new toolbox

[5.0's 4 ever]

Looks good
I bought my snap on 40" roll cab and top chest back when I was in ASSET and had over the 50% discount. Wish I still had it today, I had saved over $7k on tools

 

[d90212]

some other boxes of the shop when we were moving shop
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[javsvt]

heres a link, its not the exact one, but you get an idea of what it looks like. http://www.matcotools.com/Catalog/toolcatalog.jsp?cattype=T&select=&cat=2433

I got the same size, but the Rusty Wallace edition. Nice box, just make sure you lock the drawers before you move it. Mine nearly tipped because the drawers opened. Freakin things are heavy. Good Luck!

 

[deftsound]

good god i never thought of tools as being like that

 

[Mike97gt]

6k for a professionl mechanic is not much. I have seen guys spend 12-13k on a toolbox. thats a empty tool box.

I used to have a huge snap on box and I was making HUGE payments on it. I ended up finding a buyer for it to take over the loan and bought the biggest 56 inch craftsman pro setup ( not the crappy ones you see in the store) it's good enough for me holds 200+ pounds per draw and was reasonable for the size I paid about $2500 for the bottom and it's all paid off.

I used to get all worked up over boxes but what I am going to do now if I run out of room is buy another 56 inch top and bottom and use them both as a 112 inch unit. and use the money I saved to get my own IDS.

I have a family of four to feed and with my girlfriend out of work for the last 3 years ( she went back to school) the big toolbox payments were killing me. I chose to have a mustang over the box.

If I did not have a family to support by myself I would have kept my rape-on box.


BTW those are some nice toolboxes you guys have in your shop d90212

 

[bdcardinal]

having your own IDS would be nice. i would want one, but i hate sharing.

 

[bigcat]

i only have a matco 4725 but i did get it for less than 1/2 of retail!! they matco dealer ordered it for a customer, but the customer quit before taking possesion. the matco guy was stuck with it for almost 9 months before i came along. he let me have it at cost!! so for under 2 grand, i have a nice size box. the sad thing is the box is a small portion of the total value of my tools. i am looking to upgrade to the largest bottom box matco offers, so i will never have to buy another box again!! when i get my new job, i will look into it a bit more.

 

[SaleenGT2001]

i have a craftsman box. it isnt the nicest thing ever made but it gets the job done. i use it everyday for the past 2 years and it hasnt given any problems yet. the reason i like it is because i spend just over 1,000 on it and still had cash left for tools to fill it up!

 

[d90212]

6k for a professionl mechanic is not much. I have seen guys spend 12-13k on a toolbox. thats a empty tool box.

BTW those are some nice toolboxes you guys have in your shop d90212

svt- our shop doesnt supply alot of tools, only the specialty ford tools, so everyone basically has to buy their own. or if its a shop tool everyone buys an extra if they know they use it often. it sucks trying to hunt down a tool with 25 techs sharing it and you know time = money

as for why an investment on a good box- as svt says the drawers, try to load craftsman with 200 lbs worth of tools. the materials they use is another factor. ex. when i installed my top chest, empty with no drawers, i had about 4 really big guys try to just lift it up the ground, and they couldnt even do that. ended using two cherry pickers to balance both sides to install.
if youve made this your profession, you usually want the biggest you can afford. your ALWAYS buying tools, each and every year. you really dont want to run out of room, which would mean trading in your old box and almost starting all over again with payments for a new box.

 

[Mike97gt]

svt- our shop doesnt supply alot of tools, only the specialty ford tools, so everyone basically has to buy their own. or if its a shop tool everyone buys an extra if they know they use it often. it sucks trying to hunt down a tool with 25 techs sharing it and you know time = money

as for why an investment on a good box- as svt says the drawers, try to load craftsman with 200 lbs worth of tools. the materials they use is another factor. ex. when i installed my top chest, empty with no drawers, i had about 4 really big guys try to just lift it up the ground, and they couldnt even do that. ended using two cherry pickers to balance both sides to install.
if youve made this your profession, you usually want the biggest you can afford. your ALWAYS buying tools, each and every year. you really dont want to run out of room, which would mean trading in your old box and almost starting all over again with payments for a new box.

yeah you work for a ford dealer like I do. all they provide is special tools, and half of those are stolen

I used to have a snap on box and it was very nice, but I had to make some sacrfices a few years back when we sent my girlfriend back to collage.

I have a craftsman pro box for now, it's a #3200 box that can handle 200+ pounds per drawer. But the quality is not as good as my snap-on box.

as you said I don't think these people understand how important the weight the box can handle per load is.

after she is done with school I am going to either get another 56 inch box and use 2 of them ( and get my own IDS with the savings) or I am going to trade in and get the triple bank 1000 series snap-on with the top chest and a locker. thats about 12k right theere I think.

Ohh one last thing. one of the deisel techs at my work bought a 100+ inch wide cornwall. OMFG is that thing huge

 

[DerekStangGT]

whats an IDS?

 

[5.0's 4 ever]

whats an IDS?

Its a new diagnostic tool, not cheap though were talking about thousands of dollars so I will stick with a PDS/VCM diagnostic tool.
Here is the ford answer for you.
1. What is IDS?

The Ford Integrated Diagnostic System (IDS) is the WDS replacement tool that is made up of the following: WDS software modified to run on a laptop with XP Pro (SP2) Operating System, a Vehicle Communication Module (VCM) and associated cables, a Vehicle Measurement Module (VMM) and associated cables, and a laptop.

 

[DerekStangGT]

Its a new diagnostic tool, not cheap though were talking about thousands of dollars so I will stick with a PDS/VCM diagnostic tool.
Here is the ford answer for you.
1. What is IDS?

The Ford Integrated Diagnostic System (IDS) is the WDS replacement tool that is made up of the following: WDS software modified to run on a laptop with XP Pro (SP2) Operating System, a Vehicle Communication Module (VCM) and associated cables, a Vehicle Measurement Module (VMM) and associated cables, and a laptop.

ah, ok. we use the HDS at work. Honda Diagnostic System. its pretty pimp. i'd like to see what ford came out with though. our HDS runs ~ 5k new. we have a shop whore

 

[Dragstr05]

Just a short time before I left my job at lincoln for school, a tech there traded in his matco box and bought a 20k snap on unit. The thing is HUGE! Very nice though. Good to know you have enough room that your drawers arent cluttered.

I need to figure out what I'm going to do myself for a box, as I'll need one in prob a year give or take a few months. I can purchase a snap on box at 50% off, but I'd like to start off with something a little bigger if possible, because I know I'll end up upgrading anyway and it would be cheaper in the long run to get a bigger box first instead of a smaller one and trading it in. The box I can get is 54" wide, 24" deep (I think) at around 1,300 - 1,600 after the discount.