Frustrated... Hard to find a storage box...!!!

[MOSDIF589]

I have a 2013 Jeep JKU, that I have been working on. I have had a Olympic rack in the back to help out with storage. It was cheap and simple. My large Colman cooler & a large storage box carrying all our cooking supplies, would fit under the rack and allow plenty of room on top.

My son & I are going on a 2000k mile trip, beach camping along the Fl coast making our way down to Key West. This is the longest trip I will have done with him so I wanted to make some changes. The rack was nice but did not give any added security. I replaced the rack with the Jeep Backbone, which is a fully enclosed rear deck. I love the look and the security but sits lower than the rack. No problem I've been wanting to redo and downsize my cooking stuff. The Jeep Backbone sits on the side of the Jeep body and has supports tha hang down aprox 1/2" - 1" which in turn gives me a max box height of 15.5" tall. The ARB fridge will now need to go on top and I need to boxes to take up the room in my "trunk".

My rant is why do mfg taper the boxes so much and make the tops so large? I want storage boxes that are the same inner storage from the top to the bottom....!!!! The only boxes that came close are from Home Depot HD boxes but the lip at the top of the box is aprox 1" all the way around so the two barely fit side by side. I hate to do it but I may have to trip the lip off one side of the box just to make them fit... Just not happy...!!! I may have to make some boxes but not what I want to do.

Had planned on ordering boxes from Frontrunner but they are tooooooo small....

going to to add some Pelican boxes to the top of the Gobi Rack sometime in the future but don't need that high of quality box for the trunk of the Jeep.

 

[southpier]

http://www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/usa/

these aren't something i'd store tow chains, but they're a good value, available in a variety of sizes, and can take some abuse.

 

[bluehash]

I have a Gobi stealth rack and carry the pelicans on top. One thing with pelicans is that it gets heavy with stuff in it. I'd like smaller boxes, so that I do not overpack.
I recently found out about the Ridgid Pro series toolboxes and they seem like a good fit. They have a seal to keep water and dust out. The good part is everything inside the box is removable.
My thread is here.

There are other sizes too. I chose this one to keep one for recovery gear, one for kitchen supples etc.. I'm fitting one as a tailgate table too as it fits nicely when the door is closed and has a good rugged hinge.
Hope this helps.

 

[luckyjoe]

The Frontrunner Wolf Pack boxes are very nice, but also small-ish. I use this to my advantage by carefully adjusting my kit, and the way I store my gear. For example, if you can arrange them in one layer on the loadspace floor, they would, in effect, provide a raised floor with ~6.5-inches clearance below the Backbone. Maybe you could utilize this space for other gear?

 

[ducktapeguy]

I don't have any recommendations on boxes but I can tell you why you wont' find a perfectly straight sided box. It has to do with the manufacturing process. Most of these plastic storage boxes are molded, and the "taper" or draft angle is required for it to release from the mold. That's why you wont find a box with a wider bottom or even vertical sides. I don't like wasted space either that's why on the ones I use for home storage I will sometimes alternate flipping some of the boxes upside down to get them to pack closer.

Also, I'd be wary of trimming the lip off. if you trim the lip off those boxes, it'll probably destroy the integrity of it and you'll have something that resembles stiff bag

 

[rayra]

It's not so much the mold but the ability to stack / nest the pieces during production. Saves a LOT of space.


Wondering why the OP doesn't just build his own box tailored to his desires. It isn't hard. Make a good father-son project, too.

 

[capturecolorado]

I bought two of these, and one of the XXL boxes for storage on my flatbed, they're mostly weather resistant without modification, but I'll be adding some weather stripping on the inside of the lid to help with that. The lid is heavily reinforced for proper stacking, they're inexpensive, strong enough that I can secure them with turnbuckles on the sides, and look good. http://www.amazon.com/Plano-1619-00...=UTF8&qid=1427290539&sr=8-1&keywords=plano+56

Best of all, they're cheap! The 56 is the smallest that I've found that'll do the trick for me, it's 24x15x13, the 68 (?) quart is the same width and height, but 30" long, and the XXL trunk is really big, great for a single dumping ground of supplies. My arrangement of these on my flatbed is going to be the XXL for camping gear - tents, bags, sleeping pads, etc., one 56qt box for myself and my passenger for clothing/personal supplies, and then I might get another 56 for truck supplies.

The sides aren't perfectly straight, but they're the closest I've found, and similarly to the FrontRunner packs (which are awesome, but smaller than I'd like as well) they provide maximum internal space for the least amount of external space lost, unlike Action Packers.

 

[southpier]

http://www.equipt1.com/c/aluminum-cases

http://bundugear.com/products/storagesolutions.html

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1143.html

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/27816-Swiss-Army-Storage-Boxes

http://www.flatdoguk.com/fd-wolf-box~1

http://ice2015.no/2014/11/28/essential-expedition-equipment-purchased/

http://www.ironman4x4.com/category-products/storage/space-cases

 

[225]

http://www.equipt1.com/c/aluminum-cases

http://bundugear.com/products/storagesolutions.html

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1143.html

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/27816-Swiss-Army-Storage-Boxes

http://www.flatdoguk.com/fd-wolf-box~1

http://ice2015.no/2014/11/28/essential-expedition-equipment-purchased/

http://www.ironman4x4.com/category-products/storage/space-cases

Whoa. ALL the storage.

 

[kj4vyi]

I bought two of these, and one of the XXL boxes for storage on my flatbed, they're mostly weather resistant without modification, but I'll be adding some weather stripping on the inside of the lid to help with that. The lid is heavily reinforced for proper stacking, they're inexpensive, strong enough that I can secure them with turnbuckles on the sides, and look good. http://www.amazon.com/Plano-1619-00...=UTF8&qid=1427290539&sr=8-1&keywords=plano+56

Best of all, they're cheap! The 56 is the smallest that I've found that'll do the trick for me, it's 24x15x13, the 68 (?) quart is the same width and height, but 30" long, and the XXL trunk is really big, great for a single dumping ground of supplies. My arrangement of these on my flatbed is going to be the XXL for camping gear - tents, bags, sleeping pads, etc., one 56qt box for myself and my passenger for clothing/personal supplies, and then I might get another 56 for truck supplies.

The sides aren't perfectly straight, but they're the closest I've found, and similarly to the FrontRunner packs (which are awesome, but smaller than I'd like as well) they provide maximum internal space for the least amount of external space lost, unlike Action Packers.

X2 On the Plano boxes
my father got me one over the holidays and it has been used the crap out of it !! i ended up buying a few more and now i have it as this

1 - general camping stuff ( personal hygiene ) misc flashlights batteries extra smallish tarp some rope locks first aid kit and my camping pillow
2 - can fit a coleman 425 whitegas stove my 2 cast iron pans( wrapped in a towel) and some cooking utensils / storage zip bags and trash bag
3 - clothing - either in just the container or sometime i put them in 2 seabags - can squeeze in 2 sleeping bags as well
4 - dry food storage / dry goods / cleaning supplies

other than the old large military medic bag i use for my 2 tents and a lowes bucket to put the white gas / mini propane tanks in ( i drilled a few small vent holes around the bottom lip of the lid)

Im ready at the drop of the hat to go camping ( was just out on an overnighter with my sons cubscouts pack and we had a blast and everything worked great )

 

[mep1811]

Check out the aluminum boxes by www.dasmule.com

 

[xplrn42]

http://www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/usa/

these aren't something i'd store tow chains, but they're a good value, available in a variety of sizes, and can take some abuse.

I will agree with these, I have a few in the garage, don't use them for camping any longer but for what your doing, seem perfect. And inexpensive.

 

[crab]

The best part about the plano boxes is the reinforced lid. sit, stand on it, stack them all you want. They rock. Themid size one is my friend.