The best truck toolbox must be strong, safe, and simple to operate. However, there are variations in truck toolbox designs regarding size, access, and tonneau-cover compatibility. For instance, a side-mount box is simpler to access, yet a swing box takes up less room.
Your tool collection is much more than a combo kit in the garage if you’re a mechanic, builder, or DIY enthusiast. Most tasks can be completed with the necessary equipment on hand. Your truck bed’s toolbox keeps your equipment mobile, reachable, and secure.
A robust truck toolbox prevents its contents from rolling about the open bed during turns. As well, it deters potential thieves and keeps out the rain, the cold, and other elements.
The kind you need depends on what you plan to use it for. Never presume you require the biggest box available. Pick a toolbox that is big enough for your needs but not so huge that you can’t store anything else in the truck bed. This is so as these boxes do take up a good lot of space.
On the other hand, are you looking for a new truck toolbox? Here, we outline the benefits of each type and suggest the products we think are the best in terms of security, organization, capacity, and toughness.
How to Pick the Best Truck Toolbox
Utility, style, fit, and longevity are just a few considerations when choosing a truck toolbox. Here is a quick summary of the things you need to think about when buying a new truck toolbox.
Material
What kind of material do you like for a truck toolbox? Would you choose the tough strength of steel or the lightweight properties of composite plastic or aluminum? Your expectations and usage are influenced by the materials you choose.
For simple hand tools, recovery gear, or an emergency roadside kit, a composite or aluminum truck toolbox would be ideal. On the other hand, using a sturdy steel truck toolbox for heavy-duty power tool storage may be preferable.
Your preferred material is influenced by your environment and bed protection. For instance, if your truck has a weather-resistant tonneau cover, a composite truck toolbox might be the best option. A steel or aluminum toolbox is suited to your demands if your truck’s bed is exposed to severe weather without any additional protection.
Storage
You should think about the storage capacity of your next truck toolbox depending on how much freight, equipment, or tools you plan to transport frequently. You must also be open to various truck toolbox designs, depending on your typical load.
For instance, side-rail or swing toolboxes often have a somewhat less internal volume than chest-style and saddle-style toolboxes.
You can reduce your options by comparing your required storage space to the amount of storage space that is currently available.
Security
Do you intend to keep valuables in the toolbox of your truck? If so, you’ll need to think about the safety features of your future truck toolbox to make sure your pricey tools and equipment are protected from thieves. Fortunately, the majority of modern truck toolboxes come equipped with integrated locks and keys, preventing onlookers from easily accessing your belongings.
Style
Beauty is significant. A vehicle toolbox should look the part, whether it is tough and practical or fashionable. While some people might prefer the understated, black composite swing-style toolbox, others might prefer the traditional appearance of a polished, diamond-plate, saddle-style toolbox. Therefore, pick an item you’ll appreciate seeing every time you get in your truck.
Best Truck Tool Box: Types
There are five different kinds of toolboxes available to truck owners:
Saddle Boxes: These all-purpose toolboxes, are comparable to a Swiss army knife. Your typical saddle truck toolboxes will be saddled to the top of the truck bed, lying atop each bed rail, and will have a traditional and timeless appearance. Contractors and other trade professionals frequently choose saddle toolboxes because of their vast storage capacity.
Side Rail Tool Boxes: The side rail toolbox, which mounts above the bed rail and has wheels, is another popular option among tradespeople. Due to their compact size, simplicity of use, and modest storage capacity, these truck toolboxes are useful.
Dual-Lid Tool Box: If you frequently work out of your truck, a dual-lid toolbox can be the ideal option. These truck tool bins include two sizable lids that are easily accessible from outside the bed, making it simple to load and unload tools.
Swing toolboxes are useful for storing recovery equipment, trailer hitches, and other frequently used supplies. They are typically tiny and made of composite material.
Swing toolboxes can rotate nearly 180 degrees when hinged at the place where they meet the bedside, putting them over the tailgate for simple access.
Toolboxes that are Tonneau Compatible: These toolboxes and chests are made specifically to go with truck beds that have tonneau coverings, and they sit just below the bed rails for maximum clearance.
With all of these different kinds of truck toolboxes, we decided to simplify things for you by choosing our top picks for each kind of truck and use.
Best Truck Tool Box
1. Best Truck Tool Box: UWS Crossover for Tools
A quality saddle toolbox from UWS, the Crossover Tool Box offers a traditional diamond-plate style and lots of space for all of your tools and supplies.
The UWS toolbox’s several integrated storage trays will keep your equipment neat and organized, and an incorporated MicroSeal gasket will keep pollutants, moisture, and dirt out.
Different sizes of the Crossover Tool Box are available, enabling perfect installation in any truck, whether mid-size or full-size.
Additionally, it has all the necessary hardware and pre-drilled mounting grooves for a simple installation. It is obtainable in a range of sizes. Other features include:
- Construction of heavy-duty 058″ aluminum plate
- Key-lockable
- Lifetime limitation on warranties
2. Best Truck Tool Box: Undercover SwingCase Truck Tool Box
The extremely adaptable and well-reviewed Undercover SwingCase is characterized by three qualities: minimally invasiveness, accessibility, and affordability.
Although others have tried to imitate it, no one does it as well as the original.
A lockable, weather-resistant storage option for your small tools, roadside emergency supplies, and more is offered by this special truck toolbox, which fills the empty space between the wheel well and tailgate.
The SwingCase may swing almost 180 degrees outboard to lay atop the tailgate for simple access by releasing the inbuilt lock. Numerous tonneau cover models are also compatible with the SwingCase.
Features:
- Length in upper case: 29″
- length in lower case: 15″
- Depth: 8″
- Size: 15″
- enduring composite design
- Key-operated latch
- A 12-month warranty
3. Best Truck Tool Box: Dee Zee Red Label Utility Chest
If you require a sizable toolbox that is also low-profile, get the Dee Zee Red Label Utility Chest. If your truck has a tonneau cover, you should consider this.
Although it attaches close to the cab and cannot be reached without opening the truck bed, this chest-style toolbox provides the most storage space for a truck bed.
The Red Label Utility Chest from Dee Zee comes with a lifetime warranty and is made of lightweight yet sturdy metal. It features lockable stainless steel paddle latches with gas shocks for simple opening.
Key Elements
Cost: between $420 and $600
Kind: Chest
Aluminum with diamond-plate plating
Weight: 60.0 lbs. (model with a 6.5-footbed)
Pros
- a large amount of storage
- Paddle latches that lock
- Fits beneath tonneau cover
But the cons is it is not climate-proof.
4. Best Truck Tool Box: UWS Topside Single-Door Truck Tool Box
The UWS Single-Door Topside Truck Tool Box is for you if you want to maximize bed space while still having enough tool storage.
This creative truck toolbox attaches to the top of the pickup’s bed rail, freeing up almost the entire bed for bulky freight. You won’t ever need to get out of bed to reach your supplies thanks to a handy single door that lowers a full 90 degrees. Other features are:
- Available in lengths of 48″ or 60″
- Heavy duty aluminum plate structure that is 058″ thick.
- Key-lockable
- Lifetime limitation on warranties
5. Best Truck Tool Box: Du-Ha-Tote
Composite toolboxes have gotten a lot of attention recently because of their lightweight, adaptability, and affordable pricing.
The Du-Ha Tote, a sizable, detachable storage container with a host of practical features, is among the top selection. In contrast to the majority of the other items on our list, the Du-Ha Tote has heavy-duty wheels and a draw rope and is totally detachable, making it simple to transfer your tools and supplies throughout your home or job site.
Du-Ha offers an optional steel bracket set to lock the box in place so it won’t slide around in the truck bed. The mounting brackets have built-in sliders that enable the bag to swing outward from your bed for simple accessibility.
6. Best Truck Tool Box: UWS Side Mount Truck ToolBox
The Side Mount Truck Tool Box from UWS is a top-of-the-line, all-aluminum truck toolbox with robust construction, a tough diamond plate finish, and plenty of storage for your tools and supplies.
To carry full boards, sheets of plywood, sheetrock, or other huge stuff without difficulty, this toolbox mounts to the side of your pickup’s bed rail, leaving the entire length of your truck bed intact.
Your tools will be conveniently accessible from beside your pickup truck thanks to the toolbox’s location at the side of the truck bed, which will make loading and unloading much easier. Other features are:
- Obtainable in a range of sizes
- Construction of heavy-duty.058″ aluminum
- Key-lockable
- Lifetime limitation on warranties
Summary
Truck bed toolboxes are useful for storing equipment because protecting them is a primary consideration for folks who use their trucks for work. Due to the pickup truck’s growing market share, toolbox manufacturers now provide a variety of options to suit all storage requirements and bed sizes.
The variety of toolboxes now available ranges from hefty and functional to slender and stylish, with innovative designs and materials. There are now many different sizes, much as the development of several truck sizes (compact, midrange, and full-size). The iconic 71-inch cross-bed toolbox continues to be the top seller among owners of full-size pickup trucks.
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