I am in the market for a new tool box. I know that Snap On makes far better boxes than anyone else. However, for my use, Snap On may not be worth it. I just want something for home. I think a 40" roll cab will be way more than enough but gives me some room to grow. I am not a professional mechanic nor do I plan on becoming one.

Will it be worth it for me to spend about 4 times as much on Snap On? I want something that I won't have to replace for a long time or ever. My dad's Craftsman box has lasted him over 20 years and still has a lot of life left in it.

What do you think?

 

I think you pretty much answered your own question.

 

Craftsman is fine. The newer rollerbearing drawers are nice and much cheaper then Snap-On

 

In my opinion, I don't see any reason to spend the extra money for a name. I have a Husky tool box that I work out of everyday. It will hold and carry everything I have just fine. I have been using it for the past 7 years and the only thing wrong with it is a few scratches which will happen to any tool box.

 

I was kinda leaning toards Craftsman anyway but I can do payments on the Snap On. I really don't have $600 to spend on a box all at once.

 

I go Craftsman out brand loyalty and the guarantee and ease of an needed replacment ( I hate having to "find" the snap on guy). But I have been using Husky tools and have been pleased by them. I dont see any better quality for the price of Snap on than either of the other two brands.

 

Check out Harbour Freight. I have one of there big roll around boxes. It is very heavy and operates smoothly. I gave around 400.00 for it. It has a good finish on it also. I have looked at other boxes for a lot more money that I was not as impressed with. My box is 40 inches long and has 13 drawers. I am going to go back and get the matching top box for around 300.00. I dont think you can go wrong with this box. It is very well made and is made out of heavy gauge steel.

 

I just treated myself to this Kobalt from Lowe's for Father's Day. Thanks, kids!



I wish it had a couple skinny drawers instead of all the full sized. That's my only "complaint".

 

Not Really.
Nope.

I, for one have never understood spending that kind of money on a box, other than for the sake of making payments on the truck account. If you have any credit otherwise, I'd suggest putting some other box on a credit card, or just "Save Up!" While I've always sworn by Snap-On hand tools, I never thought that their boxes were any better quality than some of the others out there. Sure they've got some configurations that you can't get anywhere else, but other than the "cool factor", why bother? You've already said you want it for home and aren't a professional. Even when I was a full time mechanic, I spent my money on the tools, and kept 'em in a Craftsman box that I bought used . The top box is probably older than me (41) and works fine still.
So often with that kind of stuff you are just buying a name and nothing else.
Two examples of this: Repairing welders for a living, I found that in the 80's - 90's Snap-On's Mig welders were built by Century. (the best of the cheaper brands). They were selling a machine for around $2000 that was available for around $500 from Century, or you could spend $700 and get a Miller or Lincoln machine with the same specs, and much heavier built/better supported. There were always a few people who would make a big deal about their machine being a Snap-On, thinking it was better than the others just because they'd been reamed out of $1500 that could have been spent on another piece of equipment. Same with the multimeters of that time period. Expensive, but nowhere near a Fluke or Simpson for quality.
I think right now, one of the best values in a box is in the Husky line. Also, the US General that Harbor Freight and others sell is a very well made box for the money. The whole field has become quite competitive and you can do so much better for your money. The reputation that S-O has earned on hand tools does not translate to the whole product line, so I'd say, got get a reasonably priced box and spend the money you'll save on the stuff you put in it.

 

I checked out the Craftsman boxes yesterday, and they are not worth it. Very flimsy, move the drawer side to side a little bit and the whole box looks like it might collapse. That's an empty box too.
I'm happy with my retired navcenter cabinet, thank you very much.
The only downside is that magnets don't stick to stainless, so I have to find a new home for my tool tray.

 

I think right now, one of the best values in a box is in the Husky line. Also, the US General that Harbor Freight and others sell is a very well made box for the money. The whole field has become quite competitive and you can do so much better for your money. The reputation that S-O has earned on hand tools does not translate to the whole product line, so I'd say, got get a reasonably priced box and spend the money you'll save on the stuff you put in it.[/QUOTE]

As I menntioned above, I have the US General Bottom Roll Box. I think it is probably one of the best built boxes I have found. Especially for the money, under $500.00. I got it from Harbour Freight.

 

Normally I throw quarters in my toll box....

I have an old 1974 brown wrinkle finish Kennedy machinist box, built like a battleship. And a 1978 Sears Craftsman Kennedy look-alike base cabinet. Neither of them have roller slides but the drawers, even with heavy loads, slide very smooth. They have done well by me.

 

I have a 13 drawer craftsman tool box, without ball-bearings. Had it for a couple years now. Its been treating me nicely, but without the ball-bearings, it gets pretty hard to open/close the drawer that has all my heavy impacts and sockets, along with my craftsman 16pc. 1" drive socket set. The drawer showes no sign of bending, bowing, warping, ect.

But craftsman tools are becoming more "el-cheapo". I wrecked 2 1/2" drive socket wrenches, and 1 3/8" socket wrench. (then again, i was using a 6' "cheater bar" )

 

If I was working as a mechanic and had to leave my tools at a shop I would buy a snapon or mac for security reasons but there are alot of good boxes for home shop use,Waterloo,husky,craftsman,union and kennedy all make good boxes.I only have one rollaway that I got new and my wife got it for me and it is a cheap craftsman,all my other boxes I bought used and are at least 20-25yr old commercial craftsmans with roller drawers,my one top box is like 75 lbs empty and it didn't have a scratch on it and I got it for $150 bucks from my snapon dealer.You can get some good used boxes that are built a lot better then the new stuff if you just search around.

 

I just went through the whole deal the past couple of months researching this box and that. Don't buy a box that doesn’t have ball bearing slides, you are making an investment and the few extra dollars is money well spent. Craftsman makes decent box but like was mention are made out of thin gage metal and some of the top boxes are not even deep enough to but a wrench in. Snap on and Mac have good boxes but Waterloo makes them for snap on and Mac so buys a waterloo and save a few bucks if you are sold on snap on. I actually bought a us general from harbor freight tools, best bang for the buck I bought just the bottom so that I had a movable work bench. Better steel than craftsman and the larger drawers use four slides so when you lode it up with heavy tools still slides smooth. I caught mine on sale for 300 normally 400. I looked at husky and kobalt boxes but I got more storage area for the money going the way I did but they are well built too.