Gearwrench has a relatively new line of GSX series tool storage products, including rolling tool cabinets, top chests, and two tool carts that I will be focusing on in this post.
The main goal of the GSX series has been to give automotive, industrial, MRO, and other demanding users space-efficient tool storage solutions with flexibility, durability, and usefulness in mind.
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Gearwrench GSX 4-Drawer Tool Cart – 83168
To start at the top, you get a 4.9″ top tray compartment, with the lid supported by gas struts on both sides. Holes on both sides allow for convenient placing of pry bars and longer screwdrivers.
A large shelf on the bottom provides bulk storage for parts, portable tool boxes, and anything else you might want quick and easy access to.
A side-mounted power tool holder provides easy access to air or cordless power tools.
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A latch at the rear of the top compartment locks the drawers for when you’re ready to move the cart around.
5″ polyurethane casters (2 swivel, 2 fixed) provide for easy rolling.
The 4-drawer cart has a deep full-width drawer, a shallow full-width drawer, and two half-width drawers.
Features and Specs
- 33″ length
- 21.1″ depth
- 42″ height
- 650 lb total weight capacity
- 100 lb-rated drawer slides
- 5″ x 2″ polyurethane casters
- 10,763 cubic inches storage capacity
- Gas strut lid supports
- Pry bar and long screwdriver holes
- External power tool rack
- Black EVA foam liners
- Full-height corner bumpers
- Drawer locking latch
- Weighs 153.3 lbs
- 5 Year Warranty
Gearwrench makes assembly quicker and easier with pressed-in nuts for bolt attachments.
Price: $603-$800
Buy Now via Amazon
Buy Now via Walmart
Buy now via Acme Tools
Surprisingly, Walmart (via a 3rd party seller) has the best pricing as of the time of this posting.
Gearwrench GSX 2-Drawer Tool Cart – 83167
There is also a 2-drawer cart, with both being shallow full-width drawers, and the side handle is also a little different.
Here’s a top view. You get the same pass-thru holes for storing pry bars and long screwdrivers, and the side-mounted power tool rack.
Features and Specs
- 32.5″ length
- 20.5″ depth
- 42″ height
- 450 lb total weight capacity
- 100 lb-rated drawer slides
- 5″ x 2″ polyurethane casters
- 7,609 cubic inches storage capacity
- Gas strut lid supports
- Pry bar and long screwdriver holes
- External power tool rack
- Black EVA foam liners
- Drawer locking latch
- Weighs 110.6 lbs
- 5 Year Warranty
Price: $500
Buy Now via Amazon
Buy Now via Acme Tools (+ $49 freight)
Jared
These carts look nice. Where do Gearwrench tool boxes fit in the market? These look expensive versus homeowner grade, cheap compared to pro options.
Pretty tough sell at those prices, for example, compared to the US General line from Harbor Freight. Here in Canada we have Mastercraft and Maximum versions that are similar, but a lot cheaper too.
This one goes on sale semi-regularly for about $300 and has the same configuration (albeit it could have thinner steel and doesn’t have the power tool holder):
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mastercraft-4-drawer-mechanics-cart-30-in-0581372p.html#srp
Jared
Any details about what gauge of steel these carts are made from?
The other tool chests in the GSX line specify 20ga bodies and 22ga drawers – I didn’t find what was used for the carts.
The Mastercraft tool cart I posted a link to is 20ga (made by Torin under the Mastercraft label for Canadian Tire). If the GW carts are also 20ga, I’m really not seeing why they are selling for such a premium over Mastercraft and Husky, which appear very similar.
I appreciate the finishing touches like casters and slides might still be better, but usually premium products are also made from more robust materials.
Sunny leveson-jones
im struggling to see where these fit, for a lot less money you can go buy the us general 5 draw and for a bit more the much bigger and better built 6 draw why would you ever buy this?
Jared
Partly reminding myself:
These are new, maybe street pricing will be lower in the coming months.
Otherwise I feel similarly. They don’t seem premium enough to compete with the expensive brands – but Husky and others offer something similar for way less.
I like the look and the features though.
Jim Felt
I must have missed COO? At this price point given the 100s of Percent increase in overseas shipping container rates in the past year why can’t some of this (presumed) offshore production again be US made?
And is Zoro, HD Supply and Grainger carrying this apparent commercial use cart?
And FYI I find customized MetroWire carts with baskets work best in our situation. AKA no need for locks.
Nathan
Not to be mean but I wonder what it’s a clone of. I suspect something SNAP on or MAC related. I say that only to say most gear wrench items or clones of another commerical mechanics kit.
Seems a bit pricy but again in line with the pricing of a MAC or Snap on kit.
I like the lid and the long handle drive/pry bar holder idea. let’s you keep them on the cart but still lock then to the cart for storage and moving about. Would have liked to see a power strip on there since they had the tool holder on the side – but again I could see setting one up with battery charger in the closed box – with the cord out the side.
Still a nice kit but too expensive for me
MM
I think it’s a bit silly for the quote to stress “top shelf build quality” yet that appears to be shipped in kit form and assembled with rather obvious screws. That doesn’t scream “top shelf” quality to me.
That said, I like the basic configuration. I prefer this style of cart to the HF one Stuart posted about a week ago–the open space at the bottom is nice for larger parts like alternators or starters and also for containers of service chemicals like antifreeze, oil, trans fluid, etc. I’m not a fan of the two small drawers in the 4-drawer cart; I’d rather that be one wide drawer. Price seems a bit high too. I’d take a less costly US General over this model.
Stuart
Sorry, I removed that part – I originally intended to post about the entire GSX series in one post, but ultimately decided to start with the carts and finish with the roller cabinets and chests.
Robm
For the price point they better be made somewhere other than China. Sadly I’ve noticed a huge amount of current GW branded stuff now being made in China whereas a lot of it wasn’t just 5-10 years ago.
JoeM
And what if it’s made in Quebec? We already know there’s a company up North here, outside the US, that makes tool carts and accessories.
[Mod Note: No politics please!!]
Stuart
They shut down.
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/spg-international-tool-boxes-craftsman-husky-other-brands-closure/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
JoeM
Not them. http://www.rousseau.com/ is going strong. Quebec has a lot of manufacturing up here. One company is nothing for the Quebecois. And just as flippant as I’m being, that’s a representation of how the people of Quebec felt about SPG international. It wasn’t a French name, so they happily swore at them in French, and enjoyed their other industries.
As to the Politics… I know you don’t like it, but… that level of hostility toward anyone not-of-the-US is plain insulting.
Stuart
I know you mean well, but you have been taking COO comments way too personally, and your arguments have veered way too off-topic and political.
JoeM
The reality is, if it’s a quality company, that makes quality tools, then the COO is utterly meaningless at this point. I can accept the odd “I’ll only buy USA-Made” comment, but it’s a blatant attack against everyone other than the US when someone outright attacks an entire country’s production standards, and has absolutely no input on the design or function of the mentioned item.
Comments like Robm’s can only be answered in-context. Politically, there have been a few administrations since 1980 that have led the pricing of things like Gearwrench tools to be driven overseas for manufacturing. De-Regulation of the Stock Market meant that Stock holders came first instead of Customers, or Quality Control, so you can thank Reagan for that. Free Trade alliances globally sent service centres to India and East-Asia, which you can thank Clinton for, Global trade costs undergoing more scrutiny by border services due to the formation of the Department of Homeland Security you can thank Bush Jr. for, the increased military debt that drew all the contracts away from the market is because Bush Jr. signed promised contracts for the 8 years that followed his final term, which tied Obama’s hands in undoing those promises that were bad policy, so thank Bush Jr. AGAIN for the expenses. And you can then thank the Senate for blocking every bill ever attempted during the Obama years, so that’s Mitch McConnell having been quoted directly as saying “Our entire job is to make Obama a single-term President”… which they not only failed to do, but acted as complete barriers to any and all voting… And then everyone went insane, everyone lost their minds over the Reality Show Host turned Presidential Rodeo Clown… Who literally tried to negotiate the semi-tolerable NAFTA into some sort of “Bow Down To America Because We Said So”… Those policies led to a breaking up of the partnerships that made the US economically stronger with its two neighbours closer to parity on their currency.
So… no… Even if the Gearwrench Tool Carts Were Made in China, the current trade tariffs between China and the US would set that cart at.. well… The price we see. If they used materials from the North to make it, again, taxes and fees would make the cart twice the expected price. If it was made by Rousseau in Quebec, with Northern Steels, Aluminum, or had wires made of Copper from here… We would make it cheaper, but the second it crossed the border, it would go up to that price because of the Tariffs the former progression of bad decision makers made in regards to trade tariffs. Even if you bought that cart up here, as a Gearwrench Cart, with none of the Taxes or Tariffs attached, for a quarter the price it is listed at… The weight of shipping it, or even smuggling it, back to the US would raise the price to what you see.
But, if it gets made in the US… they have to Import their raw materials from all over the place, because they allowed mines and poor resource management, to decimate natural resources in the US in the 60’s and 70’s… So the actual design calls for exactly the same low price as if it was built up North of the border… But the second a company has to have a factory in the US? They face the taxes and tariffs of bringing in superior quality raw materials to work with… And oh look… We’re back at that price point, with the bonus that Gearwrench can’t pay its overhead on the Factory it builds them in if it doesn’t sell at least 3 of these carts for every Man, Woman, Child, Dog, Cat, Horse, and Exotic Pet housed in the country. And if they try to sell some globally? Weight and material restrictions they’ve put on imported materials from the countries they want to sell to, are doubled to remind the former administration how far they’ve fallen from being able to get away with what they tried to do. This kills the market on the Global scale, thus depriving Gearwrench sufficient profitability to maintain the factory in the US. Thus US Jobs go overseas, because everywhere else overseas, the trade and profit margins are higher between countries, even the other two that got stabbed in the back by the US in the last North American trade negotiations.
So… Yeah… This is political… The fact is, there’s no easy way to say “Blame your Politicians for making it so difficult to keep a factory going in your country. We, your Brothers and Sisters in the North, want better for you, but you keep making it hard on yourselves with who you vote for.”
We’re not the Enemy, no matter what the politicians say. This tool cart is so expensive because of all the hoops that have to be jumped through, and all the behind-the-dumpster-at-midnight agreements these companies have to defile themselves with, just to deal with corrupt politics. If you want someone to blame, blame your government. I certainly blame mine for things I am ashamed of from them. I don’t even say their NAME anymore, because I can’t stand the thought that I’m a part of their criminal acts. If I have a right to be angry at my country, Americans should be too. We’re Brother-Countries on this continent, and we work best when we do business on Equal ground.
…And yeah… The fact that someone is driving a wedge between us is the reason why this simple Tool Cart is so expensive. But at least I know it’s not Gearwrench jacking up the price, it’s the politics between us. Only people we have to blame is our so-called elected government. They screwed up on us bad. They screwed up on all of us, in ways it’s hard to fathom taking lightly.
Robm
I generally don’t care where stuff is made, but I have noticed far too many companies going to China for manufacturing. if I’m paying good money for a product I expect quality, and frankly things made in China tend to be of poor quality at best. this has nothing to do with politics, although it very well could go that way, but how I feel and what I expect is more personally driven than anything else.
JoeM
China makes some of the finest Pottery in the world, same goes for Jade Sculpture, they have a major corner on the Tech industry there, and just generally some of the best electronic designs made come from their factories.
So it’s not China. The more Tech we use in tools, and the machines we make tools out of, the more we need China’s resources so the US trade policies don’t render the same products incapable of covering their overhead on US soil. When the world went Techie… We shifted power to Asia, where Tech advances don’t carry such a burden. If you want that burden lifted… Remove the Trade Barriers and negotiate more freely about getting the products you need.
The world isn’t even remotely under the same needs as it was 40+ years ago. It’s not even supplied by the way things were done 5 years ago. If you’re depending on older values to hold business interests, you’re going to be overtaken by competition.
Supply and Demand. The US has tons of Demands of the world… but they’ve also put up a whole lot of barriers to getting the supplies they need to achieve them. We’d agree with you in the North here, but you’ve pushed us away too. Another thing to bring up to your politicians for correction when you get the chance. Let the world back in, so we can supply your production easier. It’ll bring back clean manufacturing to the US, and that will benefit everyone.
MM
You’re 100% right that China is obviously capable of manufacturing high-quality goods. But capability does not always imply that those standards are met. And we see that a lot of the time in the tool industry: many of the tools sold by well known companies like Dewalt or Milwaukee are made in China to high standards and are well regarded, while other brands like Harbor Freight often have a reputation for selling unreliable junk power tools.
Personally I have no problem buying tools (or anything else, for that matter) from all over the world. But experience has taught me that some countries do certain things well, generally speaking, while the opposite is also true. Given that this is a tool site things like jade, silk fabric, fancy electronics, or jinhua ham aren’t relevant to the discussion. We’re talking about tools. And in my experience tools from China, Vietnam, Brazil, and Mexico are very often substandard, while I very rarely have that problem with tools from Japan, Germany, England, France, Switzerland, and so on. I can’t speak for everyone, but when I’m leery of buying tools made in China it has nothing to do with the fact that China is not America–hell, most of my toolbox is not-American–rather it’s because I’ve been burned before buying Chinese tools so I’d rather not risk being burned again. I still buy Chinese tools, I’m just irritated that I have to do a lot of homework first whereas if it were a Japanese or a German brand it would be a safe assumption that it was a quality product.
In addition to the quality track record, it’s not my intent to bring politics into the situation, but I believe that there are certainly people who would be comfortable with buying from Country X but not Country Y for political reasons and it would be unwise to read those person’s anti-China sentiment as anything more general than that.
Mikedt
China, like just about any country, can make some of the best stuff (iphones and just about any other name brand electronics) or some of the worst stuff (disposable dollar store tools). Just depends on what the vendor wants to pay for.
Now if you want to object to stuff that is made in China, at Harbor Freight quality, selling for Snap-On prices, I can get behind you on that.
JoeM
Makes me kinda wish I had a warehouse-sized workshop to warrant getting one of these. There’s a lot of workshop-oriented storage solutions I drool over, missing just one thing. A workshop to use them in.
And, yeah… I do see the resemblance to the Canadian tire Mastercraft/Maximum and older MotoMaster models of these carts. Though… Considering the form factor of “Tool Cart”… is that really surprising? There’s what? Plastic injection moulded designs like the Milwaukee, and then there’s pretty much any cart made of some sort of Metal. It has Drawers, it has a flat top, it has a bottom tray, and regardless of material, they have castors for wheels.
So, there isn’t much you can do within the confines of “Tool Cart” to innovate. A power strip? An LED light? Locking wheels? locking top tray? Locks of any sort? Drawer configuration? Sizes front-to-back and side-to-side? You’re bound to end up copying something that works for a majority of Tool Cart users over the years. Change from drawer lip, to single knob drawers, or even drawer pull loops… You might lose interest in a market that bought top lip drawer pulls for ages because of their ideal utility. Go from Drawers to Doors? Why? What does it improve?
I’m not going to go as far as saying “A Tool Cart is a Tool Cart is a Tool Cart” but I will go as far as saying, expecting innovation beyond the tool carts we already know, is expecting a Tool Cart to actually be a different storage solution all together, but being falsely called a Tool Cart for the sake of being different. Then what would we say? False Advertising? About as far as we can hope for is that we get a quality name, that backs their warranty, and is within our price range. Even though we’ve had “Knives” since the Neolithic Era, once you’ve innovated what shape, size, and features a “Knife” has, going outside those boundaries really means you’re getting something other than a “Knife”…
Now… Replace those castors with a MagLev system in your shop, and that will probably max out the innovation on these things. Beyond that… I think we’re going too far on stretching the definition.
ca
After seeing the price I checked the calendar to make sure it wasn’t April 1.
PW
I don’t get it. Why do I want this over a HF 5 drawer cart? The storage capacity and weight rating are a little lower. It weighs 10lbs less, so I assume there’s not a lot more steel. It has a couple nice features (I like the lock lever) but they’re not worth 2x the price.
Genuinely, what’s the value proposition here?
Mikedt
I always thought a tool cart with a sliding top that could still hold a good amount of weight in the open position would be a nice thing to have. I could use it as a work surface and still get to tools inside. Make that and you can charge $800. But this?
Plain grainy
I would like to see a slide out lower shelf. That’s a long way down there for taller people. And the extra drawers inhibit your view of the lower shelf.
Jared
That is a good idea. Makes more sense than just a shelf.
I have a tool cart and added a sliding panel higher up, then drilled holes through it to hold long tools. E.g. like a drawer with holes in which I put my hammers, pry bars, long reach pliers, pickle forks, breaker bars, etc, vertical. It can hold a surprising amount.