Rather than trying to find a black one, why not get a shiny one and paint it black with Plasti-dip aerosol? That's my plan. Cheaper than powder coat and easily touched up. And you can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting one of those plain aluminum finish boxes for less than 100.00.

For security, put a hasp or two on it and throw on your own locks.

 

I have a slimline diamond plate tool box in my 88 f-150 regular cab shortbed,got it from Lowes black friday sale for $98 + tax its nice but small only 12 inches wide but serves a good purpose being a reg cab, if you want heavy duty this is not for you i have it wired into my alarm with a pin switch.Lowes stil has them for around 130.00

 

I bought a new black Weatherguard for $250. A few years back Tractor Supply Company was clearing them out and kept dropping the price from $699. I really like it. I do have a quality issue with one of the locks. It works but the finish on it is scaling and the red cover cover is bubbled. Other than this it has been durable and taken a far amount of abuse. I'm not really sure it's worth the original asking price but at the price I got it it was a steal.

 

No kidding, $250 for a Weatherguard box is a steal. I would have jumped all over that too. They must have been clearing them out to make room for their own brand, which is much cheaper than the Weatherguard boxes.

I believe the Tractor Supply branded boxes are actually made by a company called Tradesman, as are the Husky boxes. Tradesman makes boxes for quite a few different places and then those places just put their name on them.

 

I bought my black weatherguard in 06 for like 475. Normally I don't spend big money on that stuff, but with a regular cab, I needed dry and secure space. The weatherguard is amazing. Exactly as one would like to have it. Seals like a deep freeze. I have a peice of carpet in the bottom of mine and it completely dry and dust free. I would lay a 1000 dollar shot gun back there and drive down the gravel roads for days without a worry.

 

I also have a Weatherguard Box that I use to keep my construction tools in. It is the newer style like this with the rolled edges but mine is the extra wide 27" model. I picked it up brand new back in 2006 for $600... I kid you not it is still as good today as it was when I brought it home, QUALITY built. Probably more than the Original poster was looking to spend, but quality isn't cheap and I would recommend one of these boxes to anyone!

 

I'll join in on the Weatherguard band-wagon. You get what you pay for, and I've beat the crap out of mine and it still won't break. Stand on it, put a ladder on it (not smart BTW), stack hay on it, have 5 people sitting on it, load 200# of tools in it, and it hasn't ever bent or broken. It's starting to look kind of beat up and has some welding scars and dents from stuff in the bed slamming into it, but not that bad. 27" wide on is awesome, just barely fits a short bed.

 

Mine is Rhino inside which I like and oversized buttons. I seen a red weatherguard on a red f150 which looks sweet.

 

I'm with the Weather-guard group it's now 13 years old. Bought for something like $275.00 then and now it's priced near $900 (extra wide & extra deep style, powder coated). In the spring I take it out of the truck and touch up with black paint, had to replace the locks from dirt/ salt getting into them and the gas struts once. Good boxes if you can afford them, it's more like an investment with these boxes.

 

Had a better built on mine for almost 10 years now, never had any issues. Weatherguards are nice boxes but the op was just looking for something for occasional use that gets emptied every night. Keep an eye on cl, sometimes you can buy them off rigs in used car lots for pretty cheap.

 

Here's mine. It is not super deep but it works for everything I have to pack around. No serious tools, just some extra fluids and misc things. It has only been on a year but looks like brand new still. Quality seems much better than the delta box I had on my old truck. I got low profile because it had to be mounted up on the back rack rails and I didn't want it too high. It was just over $300 on clearance.

 

I have the Lowe's brand box, its made by Better Built. The one I bought is called the the Chest Box. I paid about $200 for it had it for about 5 years. Went back to Lowe's a few moths after I bought the first one and bought another one for $50...the 2nd one was on clearance. O ya mine still looks brand new, I also sand on mine to wash/wax the roof of my truck Im about 190lbs with no problems.
I dont know how the new Lowe's brand ones are compared to the older models.
~Gage~

 

Craigslist for $100. Tractor Supply Company. Decent quality...not the strongest, but it gets the job done. I put 2 hasps on it with my own locks for extra security. The locks that come with bed boxes suck and are easy to punch out

Home Depot has a very nice blacked out unit that I want to pick up. But thats $300 I can't justify right now. I like the idea of using that roll-on bed liner to paint my current one black

 

weather guard is at the top of my list..... till reality sets in. as much as i would use a box it doesn't warrant the pricey purchase of the weather guard. i will look at some of the ones previously mentioned. and go from there. too much other stuff in the works this spring on the truck.

 

If you are looking on Craigslist, you need to be patient. I have bought three diamond plate tool boxes off of Craigslist, and the most I have paid is 100 bucks, and that was a really big one. The one I have now sits down inside the bed, because I have a topper, and I paid 20 bucks for it. Try looking in nearby areas on Craigslist too. Eventually you will find one.