The Best Truck Tool Box

Unless you’re driving your truck around for the sole purpose of looking cool (and let’s be honest, you do look cool), you’re going to want a place to store your stuff. So, if you drive an open bed pickup truck, you need to get yourself a truck toolbox. 

Comparison Table

1. What is a Truck Tool Box?

A truck toolbox is a storage container mounted to your truck bed. The boxes come in different styles to fit your purposes, different materials to match your budget, and various colors to fit your style.

 A truck toolbox saves you from having to let your possessions slide and roll all over your truck bed. It also means you don’t have to put them inside the cab to protect them. Storing tools in the cab of your truck takes up seating room, and you risk damage to the seats.

2. What is a Truck Tool Box Used For?

What is a truck toolbox used for? Easy--storing tools. 

 Rather than let your tools, your handheld toolbox, and any other materials slide all over your truck bed, you can store them in your truck toolbox. It’s a convenient place to keep your belongings that is just as durable and rugged as your truck itself.

 If you work in construction, maintenance, carpentry, plumbing, farming, or any other job that requires manual labor, then you’re going to need tools. You are also going to need a place to store your tools. You can use a truck toolbox for hand tools or small power tools.

 Although it’s called a toolbox, you can also use it for more than just tools; lots of people do. You can put your camping gear, sports equipment, or even groceries inside the toolbox.

3. How Can You Use a Truck Tool Box?

You don’t want to lug around all your tools on the job site. You only want to take the tools you need in a smaller, convenient bag or box. So the rest of your tools need a place to stay in the meantime. Here is where a truck toolbox comes in handy. 

 Using a truck toolbox, you can have all your tools easily accessible without personally carrying them from job to job. If you’re storing other equipment like camping gear, the same principle holds. Just leave the gear you don’t need at the moment in your truck toolbox. 

 Having an attached toolbox to store things also frees up room in the bed of the truck for other items. You can keep your tools or other small things neatly and tightly packed away and use the bed for the bulkier items like large tools and building materials. If you’re traveling, keep the bed of the truck open for travel gear like bikes and luggage.

4. Where Can You Buy a Truck Tool Box?

You can purchase truck toolboxes from a variety of different stores. Basic tool boxes can be picked up at large hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowes. You can also check cargo stores and farming supply stores. 

 Some auto parts stores will sell them, but the selection is going to be limited in store. Although you can order one online, your best bet is to find a reputable auto accessory shop. 

 An auto accessory shop is going to have the best selection, and they can usually custom order one for your truck if necessary. The workers in these shops are incredibly knowledgeable. Sometimes the shops run specials and will likely be able to get you the best deal.

Truck Tool Box Descriptions

Here are the different types of truck toolboxes and the materials you can choose to purchase.

Crossover

A crossover truck toolbox is as long as the truck bed is wide. It sits at the front of the bed just behind the cab and usually rests atop the truck bed rails. There are two types of lid styles: a single lid or a Gull-Wing lid. 

The lid of a single-lid crossover box flips up toward the back cab window. Therefore the whole thing will be open once you flip the top up. Since you’re lifting the entire lid at once, it’s going to be heavier than a Gull-Wing lid. 

Alternatively, a Gull-Wing lid on a crossover box has a dual-lid feature. Rather than opening from the long end, a Gull-Wing lid has two single covers that open from the short ends of the container (the sides that sit on the bed rails). 

Because the weight of the lid is halved, it won’t be as heavy or hard to lift. If you don’t have sufficient arm strength, this might be an option to consider over a single-lid box. 

Also, opening one of the lids means the whole box won’t be exposed at once, the way it is with a single-lid toolbox. This feature can be particularly helpful in rainy weather since it means all your tools don’t have to get wet while you’re looking for one of them.

Low-Profile

A low-profile toolbox is a type of crossover that sits lower on the rail bed. Most crossover truck toolboxes block the bottom quarter of the back window, which impedes your vision. Because a low-profile toolbox is made to sit lower, it won’t obscure your view out the rear window.

A low-profile crossover box is a great idea when it comes to visibility. A truck has quite a few blind spots without the aid of extended side view mirrors. You can avoid adding any more visibility issues by purchasing a low-profile toolbox rather than a standard box. 

Side-Mount

Crossovers are the most common type of truck toolbox, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the right one for you. A side-mount truck toolbox is typical as well and has its advantages over a crossover box. With a side-mount box, you can easily reach all of your gear since it straddles the truck bed rails length-wise. 

Although it isn’t as wide as a crossover toolbox, you can store longer objects in a side-mount box than a crossover because of its length. Put things like non-collapsible fishing rods and hunting rifles, long tools like levels, cable-cutters, and shovels, or materials like pipe, rods, and dowels inside.

Wheel-Well

If you don’t want to take up too much space in your truck bed or prefer to be able to use a to tonneau cover, you can purchase a wheel-well truck toolbox. These boxes are narrow and curved on their bottom side to fit snugly over your wheel-well. 

A wheel-well box won’t hold nearly as much gear as a crossover but are great little storage compartments for keeping a few tools or other necessary items like an emergency kit, extra vehicle fluids, or battery jumper cables.

Some of the boxes open from the top and others have drawers that slide out from the end. You can also get hinged boxes that swing away from the wheel-well and toward the tailgate for easier access.

Other

Material

Truck toolboxes come in three materials; steel, aluminum, or plastic. Consider your price range and how you plan to use the case before deciding which one you want to buy.

How We Reviewed

We invested much time and effort into researching the best truck tool box. Many sources were used to provide the most accurate, useful, and unbiased information available. Using these sources, we have provided you with a list of the best truck tool box options. We based our list on quality, durability, value, cost, and approval ratings.

Overall Price Range

The price range of a truck toolbox is vast. You can pay as little as under $200 and upwards of several thousand. The price is going to depend on the material as discussed above, the type, the size, and other variables. If you need something heavy duty, plan to pay at least a couple hundred to a couple thousand.

Top Truck Tool Boxes

Here are the best truck tool boxes you can buy. We’ve included wheel-well boxes, side-mounts, crossovers, and low-profile boxes.

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Verdict

Overall, we think the best truck tool box to purchase is the Dee Zee Red Label Gull-Wing Crossover. This box has the best of everything. It’s in the mid-price range, durable and strong, has easy access to all your items, comes from a reputable company, and even has a lifetime warranty. 

This crossover toolbox is perfect for holding anything you can think of - tools; groceries; camping or hunting gear; sports equipment; farming, gardening, or landscape tools; etc. 

 If the price is too high for you and you’re just looking for casual use, then we recommend the Dee Zee Poly Low-Profile Crossover or the UnderCover SwingCase Wheel-Well Box. For casual use the plastic boxes are ideal. They are inexpensive and hold up well over time.

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