Stop tripping and recycle...

[dazza]

So I needed to find a solid solution for mounting my Hickey toolbox underneath my cab. From what I've seen/read, these were made to size to mount to the inner fender, under the hood. A great spot I agree, but I'm not wanting it too cluttered under there, so I figured up under the cab, out of the way would be great… if I could figure out a way to mount it very solid and be able to have it drop down for access.

I had tried fabbing together a hinged mount with garage door parts I had, and while the drop down part worked well, it just didn't seem secure enough to hold it firmly in place for too long. A few days ago I was looking around the garage for something hinged that may work, when I spotted a push scooter that a friends kid had left here. Handlebars and a standing platform attached by a big aluminum hinge. Almost perfect. Since I have no kids, the only toys I trip on around here are my own, and I don't own any push scooters, so after a quick search of Craigslist and a 15 minute drive, I was the owner of two used scooters - for $5. each! These are older models with the aluminum hinges, I'm not sure how well the newer ones would hold up because it looks like their hinges are made of plastic.

I stopped by the Ag Supply store and had them cut me a piece of 1/2" Aluminum and some stainless hardware for mounting, just under $40 out the door. After cutting the scooter platform down to the correct length, I cut part of the center and flattened the smaller piece of the platform to mount on the 1/2" aluminum piece, which was drilled and mounted to the four bolts on the rocker (longer stainless bolts used in place of factory ones). Drilled holes in the platforms to mount the toolbox, bolted it up and adjusted.

I'm surprised at how well this thing fits and how solid it is. It swings down perfectly and as an extra bonus, the door doesn't hit the ground when fully opened (something I forgot to check with initial measurements). When in the up position, it does not show unless you get down to look under the truck and is not hanging low enough to be a problem.

So next time you trip on one of your kids toys in the yard, don't get mad, just take a second to think about how you might be able to recycle it into something more useful than lawn art!

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- beautiful $5. hinges at the Craigslist store!




- cut, attached to 1/2" aluminum plate, and ready to be mounted




- ready to be mounted and mounted




- mounted without toolbox




- now you see it, now you don't