UWS box came in today

Got my UWS box today. Great design, although poorly shipped. Arrived with several dings/dents. Not happy about it, but I'll have to deal with it. Returning this thing would be too much of a hassle. The shop shipped it in a regular cardboard box, no padding/protection of any kind other than the cardboard itself.
The company has been quick to respond to my emails though, and working on shooting me back some credit for the damage.
Outside of the dents, it looks awesome. Way sturdier than the cheapo ones at HD I've seen. Had I ordered one of those online, I'm sure it would have exploded in shipment. It's like buying a car with a dent on the bumper- doesn't hurt it but you know it's there.
Pay no mind to the filthy truck, she's due for a washing soon.

 

Filthy? Mine is a '14 and she'll never again be as clean as yours!!

 

Wish I had the deep version like that..which model # is that?

 

Now that Thule owns UWS, I hope the quality doesn't slip or the price skyrocket.

20+ years ago I lived in the town that UWS was founded in. Being it was a small crossroads paper mill town in rural N Fl., it's great to see the success they had with their products.

I'm presuming, like most corporate buyouts, that the founding family made out well.............

 

OP PLS... model number?

 

$749 TBSD-63A-LP-BLK Black 63" Single Lid Deep Angled Low Profile Crossover Tool Box with Beveled Insulated Lid

TBSD-63A-LP-BLK

 

I can't say for sure if quality dipped, as I don't know anyone with the same box to compare.

However I did notice that the label/sticker inside the box is now a cheap paper label (which is already peeling off). From photos I've seen of older ones on here, that sticker used to be a much better one with the company logo on it. The one I have in mines, looks really generic like you would see on the outside a shipping box.

Not sure what the old label used to say- but mines states "assembled in the USA". Hope that doesn't imply outsourcing now.

Aside from several golf ball sized dents, and warped lid, there were 3 micro cracks on the welds. More issues than I'd like, and too much trouble to ship it back. The company offered to send me a new one in exchange for the old- but with packaging the same, it would likely show up just as damaged if not more. The damages all seem minor, Thule offers a 1 year warranty. The number on UWS' site is direct to Thule.

With that said, Synergy Offroad (purchased through Amazon) has been very fast in replying to my emails. They are also refunding me $75 for the damages. From my email responses with them, I am being told they just started selling UWS, and have already had customers receive 3 damaged boxes in a week.

From speaking with someone at Thule, although really polite- they didn't seem concerned at all when I mentioned the dents and cracks in the welds.

Time will tell how the tool box holds up. I love the design and internal space. Lid although dinged and warped still feels very solid. Key and latches all operate smooth.

As you can probably tell, my early impressions on this unit are a love/hate deal. I made the purchase online to save time due to being slammed at work, but it would have likely served better to purchase in person.

 

can the UWS blue tag be removed?

thanks for the review OP, interested in this box myself

 

We got to UWS in Perry,FL to have the boxes on our fire trucks fab'd up. As far as I know everything is done right there.

 

Looks like it can easily be removed. They just use a two side tape. Mines is on crooked, might remove it. But I like the little bit of flash it adds.

Sure. I didn't intend for it to be a review. But perhaps I'll revisit this in a few months and update it.

The supplied J hooks seem to be holding up well, instructions said to only use one per side. So that's what I did.

I couldn't get the hooks to actually sit inside the rail. Rather than cutting it to fit, I drilled a hole on the bottom of the rails. Seems like it will be much more secure that way, with less chance of moving.

Good to know, this box cost me a pretty penny. I hope it lasts a long time.

 

I like that low profile Deep version. I've got the slightly shallower low profile version. I do have a slight issue with it, the bold that holds the shock in place keeps getting loose and it's not accessible to fully tighten or add loctite either. It's an odd designed bracket that holds the shock to the rest of the box. So I have to squeeze my finger to tighten it often. I'll prob replace it and order that same box like yours. Thanks for the pics of it installed looks great on your truck.