After 44 years as a technician Bradley Johnson was more than happy, and ready, to take his massive toolbox collection home.
Since graduating as a diesel technician in 1978, Johnson has had his fair share of toolboxes over the years. His first was just a small box that was mostly filled with father’s tools.
“[My dad] didn’t know where his tools were always going,” he says laughing.
He bought his first big box, the middle box shown in the picture above, in 1980 when he worked for a gas and oil company. Once he filled that one, he kept buying smaller boxes until he could afford to purchase another large one. Then that lead to another and then to another.
Johnson has a total of eight Snap-on toolboxes, spanning a total length of 14’. All are filled with tools needed for the jobs at hand and “no junk”.
The boxes may not have the latest features and gadgets, but that’s not important to him.
“To me, a toolbox is a place to put my tools,” he says.
Besides, he had everything he needed readily available. Before retiring, Johnson was a diesel technician at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for 18 years. His setup was positioned perfectly beneath a bright ceiling light with a workbench next to the boxes. That was good enough for him.
He said he could have bought a box that had a power drawer for battery tools but decided not to. Instead, he mounted a power cord to the side of one of the boxes, allowing him to charge his battery tools and chargers right from within the box.
When it comes to organization, Johnson says it’s best to “work smart, not hard.” Therefore, he always knows where everything is.
The center box houses different types of ratchets and extensions. The boxes to the left contain all SAE tooling with SAE sockets filling the top box and SAE wrenches filling the bottom box. Then on the right, the boxes contain all metric tooling. Same as the left, the top contains all metric sockets, and the bottom all wrenches.
The two side cabinets are more geared for Class 8 specialty tools. One contains tools for engine work and the other for transmissions and rear ends.
As a seasoned tech, Johnson offers a few words of advice for technicians when they finish organizing their box: Never pull one drawer out and switch it with another.
“I can guarantee for the next five years you’ll keep pulling the wrong drawer out, even though you know better,” he says.
Aside from the all-matching red color scheme of Johnson’s toolboxes, another eye-catching feature are all the stickers covering them. There is one for every engine that he’s built as well as some from companies he has worked with and from equipment manufacturers over the years.
“I think it gives the toolboxes some character,” he notes.
Since retiring, Johnson is putting his setup to good use in his home garage, working on his 1986 Chevy Camaro Pro Street Z28 car among numerous other car projects.
