Hey.

Ok so dad went out today and bought a big big red craftsman chest. It has tons of drawers and is a couple feet tall on wheels. I have all the sockets that are scattered everywhere but I don't want to throw them into the drawers cause it will be hard to locate a specific size when needed. Is there something that divides sockets or a unique way of putting them in ? Can i buy some type of dividing/organizing plastic ? I looked in sears and could not find anything. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Thanks

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Audi TT

Look harder; Craftsman sells metal and plastic strips for storing 3/8" and 1/2" sockets. Try these numbers at Sears.com:

item 00941345000
item 00941358000
item 00941829000

or, search their website for 'socket holder'

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

kamil I was waiting for you at the meet yesterday! Come on their were only three diesel Mercedes their, I was feeling a little out of place next to all of the new iron.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Home Depot, and Lowes also has socket holders. I've seen ones that can be hung on pegboards, and they work well. I need to get myself organized one of these days as well. Right now, my tool location process is trying to recollect when and where I last used the tool that I currently need. Needless to say, I'm not at all organized.

There are as many toolbox arrangements as there are people that use toolboxes, but I'll tell you what works for me. It will only work if you are tall enough to access the very top of the box.

In the top of the top box, arrange your 3/8 and 1/2 regular depth sockets extensions and ratchets in the tray. In the area behind the tray put your pliers and wire cutters. In the area on one side of the tray put slotted screwdrivers. In the area on the other side of the tray, put phillips screwdrivers.

Then in a drawer, use a stretched spring from front to rear of the drawer to place your end wrenches in order and on edge. The springs that are used to suspend air hoses under big rig trucks are perfect for this. If you have both metric and english tools, put metric in one drawer and english in the other.

Place heavy items such as hammers, impact wrenches, prybars, etc. in drawers in the bottom box. Arrange drawers by category such as, punches, chisels, hammers, prybars, etc.

Once you've arranged the box you will then need to discipline yourself to always wipe off your tools and put them away in their proper locations after every job. I have seen people just take a handful of tools and throw them in a drawer or two after a job. Those people are always looking for a tool. Keep them clean and put away in their proper place and your work will always be more organized and more efficient.

If you don't wipe off your tools before putting them away, you will soon be at a point where you can't do the cleanest of jobs without getting greasy, filthy dirty.

Hope this helps,

i had to go to work. on of my manangers was sick so I had to pick up the slack. believe me, I WISH I WAS THERE. I always like talking to you diesel heads that take it very seriously (very smart people). I work on my car for sheer pleasure and I actually like when something goes wrong with my car every so often.

I hope the next one turns out better where I can make it.
oh yeh, how did the people with the new mercedes car react towards you ?

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Audi TT

i found these which seem pretty cool. i just need to find out the drawer sizes that i have.





and here are the ones that RLEO suggested....

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Audi TT

They were all very nice, they really were surprised that it was a diesel not to mention the shock of the 238k odo reading. But I think my wheels, clear corners, and sound system upgrade were more interesting to them. They didn't really seem to care to much about the mechanicals, just upgrades, wheels, lights etc. It was fun to see some of the newer SL's, SLK, C43's, and CLK's lowerd with nice wheels and some tastefull mods. But the best conversation was with a fellow diesel nut with a 1995 E300D with 316k miles on it He had done most of the same things to his car that I was doing to mine. He also had a Frantz oil filter on it and had not "changed" the oil in 120k miles!

There was also a sweet bike at the Starbuck's! I think it was one of the ones Orange county or West Coast Chopper's built on TV.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

that's good. it's nice to hear that you had fun. I hope soon we get a full diesel meet.

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Audi TT

Arranging your sockets on one of the spring sticks is preferable if you don't work under a lift. If you work underneath the car on a creeper, the stick is preferable because you can take all your sockets under the car with you when you go. It is a real pain to be getting out from under the car for another tool.

If you work under a lift, then arrange them in the drawer inset shown, or simply put them in the tapered area of the top tray, it is designed specifically for your sockets and is already in your toolbox.

Good luck,

I'm going through the same thing right now, I found that the 3rd picture down from 4th post above work the best, the red magnetic tray. They hold very well and only fall out if you turn it upside down and shake it. They come in 1/2, 3/8, and 1/4in. sizes. The second picture down in the same post are crap, the long skinny strip with the red handle. Those are what I'm switcing out of because they get bent after awhile from taking sockets off and on. The worst were the 1/4 becuase they are so small, the metal clips bend out of shape quickly and the sockets fall out. One more thing, the red magnetic trays have a magnet on the back to hold them in place on a fender or such. The black plastic strips (bottem picture) would probably work as they won't bend like the metal. The mats (top picture) work well in drawers but the disadvantage is you cant take them out and take them to the place your working at.

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Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

I agree 100% with Larry. Clean your tools and put them back where they go after you're finished. I also have a certain place I 'pile' them, if I'm through with them but don't want to clean and put them up. Working on diesels, cleaning them comes much more into play.
At Northern Tools, I found some plastic socket holders with a handle. It makes it easy to grab them and take out to the car. Also use those plastic tool trays, for mobile jaunts from garage to driveway. I posted a pic of top of toolbox (just a weekender-guy type) and those plastic socket holders. Very happy with them, and they've held up.
You young guys would always do good to listen to L. Bible and R. Leo. Experience is key, and getting it from someone else sometimes saves us from our own pooch-screws.
JL

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

I have my drawers arranged by 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" and 3/4" and Metric and Standard. The same with wrenches. I use mostly the stick type holders for my sockets except for what I keep on my tool cart. On my cart I use socket trays like these:



These seem to work better on my cart and save space while granting easy access to the tools I need the most. BTW, here's a picture of me and my box. (Ignore the mess as it's not at bad as it looks )

Mine's not quite that big....holly crap

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Audi TT

Phantoms.


Looks like you need one of those little benches to stand
on, in order just to look inside that box.

Trying to compensate for something? LOL

Nice box, I'm sure you use and need all the space it provides.

Louis.