After spending a decade in the travel industry, I realized I was going nowhere and needed a career change. My wife, knowing my love for the automobile, suggested I go back to school to learn the trade of fixing them. We discussed the issue at length on multiple occasions and in August 1999, I found myself enrolled in the Automobile Technology program at the Greater Altoona Career & Technology Center, (that’s “Vo-Tech school” for those of us old enough to remember the term).
My friend, Scott, was also heading to the Vo-Tech school for the same basic reasoning, but in the opposite direction. After pursuing the fix-the-car trade in high school, he began his career at the local Subaru dealer, and then switched to Ford a few years later earning multiple Master Certifications along the way. After many years of turning wrenches, Scott decided he needed a change of pace and turned his attention toward the academic side of the profession. In August 1999, Scott became an Automobile/Diesel Technology instructor at the GACTC. Basically, we both arrived back in high school at the same time. Knowing Scott for 15 years made that academic year quite enjoyable.
As graduation approached, Scott pulled me aside one day and told me, "You’re gonna need tools, so you need to buy my box. Let me know when you’re coming this weekend to look at it.” He was right. I was a travel agent at that time and only had the very basics as far as tools were concerned. Ford Master Tech Scott, on the other hand, had this super nice Snap-On tool box seen in the photo above full of everything I would need to get my new career up and running. His new career in academia meant that he would no longer have a need for such things, (at least not on that scale). Buying his box turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.
That tool box and I have covered a lot of miles since then. As I began my new career at Lietzinger Imports, (now Nissan and Mercedes-Benz of State College, Pennsylvania), I had everything I would need to do my job properly. Next it was off to Bedford Ford Lincoln Mercury in Bedford, Pennsylvania where I began my career with Ford. When I headed to Joe Machens Ford Lincoln Mercury in Columbia, Missouri in 2003, I surprised a couple of Mayflower employees who didn’t think a tool box could be that heavy. Everything then made the trip to Athens, Georgia in 2009.
The idea of a new tool box had been lying dormant in the back of my mind for a few years. Scott had the Mustang box well stocked when I bought it. But adding to it over the previous 12 years had removed any excess room that may have existed in the beginning.
About 8 months ago, I started to take a more serious look into what was out there. I would research online and ask Snap-On rep Mike an enormous amount of questions when he appeared each week. After what probably seemed like a never-ending exercise in futility, Mike told me about a new Snap-On KRL722 series box he just received that also came with the magic words: “Promo Money.” This alternate term for the word "incentive" did the trick. The rest, as is said, is history. I knew exactly why Mike showed up on this Thursday evening instead of the normal Friday afternoon.
After roughly 8 months of relentless Q & A, I finally found something that “spoke to me.”
I bought a new KRL722 series roll cab, which is from Snap-On’s Master Series of boxes.
Looking at the two arrangements side-by-side gives you the impression that the new box is a lot bigger.
I quickly realized while swapping all of my tools over that it really wasn’t.
Two differences between new and old stand out. The 722’s two top drawers are a full 50 inches wide which means some of the really long stuff - brake/accelerator pedal depressor, long socket extensions, long pry bars, etc. - will fit comfortably inside the box.
The other big difference is that the 722 is about 4 inches deeper. While not a huge increase by itself, combining it with the increase in width makes this configuration quite useful.
I headed into work early on Friday to get stuff swapped over. It all fit, but not as easily as you may think.
And truth be told, it will probably several months before I find the right way to organize everything. This is actually a challenge I look forward to encountering.
As an added benefit, I found myself making an unintentional fashion statement in the process !
I can now store everything from the 3 pieces of the Mustang box in one single unit. The small Craftsman box on the left in the photo above will still serve as a mobile table and workspace, as well as house my spare parts, nuts and bolts, and other odds and ends.
Plus, I also have a roll cart that houses the tools I use most often that I can wheel around the shop as necessary.