For anybody interested, if you purchase this box for a maintenance job where you have to roll it around long distances at walking pace, the included wheels are perfect. Four swivel wheels are completely uncontrollable when you’re walking out to a machine, especially when you have hundreds of pounds of tools adding momentum. Four swivel wheels work good in shops and garages, not in a factory environment. Also if you need a durable work surface on the lid, pick up a thick sheet of polycarbonate and bolt it to the lid. Works great for hauling around big AC motors, pipe wrenches, chain, driveshafts ETC.
Thank you for sharing this expert information Mr Reed. I wish more folks read these posts. I will try and remember to pass along your great tips in a video. If you have a picture I can put up along with it please send it to me at BlindGuyCan@gmail.com. thank you for watching.
Nice job of describing the usage process of this box. Makes comparisons of the higher dollar boxes to this one easier. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
As someone who works with carts with casters extensively, I can say there is a definitive reason to put two swivels, and two fixed casters. All of my carts for my machine at work have four swivel casters and I hate them. If you think along the lines of a car or a forklift, two wheels turn, the other two do not.this is intended for you to be able to steer the thing, and with all four being swivels, the damn cart just goes wherever it wants and I can't steer it alone. The carts I use are more like six to ten feet long, and whenever I try to push it it steers itself right into everything on the front with no control. The swivels should go on the handle/ push side, and the fixed go on the front. Period. I hate four spinning things that just go stupid anytime I try to push it. Anyone agree?
There actually have been several agreed. The best reason for 4 swivel casters is tight areas. I have had to move mine a couple of times over some distance and it is very unruly but once I have it the garage any hassle is soon forgotten.
@@jerod5636 moving it around in a tight area is a lot easier with the 4 swivel casters. So yes when it’s inside the garage it’s no longer a pain in the ass, because it’s only a 30 inch chest. Not to mention that’s where this type of tool cart would be kept 98% of the time. Smart ass
Love the video Dale! I followed your magnet strip idea. It worked like a charm. Like yourself I hate drilling holes in my cart. I also have the side tray. But I noticed how much the tray rattles and bangs when in the down position and the cart gets moved. So I found a fix for that. I bought a tool magnet strip from the home depot. I then placed the magnet strip on the underside of the side tray. Now when ever I lower the tray the magnet on the tray attaches it self to the cart proper and stops all the clanging. Magnet isn't so strong as to be intrusive. But it is strong enough to secure the tray in the down position.
Dale, thanks for taking the time to share your mods. I appreciate the explanations instead of just sharing the idea and making me figure it out. I love my new cart and am like you in not wanting to drill, epoxy, or permanently changing anything on it. I learned a lot from your efforts. Thanks.
Your comments are much appreciated. Just what I had in mind when I made the video. You may like the two videos below on a similar mod I came up with for the drawer latch. I also PlastiDip the trim. PlastiDip is a non permanent paint solution. Thanks for watching Drawer latch mod: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UGncAhSlhaU.html PlastiDip: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-H6qW18VE0U0.html
Thanks for the ideas Dale! I'm a machinist's apprentice and have been struggling to find a compact mobile work bench. Your drawer lock mod makes this cart just the ticket!
If you own the HF green tool cart...you can use RAL green 6018 powder coat powder and mix the dry powder with few drops of acetone or MEK and it will turn the powder into a liquid and it’s instant touch up paint with perfect color match. Sorry I don’t know what the blue is!
It has been awhile but someone asked about a color match for the green. I hope they're still watching the comments. In the future I will refer anyone asking the question to this comment. This is the kind of if information that I really appreciate seeing shared. Thank you.
Not sure if someone already said this but I arranged my locking swivel casters so they were on the front if you are facing the cart. Easier to lock/unlock them when they are right in front of you vs on the side.
Excellent modifications I do like the cart quite a bit as a retired Woodworker I’m going to use their design to build one of my own with self closing ball bearing slides to keep the drawers closed when rolling it around my shop mine is going to be modified for wheels and tire work At my lift area all in a private garage I want it to have holders for impact drivers and lug nut sockets to make it easy to perform regular maintenances on my vehicles and equipment plus another nice feature will be a sacrificial work surface that is inexpensive and fast to replace when it’s needed I also believe that the holders for the tools will need to be relocated and modified as my needs and vehicles are bought and sold plus thanks for the tip on Goof Off too I used to build residential homes and I got in the habit of using the heck out of it I found out the hard way by using it to get off some latex paint on a GE microwave oven plastic door handle that it just melted the handle that made me having to replace one all at my cost the funny part of the people that did buy and live in the home became close family friends for many years after I left that company the wife reckonize me from when they did buy the home and she did live in the house for over 20 years Lolits a small world after all the handle was fixed as soon as I received the new one that only took a day or two
I had a VERY good friend that did wood working. He always had a workbench with a sacraficial surface. I love the gifts that he has given me and my family over the years. The things that I purchased from him have endured. I would love to share any pictures of the project that you are going to be building on m videos. If you would like to share them you can email me at blindguycan@gmail.com. thank you for watching the video and sharing your thoughts. BTW I may have a video coming up that will help with your impact holder.
Mr. Lucid, I just want to say, "Thanks a Lot" for showing us the coupon for $169. I followed it up on the coupon website & printed it out. I took it to HF today and they honored it with no problem at all. Thank you!
That's great news! Now use a 20% coupon for the side tray and save more. And please check out my other mods for your new cart. There's a playlist of all of them. Call me Dale. Thank you for watching
Check the coupon that Dale shows in the tool cart video. Pause it, then copy the number that's on that coupon. Go to: www.hfqpdb.com/browse and enter the number in the search. The coupon will appear; print it, and you're all set. HF didn't even question me on the coupon; they took it and were nice about it.
I'm definitely doing the drawer lock mod to mine. Being able to open the drawers while the top is down is a very important. Having to take tools, parts, and other items off the top to get to a tool inside would get old after awhile. Thanks for the tips Dale.
Best mod I've done to my hf cart is putting it on a lift table from HF. As a diesel mechanic I'm always going up and down for tools. So I put the cart on the table and no more up and down it's always at the right height. The next mod is to swap the hydraulic cylinder for a electric actuator that works with a remote and 12v Milwaukee batteries
U guess I'll write this again. I don't know what happened to the other reply. It just disappeared. That mod is absolutely brilliant. I would love to show a picture of that if you have one that you would like to share. If so email me at blindguycan@gmail.com. Thank you for watching and sharing that great mod.
I just got the cart today and I love your mods especially being able to open the drawers without disabling the ability to lock the drawers. Thank you for the content!
Hello Dale. Thanks for all the mod hints. As for securing your rubber mat. You can get rolls of half inch magnet tape . I bought mine from Walmart. In the craft section. No holes to drill. And easy off.
That's exactly what I did. Bonus is that I just stick it to the garage door for cleaning and let it dry. When I put it back on the cart it looks new. Thank you for the support 🙏
Awesome ideas. I think I will be modifying the lock mechanism this weekend but will put a HF magnet in the plastic piece to attach the to the back of the cart. Also considering getting a piece of C-channel the length of the box and use the existing holes near the corners by using longer bolts and some spacers. I think the double wings on the side is great. The 18 inch magnet ideas are great. I'm considering putting a wood top on the top of the tool cart.
In a newer version of this video I used small rare earth magnets in the lock caps. I drilled a hole in the cut off lock bar and placed the magnet in the hole before inserting it into the plastic cap. It works great. I like your "c" channel front handle idea. Thanks for watching and leaving your comment
Don’t know why I watched this video in the first place. I know I don’t even need one of these, so I then also won’t need to modify it. Looks so nice though, and your mods look like a lot of fun.
Firstly if you are the Blankenship that I saw subscribe recently thank you for that. Secondly if you are the person playing guitar in the videos on your channel then WOW! you're pretty good. I use this tool box a lot more than I ever thought I would. It's a fantastic bargain with the coupon. I have had plenty of time to compare and I can tell you that nothing else can touch this value. Thank you for watching.
Tip #3 on the locking mechanism is brilliant, however when discussing the magnetic items you refer to the finish as powder coated and say it was damaged by the acetone in Goof-Off. True, the acetone does damage the finish but that finish is simply painted, it is NOT powder coated. And while it is a nice sprayed on and probably baked-in paint finish, it is simply painted, like an automobile. Powder coating is a completely different process applied dry by an electrostatic process and baked-on at 400 degrees. You do redeem yourself at the end by suggesting the use of the back side of the interior support bracket to bring as a sample to the paint store and as a test piece for the color match before full use. Perhaps painting over some tape strips which, when dry will reveal the color difference. And being taped out, there'd be no over spray. Generally a good effort, so thank you for passing on your suggestions.
Thank you for your feedback Eric. I did consider painting a piece of tape as well. I decided that the difference in materials may effect the out come so went with a part off the toolbox. I am posting a quote and link below from the Harbor Freight web site. Hope this clears up the confusion. I was going by their info. Thank you very much for your feedback. I very much appreciate the comments on my videos. I would like to get much better at making quality content. 'The durable glossy powder coat finish prevents rusting and looks great." - Harbor Freight Web Site www.harborfreight.com/30-in-5-Drawer-Green-Mechanics-Cart-64721.html
Top mat adhering: 1) Masking tape on the painted surface 2) Double sided tape between the masking tape & your mat. 3) You could go around the perimeter, or use even more if need be. It would be "permanently" attached, but yet still easily removable. I think that's kind of your style... Alternatively, a vinyl wrap could work well also.
I have magnetic tape to try. I will keep this in mind because I don't want to damage the surface. If you don't mind I'd like to pass this idea along in an update video later.
On that top diamond plat pad, You could go to a go to a place.. That makes them magnetic signs like they use for Truck doors for advertising.. Get some of it and some double sided carpet tape to adhere the magnetic sheet to the mat... Then you could still take it off and clean it and lid... Also use it on the shelf and side tray too..... I liked the idea of cutting the draw lock down that works slick thanks...
I did the side tray and later used left over to do the tray. I also found some of the magnetic sheet goods like those signs on Amazon. I'll let the channel know how that turns out. I was VERY proud of the lock hack because I came up with that myself. If those drawer latches bug you but you don't want to cut off the latch then check out the video below. Thank you for the comments. Keep em' coming. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UGncAhSlhaU.html
Yup, I'm doing that locking bar mod this week. I don't need it to lock all the time because it's at my home, but I'd like to be able to if my roommates have people I don't know over. 200 IQ move man!
If you want to access the drawers while using the lid as a table you can open all of the drawers a little before closing the top. They’ll still close just fine but they won’t lock. Also there’s a caster that they use on Sheetrock carts that has a pin you pull to turn it into a swivel caster so you can have the best of both worlds
Thanks for that mod to let you access drawers while top is closed. Did that right away, love it. For the top I set a plastic bucket on top on the first day and it left a giant circular scratch so I had to cover it. I got a 2' x 4' x 1/8" diamond plate pattern rubber flooring roll from a company called Rubber-Cal from Amazon for $20. Cut it down to size, put some masking tape on the cart top and then on top of that some double sided tape and taped that rubber mat down. The diamond pattern is 3D so it's not flat but that's okay for me. Looks great and I think it will last a long, long time.
Magnet strips come in handy to keep the side shelf from banging around. Also i cut two holes in the top portion 1"1/4 so i can run cords on the backside. I also bought the snap on bumper guards to keep cart from being banged up.
I'm guessing the holes were for chargers or a power strip? I have the Harbor Freight magnetic power strip. It has good magnets and a couple of USB ports. It's like $30 bucks but I think it qualifies for the "20%" and "25%" coupons. I think I saw a video, maybe "Real Tool Reviews" put the Snap-On bumpers for the Bluepoint cart on a US General tool cart. Did you have to cut them to fit? Thanks for watching and sharing.
@@DaleLucid exactly, I bought the us gen strip and couldnt figure where to put it. Stuck it on the back and hole sawed two holes. And yeah thats where i got the idea for the bumper guards. Only $30 thats a deal coming from Snappy.
WWill Clemons I think it was "Real Tool Reviews" that did it on their US General cart in their compare to Bluepoint. That compare video is now on HF's website with the coupon ads for the 5 drawer.
I have the same box and I just purchased the same drawer liner from HF and cut it to fit. I attached it with 3M double sided tape. it holds great and peels off very easy. If I tear the top I have extra liner to replace it with. I added the the can holder and glove holders. I also cut, painted and attached a piece of sheet metal at the bottom on the side opposite the handle allowing me to place addition magnetic items there.
I actually wound up using sticky back magnetic tape and it worked great. Awesome idea with the sheet metal. I have a video that deals with the drawer latches without ruining them. You may like that one. Thank you for sharing your mods.
I like the idea of adding another fold up table to the handle side, then relocating the handle to the front, using one of those magnetic strips as a back brace. I just bought the 5 drawer series 2 tool cart myself and I am going to do that, plus add the US. General power strip and heavy duty caster wheels.. thank you for the great ideas.
Thank you for watching and commenting. I did a video on the handle relocation idea using the magnetic bar. While it is a great idea it doesn't work very well. You may be interested in a video that i did recently where I added a Husky power tool hanger wit a power station.
I wish I could take credit for that one. I just didn't want to drill holes in my new tool cart. It was "toolhead 147" all the way. Check out his channel. ru-vid.com/show-UCkZR-4UgOAKWMqxvZfGobNg
i just recently put another folding side tray underneath the one on top. its great for keeping battery chargers, drills, impacts, or a bundle of shop rags.
To affix your top pad on a temp basis without scratching or messing up your powder coating use double sided carpet tape like they use on area throw rugs and carpet on hardwood floors to keep it from moving or lifting so as to prevent tripping over the edge of the carpets..... Hope this tip helps you out. Take care, Tim Jones
@Tim I used sticky back magnetic tape. It has worked very well. Your tape idea would have spared me the bump. Thank you for the tip and thanks for taking the time to share it.
Only about a 3rd of the way into the video, I had to through a thumbs up at you for the "lock mod". That closed lid is irresistibly a big ole work area and what if I have something laying there in pieces and need a tool from one the drawer! Excellent idea!!!
Congratulations on your new 5 drawer cart. You won't be sorry for the purchase. The new series 3 will take the mods from this video. Thank you for watching
Love the lid-lock modification. I’ve been trying to figure something out without screwing up the box. That mod works perfectly. To keep the cushion on the lid, I used double stick masking tape. Peels off easy with no residue, but will hold the mat on fine.
...And I found it. I'll give it a try. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AGY2EHG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dalelucid-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B01AGY2EHG&linkId=806464f10f03117c0293d5f520cce8ad
A Suggestion for attaching the top cover piece-clear silicon spread very thin. It should not damage anything, Thin enough it won’t be lumpy, and you likely could remove a very thin skim of it by just rubbing it with your fingers. It Might need waxed after that, but it should work. However, I haven’t tested that. Suggestion for stiffing up the front panel-a thin board. A 6’ privacy fence board is thin enough to clear the top where it sticks outward. It does need cut to size. My box is yellow. I cut a hole out for the lock, drilled the board for longer stainless steel carriage bolts (I polished the top of every bolt on my cart), and you need to cut 2 thin slots for where the lid drops down. Sanding it and Safety Yellow paint matches reasonably well. I also put some exterior, floor grade, polyurethane clear coat on it, so it cleans up better. That stiffens the front panel. It also allows you to attach things you wouldn’t want to drill into the box itself to attach. I also left one end long so I could hang a towel, or something else. Actually you can put wood all around the top, if you want. A friend of mine did exactly that. It looks okay. I also have a habit of putting my foot on the bottom of the front. Therefore, I put a 2x6 cut to size and attached in the same way. I left it sticking up slightly higher than the sheet metal. On the top where my foot rests, I put some think rubber that I believe is a mining belt line. It’s black and looks okay, but not super pretty. However, it does protect my cart’s frame very well. And I have a great foot rest!!! My cart sees heavy and hard use. It still looks very good, but does have a very few nicks. I use the Safety Yellow paint to touch them up. It’s a reasonable match. I’m pretty careful with my cart, but I do use it pretty hard. I do not like drilling holes into tool boxes, or carts. However, I learned long ago that I’m not a tool box showroom. If a modification is: necessary, saves time, makes it more useful and productive, will make the cart last longer, Or more secure, I will make the modification. The key to doing modifications is to take your time, get everything as perfect as you can, make everything match, so it will not look like it’s seen use in a war zone, and use good materials for the modification. Following that rule will make you much happier with your cart modifications. It will also make your life easier. Just my experiences and thoughts.
@Darvin I hardly know where to start with all of your great mods. I would be happy to share some pictures in one of my videos. I have done so before and viewers seem to really like it. If you want to share email them to BlindGuyCan@gmail.com. I like all of your great ideas. I made this video a while back. U ended up using sticky back magnetic tape for the pad. It works very well even with the bump on the edge. The silicone would have been better because I could have removed the pad to wash it. I can do that but the tape is more expensive to replace than silicone. The best idea I heard of for the handle was to extend it and use the front corners for mounting. Unfortunately I am not a "Fab" guy not do I know one. I always love hearing from other people who have done mods. My intention with the video was mostly to inspire viewers to get out there and do their own mods. There are SO many clever folks out there. Thank you for watching and taking the time to share your thoughts.
Thank You for sharing your tips. Love tip # 3, being able to open the drawers while the top is closed. I may put the magnetic bars on the back, but so far not sure. I have to finish the assembly first, I did watch that video already, it was great. Thanks again.
The magnet bar ideas are from when HF was giving them away free with purchase. They're a bit pricey now for this kind of thing. Thank you for watching.
Instead of having to mess with wing nuts and maybe loosing them you tool box should have a small flat screw driver and on the top of the cylinder the steel clip that holds the socket together just pry it up and the ball and socket will come apart let the clip go back into place nothing to loose or at the least try and find.
Regarding the magnet hack-HF sells those rectangular magnets which are the exact same as the ones you'd pull from that strip. A pack of two goes for $.99 I lined up 6 in a row then wrapped in vinyl to use as a rail for my commonly used impact, spark plug, and torx sockets at work.
I was wondering if those were the same ones. I think I got 6 from the magnetic strip. It was a freebie. Thank you very much for contributing. Feel free to share this in the chat thread that I started here on RU-vid.
Gorilla clear double stick tape is what I'm using to secure a mat to the top of my cart. While it holds this securely it can easily be removed without leaving a sticky residue or removing paint.
As to Mod #3 - After cutting down the lock bars a pair of replacement plastic caps could be 3D printed in a way which when fitted one way they are short and do not lock the drawers. Rotate them 180° and they sit at the OEM height and do lock the drawers. Either way the plastic caps will always be in position and not subject to being misplaced.
Really like Mod #3, will use it on my tool cart... In Amazon you can obtain magnetic strips glue it the mat, now it's a magmat that can be removed w/o damaging cart...
I thought I answered this last night. Anyway, I was really excited about having come up with that idea. If you liked that check out the video below on my idea on managing the drawer latch. I was waiting for the update video but I found peel and stick magnetic tape and did that. I was surprised at how well it worked. Thanks for watching. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UGncAhSlhaU.html
Saw this video just in time for me to avoid drilling out the rivets that hold the whole lid locking mechanism in place. Thanks. Lots of good tips. I have one more of these carts to build, so will look for your assembly tips video next.
So happy that it helps. I am building a new one in white for a project that I am working on to donate. I'm reviewing the assembly tips and mods video. Hope you will watch for it.
Not sure which is closer but “Junk works Garage” on RU-vid also recommends RUST-OLEUM Painter’s Touch 2X Ultra Cover Paint + Primer for the blue on his unit. While it may seem like he doesn’t need to match since he’s adding blue accents to green, he says it matches his blue side tray which is the stock blue. I just bought a new but significantly damaged scratch and dent 5-drawer cart and it’s flaking sheets of the orange powder coating from an undamaged area. They only just put it out to buy and yet there’s rust visible underneath so don’t blame the scratch and dent. ;) Anyway, I wanted blue and they have a scratch and dent blue end cabinet that I could mod on here. I’ll probably just cover and paint as much as I can while dealing with the damage (whole lid may be replaced) and the modifications to both pieces will probably hide some of it. Only problem is that they want more for the end cabinet than for the whole cart and it isn’t nearly as damaged so it might be hard to talk them down on it. If I pay as much as they want for that I may as well have bought the wood top tool cabinet… undamaged.
Here's a thought. If you are an Inside Track Club member work it into your conversation with the manager when you ask about getting it cheaper. If you're not ITC then consider joining joining. It's a much better value now than it used to be plus I think that the stores get brownie points so he'll be more willing to haggle. The next 2 months is their big push to sell ITC. The rust on new boxes not related to damage is something that I've heard before unfortunately 😕
If you don't mind using a paint brush, take the bracket to Home Depot and have them color match the paint in oil-based enamel. You can buy it quart size. You also can use a hobbyist paint sprayer if you have one. HF used to have them but I did not see them in their on-line catalog anymore.
Just got the cart for work. Thanks for video. Going to try and fabricate a pry bar holder. Will be doing the lock mod. Although even being a full time euro mechanic my cart will fit under a car on a lift and use a parts cart next to the tool cart for bolts etc as I always do so don't see it being a problem so will be trial and error. Could fabricate a bottom frame with casters and angle iron and a mig or arc welder. and add a small parts cart right next to it on the same cart. Tons of options if you're handy and have access to a welder. Could even weld angle iron together if you don't have a welder and have access to a cutting torch using clothes hangers. Gotta watch ur heat so you don't burn a hole through though.
I'm glad you liked the mods Justin. There is a video on YT of a guy who modded the cart so that the pry bar handles wouldn't keep the top from closing but I believe he had to cut and fab. The last time I tried to learn to weld I was wearing shorts and got a nice 2nd degree sunburn on my thighs while squatting over the work. I'll leave it to the pros. LOL
Thank you for this great post. Now that you have all these great mods check out my other videos. I have a playlist for all the cart videos. And check out the last 2 videos I posted that show you how to get Harbor Freight's new matching accessories for 30% off! SO Awesome that you took the time to leave a message. Thanks again.
I do too! There was NO transition to the 99 cents items or fade out just BAM! $5. Hard to bring one's self to pay so much for something that WAS free. At least I got plenty of them while they were. I imagine next year we'll be feeling the same way about the LED worklight and 25' tape measure. C eat la vie
About the front mounted handle, replace the center round bar with a pipe, cut to size to fit the length of the fron,t so you can mount the to the pre-existing reinforced holes. No modification to the box needed.
This is a brilliant idea. It is SO unique yet I think I may have gotten a similar suggestion. before. I wonder if the plastic end caps come off so they can been used on the new handle. Thanks for the brilliant idea.
Great ideas I liked the lid lock and did and it worked great thanks. there are 7 of these boxes at my work and we have done some other mods like I raised my box 1 1/2" by bolting the 2nd to the top holes on the box to the top holes in the frame then drilled new holes for the bottom brackets we use washers to make the screwdriver holes smaller and one guy used sheetmetal and a lock on the bottom to make more lockable space
Better put a rush on. This $189.99 coupon will expire on 12/31. After that I expect the best coupons will be $199.99. www.hfqpdb.com/coupons/2976_ITEM_30___5_DRAWER_MECHANIC_S_CARTS__ALL_COLORS__1568233869.5962.png
Thank you for watching. Did you catch the PlastiDip video? It's holding up much better than expected. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-H6qW18VE0U0.html
Great idea Dale on the drawer lock mechanism. As far as the top. See if you can find some sheet magnet material or see if a company offers it. Probably will have to google it. 1/16” should be the minimum thickness. I will check myself and see if it’s out there. My big mod I want to do is add the 18” side cabinet to mine. I need to find or make a cleat to hang it on, and then not over load it.
It has been a while since I made this video.I did use magnetic sticky back tape. It worked and has held up very well. You can find info in my later videos. I think casters may be the solution to the possible tipping issue of adding the drawer bank. I love the idea I think that a more permanent mount may need to be done for safety. Then the forward casters can be moved to under the drawer bank. I would love to see and share your finished project. Send me a picture if you don't mind. blindguycan@gmail.com. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
To make finger prints, and grease, oil easier to clean off. Put a good automotive car wax on the box. You can also use the wax to coat the Vent-a-Hood in your kitchen. Then all you need is a paper towel. And the oily residue wipes right off.
Great video, watching to catch up with your videos bro and yes I will watch all the commercials all the way through because you have some of the best tool content out there!
@@DaleLucid I will ponder why but from what I watched it's the shear ingenuity and DIY nature of the mods, a bunch of people ran out got the cart and I bet the first thing they think of is Mods how and why and you have some really unique how to in there that you just have to do to your cart. If I got a cart this would be the first video I would look for.
Thank you for the sub and welcome! There are a few other videos with mods so check them out or just pull up the play list. As a reminder the $169.99 coupon for the cart will expire on the 31st. As I've said before I do not believe that we'll ever see it again so HURRY. And if you go on New Years Eve take your smartphone and use the 25% off coupon to get a screaming deal for the matching side tray. Thanks for watching.
I didn’t mind the green one myself... but really liked the white and blue colors... I don’t think its a bad idea at the price, you could buy a new one every year 👍🏼
Throughout your video you say you don’t like to drill or otherwise mess up the cart permanently. But if you’re going to drill into the front of that to attach the handle instead of leaving it on the side, then you’re going to permanently change the look at the cart. Rather than using the bulky magnetic bar frame on the inside to strengthen that lighter metal face, drill the holes and use fender washers over the bolts on the inside of the cabinet to spread out the torque on the metal face. To keep the rubberized mat in place on top of the box, get some double sided tape like maybe carpet tape or simply double-sided tape and attach it to the top of the toolbox. Then put your mat down on top of that. It’s thin and shouldn’t make the mat lumpy. As you said, the mat inside the little paint can holder will probably need replacing at some point. I would think the top mat will probably need replacement sooner than the little one because the top of tool box is going to see a lot more use than that little tray. At thirty bucks a pop, you can buy several rolls of rubberized drawer liner much more reasonably than buying the mat through Amazon. And the drawer liner comes in a number of different colors.
Thanks for input. I eventually abandoned the idea of moving the handle. I used sticky back magnetic tape on the mat. It did make a lump but I was able to stick it to my garage door for power washing and drying which was totally worth the lumpy edges. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I keep commenting on vids saying to switch to all swivel casters. If you work in a small shop and don't need to push the cart around too much they are great. Bu i work in a large, very large factory working on machines. The solid casters make pushing the cart so much easier, the reason being when you have all 4 as swivel, the cart tends to do its own thing, and can make you look like you don't know what you are doing. If you travel around a lot in the work space, keep it stock, if you work in a cramped little shop, trade out to the swivels.
I have heard a similar story. While in the garage it works well but ad some weight and try to go a bit of distance it gets pretty unruly. Especially on unlevel surfaces. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
@@DaleLucid Haha no problem. Sometimes when i say it, the snap-on guys step in and say "buy a better brand". First, wheel quality has almost nothing to do with wondering. Second, i don't own a house i can take a loan out on to but the same style of box. Cheers mate.
That was actually very intriguing to watch. Thanks for all the ingenuity ideas. You have been very helpful. Now I’ve got to get going putting together my little blue cabinet.
Something I did on top of my hf tool box is I used camper tape that is like 1 inch tall on the edges of the top. The reason being that sockets will not roll off the table. Btw I will definitely do that lock modification to mine.
Great idea. Have you done this mod? If so can you get a picture of it so that I can put it up? (assuming I ever reach enough subscribers to have a community tab. Thank sharing your idea. BTW I had to go look at my cart. I couldn't remember if the handle used 1 or both mounting bolts.
Yes. Also replaced the fixed casters with swivel ones so it will roll in any direction and kept the origional locking swivels on the front for easy access as the brake mechanism wont fit the blue 6" casters. The blue ones however do roll nicer so will be switching just the wheels soon. If I knew how to add pics here certainly will
excellent mods all around! the magnet on the back of the drawer is genius! i love the community behind this tool chest and alot of the us generals tool box's lol
Jeff I just released a "Tour" video of the cart and mentioned the magnet trick. The video is part if a series by another brother's channel. @Powerstroke Jude
The 18" magnetic tool holders are silly. It's just a few magnets glued into the metal bar. Instead of paying the price for the whole thing (which is pointless unless you want to rivet it to your cart), spend 99 cents each for 2-packs of the same exact magnets, and stick them anywhere you want. I've bought my last magnetic tool holder.
Thanks @Daniel WW. When this video was made the magnetic bar was a free item. I don't buy them now. I appreciate your taking the time to leave your comments.
magnet bar as handle support is good but you would need two of them because handle is four bolt. lock might be in the way. could just outsource wider tool chest handle
I tried this in a video a few months ago. It failed. Even with a magnetic bar inside and outside the angled mounts give the handle to much leverage and they pull loose. I like you have come to the conclusion that extending the handle is about the only way.
I did notice you said they are all red. They have everything in every color of what they sell. Now that may have been since you posted this video but I am buying the yellow, actually because of your videos. But I work a volunteer weekend maintenance and need some basic hand tools at work. So I am buying the 5 drawer just because of your simple videos. So knowing the RU-vid journey, feel good that your videos directed me to a purchase and some mods. So for that I thank you. And off to Harbor Freight to buy my box and some other goodies.
P.S. I found some sights (RU-vid feeds) for modding it further then where you left off. But anyway buying my new box for work and ordering all the stuff I need to mod it out. Including buying some 2" angle and raising the box height.
Exactly @Rov Carroll. The accessories were only in red when I made the video. They were eligible for the 30% off coupon when they first came out but that didn't last.
As far as using the magnet strips.. I plan to remove one magnet from the middle of the 18" bar, cut it in half (or whatever sizes needed) and bolt two shorter sections to the back of the HF wrench set holders. It'll use less magnet bars than doubling them back to back, fit closer to the lid, no holes in the tool box lid, and best of all I can grab and take the whole set of needed and it would stick to the truck, trailer, anything metal near where I'm working. Just an idea, I haven't done it yet but believe I can make it work.
Those magnetic bars have 6 smaller magnets in a "C" channel covered with a piece of tape. I've taken one apart. I used an adhesive backed magnetic strip to keep a workbench pad attached to the top of the cart. I wonder if that has enough strength to hold the wrench holders. Let me know how your project goes. Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@DaleLucid I thought about that.. like 3m backed magnet sheet cut to cover as much of the back of a wrench case as possible.. like you, wondering if strong enough in that thickness. On the bars.. there's a good amount of space between the last magnet and mount hole. Plenty of space to cut the bar perfectly in half an scoot 3 down a little for another mount hole on your cut end and easily make two 9" out of one 18". If the space to mount them was better you could even put a hole between two magnet's.. or even at each end of the center one if you needed a closer mount point. Even thought about just taking two full bars and mounting a small piece of 1/4 inch birch as a mounting plate for however you want to lay out custom attachment points. I know I'm going to move the cylinders to hold my lid up straight. I'll add some magnet bars on the ends thanks to you, and most likely cut and modify the lid locking mechanism. Good video.. lot of food for thought. Thanks for sharing.👍
I like you idea for using the strip magnets. I found a better way to mount them without though and it is cheaper than buying the bolts. Harbor Freight sells a two pack of very strong craft magnet blocks for $.99. Put one magnet on each side of the back ends of the strip magnet and simply position it wherever you want on the cabinet's top cover. It doesn't take two strip magnets to make one tool holder and the cost of the craft magnets are probably less than the cost of nuts, bolts and washers at HD.
Excellent idea. Also when the mag stripes were free it would have been great. There are 4 or 5 if those "craft" magnets under the tape. I appreciate your sharing your idea and watching.
I used sticky back magnetic tape. It wasn't perfectly flat but bonus is I can stick it to the garage door for pressure washing and it can dry there as well. Thank you for the suggestion
Looks like the lock rails that you cut off would be good enough for a paint sample. Mods are worth watching although I fast forward quite a bit. Thanks
Most of my "mods" videos have extra footage to show how it is done. I've gotten better at it since this video but I still try to provide relevant guidance. Thank you for watching.
Today through March 3rd you can get 30% off those casters with the coupon below. Take someone with you and have them go through with a second caster to get 2 for 30% off www.harborfreight.com/promotions
For relocation of handle to front, it might be worth trying using one of these magnets from the inside for sturdiness, and bolt another magnet to handle itself and just magnet to outside. So no drilling required. not sure if magnet is strong enough for moving.
That is a great idea and I did try it. I have a video where I did. The magnets on both sides seems strong enough but because the handle is above the outside magnet it has excess leverage and so the magnet breaks loose. Great minds think alike. Thank you for sharing this great idea.
I thought of that at one point but I couldn't find any of the"Poster Putty" like stuff. No I've got to get on Amazon and see if they have any. Thank you for reaching out with your suggestion.
You could put magnetic strip from a roll around the outside of the top mat and apply some foam sheet or felt to the middle part so you don't have any bumps in the top surface.
Joe I did use the magnetic tape. It works great and the bump hasn't really been an issue. I wish that I got this suggestion when I did it because it is a great idea. Thank you for sharing it.
Spray adhesive on the top to hold the foam pad. A lower grade one of course. You could just clean it off if you want to remove it. Actually now that I think about it. It would be easier to apply and to clean off if you were to use double sided tape which comes in differing thicknesses.
to hold your padding on top of tool box you could use, double stick scotch tape. or 3M double stick tape. both work well the scotch tape is much thinner so may be better.
You probably already came up with an idea but you can get rolls of magnetic "tape" that had an adhesive on one side. Cut to length and stick them to the mat and that'll hold the mat in place
Real men of genius think alike! That's exactly what I did. And thanks for sharing. Check my newest video for a giveaway! Only 100 numbers will be given out and we'll over half are un assigned! Great chance to win.
I don't usually put a mat on top of my cart as i need in the top frequently cuz the top isn't storage area. putting the handle would be great until the first time you tip the cart over as most toolboxes say (and common sense says) don't roll things around from the wide side as its prone to tip over. see directions of any toolbox and it will say not to push or pull a toolbox that way due to tipping hazard.
I use the top as a work surface all the time. Thanks to the lock mod I still have access to the drawers. I mocked up moving the handle to the front because there was quite a bit of interest in it. Turns out itu doesn't work as well as one would think. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Dale, Enjoyed your Vjayo. You can tape the small HF magnets to the down side of your padding to secure the protective top. They will be out of the way and not fall off.
I'm glad you liked it. I ended up using sticky back magnetic tape. It works great and doesn't make a huge bump. You may like some of my other mod videos. I have a playlist too. Thank you for your support.
