your opinion on kobalt boxes
your opinion on kobalt boxes whats your opinion on them, as to holding up well loaded with tools, im looking at the 56in double decker at lowes, ya its got that fridge and stereo crap deal but i like the top cause you can open it up and lay your tools out and what you need for the job, i know they are made my matco but for the price of the kobalt and size id rather buy this one then buying a matco 4s box for the same price and have much smaller box. Just throw you opinions out there and what you think of them!
Have a Kobalt box like you are describing, except for the fridge and stereo, for a couple years now.
Holding up fine. The big, center drawer is the only issue. If you don't open it from close to the center, it jams up. Just close it and re-open.
Holding up fine. The big, center drawer is the only issue. If you don't open it from close to the center, it jams up. Just close it and re-open.
Kobalts seem to be a good box, but if its a price thing, you may want to look at harbor freight boxes, they say us general, but they gotta be chinese, I actually have the big lower box I use it at work, I bought it thinking I will give it a chance, I have had it now for about 2 years, it has roller bearing drawers, that hold a ton of weight, I am a industrial mechanic at a copper plant, and we are hard on our stuff, real hard, thats why I figured I would give the cheapo a shot. My point being, some of the other guys have the same size box, craftsman, blackhawk and they are absolutely no better than mine, actually my wheels are rubber where theirs are plastic, I paid 400 for my box, they paid 650 for the craftsman and over 700 for the blackhawk. I bet they are chinese boxes, but I have no complaints about the quality. take it or leave it I am just throwin it out there.
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Junk! One of the big stainless models on display in my local Lowe's has several cracked or cracking welds. Being a welder I notice these things. They are taking too much material off with the grinder and this is a display. If you get one plan on re-working some of the welds and you will have a nice box. I should see if I can get that one for a discount
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From: Green Oak, MI
I shopped them all and could not find any value in the Kobalt at the price.
The HF box is really hard to beat. With the right coupons you can get the lower for $349 and the upper for $269.
I've had mine for a while now and love it. I've done several big jobs with it and after all was said and done the box cleaned right up.
The only thing I need is the small 3rd box for the side of it. Check out the HF box, you won't be disappointed. It had a better quality action to the drawers and my center drawer is packed, always moves smoothly.
I do put white lithium grease on the sliders once a year.
The HF box is really hard to beat. With the right coupons you can get the lower for $349 and the upper for $269.
I've had mine for a while now and love it. I've done several big jobs with it and after all was said and done the box cleaned right up.
The only thing I need is the small 3rd box for the side of it. Check out the HF box, you won't be disappointed. It had a better quality action to the drawers and my center drawer is packed, always moves smoothly.
I do put white lithium grease on the sliders once a year.
Kobalt boxes are junk imo.
The locking system is a complete piece of crap. It has a really thin sheet metal finger that slides into a really thin hole on the back of the drawers to lock them. Take one of the drawers out, and look at the locking mechanism.
I was able to pull out any drawer, while it was locked, with barely any power. Not good if you're trying to keep your tools safe...
Sam's club has some really good boxes on the cheap.
The locking system is a complete piece of crap. It has a really thin sheet metal finger that slides into a really thin hole on the back of the drawers to lock them. Take one of the drawers out, and look at the locking mechanism.
I was able to pull out any drawer, while it was locked, with barely any power. Not good if you're trying to keep your tools safe...
Sam's club has some really good boxes on the cheap.
If you work as a mechanic and reallly depend on your box and tools, then dont go cheap. If you turn wrenched as home for a passtime, then it doesnt really matter.
cheek out mountian boxes from a company called ISN. You can probably do a search and fin d them, I sold a few of these boxes back when I was selling toool and they are a damn good bang for the buck. However you wont find a better box than a Matco, hands down
cheek out mountian boxes from a company called ISN. You can probably do a search and fin d them, I sold a few of these boxes back when I was selling toool and they are a damn good bang for the buck. However you wont find a better box than a Matco, hands down
My Kobalt box has been with me for at least 10 years, through professional audio installation up to now as a weekend wrencher. It is a roller bearing box and I got it for $900 for the floor model when it was priced at $1400, they didn't have a new one in stock. I have had no problems with it at all, other than one thing that was my fault. I was moving from an apartment to a house and while pushing it up the ramp onto the moving truck one of the casters took a sharp turn and it fell off of the truck and landed on its head. I picked it up, pulled the drawers out and beat the dents pack into shape with a 2x4 and sledge. Now the top box has to be bolted to the wall and sit on top of the bottom box but they both still work perfectly. I would not hesitate to buy another one at all.
That being said, I still want the US General box set from Harbor Freight. Would fit my current needs better.
Here is my Kobalt box next to my harbor Freight rolling cart.
My garage needed cleaning at the time.....
That being said, I still want the US General box set from Harbor Freight. Would fit my current needs better.
Here is my Kobalt box next to my harbor Freight rolling cart.
My garage needed cleaning at the time.....
Last edited by slow96z; Dec 11, 2009 at 03:20 PM.
I've got one of the 27-28" wide varieties and have had it for ~7 years now and no problems. I wish I had gone with the wider, 42" at the time, but at the time I had only a one car garage and that's all that I could fit. Hindsight is 20:20 sometimes.
I work at lowes and I play with the boxes all the time and have to pull the boxes and "assemble" them when we sell the display.
The big stainless one with the fridge and stereo is the biggest piece of junk ever. The bearings are awful and can't hold a lot of weight. The struts on the top break easily. The welds are weak, the metal is think and weak, the casters are pretty good and have little springs, but that's about the only good thing I have to say about it. The reason it is so expensive is because it has those gadgets and gimmicks that no one needs. The only thing it is good for is we turn it on during football games.
I am a huge Kobalt fan and love their and tools (they have 100% lifetime warranty like craftsman meaning you bring it back to lowes and we give you a brand new one no questions asked) and their toolboxes are usually pretty good. The boxes other than the two big stainless ones are all pretty decent and more fairly priced.
The big stainless one with the fridge and stereo is the biggest piece of junk ever. The bearings are awful and can't hold a lot of weight. The struts on the top break easily. The welds are weak, the metal is think and weak, the casters are pretty good and have little springs, but that's about the only good thing I have to say about it. The reason it is so expensive is because it has those gadgets and gimmicks that no one needs. The only thing it is good for is we turn it on during football games.
I am a huge Kobalt fan and love their and tools (they have 100% lifetime warranty like craftsman meaning you bring it back to lowes and we give you a brand new one no questions asked) and their toolboxes are usually pretty good. The boxes other than the two big stainless ones are all pretty decent and more fairly priced.
The box with the fridge and radio is a piece of junk. Known several guys that have torn those up within 1 yr of use.
Kobalts only stuff worth a damn was their old stuff. They sold out now so everything is cheap garbage made by some 12 yr old who makes $20 a week in a Chinese sweat shop.
Kobalts only stuff worth a damn was their old stuff. They sold out now so everything is cheap garbage made by some 12 yr old who makes $20 a week in a Chinese sweat shop.
Its not worth the money. Kobalt if I am not mistaken is made by Waterloo by contract. they also make Craftsman tool boxes as well. Kobalt, Husky, Craftsman, Waterloo are pretty much the same only built different to the customer (Craftsman etc) want in thier box.
The Kobalt at Lowes (stainless) are junk. They top side supports are not rolled and only support so much wieght. If you want to see if it will hold just open the top drawer and put your hands in the middle of it and push down, you'll see how weak it is really quick. Also the top drawer only has only one slide track to support the wieght of the drawer and its contents, even teh US General ones have two on the bigger drawers. If you want a big box for a good price and durable the check this one out.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=67428
That thing is a beast. The paint is a baked red too and does not chip easily. For the price those are hard to beat. This one is not bad for just a garage one, we have several guys that have them here in the hanger, they are a very good value and tougher then hell. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=90320
The Kobalt at Lowes (stainless) are junk. They top side supports are not rolled and only support so much wieght. If you want to see if it will hold just open the top drawer and put your hands in the middle of it and push down, you'll see how weak it is really quick. Also the top drawer only has only one slide track to support the wieght of the drawer and its contents, even teh US General ones have two on the bigger drawers. If you want a big box for a good price and durable the check this one out.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=67428
That thing is a beast. The paint is a baked red too and does not chip easily. For the price those are hard to beat. This one is not bad for just a garage one, we have several guys that have them here in the hanger, they are a very good value and tougher then hell. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=90320