When you purchase truck toolboxes such as tool totes or trailer tongue utility boxes, the material they’re made of should be an important consideration. You’ve probably seen many a pickup truck over the years with a painted steel toolbox that’s become scarred with scratches and striped with rust. Or maybe you’ve tried to keep your own steel toolbox nice and new with lots of sanding, priming, painting and other time-consuming maintenance.
Some people might argue that steel is stronger than aluminum, and while this may be an important factor if you’re building a bridge or similar type structure, it hardly matters when it comes to your truck toolbox. Aluminum diamond plate is preferred by professionals for truck toolboxes because it’s thick and highly-durable. Compared to the thin, painted steel sheet metal sometimes used for truck toolboxes, aluminum diamond plate is much more sturdy to withstand scratches, rust and other damage from years of use.
Aluminum diamond plate comes in a sharp, sleek finish, and can also come in a black or white powder coat finish, usually at an additional cost. Be sure to choose an aluminum diamond plate toolbox that’s fully welded instead of just riveted, and comes with a warranty to ensure it’s free of defects.
Anyone who has kids — or, heck, even knows anyone who has kids — knows what a disaster area your car can become. Toys, snacks, etc. congregate on your floorboards and in the crevices in the seats. Your trunk gets filled with strollers, diaper bags, and other types of equipment. Your console and door pockets become stuffed with all that emergency stuff that you keep on hand because you just might need it someday (i.e. individually wrapped plastic spoons, napkins and tissues, kid-friendly snacks, etc.).
Thankfully there are ways to kid-proof your car so that it doesn’t get so trashed. Here are a couple of suggestions:
Buy a catch all. Catch alls are useful organizers that go inbetween the bucket seats in the front of a truck, SUV, or minivan. This is a great place to put drinks, sippy cups, and random things such as little toys and travel games, hair ties and barrettes, and tissues.
Use a jobox. By creating locking storage space in the bed of your truck, you are freeing up a lot of limited space in the cab. This helps keep the clutter to a minimum.
Look into dog boxes for Fido. Everyone loves the family dog, but boy do they mess up the inside of your truck! Plus, if you are carrying the dog around, where do you put the kid? Locking, vented dog boxes give you a way to carry your dog in the back of the truck without worrying about him jumping or falling out, getting stolen, or making a mess inside the truck!
Having kids doesn’t have to mean your car should be a disaster area. Take advantage of the auto accessories on the market, and you can easily keep your car organized, even with kids!
I used to work for an aftermarket auto parts store, so I know some of the ins and outs of the business. A lot of rumors abound that the parts from these stores aren’t as good quality as the ones the dealership sells, so I’m going to give you some advice on choosing where you buy your parts when you do your own auto repair.
Consider the truth of the rumors. Do you think the rumors are really true? Have you bought parts from that store or with that particular aftermarket label before, or have you known someone who has? If so, what were your or your friend’s experiences?
Consider the warranty. Sometimes it’s true that aftermarket parts aren’t as good, but a good warranty might make it worthwhile for you to buy the parts anyway. For instance, if you are doing brake repair, getting a lifetime warranty on a set of brake pads is an unbelievable deal — you may never have to buy brake pads again, meaning that all it’ll ever cost you is the time it takes to replace the pads!
Consider how much work the job requires. Buying cheaper-quality parts with a lifetime warranty makes sense when it’s something that’s usually easy to do, such as replacing brake pads. However, if the work is very difficult — such as a hard-to-reach starter or alternator — you may not want to do the job ever again, even if the replacement part is free the next time around. Buying a higher-quality, more-likely-to-last part would make sense in this case.
Consider the repercussions if the part goes bad too soon. Your brake pads will grind the brake disc if it goes bad early, but you can prevent this by keeping an eye on how much pad is left and changing the pads at the first sign of trouble. However, if you buy a cheap timing belt and it snaps too early, you could end up with thousands of dollars in engine damages.
Doing your own American or Asian automotive repair enables you to save money on repairs, but it also may require you to make smart decisions about where you buy your parts. I hope these tips help you to decide!
You can have the greatest sign in the world but it won’t do you any good unless people are able to see it. That is why magnetic car signs and magnetic door signs are becoming so popular. If you own several vehicles, you may not wish to purchase a separate car sign for each one. So, depending on which car you drive that day, you can quickly attach the magnetic car sign before you leave. That way you are advertising your business all day long. On-road advertising is so successful that some people pay others to drive around with signs promoting their business on their cars. But why pay someone else to do it when you can easily do it yourself? If you really want to catch the eye of potential customers, you will need nice window graphics on top of your magnetic signs. This will show to people that you have taken the time to create a nice image of your company. When choosing the colors and design it is important to find something that will appeal directly to your audience. And once you have found that perfect combination, get it out there for the world to see.
