bottles to for about $60. Figured I'd have 3 bottles. One in varying state of fill, and two always full ones. I wonder how many average size truck tires one bottle would fill? One? Two? Anyone know? |