Thanks for the link to the box. I've been looking for something that would go under a cover and that I could attach from inside the box to the Utilitrack on the floor and front wall of my truck. Not a bad price either!!!

 

it's a Frontier!

 

I have a very similar one from Ridgid that I purchased at Home Dept. I think mine is slightly larger but it just fits under the Truxedo soft-cover.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-32-in-x-19-in-Portable-Storage-Chest-32R-OS/300748555

 

That one was the first box of this kind I looked at, it's actually slightly smaller but still plenty big enough and not nearly as heavy I believe. Plus I think that one fits without cutting the feet off or anything. I know the Rigid boxes are likely better made as well.

Thanks for the link to the box. I've been looking for something that would go under a cover and that I could attach from inside the box to the Utilitrack on the floor and front wall of my truck. Not a bad price either!!!

This box would work well for that. Plus you could possibly get away without any trimming of your cover as it *should* sit a hair lower in your bed. Mine has the plastic bed liner and roughly that thickness is about what I needed to take away from my bed cover lateral bracket on the underside. You'll still have to either modify the lid if you have a trifold, or at least slide it towards the rear of the truck some to open the lid.

 

CoolDudes, no I didnt cut my feet off but did briefly consider removing or modifying them as the clearance to the soft cover can be measured on an atomic scale. I did have to remove and relocate one of the Truxedo's reinforcing cross-bars but they're just velcro'd in so I just removed it, wrapped it in the closed cell "noodles" they use for insulating piping, purchased at Home Depot for like $2.00, moved it back a bit and set it in place, and called it a day. The weight of the cover holds it firmly in place and I've never had any issues with it "walking" or migrating backwards. Its been in since just after Father's Day, my wife showed me love by approving a $200.00 toolbox for my present from me to me. She's the bestist.

As to construction, yes, its pretty beefy but the welds aren't the cleanest I've ever seen and the lid is torqued just a hair, I think prob from when it was initially welded, so getting the padlocks to slide in and out requires a well-placed knee to apply some spare avoirdupois to the steel top, but it works well enough that I'm not close to fighting over a return or anysuch. It gets the job done and at 88LBS empty, would be quite difficult to just grab and run off with. Its a heavy sucker and pretty well built. Fully gasketed too, the interior was totally clean after over 200 miles of offroading in some seriously dusty conditions on timber trails in Maine. The rest of the truck, yea, well not so much. A good bath was well deserved.

 

It looks great! And 88lbs. is about what mine weighed (give or take a few). I was actually surprised at the thickness of the metal, the powdercoating, and how "good" everything is considering it is a Chinese made box. It's not $500-$600 good like some of the bigger name brand ones, but for what it costs it's hard to beat. The only gripe I have is the lock system. It's not like yours where you just turn the key in the lock and leave it, this one you have to actually take the locks off the hoop. No big deal, just not quite as clean of a set up.

 

CoolDudes, I like your box too and greatly admire the intestinal fortitude required to hack up a brand-new box and completely re-engineer the lid mechanism. I spent hours scouring the InterWebbies looking at different boxes and configurations and pricing, this one popped up at Home Dept which is only a 15 minute ride from home so I motored on over there with the Boss, we both looked at it, remeasured to validate it would fit, she gave it the nod and we loaded it that nite.
I do like the way the locks are captive and don't have to come loose or possibly get lost during shuffling but they aren't perfect either. The way the inside pocket design is fitted, the hasp portion of the padlock drops down by gravity after opening, and won't relock. I figured out the trick after a few moments of experimenting. The locks must both be half-locked, enough to prevent the hasp from rotating but leaving room for the locking fingers to drop down and engage, then you just give both of them a palm-slam and she's locked up tight. A bit tricky but once you have it down, only takes seconds. For someone who's super anal-retentive ( a TV detective Monk-type personality ) this would probably be indefensible but I don't mind it much. I'm not in there every day anyway.

 

The lid hacking definitely took a few minutes of mental prep. to get to the point of no return! Otherwise not a big deal. Probably nothing for a lot of the fabricators here to even think twice about. And I'm with you on the lock situation. While not ideal, the pros of having it and not expecting to use it too often make the small hassles well worth while when it's time to really secure valuables or something you don't want in the cab.

Also, I find it worthwhile to mention, my Bronco would be jealous of your FIVE LED BARS! I bet the sun comes out with the flip of a switch! I have 7 Aux. lights (old round style) on my Bronco and it still doesn't match what some of these new LED units can do with only one bar.

 

LOL thx for the props CoolDude. I have had some people question what they consider overkill but true overlanders ( and no, I don't consider myself anything more than a very basic neophyte in this dept ) know that many areas in this country are very very dark at night. With the possibilities of colliding with smaller mammals and then graduating up the foodchain to Deer ( they run upwards of 180# in Maine ) and the king of all truck-killers, 1400LB Moose ( in the Maine backwoods ) I don't find them to be overkill at all. I call it "going UFO mode" when they're all on cause it lights up about a 300 degree circular swath of terrain when they're all lit. And at less than 30A draw total, there are no arc or halogen lights on the planet that could touch them. When I was planning and installing them, I caught some grief from the Boss over all "these mods" but when we hit the Golden Road and CCC logging tote trails, she was happy to have them and even audibly reversed her earlier criticisms. Yes, I got a woman to admit she was wrong. I recorded the date & time.

 

...I caught some grief from the Boss over all "these mods" but when we hit the Golden Road and CCC logging tote trails, she was happy to have them and even audibly reversed her earlier criticisms. Yes, I got a woman to admit she was wrong. I recorded the date & time.

Can you repeat that!? I don't comprehend. :udaman: lmao

Next time you're out somewhere throw up a pic of UFO mode. I really like some of the overland builds I have seen. I limited myself getting a 2wd, but I also don't need to off-road my brand new truck when I have an old 4wd that can get beat up and not cause any tears. I am working towards having something semi-off-road capable and set up with the tools to get "unstuck" for when I go camping (I'm a slight over-prepper).

 

CoolDude, I think we kinda hijacked this thread so lets get back to toolboxes, but yes, I'll see if I can get some pix in UFO mode, phone cameras are notorious for producing a photograph but not necessarily giving proper intensity or depth of field results. May be a little difficult.

IMHO if you're going to offroad a 2WD it would be even more critical to have a proper tool set along, where dropping in 4HI or LO could possibly just motor you out of a bad call situation, where the 2WD may leave you stuck or floundering.

 

I was kind of thinking about what I want to do and this thread along with someone else's inspired me to do this. This isn't the most elegant solution and I'll probably change it someday, but for now this is pretty good. I used the spring nuts I've seen people talking about on here and some eye bolts and a regular rubber bungee. I keep a Viair 300p compressor and tie down straps in there for now. Will add more to it later.

Does anyone have any ideas, looking at this, for a more legitimate way to fasten the box down? It's kind of awkward not being long enough to use the other bottom rail. I may just have to get a bigger box someday but I really like the idea of just this little guy so I can for all my other gear easier.

 

IMHO I'd take some C-Channel aluminium from Lowes or Home Depot, flip it C-side down and drill the corresponding mounting holes to make a little "bridge", then use T-Nuts and Allen head SS bolts to lock it down. I used Allens and washers to lock my Ridgid to the rails. As to the box itself, the most secure would be to drill through the bottom and simply bolt it to the C-Channel but if you want it easily removable, a little creativity with some latches or padlock hasps might be in order.

 

I was thinking o doing something similar with a craftsman 3 drawer tool box that locks but then I realized the bottom drawers do not come out so it would not work. I was going to turn it sideways opposite how you have it and use T nuts in the utilitrack with some bolts going through the bottom of the tool box, but like I said, would not work.

I would just get one of the low tool boxes like one of the other fellows listed and then throw that tool box in it.

 

Im looking for a good way to hold my boxes down that allows me to easily "unlock" to move around as needed. I'll share when i figure it out

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About the best I have figured out is a low profile box like cooldudesmd linked and then drill holes in the bottom and anchor to the utilitrack. You would still have to empty it to move it around but I suspect you could load stuff inside in milk crates or something similar and that way when it comes time to empty it you can just pull out the milk crates pretty quickly and then loosen up the bolts, move your T-nuts around and then move your box accordingly.

I was originally going to do that with a Waterloo three drawer tool box but when it came time to drill the holes I realized that the bottom drawer did not come out of the box so there was no real way to get in and access any bolts. I'm glad I figured that out before I drilled the holes, lol. The only other thing I could recommend if you want to make it easier is to make it a slotted hole, so that you can fit one side over the bolt head and a washer, then slide it to a smaller side and tighten it down. You'd still end up having to access the bolts to tighten it, and it makes it somewhat less secure though...

I'm still rethinking it a lot my own self though because I am at that point where I have to decide if I want to get a replacement tonnuea for my old system or get one of the new tri fold flip covers. Both are soft, but the flip setup is far easier to mess with on your own, compared to trying to roll up the old Tuff Tonnuea that I had.




I'd be looking for a way to stash that jack on the inside lid of your box. Looks like it would not be too hard to figure out a mount.

 

I'd be looking for a way to stash that jack on the inside lid of your box. Looks like it would not be too hard to figure out a mount.

I would love to do that, even planned to originally. Unfortunately, the hi-jack is just too long. Completely disassembled it won't even fit in the box diagonally. Instead, I have a mini shovel mounted to the underside of the lid, and an axe mounted to the inside of the front face of the box (where it says Frontier) using the same bolts that the jack mounts with and just 2 pieces of flat bar bent in a way to use as brackets. Fortunately my bed cover is on about 360 days a year. The only time it will come off, the box is coming out anyways (motorcycles...). I do plan on getting a cover for the hi-jack to help even further protect it. I have been keeping an eye on it for rust and cleanliness. It is also well lubed.