Bakflip BakBox 2 vs. Normal Toolbox w/ a Cover

[Western96]

I'll be taking my truck up to New Hampshire this winter for a few months so I want to put a cover on it so I don't get snow all through the bed.

 

I like the accessibility of a normal toolbox but I'm worried about leaking between the cover and the toolbox, which wouldn't be an issue with the Bakbox. It also seems to be more difficult to find a quality tonneau cover for the standard bed length with a toolbox.

 

Anyone tried out either of these arrangements?

[aseibel]

just my suggestion: get any tonneau cover you want and put two undercover swing cases in for storage.

 

http://www.swingcase.us/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw9uHOBRDtARIsALtCa94k6doEKaeAmdSGVbP50thPz37fC97smsJPUsigyelTHg4emIet9bAaAn17EALw_wcB

 

if you only need a modest amount of secure storage, these are awesome. I was going to buy two if necessary, but I fit everything I needed in one, so I am living with one right now and i love it.

 

Other benefits, since they can swing out, you can access it without opening the tonneau cover if its raining or snowing. Plus they are easily removable if you ever need the full width of your bed. I would highly recommend.

[Western96]

Those look pretty cool, if they'll fit everything I need them to I could see myself going with them. How much space do you get with them compared to a normal toolbox? I don't have a garage in NH so every tool I own basically goes in the back of the truck. I never filled up my old toolbox to the brim but there were times I was definitely using a fair bit of the space.

 

Also, I have spray in bedliner in my truck, will that be a problem for installing these?

[aseibel]

spray in bedliner is no problem. if you had the old plastic drop-in style, you'd have to cut it. But the bracket bolts right over my Bullet Liner.

 

If you previously had a deep toolbox across the bed, two of these will not equal the storage space. All I can tell you is it fit more stuff inside than I thought it would before I ordered it.

[Orlando8]

I have one of the swing boxes. I carry small tools,bungee cords, jumper cables, reese hitch and tow strap. They do not replace a normal size toolbox

[Jdkno]

I can tell you the bak box is a PITA, so much so that I took mine out and just tossed everything that I had in it into a plastic tote that stays in the bed yet gives me the ability to move it into the cab if i ever need all of the bed space. 

To get into the bak box you have to flip all of the panels back and it got to the point where I would have to pretty much get into the bed to get anything out of it. The HD tote I use i keep strapped at the back end of the bed so I just drop the tailgate and I have access to everything in it. 

[TX15Z71]

I installed a 46inch black toolbox from tractor supply under the Bakflip MX4.  I am very happy with this combination.  I like the ability to lock the toolbox independently of the bed cover.  There are only a couple of downsides to combining a bed cover with an in the bed toolbox.  This is what I ran in to:

1.  In order to open the toolbox completely, it has to be positioned away from the bulkhead slightly because the bed cover gets in the way of the opened toolbox lid.  I used a 4x4 block as a spacer and this worked perfectly.  In effect, I lost 4 inches of bed space by doing it this way.  I use that space between the toolbox and the bed to keep things that are too long to fit in the toolbox, so its not a huge deal to me.

2.  I tried fitting the 60 inch toolbox first, but this just didn't fit.  The Bakflip prop rod hardware gets in the way of the toolbox.  There might be a way to rig up the prop rods differently or just remove them altogether.  I didn't mess with it and just downsized to the 46 inch toolbox.

[Western96]

Appreciate all the feedback from y'all.  I think in a perfect world I would want to go with 2 of the Swing Cases but I'm not sure if there would be enough room.  My drill, dremel, and socket set are all in hard boxes that might not fit nicely into the cases. I don't think I need the extra security of the full in bed tool box and I don't want to lose the bed space that you'd have under a saddle box for lumber.  So I'm thinking the BakBox would be my best option but I'd really like to see a Swing Case in person first.

[Allterrain]

On 11/14/2017 at 3:34 PM, TX15Z71 said:

I installed a 46inch black toolbox from tractor supply under the Bakflip MX4.  I am very happy with this combination.  I like the ability to lock the toolbox independently of the bed cover.  There are only a couple of downsides to combining a bed cover with an in the bed toolbox.  This is what I ran in to:

1.  In order to open the toolbox completely, it has to be positioned away from the bulkhead slightly because the bed cover gets in the way of the opened toolbox lid.  I used a 4x4 block as a spacer and this worked perfectly.  In effect, I lost 4 inches of bed space by doing it this way.  I use that space between the toolbox and the bed to keep things that are too long to fit in the toolbox, so its not a huge deal to me.

2.  I tried fitting the 60 inch toolbox first, but this just didn't fit.  The Bakflip prop rod hardware gets in the way of the toolbox.  There might be a way to rig up the prop rods differently or just remove them altogether.  I didn't mess with it and just downsized to the 46 inch toolbox.

This is a very clean setup. Do you find yourself needing the truck bed space, though?

[MIDNITEZ71]

On 11/14/2017 at 12:34 PM, TX15Z71 said:

I installed a 46inch black toolbox from tractor supply under the Bakflip MX4.  I am very happy with this combination.  I like the ability to lock the toolbox independently of the bed cover.  There are only a couple of downsides to combining a bed cover with an in the bed toolbox.  This is what I ran in to:

1.  In order to open the toolbox completely, it has to be positioned away from the bulkhead slightly because the bed cover gets in the way of the opened toolbox lid.  I used a 4x4 block as a spacer and this worked perfectly.  In effect, I lost 4 inches of bed space by doing it this way.  I use that space between the toolbox and the bed to keep things that are too long to fit in the toolbox, so its not a huge deal to me.

2.  I tried fitting the 60 inch toolbox first, but this just didn't fit.  The Bakflip prop rod hardware gets in the way of the toolbox.  There might be a way to rig up the prop rods differently or just remove them altogether.  I didn't mess with it and just downsized to the 46 inch toolbox.

very clean look......

[TX15Z71]

For my purposes, I haven't found myself missing the bed space.  There is still room on either side of the tool box for really long items to slide in.