Kobalt Truck Box.. quality questio

I went to Lowes yesterday and see the Kobalt box for $149 and had the Tacoma picture on the box. Easy to see which one I needed I kinda pushed on the box and the metal seems extremely flimsy. How is the quality on this product? I don't want to get it and it not be worth a flip.

Also, does anyone know off hand how much it would cost to get it powder coated? Would it be cheaper to just get a black box?

 

I have one the slim-frame, and its great. Yes its a bit flimsy-feeling, and the quality isnt necessarily the greatest, but the price is awesome and I havent had any issue yet. Would definitely buy it again.

I mounted my hi-lift jack to the box, and to counter-act the flimsy-ness (sic) I put a piece of 1/2 steel that I had layin around in the box and ran bolts through it, so the hi-lift's weight is on the steel, and the box no linger feels flimsy.

As for powdercoating, I cant answer that, but I can tell you that I spray painted mine black and its holding up just fine.

Hope this helped.

 

I had one in my old Ranger. Your right they feel sorta flimsy but they hold up good. I've had some larger friends sit on it before I kicked their asses off and when I flipped the truck the bed was bent pretty bad. The toolbox is straight, it would be on my Tacoma if it wasn't a short bed.

 

I just bought one the other day and installed it. Your're right, It does feel a bit flimsy, but it really seems to work fine. I will say this, the shinny chrome does not go with my taste. I'm going to paint that thing black some time soon here.

 

I have the slim one too. As far as mounting goes, I got 4x 3" x 1/4" threaded bolts, 8 lockwashers, 8 flatwashers and 8 nuts and used the existing mounting holes to just secure it down so the box wont slide around. I didn't drill holes in the top of my bed rails and couldn't find any J-hooks.

i dont have any issues with it. - and its surprisingly water tight. I keep tools in it along with washrags and extension cords, stuff I dont want in my access cab. It was a good buy but it gets tight if you really try to load it up with stuff.

 

I got the slimline one after the weekend after black friday when they were still on sale for 99 bucks. I agree with all above statements... Feels a little flimsy and cheap but holds up just fine. In a way its nice because its very light and easy to take off the truck by yourself if you wanted to. I too don't like the silver and plan to paint it black.

 

Get a black powdercoat QWS, You will like it!

 

i have it and agree with the flimsy feel. That said i've painted my black and had tons of people sit on it tailgating and it always seems to bounce back just fine. i also mounted a bike fork mount to the top of it and put a piece of 1/2" steel underneath it for support and it stiffened up fine.

you can't beat the price but definitely paint it black or get it powder coated. only reason i painted mine is the place wanted to charge me 150+ to powder coat it, for that price i'd get a black UWS one

 

We had those on our work trucks at my last job and had similar experiences as those listed above. They seem flimsy but we beat the hell out of them and they still worked great. The lids don't take much weight to dent but support a lot of weight (ours were all dented to hell and the lids always worked).

 

Agree with you. That's why I'm painting mine myself. The reason i bought it in the first place was to save a little cash. Power coating is too darn expensive.

 

I also have the slim lo-profile Kobalt box. I've been happy with it overall. It does feel a bit flimsy, but it holds up anyways. Its kind of like you can press it in easy, but it always rebounds back to its original shape. I have my ham radio antenna mounted through the lid and it holds up great. I'd recommend this box if you have the short bed and just a place to hold a few tools. I do want to paint mine black, though.

 

When you guys are saying you painted yours black I'm assuming ur just doing a rattle can paint job? Are you doing any prep-work like sanding or primer?

 

sanded the hell out of it with some 100 grit (might've been 60, it was whatever i had lying around) until i got it all roughed up then hit it with some black primer (2 coats) then hit it with Krylong Camo Black (3 coats). Has held up pretty well other than a few nicks here and there which i touch up with a spare can

 

Kinda flimsy but holds up great. I probably keep close to 100lbs in mine all the time.

 

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