Gearwrench launched a new 72″ GSX series that they say is “built for the day-to-day needs of professional users.”
It comes with a serious price tag – $4999.99 at an independent retailer, and $5499 at Home Depot.
The rolling tool cabinet has 4 casters (2 swivel, 2 fixed), each with an advertised weight capacity of 1200 lbs.
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There are 18 drawers, (8) with 150 lb load capacity and (10) with double ball bearing slides for 300 lb load capacity.
The tool cabinet features a “premium quality stainless steel worktop.”
The drawers have a “trigger lock system,” which looks similar – at least in function – to the Craftsman Griplatch system.
The casters have a built-in spring suspension system.
There are two versions – one with silver drawer pull trim, and one with black trim.
The tool boxes have a “textured coated finish.”
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Additional features include a power strip with 6 AC outlets and 2 USB ports, foam drawer liners, 16 gauge frame construction, 18 gauge drawer construction, and a tubular lock.
The tool box measures 72″ wide, 25″ deep, and 47.5″ tall. The weight is listed as 751 lbs.
Gearwrench backs up their tool cabinet with a 3 year limited warranty.
Price: $5000 to $5500
Model numbers: 83249 (silver trim), 83248 (black trim)
Discussion
150 lb drawer slides seems pretty decent. But… the Husky Pro tool cabinet ($3500) I recently reviewed has 220 lb drawer slides. Harbor Freight’s Icon 73″ roller cabinet ($2999) has 265 lb drawer slides.
The Gearwrench GSX cabinet does has 10 out of 18 drawers with double slides for 300 lb capacity each, which seems unusual to me.
The Strictly Tool Boxes Tool Vault Elite, measuring 72-15/16″ width x 30″ depth x 46-1/4″ height, has 17 drawers and 27 pairs of drawer slides. This suggests it has 7 drawers with single sets of drawer slides and 10 with double slides.
There are enough similarities in the designs to suggest a common OEM.
However, Strictly Tool Boxes’ Tool Vault Elite has a 250 lb load rating for drawers with a single pair of slides, and 500 lbs for drawers with double pairs of slides. The Strictly Tool Boxes Tool Vault Elite sells for $3895.
This brings me to Gearwrench’s pricing.
$5000 at independent dealers and $5500 at Home Depot?! I don’t see the value being there.
At the time of this posting, $3500 gets you a Husky Pro cabinet – with better specs – plus a free add-on, such as a top hutch or side locker.
Harbor Freight’s Icon professional roller cabinet is $2999, and also has higher drawer load specs.
I try to ignore pricing when forming opinions about products sight-unseen and based on their online sales pages, but couldn’t do that here.
At $3000, Gearwrench’s GSX tool box could potentially be competitive. But $5000, let alone $5500? That seems excessive to me.
At such pricing, I’d expect the Gearwrench GSX tool box to be a bit more… I don’t know, innovative?
As harsh as it might sound, Gearwrench’s latest flagship tool storage roller cabinet seems bland and overpriced.
Why buy this Gearwrench GSX tool cabinet, when competitors offer more for less money?
On top of that, Husky and Harbor Freight back their professional tool storage roller cabinets with a lifetime warranty. A 3-year warranty on a $5000 tool cabinet seems paltry.
Blocky
The sticker price is shocking but it does look like they are using impressive 16 gauge for the box and 18 for the drawers, which is a step (or two) above the other alternatives listed.
Stuart
Gearwrench: 16 gauge steel body, 18 gauge steel drawers
Husky Pro: 16 gauge steel body and interior panels, 9 gauge base frame, 18 gauge work surface
Harbor Freight Icon: 16 gauge top and outside panels, 18 gauge interior panels, 14 gauge U-channels for casters
Strictly Tool Boxes Tool Vault Elite: 18 gauge shell, 20 gauge drawers, 14 gauge caster channel
Weights:
Gearwrench: 18 drawers, 72″ x 25″, 751 lbs net
Husky Pro: 20 drawers, 72″ x 24.6″, 788 lbs net
Harbor Freight Icon: 20 drawers, 73″ x 25″, 879 lbs net
Strictly Tool Boxes: 17 drawers, ~73″ x 30″, 1049 lbs net
PETE
Using AI to analyze the specs. It said this-
Based on the specifications:
The Husky Pro has the advantage of a very thick 9 gauge base frame, which is likely to add significant sturdiness to the toolbox. Its weight and dimensions are pretty average among the options.
Harbor Freight Icon weighs considerably more than Gearwrench and Husky for nearly the same size, suggesting potentially better overall build quality.
Strictly Tool Boxes Tool Vault Elite is the heaviest and has the widest dimension, but it uses thinner steel for its shell and drawers. Its higher weight might be due to its broader width or possibly other components/materials used.
Gearwrench is the lightest, and while its steel gauges are competitive with the others, it doesn’t seem to offer any distinctive advantage in terms of build specifications.
If we were to rank purely based on these specifications (and not considering price, brand reputation, additional features, aesthetics, or personal preferences):
Husky Pro: It seems to strike a good balance between weight, dimensions, and steel thickness, especially with its thick base frame.
Harbor Freight Icon: Its weight suggests good build quality, and its steel gauges are competitive.
Strictly Tool Boxes Tool Vault Elite: While it uses thinner steel for certain parts, its weight suggests it might be well constructed. The broader width may offer more storage space.
Gearwrench: It doesn’t have any standout specifications in this comparison.
blocky
Thanks for correcting me on these details. I was clearly wrong.
(I swear that I also googled on my phone last night and found different specs on the Husky Pro and Harbor Freight Icon than what pulled up just now on my laptop.)
My 26″ GSX box is 20 gauge, and although it’s well-built, the flex is discernible in fully loaded drawers. Great box purchased on sale with no issues so far, but I take more care than I would like with it. Definitely looking to upgrade down the line.
Stuart
No worries!
Tool box specs tend to be buried in product descriptions and are often incomplete. Panel thickness doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about a tool box’s construction, but can be useful. I don’t know why brands make this so hard to find.
Xrh07
Huh. The Icons are for sure the heaviest built brand in that selection
The GW has an SS top which is probably 50 lbs+ by itself and the Icon w/o it is still 150 lbs heavier empty.
Heavier slides, heavier casters, heavier frame.
Chris I
You’re totally forgetting that Acme will knock off an extra $10 if you sign up for their text messages!!
Boom.
Value bettered.
Stuart
Or use coupon code TOOLGUYD, which resets every 30 days.
So that’s $4989.99 with coupon.
IronWood
I was going to complain about the $5000 price, but $4989.99 is very reasonable.
Rog
They’re practically giving it away at that price.
Chris I
How TF do I upvote?!
Joe E.
Wow, at that price you’d think GearWrench would make some quality tools to put in it. Why would anyone buy this when SnapOn, MAC and Matco will finance the same size box at $50/wk? Or ICON at HF being half the price?
I don’t think I need a $5,000 box to store my lobster claw open end GearWrench ratcheting wrenches. The 5 gallon Dunkin Donuts bucket is the perfect place for them.
criketzchirping
About the financing part, I’m sure that USA Tools (another tool truck company) will sell these boxes with options to finance. They are big sellers of Gearwrench and they don’t have many other good tool box brand options. However, even with the $50 a week financing; when I get it paid off still means something to me. So while The Big Three hand tool manufacturers sell boxes of the same category in the $10-20k range. This box is (only) $5000 which to me is reasonable for tool truck prices. However that is an expensive box for the likes of Home Depot to try to sell to the general public.
fred
I’m gonna call that tool truck over so I can start financing one right away! Then, I might paraphrase Tennessee Ernie Ford – and say “Saint Peter don’t call me I can’t go – I owe my soul to the tool truck store”. At my age, delaying the trip to the pearly gates (or that other place) might be worth the exorbitant financing charge that comes with “easy” monthly payments.
ToolGuyDan
“I was born one mornin’ in a woodshop in Maine/
Tool storage buyin’ is my middle name /
I’m buying boxes built with nice, thick steel /
If the price tag don’t getcha, then the interest will
Drawers are 16-gauge, but what’d’ya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter doncha call me, cause I can’t go /
I owe my soul to the tool truck store”
Let hurry up and get this into the studio before someone else charts with it first!
Collin
Instead of seeing the same old folded sheet metal boxes, I would like to see more innovation in the way of box construction, i.e. space frame boxes, hydroformed sheet metal boxes, or even hydroformed tube chassis boxes
Stuart
Innovation in this space is risky.
The Craftsman AXS system proved that. https://toolguyd.com/craftsman-axs-tool-storage-system-has-been-discontinued/
Big Adam
Ah, but now try getting one delivered to your home damage-free…………..
TomD
If it can’t survive being delivered, how strong is it really?
I wonder if this price is high to let them put it on sale that continues to lessen as actual manufacturing costs go up?
IronWood
Tekton has awesome made in Canada boxes with 400lb rated drawers for less money.
https://www.tekton.com/60-inch-wide-11-drawer-tool-cabinet-red-ocl64200
I can’t believe Gearwrench will sell these. HF is a way better value (can’t believe I’m saying that), or used boxes off the tool truck, or Proto, or almost anything else. I don’t trust Apex to keep the Gearwrench quality up anyway these days, and certainly not for that price! Watch for super sales on these things before too long I bet.
Ben
I love my Tekton wrenches, sockets, ratchets, and screwdrivers, but those are definitely way out of my price range as a home gamer. If I were a pro I’d certainly take a look, but for now, the $450 46″ Husky mobile workbench I have suits me just fine. Especially considering a worktop for the Tekton box costs $420 and the box is $4200, that’s literally 10x the price for not much extra value or size (to me, at least).
IronWood
Oh I agree with you there are very good options for a lot less money, depending on your use. I guess my point is that Gearwrench is approaching pretty premium pricing with this one and I’m not sure it will be worth it. And yeah those tops are ridiculous!
Plain+grainy
Really heavy at 700+ pounds! I’d rather have the Dewalt or Packout modular boxes. Much more versatile, portable. You can buy a lot of Packout for 5K! But then again the Gearwrench has those two USB ports.
Plain+grainy
I should add that I’m a big fan of Gearwrench, just not into these type of boxes.
JR Ramos
150 pound slides are perfect for the crowd that like their tools in decorative arrangements with kaizen foam, or the home gamers that don’t really have a lot of tools (or maybe mostly tools that have a lot of plastic/air space as opposed to more solid steel chunks of tooling). I think Gearwrench is trying to use their name and past prowess more and more but the quality often just isn’t there anymore, sadly. They do offer such a broad range of items, though, which is handy as long as you can locate them for sale, and the quality is…ok.
G. Greene
$5000?
No.
Just no.
James+C
This would be a great way for someone to store their collection of Leatherman Garage Series tools.
evadman
I have the tool vault elite 72″ wide, 30″ deep box and chest that you reference. It sure looks like the same OEM to me from the pictures of the gearwrench. Tool vault also sells a 25″ deep version; the 5 extra inches doesn’t sound like much, but makes a giant difference in organizing.
As far as I can tell, the design looks extremely similar; I also think they are the same OEM. There are a few differences I can see.
The toolvault is rated for 6300 lbs vs gearwrenches’s 4800 lbs.
The toolvault has a 5 year warranty vs 3 year gearwrench.
the toolvault has detent slides, the gearwrench has latches.
The gearwrench box has power on the side.
The finish on my toolvault box is immaculate. The pictures of the gearbox frame do not look great to me. The drawers may be okay, but the pictures are not high resolution enough.
The drawers on the tool vault are rated to 250 or 500 lbs; 500 if they have 2 sets of slides. Every tall drawer on mine was punched to accept the 2nd slide if you want to add more weight. I never wanted to worry about them, so I got those with my box. I think they were $80 a set for the slides.
There are 4 casters on the gearwrench, and 6 on the tool vault. The casters on the tool vault I have are absolutely phenomenal. I can move the box around without much effort, and even get it over the lip of my garage floor. The expansion joints in the garage are no problem. That was nearly impossible on my old “regular size” craftsman boxes. The tool vault can do it fully loaded, probably weighing at 2 tons; I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 3. I have roughly 400 lbs of impact sockets and tools in just the bottom drawer. At some point, you will need to move your tool box, and I learned to not skimp on the casters.
The toolvault has a top chest, hutch, or side cabinets that can be added later if you want. They did discontinue the 19″ side lockers I wanted though and only have 28″s now. I guess I shouldn’t have waited 4 years 🙁
The green color of the toolvault matched the green color of the harbor freight accessories back when I got the box. that means I could get matching paper towel holders and glove holders. I don’t know if it still matches since harbor freight has the new icon brand.
I keep meaning to ask the manufacturer if I can mount the hutch on top of the chest (3 tall) because I have room, and it does have 4 bolt holes that are used for lifting. Right now, the top of the tool box has a lot of tools on it; a hutch would look better.
I just looked at the site that I got my tool vault from (same that Stuart posted above), and the bottom is priced at $3700 including shipping. The roller plus top chest that I have is $6400 combined. If you are about “mass” as a qualifier, the toolvault weighs 1600 lbs combined or 1000 lbs for just the bottom.
The only issue I have had with the box is that the top chest is heavy as heck. It was impossible for 2 people to lift and stack safely. I had to get a engine hoist to lift and stack it. There are 4 screw in studs and eye bolts that came with the toolbox for this purpose; I have no idea how I would have stacked them otherwise.
I ordered my box as 2 separate orders because I wanted the stainless worktop just in case. If ordered together, you don’t get the stainless top on the chest. This is likely because you have to take it off to mount the cabinet on the chest. It worked out to very close to the same price since shipping was free, and I still have that top for a work surface. I don’t know the pricing still works out that way.
Stuart
Thank you for your insights!
According to their website, Strictly Tool Boxes’ 72″ x 25″ cabinets are all discontinued, which is why I pulled specs for the 30″ model, the only size they offer right now.
S
I always look at things like this: ignoring the price, is there really anything this offers that another box doesn’t?
I don’t believe it does. Other than of course the gear wrench badge on it.
More importantly, gear wrench is not a primary vender at any retail spaces, nor has such a brand following to justify. I think they’ll end up losing out on this, unless the margins allow for steeper than average holiday sales to undercut everyone else.
Hon Cho
Similar to the proliferation of plastic modular toolboxes (packout, etc…), the deluxe “pro” box space is filling up fast with these multi-thousand $$$ units. Snap-On, Matco , Cornwell and others have long marketed them to their professional and industrial customers and now other companies are seeking to both expand and get a piece of that market. I’m a bit surprised by the push toward these expensive boxes in the non-professional space but look at how every room in our homes is a target for deluxe furnishings and “professional” appliances.
If you look at how these boxes are manufactured, there’s a great deal of capital equipment involved. The facilities capable of making these type of boxes want to keep those machines busy so I expect the cost of entry to a new brand that doesn’t own their own factory is reasonable as long as they feel they can move the product. It’s unlikely that all the brands will succeed in the marketplace but a few will and provide good return to the parent business. Gearwrench has been building out a complete tool catalog and was considered to be a better long-term brand bet for their owner, Apex, than Armstrong, a brand with a proud history that also sold similar tool storage boxes in the industrial space.
The middle-class in the USA may be shrinking but everyone is vying for what money people do have. I’d love one of these type of boxes but I don’t have a place to put it, at least not where I’d put tools in it to use.
Stuart
The professional tool storage space has *always* been pricey. The only difference now is that there are more options you can buy without having to work with an on-site tool truck dealer.
MM
In my opinion there are now middle-of-the-road options that didn’t exist, or were obscure, years ago. When I first started buying tools in the 1990’s you had “homeowner” grade boxes like the ubiquitous Craftsman, and there were the high-end professional mechanic’s and industrial models like Snap-On, Mac, Lista, Vidmar, and Kennedy. But there wasn’t much of anything in between.
Today there are a lot of boxes from Husky, Milwaukee, Harbor Freight, Tekton, and others which are a lot nicer than the ‘ol standard Craftsmans but at the same time are a lot less costly than a tool truck brand. Some are better value than others of course but it’s nice to have more options to pick from.
Stuart
There have been a lot of changes in the past 10 years or so, and especially in the past 5 since the tool box tariffs went into effect.
Because of price increases, higher shipping costs, and perhaps most significantly, antidumping and countervailing tariffs, the entry price point steel tool storage market has all but disappeared.
The mid price point model evolved, and the high price point model remained largely unchanged.
The average spending on steel tool storage products definitely seems to have increased, and the industry adjusted and responded to this. Designs and prices were largely affected by the tariffs, but I’d say that kicked off accelerated organic changes.
Consumer standards and requirements have also also risen.
In 2012, Sears had a Craftsman 22-drawer tool storage combo on sale for Black Friday for $550. It was maybe a 41″ combo or around that size. It featured “heavy duty Quiet Glide” drawer slides. Quiet Glide were friction slides, not ball bearing. Who is buying steel storage with friction slides today? They also had a wide 22-drawer ball bearing combo for $700, with Griplatch and ball bearing drawer slides.
Also in 2012, a Craftsman Griplatch ball bearing storage combo had 50 lb drawer slides. In 2013 they moved to 75 lb slides. Would such capacities be marketable today?
criketzchirping
I’m surprised at all the comments reflecting negatively on the boxes cost. Honestly I expected it to be more. This seems like it is targeting the professional market, which speaking from experience this would be a cheap box. Not necessarily one that Home Depot should try to sell to the general public, but more that it should be sold on tool trucks. I think it would see success in that market.
xrh07
I’m not surprised at all. Because for $1,300-$2,000 more for this GW you get nothing of note over the Icon or the Toolvault except for the steel lift latches for the drawer retention. Which is nice, but not $2,000 over an Icon nice. And you miss out on other things in exchange anyways.
Though it’s one thing to dogpile GW for a newly launched product. Harbor Freight was also rightfully roasted when they initially launched their Icon line at $5,000. So either these GW cabinets come down closer to reality over time or they just fester into obscurity.
Otherwise the Icons have them pretty well beat because the Icons are still heavier built, heavier casters, heavier slides/heavier drawers and all drawers except for 3-4 can be reogranized or have extra slides added to them if you really want. Though having 530 lb rated drawers on the narrow bank deep drawers is going to be wholly pointless. You also get an integrated power drawer and not some power strip stuck into the side. And the Icons may as well be half the price of a GW since 15% off Icon is a regular sales event, you can save another 10% with a CC deal or up to 35% if you can get a 25% off no exclusions promo instead.
The ONLY thing I see GW doing better than Icon/Toolvault is their drawer latch system. Metal lift latches are the absolute best way to retain drawers. They’ve also got the tool truck brands pretty much beat on that front as well. Even SnapOn can’t give you metal lift latches on their Epiq line which is just…kind of incredible. And never mind all the other boxes (Masters/Classic) that use cheesy plastic slide latches. That’s something you’d expect from HF’s lower end U.S. General stuff.
Mike (that one)
I read the headline as $500 and got very excited…darn lol.
JoeM
I do find this to be typical of companies like Gearwrench. They do their tools very well, both in quality, as well as in aesthetics/ergonomics. They are often a go-to on high-end users, such as automotive racing teams, much like Snap-On. You can spot their tools from across a room, showing the alliance to that particular company as a sponsor, or simply because the team included the price of buying those tools (and cabinetry) aside in the price of doing business. It’s a little like free advertising, in that sense.
That said… The price of a name that is so widely known in high-end uses, despite this being marketed to middle-range users in this case, seems to be where the rest of the price comes from. Sure… There are people modifying their garages, their vehicles, and all their small-business image, around an association with high-end experience. The question becomes… How common will it be for Gearwrench to get away with making a profit off that small a demographic? Yes, this cabinet seems like everything that Gearwrench would come up with, in a Gearwrench level of pricing. But… Home Depot and Acme Tools? I don’t see this as a wise way to sell this thing. This looks more like a cabinet that should be at a racetrack, or car customization garage. This isn’t for the home user, as they state. They have some great home tools, as Stuart has tested in the past, but I still don’t see those going into this cabinet.
Tim
I’d bet this is intended for their tool trucks and HD and other retailers just added the items for order.
Nobody cares what tool truck tools cost.
xrh07
if nobody cared what the tool truck cost then tool truck brand power tools wouldn’t be getting slaughtered by Milwaukee and Dewalt. And boxes like these wouldn’t exist with some people trading off their tool truck setups for them and putting that money back into the tools. (which is a much smarter allocation of funds. Blowing your limited budget on storage is about the worst thing you can do. If you have an unlimited budget then you’re out-of-touch with the actual tool market and probably shouldn’t be commentating on it anyways.
If you’re buying a Gearwrench cabinet for $5,000 w/o even attempting to do your due diligence then you’ve just outright failed as a well-informed consumer. There’s still a better product out there for a lot less money. And $1300-2,000+ saved over this GW is going to go plenty far in the hand tool/specialty tool/power tool space.
Franco Calcagni
This is definitely aimed at pros. Home DIYer or shade tree mechanics are not going to spend $5000 on a box. The very few that would, typically would get a box that has more of a reputation in making these.
There has always been the cheaper (in price) HF, Husky, Craftsman, then super expensive tool truck brands, and a grey area in the middle, that tries to meet tool truck quality at half the price.
I haven’t shopped tool chests in more than 10 years, but from Stuart’s article and the various comments above, looks like GW is trying to sell more on its [supposed] name rather than actually delivering the goods.
GAK
If you are going to pay Lista prices for a box… buy a Lista and stop f-ing around.
Good Tools
€ / $ 300-800 empty tool boxes for pro use and mechanics use them here. All the hand tools that need to be stored in the drawer used fit in. Also tool box+tool walls.
eddie sky
I love the black and orange scheme but this is in the range of DragonFireTools boxes… https://dragonfiretools.com/product/rev-4-18-drawer-midnight-pro-series-work-bench/
Big Richard
Sorta related, DeWalt is launching a bunch of new metal tool box storage – https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t7jh6x2gcw8