Quest For The Toolbox

We are truck owners and need places to put our crap. I have both cubbies filled in the bed, and the underseat storage in my double cab. Half of the behind-the-seat area is taken up with a subwoofer and the other half is filled. I set out to find a toolbox that would work underneath the OEM bed cover and be easily removable when I needed the full bed.

My first purchase was the Undercover Swingcase. I actually liked this and it fit my two requirements. Unfortunately, I outgrew it pretty quickly.

Next, I tried the KB Voodoo toolbox. It only checked one box. It fit under the bed cover, but easily removable it isn't. And it takes up quite a bit of bed space. I tried to think of some sort of modifications to make it work, but nothing was doing it for me. I sold it.

The next thing I tried was the UWS EC20232 42" Wedge Truck Tool Box. I really, really liked this toolbox and I found a great price for it on Amazon. It fit nicely between the wheel wells. My only problem was that I had made a mistake and mismeasured one dimension. It was probably about a half inch too high. This toolbox may work with other bed covers, but not the OEM version. I was heartbroken. The top of the toolbox was hitting the molded plastic portion where the handle is in the last panel. It may have hit in other spots, but that was as far as I got.

My next purchase, and hopefully my last is the Weather Guard 644501 Aluminum All-Purpose Chest. To go with it I purchased these two handles

$12 Reliable Hardware Company RH-0540BK-2-A Chest Handle, Black, 2 Count

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JQYVGEK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and a sheet of neoprene to waterproof around the holes.

$5 Rubber Sheet Warehouse .062" (1/16") Thick x 12" inch x 12"inch -Neoprene Rubber Strip Commercial Grade 65A, Smooth Finish, Solid Rubber, Perfect for Weather Stripping, Gasket, Costume & DIY Projects

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076DKL2MV/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To secure it in the bed I'll be using a set of these http://www.4xinnovations.com/2005-2018-Tacoma-Bed-Rail-Double-Quick-Fist-Mount-_p_138.html. I also bought some plastic hand knobs to make it toolless.

$9 uxcell Screw On Type Knurled Clamping Nuts Knob Handle M8 Threaded 2pcs Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BHNN2MQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm in the process of drilling holes and measuring and stuff. I'll post pictures once everything is ready to go. I just wanted to put this here because I looked for months for something to work.

 

I had the same problem as you, I went with a rigid gang box. I had to cut the feet off to make it fit under my cover. I secured it with turnbuckles and shackles, takes me about 1 or 2 minutes to remove it when I need to.

 

http://www.kbvoodoo.com/shop/?category=Tool+Boxes

 

Read my post again..... I did that. It doesn't work for me.

 

Ah! Good thinking!

 

So here's some pictures as I'm working through it. One is from inside the toolbox showing the thumb wheels. Other is the mounts from 4x innovations with the bottom hole enlarged and an M8 bolt through it. I'm going to paint the mounts and probably do a rubber grommet in the hole in the toolbox.

 

The other... Takes about 45 seconds to take out.

 

I'm not familiar with the box your mounting, this may be a stupid question but how is it going to open when you have your bed cover installed?

 

Not a stupid question at all. It's a problem I wish I could've solved better, but the best I could do was make it easier to remove the bed cover. I have a stainless, knurled-bolt-thing to replace the safety bolt. That way, it's a toolless removal. It's not the best, but it's the best solution I could find.

I kept thinking I had found a solution to the whole problem, but all I kept finding was dead ends. Leonard used to make a removable toolbox that opens on the facing ends, but not anymore. I found a few gullwing toolboxes that would have fit across the wheel wells and under the cover, but they were also discontinued.

I won't say I made an exhaustive search, but I sure did look alot. I even looked into getting a custom box made, but the price was around $1300. I'm not spending that kind of money on something that's going to get beat up.

 

Makes sense, where did you get the knurled bolt for the cover? That's a really good idea, I'd like to put one on mine.

 

By the way, I had the same issue with opening the box with the cover on, that's why I wound up mounting mine so far to the back of the truck. Not ideal but I didnt want to have to pull the bed cover every time I needed to get in it.

 

I went back and forth on where to put the box. I finally just put it against the back wall because I figured it would limit the amount of times I would need to pull it out. The stuff that's in the box is mostly off-roading gear and I generally pull the bed cover before I go anyway.

Anyway. Here's the bed bolt thing: http://workholdingcomponents.morton...ead-adjusting-screws-1/khs-62ss-1?plpver=1004

A few things: I have not tested it yet, other than to see if it fits under the plastic cover on top of the bed. I will say that it sits far down in the recess so a few washers or something like that may be needed to be able to grip the sides. You also may be able to get away with something a little shorter. I had a reason for the length, but by the time it got to me, I couldn't remember what it was.

Oh. And they have an order limit. So I had to order four of them!

 

Thanks!

 

No problem. Happy to help!

 

Totally missed it, sorry about that

 

No worries. I didn't mean to come off like a jerk if I did.

 

Good news and bad-ish news. Everything is in and I'm super happy. I can remove the toolbox in a minute or so. Only bad part is the knurled knob. Functionally it's fine. There's even enough surface to get a grip on it. Only problem is the cover won't fit over it. It's just a little too big. I'll have to think of a solution or just take the cover off completely.

 

No. It came from 4x Innovations. It's their Quick Fist mount.

Link in first post.

 

A cheap but useful thing to do is to get some old black plastic milk shipping cartons. Thread a long rubber trucker tie down strap through along the bottom of three milk shipping cartons then connect the strap hooks to the lower back d-rings. This places the cartons along the back up against the tailgate. Very handy and easy to get to. Also they can be pulled out quickly. Great for organizing your crap and great for holding groceries. Plus it will probably work well with your cover. Also they stack so they are great for organizing crap in your garage. You can buy them cheap at flea markets or they are somewhere in your grandparents shed under a bunch of old boots. Seriously, these things are great: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Plastic-Mi...h=item1cb390cbdf:g:OvoAAOSwrz9bWLSC:rk:4:pf:0

 

Anyone tried something like these in a Taco? They are made by http://atstoolbox.com/