Toughbuilt Toolbox for rooftop storage?

Posting for others. Maybe it gives someone else an idea. As I was thinking about rooftop organization, I didn’t want to use an expensive ROAM box or Pelican box on my rooftop. I’d rather put my truck $$$ into other things. For either ROAM or Pelican you’re in almost $1,200-1,400 bucks for rooftop storage (2 boxes and mounting brackets for both sides of the roof rack). The additional cons (besides the money) of these products are A) the boxes are big and heavy - there’s no way you’re going to lift them while full. And B) you have to deal with security concerns while they are mounted. I didn’t want them permanently mounted (for MPG + Security reasons).

I’ve also seen solutions where folks permanently mount the less-expensive Vault cases, but again, you’re in a situation where you have to permanently mount them.


After a bit of research, I found this guy on Etsy / Oz-tech who makes these cool brackets for the ToughBuilt tool boxes. The Toughbuilt boxes can be found at Lowes and are pretty cool. They are IP65 rated. They are super tough. They essentially lock into place while traveling. And because they are ½ the size of a Pelican or ROAM box they can be handled much easier. Another benefit is that you can stack the boxes when not on the top of your truck, taking up less storage space in my garage.




I bought 4 ToughBuilt boxes and the brackets from Oz-tech and mounted them using t-nuts from TNUTZ. I went a step further and had them anodized at a metal finishing shop to the tune of about $100. If you take the anodized route, you’ll need to install the locking pins yourself with Loctite after the anodization process.




Making sure the boxes fit snuggly is a matter of spacing. Spacing the brackets further apart takes out some of the play in the mounted box. I added a bit of non-abrasive grip tape (

$20 CATTONGUE GRIPS Non-Abrasive Grip Wrap Tape – 1” Thick Heavy Duty Tape for Wrapping Tools, Bats, Workout Equipment for Extra Grip, Durable Anti Slip Tape (Black, 20ft)

Cattongue) to keep the boxes from sliding around and to take up a bit of vertical space / movement. As you can see in the video, there’s a little wiggle, but not much. The Cattongue tape is made from good materials and is super sticky. I’ve had it on my mounting bars for 9 months now and it hasn’t peeled off or come loose.





All said and done I was in about $700. That’s ½ as much as the Pelican option. Cheaper if you don’t want to anodize black. Not as cheap as permanently mounted Vault cases. But the advantage is that I now have 4 smaller cases that I can lift myself and put on my truck’s roof depending on what I’m doing. I have 4 each with supplies for:

• Fishing
• Mountain Biking
• Guns / Ammo
• Camping Gear

When I load up for my given activity, I throw the right one on top. I bounced over forest service roads at 50mph all last summer and never had a problem. As for the unlocking latch on the tool boxes, I haven’t had a problem with them being sticky, but I’ve seen a video here or there where they can jam in really sandy conditions. Apparently you can take the switch off and clean it out if it gets too bad. Anyways. That's all I got on this one. Cheers.

 

nice!

i'm just hoping toughbuilt sticks around. early signs with them not releasing the '2nd phase' of the stacktech line, and getting de-listed from the stock market are that they're not doing very well. local inventory has all but dried up around me as well, which also doesn't bode well for future sales.

i really like them as a brand, but partnering with lowes seems to have done them more harm than good...

 

I know. I did this project in April of 2024... I should have done more research on the stability of the product / line of products before going all in. They've still got them in stock at my Lowes. I might pick up an extra toolbox in case they go belly up.

 

So you have 4 small cases instead of 2 big cases? Are those lockable? How do you keep them secured to the vehicle? How tall are they? How do they open? Top or slide out? Weather proof?

I only run one Roam case and that's because I got a killer deal on it. Then there are full time mounting brackets that are $35-45 depending on where you get them.

 

Yes, I have 4 small cases rather than 2 large ones. My boxes open from the top (latch and lid). ToughBuilt makes lid-opening boxes as well as drawer-opening boxes. I have the lid opening boxes (actually $79 not $99 as stated in the original post).

The boxes attach to the mounts (and other boxes = stackable) using retractable "tabs". The slide switch (yellow / silver) retracts the feet and the locking pins on the mount (or specific molded piece) forces the feet to protrude into the slots of the mount (or another stacktech case) when placing them. On the rear of the box, there are 2 more tabs, but they are not retractable. To lock the boxes in place you simply line up the back tabs into their associated mounting slots and then drop the front of the box into place - the locking pin forcing the retracted tabs to protrude into their associated locking slots. It's quite slick. You can see this happening in the movie (.gif) above. Like I stated in my original post, it's quite secure.



The cases themselves are "lockable" with a locking point on the box (prevents the lid from opening). Because I don't leave the boxes on all the time, I'm not personally concerned with them "locking" to the roof mount. I looked into bolting a simple tie down cleat to the roof mount's cross bars. I suppose you could run a wire between the boxes locking point and the tie down cleat? Again, I only take the boxes with me when I'm up in the mountains or camping.

The boxes are IP65 rated. I haven't had any water leaking in them while they are on the top of my truck. IP65 means it's rated to keep out dust and water from "low pressure water jets". I've driven through decent rain storms with the boxes on top and haven't had any water ingress.

You can find the exact specs of the boxes on Lowe's website. I think the ones I bought are roughly 16" deep x 21" wide, x 7x5" tall. I hope that helps. Cheers.

 

I started looking at the specs. Not bad. I'd still like to see something that locks them to the roof rack and then also something that locks the lids closed. I've been in some questionable areas where I appreciated having my stuff locked and not having to worry about it. Some one is definitely not going to pop one of my cases off and walk away with it either. But to each is own. It does look pretty slick.