Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-22-2017, 03:53 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Life Without Whine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Tampa Bay area
Posts: 806
TV tool box too hot ....solutions?

Want to help DH be OK about that old chrome tool box in the back of our TV as he gets ready to paint / fix up the body on his 1996 Ford F250 diesel he inherited. We could cook the bacon on that thing most days. A bed cover won't work due to all the stuff we carry in the bed when camping.

Has anyone got a creative solution on coatings / coverings to decrease the risk of serious burns every time he has to go into that thing? I was thinking about trying to cut up some of those silicone cooking trays & attaching them strategically.... sure hope someone has a simpler answer
__________________

Terri & Joe + Boont & Tasha
Camping a long weekend every month or so since May 2013 in our cute 21FBRS MicroLite to practice for retirement while living here in Florida
Joe is retired.... next camper ordered.... getting ready to change this signature really soon!
Life Without Whine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2017, 04:14 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
NMWildcat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Southern NM
Posts: 9,505
It will get hot no matter what color it is. White would be best, but don't think you can paint over chrome.

Sounds like gloves are in order
__________________
Scott and Liz - Southern NM
2012 Wildcat Sterling 32RL - w/level up (best option ever)
2007 Chevy 2500HD Duramax
Reese Fifth Airborne Sidewinder
NMWildcat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2017, 04:49 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 222
From your picture it is hard to tell if your rig is a TT or a 5er.
Your profile say's you have a TT. So my advice to cool the tool box would be to sell it and get a camper shell. While redoing the paint on the truck, you can match a camper shell exactly. It will offer a weather and hopefully burglar proof location for "all the stuff" you take camping including what is in that tool box now. And a shell will offer better wind resistance while towing.
Just an outside of the (tool) box suggestion.
RMc
Wheels Down is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2017, 04:56 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Life Without Whine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Tampa Bay area
Posts: 806
Now DH is always in that box for something ...helps everyone around us cause he carries everything under the sun in that. Heck, they make chalkboard paint ...there has to be a paintable / sprayable product out there that does not get hot
__________________

Terri & Joe + Boont & Tasha
Camping a long weekend every month or so since May 2013 in our cute 21FBRS MicroLite to practice for retirement while living here in Florida
Joe is retired.... next camper ordered.... getting ready to change this signature really soon!
Life Without Whine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2017, 04:59 PM   #5
Site Team
 
wmtire's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Northeast Louisiana
Posts: 33,695
May can get in touch with somebody that sprays in bedliners like LineX or similar. We've seen many toolboxes covered like that.
__________________
2011 Flagstaff 831 RLBSS

A 72 hour hold in a psych unit is beginning to intrigue me as a potential vacation opportunity.
wmtire is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-22-2017, 06:42 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
m35a2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 645
Park under a tree?
__________________
-- My wife complains I never listen to her. Or something like that.

2017 Heritage Glen 368RLHBK Limited
2017 Ram 3500 4x4 Crew, 6.7 Cummins
m35a2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 11:21 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 179
Anything in the sun will get hot, unless it reflects all the energy. Hypothetically the chrome should stay cool if it reflects all the solar energy like a mirror. But the surface is not as shiny as a mirror so it heats up. Painting it white could reduce the thermal heat gain, but paint would not likely stick too well. Truck bed sprays are usually black... this would get hot.

The key will be to find materials that do not transfer the heat to your fingers as quick. Fabric or silicone may help. Pick something with a light color.

You could try riveting on a silicone hot-pad on the areas he touches... but the rivets may compromise the water tightness.
mkosu04 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 01:25 PM   #8
D W
Senior Member
 
D W's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: ALASKA (World's Biggest Campground)
Posts: 6,594
Quote:
Originally Posted by NMWildcat View Post
It will get hot no matter what color it is. White would be best, but don't think you can paint over chrome.

Sounds like gloves are in order
X2. Being that it's chrome, it's already reflecting some of the heat. If it is as hot as you say with the sun beating down on it, I really don't think there is a viable solution. There are performance coatings out there that are used by "rodders" on exhaust systems, but those are designed to keep heat in, not out.
__________________
'07 K3500 Silverado LT Crew Duramax (LBZ)
2016 Salem 27RKSS
1984 CHEV SCOTTSDALE K20 2GCGK24J0E1XXXXXX (Chevrolet Legends-Class of 2019)
"...exhaust fluid? We don't need no stinkin' exhaust fluid"
D W is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 03:50 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
A32Deuce's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Mount Laurel, New Jersey
Posts: 9,230
Pull the box out of the truck. Get it sand blasted or sand it to give it a surface for the paint to stick to and paint it. People have been painting car bumpers for years!
__________________
2012 SunSeeker 3100SS Toad-1962 Futura Average 100 + days camping
A32Deuce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 05:48 PM   #10
D W
Senior Member
 
D W's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: ALASKA (World's Biggest Campground)
Posts: 6,594
Quote:
Originally Posted by A32Deuce View Post
Pull the box out of the truck. Get it sand blasted or sand it to give it a surface for the paint to stick to and paint it. People have been painting car bumpers for years!
Blasting chrome is not recommended. Most shops will laugh at you when you request to have chrome blasted. Chromium is hard and it will take hours (labor $'s), probably more than the tool box is worth, and when you're done the surfaces won't be even. Beneath that chrome is nickel and copper used in the plating process. A reputable shop will use a "bath" to strip chrome. It produces hexavalent chromium which is a highly toxic hazardous material. This not something you want try at home. Best left to professionals.

Doesn't matter what color you paint it. Sitting in the hot Florida sun it's going to get hot.
__________________
'07 K3500 Silverado LT Crew Duramax (LBZ)
2016 Salem 27RKSS
1984 CHEV SCOTTSDALE K20 2GCGK24J0E1XXXXXX (Chevrolet Legends-Class of 2019)
"...exhaust fluid? We don't need no stinkin' exhaust fluid"
D W is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 06:27 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
M109Rrider's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Chesapeake, Va
Posts: 938
Sure it's not polished aluminum? Can't say I've seen a chrome tool box. Bed liner would get my vote
__________________
Jason and Billie
2018 F-250, 6.2L
2011 Prime Time Crusader 320RLT
"PT Crew Member Since 11/2010"
M109Rrider is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 06:33 PM   #12
Junior Member
 
madmoto375's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Panama City, FL
Posts: 5
Plastidip

I'm in Florida and I put a few coats of black plastidip over my already painted black aluminum starting to peel toolbox. Now in Florida, fugettabowtit, it's going to be hot but, the question is how hot. My black plastidip is a whole lot "cooler" than the black painted aluminum was. I still have to be careful about how long I'm placing my hand or various body part on it. I don't know if plastidip would adhere to bare aluminum but, my guess is it would. I say that because after spraying my toolbox with it, even on the areas where the aluminum was showing (paint peeled) it's still there; been over two years. Just make sure you clean it well and wipe it down with acetone or similar that gets the oils/grease off. For those of you with no or limited experience with plastidip, let me tell you it's fairly hardy stuff and best yet, it can be sprayed over or peeled off when it needs repair or you want it gone. I've honestly found that it's held up well on my wheels, grill and tool box. There's always the aluminum primer and bottom coating for aluminum boats. You can find that at the local boat shop, West Marine or Amazon. Fair warning though, that stuff ain't cheap and it's a fairly laborious process.
madmoto375 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 06:42 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
M109Rrider's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Chesapeake, Va
Posts: 938
If it is aluminum, Napa sells an acidic aluminum cleaner made for unpolished /open cast aluminum wheels. It will etch the aluminum and almost turn it white. I would scrub the shiny off with something like that before paint, bedliner, etc.
__________________
Jason and Billie
2018 F-250, 6.2L
2011 Prime Time Crusader 320RLT
"PT Crew Member Since 11/2010"
M109Rrider is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 08:41 PM   #14
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 148
How about eggs and bacon on the outside and biscuits on the inside? Yum.
__________________
2019 Ram 3500 DRW HO Cummins, Aisin Trans and 4.10 gears.

2017 Flagstaff 8529 IKBS Classic Platinum Edition
Beauty and Beast is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 09:01 PM   #15
Newly Retired
 
Steveboe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: North GA
Posts: 220
Shade

Any shade will keep the tools cooler.
If the sun is not straight overhead, you can shade some of the box by parking so that the cab will shade the box?
Steveboe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 09:05 PM   #16
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 1,222
Paint it white

Use the suggestion about the acid wash before painting. Use Rustoleum Epoxy Appliance spray paint. I had a fancy shiny aluminum Coleman cooler that burned my legs every time I picked it up. I painted it white, and I never got burned again. You may need to paint it every year or two, but it is worth it. I'm pretty sure that Florida doesn't get any hotter than AZ. White Works. The difference between chrome and white is surprising.
__________________
2009 Roo 21ss + 2007 Superduty 6.0
mnoland30 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 09:07 PM   #17
Senior Member
 
Wobbles's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Southern, IL
Posts: 3,272
Quote:
Originally Posted by wmtire View Post
May can get in touch with somebody that sprays in bedliners like LineX or similar. We've seen many toolboxes covered like that.
That is the first place my mind went too.
__________________
Bob & Michelle
2016 Ford F-250 Lariat 4x4
2017 Flagstaff Super Lite 526RLWS
Wobbles is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 09:14 PM   #18
Senior Member
 
tmfaulksr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Vermilion Parish, LOUISIANA
Posts: 330
tool box for truck bed

a little different consideration.
get a left & right side
thinking long term.
fits both F250 & F350

https://www.undercoverinfo.com/i-301...-tool-box.html
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	Screen Shot 2017-05-23 at 9.12.30 PM.jpg
Views:	84
Size:	185.4 KB
ID:	138882  
__________________
the faulks & prince
2012 Nissan Titan CC
Roadmaster Active Suspension, Firestone Airbags
2015 Rockwood 8289WS Diamond Pkg
2015 Puma 253FBS (sold)
2013 BMW R1200GSW
tmfaulksr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-23-2017, 09:18 PM   #19
Senior Member
 
A32Deuce's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Mount Laurel, New Jersey
Posts: 9,230
Been there done that. Build cars for fun.
__________________
2012 SunSeeker 3100SS Toad-1962 Futura Average 100 + days camping
A32Deuce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-2017, 08:31 AM   #20
Senior Member
 
muddyrode's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: SE Iowa
Posts: 628
you can now get colored spray in bed liner
check out to see what available
i know linex has several colors
__________________
2016 SANDPIPER 35ROK
2013 Silverado Duramax 3500HD DRW LB

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey
muddyrode is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:44 AM.