5 important things to know before buying a truck toolbox
We all know how popular the cross the bed toolbox is for the pickup truck. Over the years we've seen them come in white steel, diamond plate, gull wing or single hinged lid style and a whole host of other combinations. The fact remains however, that the overall style and design of the old faithful toolbox has remained relatively unchanged for decades. Apart from fancier locks and shinier finishes, the toolbox is one accessory that is not too far removed from what grandpa had on his old Chevy rig. There are 5 important facts that I believe are important and should be seriously considered before committing to a particular style of toolbox that may cause some cognitive dissonance:
1. A toolbox will take up valuable space in the back of your truck! Before rushing down to your local accessory dealer and buying whatever the sales guy is pitching, remember that once your toolbox is on the back of your truck it is there to stay. It's not an accessory that can easily be removed. I mention this as point one, because trucks nowadays can be quite small in the back. If you have a double cab truck, you might want to consider the fact that a quarter of your bed space will be gone once your toolbox is installed. Granted, you get to lock up some items, but don't try to help your best mate move his couch. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. Just know that installing a conventional toolbox will undoubtedly cause you some grief down the road when using your truck for its primary intention (that is to haul stuff) has now been squandered.
2. A toolbox doesn't always hold as much as you think it does! When it comes to toolboxes, some have gull wings (2 lids) and some have a single lid. I always prefer a single lid, since regardless of what side of the truck you're on, you can always access whatever's inside the box. A gull wing is particularly awkward and also precludes you from being able to put anything long inside the box. When you can only open up or see a 3rd of the toolboxes contents, it's a down right pain the you-know-what!
3. A toolbox makes it very difficult to use other off the shelf accessories for your truck! Once your toolbox is installed, adding meat and potato accessories that improve your everyday life is somewhat of a nightmare! Simple things like stake pocket mounted tie downs, tonneau covers, bed rails and most better ladder and lumber racks are just impossible to use. They require modifications that void warranties and cause all sorts of other issues. Tonneau covers installed with a regular kind of toolbox will leak and even when they don't, it's very difficult to insulate the permiter of the toolbox. So you might keep the contents of your toolbox dry, but everything else in the truck will get soaked. A toolbox will cover your stake pocket holes as well, so there go all those advantages too. If you ask me, it's a tremendous amount to sacrifice, just to have an awkward dinosour as a permanent fixture on the back of your truck.
4. A toolbox will turn any truck into a work-truck!
It's my contention that more trucks nowadays are used as primary vehicles than ever before. Gone are the days where your Malibu served as your primary ride and your Silverado sat in the driveway and was used as your workhorse whenever you needed it. The truck today is a consolidation of your rides. As such, we find gorgeous leather interiors and stylish exteriors that all speak to the kind of person you are. Just know this and know this well: You can spoil the look of any truck with a monster bling box on its shoulders. Just because your truck is used for work, doesn't mean it should always look like a work-truck!
5. A toolbox is an invitation for thieves!
When you have a toolbox on the back of your truck, shining and glistening away for the world to see, it often times says "hey, I've got some cool stuff in me"! It's one of those accessories that denotes the fact that there are expensive tools or valuables stored within. More so than any other accessory, the toolbox is the number one vandalized accessory there is.
The above mentioned reasons are all key factors in why BAK Industries decided to produce their BAKBOX toolbox for pickup trucks. Amongst the numerous reasons beyond those mentioned above, herewith follow their resons for designing what they are terming the EVOLUTION OF THE TOOLBOX:
1. The BakBox is a toolbox that simply folds out of the way when not in use, storing neatly against the cab wall of the truck. As such, you lose no valuable bed space and get to move that couch when you need to, without the headache of having a permamnent toolbox on the back of your truck.
2. The BakBox lid is the actual BakFlip tonneau cover panels. As such, the BakBox lid is far stronger than any other toolbox and also opens up to more than 90 degrees, giving you much more room to store things and much more accessibility to your valuables.
3. Since the BakBox sits below the surface of your truck bed, but still above the floor of the truck bed, it offers you the ability to hide things like lumber or drywall underneath it, while still allowing you the ability to use it with tie downs, racks, rails etc. It's a far smarter choice on all fronts!
4. The BakBox is COMPLETELY INVISIBLE when closed. This means that your truck can be used for work, play and everything in between. You do not need to sacrifice elegance and style for practicality any longer!
5. The BakBox is also out of sight, out of mind! Nobody even knows that it's there. That, in my opinion, is the ultimate deterent to possible theft!
BakBox does for the toolbox what BakFlip does for the tonneau cover.
The BakFlip tonneau cover changed the landscape of the tonneau cover arena. For the first time, a hard tonneau cover on your truck didn't mean sacrificing your valuable payload capability. By folding away completely, you could now have a hard tonneau cover on your truck and when you needed to load the truck with large gear, you simply folded the BakFlip out of the way, as if it wasn't even there.
Now BAK Industries is about to shake things up again by turning their focus to the toolbox arena. Since toolboxes take up valuable space inside your truck bed and are pretty much a permanent fixture, your ability to lock up your tools comes with a price. Not so say the engineers at BAK. The BakBox will do for the toolbox what the BakFlip did for the tonneau cover. There when you need it and gone when you don't.
This raw video footage was recently shot at Galpin Ford, the largest Ford Dealership in the world where they install BakFlip tonneau covers on 80% of their trucks sold. If you're like Bert Boeckmann, the owner of Galpin, I'm sure you'll agree with his enthusiasm that the new BakBox is about to turn an entire industry on its ear again.
BakFlip – The perfect tonneau cover for recreation!
Recently a friend of mine took his boat out for a day of fun in California. He was so impressed with his BakFlip cover and how it improved his overall experience, from towing his boat, to handling and accessing his gear, to performing as a bench to securing his stuff while on the water. He documented it for us and shared his experience and I thought I would add it to this blog. Pictures speak volumes and as such, I thought I'd share some of the great images he sent to us. Let me know your thoughts? Pay attention to how versatile the BakFlip is and how cool the new fold-a-way BakBox works as well. I'd be very interested in hearing from all of you out there.
BakFlip with boat and BakBox
BakFlip handles gear better than any other tonneau cover!
BakFlip converts to a bench.
Lock up your gear securely with a BakFlip cover.
BakBox – The cargo management / toolbox for BakFlip covers
BakBox is the ultimate cargo management tool for any pickup truck with a BakFlip cover
Well folks, it's finally here! The first BakBox has just been approved by us at BAK Industries. For those that are not yet familiar with this awesome product, the BakBox is a collapsable cargo / toolbox that snaps onto the rail of any BakFlip tonneau cover. When it's installed, nobody will even know that it's there. It is sleek, unassuming and exceptionally well designed. The new BakBox is certainly in keeping with the superior nature of the BakFlip tonneau cover and will undoubtedly add a wealth of added features and benefits to an already stellar product.
The BakBox is designed from the same panels as the BakFlip tonneau cover. It folds up neatly in shipping, thereby eliminating potential damage as well as being able to store and ship effectively. There is no installation required to add a BakBox to your truck either.
BakBox cargo management / toolbox for BakFlip tonneau covers
The folded panels of the BakFlip tonneau cover actually act as the heavy duty lid of your BakBox. It is far stronger than any other toolbox lid. You can sit or stand on it without any problem at all.
BakBox is super strong and extremely well built.
The BakBox also has cool sliding trays that ensure convenient cargo management of those smaller items like tape measures, nuts and bolts or even a wallet.
New Tonneau Box – Invisible cargo box for trucks with tonneau covers
BakFlip folding toolbox for BakFlip tonneau covers
For the past few years BAK Industries has been working on a revolutionary new concept of combining a toolbox / cargo box to integrate with BakFlip tonneau covers. The idea would be to incorporate a cross the bed style box (suspended on the side rails) with the panels that make up the BakFlip cover. Since the panels on a BakFlip cover are patented to be able to open up behind your cab like the lid of a toolbox, BAK's idea was to use the panels themselves as the lid of the box. It's a brilliant idea that is soon to be released to all those folks that own a BakFlip tonneau cover. Give us your feedback and let us know what you think? In the meantime, here's a sneak peak at a demo model still in the R&D stage. The final product is scheduled to be released in early November 2010.