DIY Top Box

[zbillster_imp]

As much as the Tactical Ammo Box was cheap, worked well and did its job, it just didn't ... um ... look right. (I know, some of you were thinking the same thing ... )

So I still had that Harbor Freight 20% coupon good for another day, so headed down with my bag of moto-trip essentials and test-fitted them in some of their other cases.

Went with the Apache 3800 ... Harbor Freight product number 63927 ... with coupon it was $34.39 + tax. It's the largest of the three available. Comes with lots of foam padding and two padlock holes.

So using the same pipe U-clamps, I marked, drilled and filed the four holes ... install took all of 20 minutes. And with a 7/16" deep socket attached to a screwdriver handle, you can take it off/put it on in about 30 seconds. I ovalized the holes a bit to ease anal-retentive centering ... will probably make some rubber gaskets out of old bicycle tubes for prevent any water inlets.

I also took off all the silly stickers ... they came off easily ... so just looks like a generic box with no markings.

Here it is on the bike ...





View from underneath ... U-clamps around the rack ...



Mounting bolts on the inside ...



Plus you can lay down the thin layer of foam to cover the bottom (comes with the case) ... ...



Now the time-consuming part will be finding the two matching padlocks with shared key from my Mazda pickup days ...

So finding a couple of matching sets of Master padlocks took about 20 minutes. Finding the KEYS ... had to turn the house upside-down several times ... took a couple of hours. The other locks are now stored with the keys in the keyhole in an easily accessible drawer.

These Master padlocks are a SNUG fit (push hard to click them closed) ... so at least you don't have to worry about rattling over bumps. If you go with this case, make sure the padlocks you buy fit and snap-close completely ...



In addition to the bottom foam that comes with the case, it also comes with a nice eggcrate piece that fits in the top lid to help reduce contents bouncing around ... you can remove if you need the extra space ... here it is with my usual day trip gear.



I cut a strip of old bicycle inner tube to make a watertight gasket (at least I hope so) ... just marked the holes with a silver Sharpie, then did some simple star cuts in the rubber to snug over the bolts ...