I have a lousy Craftsman box from maybe 2006. It's terrible, but it's what I have. To spend money on the steering column and brakes for the truck, I have to deal. Recently, this happened. What's the hot ticket to fix it? No bungee cords or duct tape allowed.
Just those drawers, and all at the same time. Can the rails be replaced? I know nothing.
Temporarily try and find something to tilt the box backwards? The drawers will slide back instead of out?
I think the rails can be replaced, but I haven't looked into it.
Are those ball bearing slides or the folded steel channels?
If you can unload it a drawer at a time and get the drawers out, you could bend the channels back into shape. Thats what I did with my old box.
Yours kind of looks like it has ball bearing slides, but maybe the same problem is happening?
Find someone unloading a cheap file cabinet and salvage the slides. They're often three stage slides but removing one is easy enough
Call craftsman and you should be able to buy new slides.
I have the exact same box in red and it's the last piece of craftsman dog E36 M3 that I'll ever buy.
The drawers are sliding out because of the plastic/rubber detent has fallen apart. They look like this:
If you contact craftsman they will tell you to reach out to Waterloo Industries, who manufacturers the box. Waterloo will tell you that they sell the individual slides to you for 20$ each but don't sell the detents. That's because they don't actually make the slides either, they buy them from a Chinese supplier who barely has a website and never answers emails.
After a few hours of googling you'll find this page-https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3582007 which is a file that you can send somebody so they can just 3d print a bunch of these things and mail them to you. The 3d printed ones kindof-sortof work because the 3d printed material doesn't quite provide the same friction. If my toolbox lid wasn't covered with my sticker collection I would have scrapped the whole worthless pile. I will die angry about this.
I will die angry about this.
Can I steal that line?
CrustyRedXpress (Forum Supporter) said:I have the exact same box in red and it's the last piece of craftsman dog E36 M3 that I'll ever buy.
The drawers are sliding out because of the plastic/rubber detent has fallen apart. They look like this:
After a few hours of googling you'll find this page-https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3582007 which is a file that you can send somebody so they can just 3d print a bunch of these things and mail them to you. The 3d printed ones kindof-sortof work because the 3d printed material doesn't quite provide the same friction. If my toolbox lid wasn't covered with my sticker collection I would have scrapped the whole worthless pile. I will die angry about this.
Thanks for doing the homework for me, even if the result stinks.
We had Vidmar boxes at work, the early models did that. Later ones had a trigger you had to push in order to open a drawer. They fixed the early models by pinning a 1" X 2" piece of flat stock on the frame to the right of the drawer. Each 1X2 had a little tab pointed straight out. To open a drawer you flick the tab down, moving the 1 X 2 90 degrees allowing the drawer to open.
This sure would be easier if I found a picture .....
I mean, I think I get it. Something like this, but it rotated.
https://www.mcmaster.com/spring-latches/padlockable-slide-bolt-latches/
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:I will die angry about this.
Can I steal that line?
I've already stolen it. My girlfriend is looking at me wondering why I'm dying laughing.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
By all means! You're stealing it from a thief =)
tuna55 said:I mean, I think I get it. Something like this, but it rotated.
Those are awful clumsy, especially when slamming drawer after drawer looking for a tool. Try this:
I bought this steaming hot pile of garbage last fall to keep in the Wrangler.
CRAFTSMAN Portable 20.5-in Ball-bearing 3-Drawer Red Steel Lockable Tool Box
It didn't survive one weekend of mild wheeling, the drawers weren't over loaded, and it was strapped down so it wasn't bouncing around. Ripped one drawer slide off the box, ripped another off a drawer, and one of the latches broke.
I've been debating buying new drawer slides for it, or just scrapping it.
eBay has been the cheapest source I've found for medium to heavy duty ball bearing slides. I've had these in my watch list for a while, looks like the 8" slides I need are out of stock now, but 10 pairs for <$40 for the 8" slides I need.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10-Pairs-Full-Extension-100-lb-Ball-Bearing-Drawer-Slides-8-24-With-Screws/141494502449?var=440646031127
Then you have to ask yourself, or I do myself, is it worth turning my piece of garbage $60 tool box into a $100 project?
May be better off to cut bait and hit up FB Market Place for something better.
Otherwise if you're just wanting something to help keep the drawers shut, you could stick something like these roller catches on the face of the box frame to catch the drawers and hold them closed.
5 Pack Heavy Duty Roller Catch Latch
CrustyRedXpress (Forum Supporter) said:...If my toolbox lid wasn't covered with my sticker collection I would have scrapped the whole worthless pile. I will die angry about this.
Hang toolbox lid on the wall to save collection and buy a new box?
First step (IMO) would be to ensure it is level front to back to keep drawers from sliding open or closed when you don't want it to.
Second, if you want the bumpers printed, I and others here can do that and drop it in the mail to you. Let us know how many you want/need and the desired material.
Third, if you replace the slides completely, then you shouldn't have any further issues.
I had to do this on a few drawers for our new bedroom set, the slides weren't made properly and the ball bearings fell out and the plastic cages for them also failed. New slides had metal cages and better tolerances (I pulled the others down and squeezed them together in a vise to help tighten them up and they've been fine ever since).
Fourth, I have that same setup (in red) with the mid-box and I've not had any issues with the drawers that weren't self-inflicted.
This issue drove me crazy trying to find these small rubber pieces. Someone in Canada had them for $2.50, it would cost over $100 to replace them all. I found an easy and cheap fix. Take 3/8 neoprene gas line and cut 1/2" sections and slip them over where the old broken pieces were. Works great.
Swap the ball bearing slides for the cheap sliding metal ones? Yeah, I know, it sounds crazy - but hear me out.
The cheap sliding metal slides are, well - cheap, and have quite a bit more friction to them, which would help keep the drawers closed. They're not much fun to drag open when the drawers are loaded pretty well, but hey, they'll stay closed.
My old Craftsman box had the cheap metal sliders, I lost count of the times a drawer would sag or fall outbecause the thin metal clips that held the sliders onto the walls would bend. I'd remove the drawer, bash the clips back into shape, and it would be OK for a while - then fall out a few months later. I finally got tired of it, stripped everything out, and bolted in ball bearing sliders.
In reply to tuna55 :
I have my 3D printer up and running. If you need a few of the slide clips, let me know and I'll get them going.
I have the exact same box, in red. A couple of Father's Days ago Mrs. VCH got me a replacement from Lowes, who now sells Craftsman. The new box has the soft-close sliders and feels 1500% better. I forget what it costs and I don't care. I know this isn't the answer you're looking for and also, I don't care. I have a finite number of minutes on Planet Earth and I don't care to waste them berkeleying around with a miserable piece of E36 M3 toolbox.
Whoa old thread.
To anyone curious, I bought magnets and mounted them on the end of bolts I put through the back of each drawer. Then I got another freebie bottom box and did the same with it. Now I have completely functional setups which were fixed for dozens of dollars.
Ha! I didn't even notice that I was replying to a 4-year-old thread.
Glad your dozens of dollars are putting in work!
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