Work truck gear, ranked for the people who load it every morning.
Guides
Crossover or side mount truck tool box?
One takes the front of your bed and gives you reach from both sides. The other leaves the bed floor clear and gives you length. The right answer depends on what else lives in the bed.
Our top pick: the UWS EC10473 69-inch Heavy-Wall Aluminum Crossover.
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How we know:Spec-verifiedOwner-report-verifiedWhat these mean
Top pickBest of each format9.5/10★★★★★
UWS
UWS EC10473 69-inch Heavy-Wall Aluminum Crossover
Heavy-wall aluminum, a foam-filled RigidCore lid that does not flex when you sit on it, and a low profile that still clears most rear glass.
Tap any row for the full write-up. Prices come straight from Amazon and are never typed in by hand.
Buy a crossover if you want the most secure storage per dollar and you can give up the front of the bed: it spans the bed behind the cab, sits on the rails, bolts on in twenty minutes and you can reach it from either side of the truck. Buy a side mount if the bed floor has to stay clear — for a drawer system, a slide, sheet material or a bulky daily load — because a side mount hangs along one rail and leaves the floor untouched.
That is the decision. It is really a question about what else is going in the bed, which is why people who answer it by comparing box volumes end up with the wrong one.
Crossover for most work trucks: more secure volume, easier install, access from both sides. Side mount when the bed floor is already committed, or when what you carry is long rather than bulky.
The differences that decide it
Published formats and install methods. Volume is comparable at equal length.
Crossover
Side mount
Where it sits
Across the bed, on the rails behind the cab
Along one inner bed wall, on brackets
Bed floor lost
Front section, full width
A strip down one side
Reach
From either side of the truck
From that side only
Holds long tools
Up to the box length, across the bed
Along the bed — longer items fit
Install
J-bolt clamps to the rails, no drilling
Brackets, sometimes drilling the bed wall
Rear window view
Blocked unless low profile
Unaffected
Works with a cover
Only a low-profile box or a tool-box-edition cover
Usually yes
Three crossovers and two side mounts
Ranked within each format, with live prices. Match the length to your bed before buying — the method is on the measuring guide below.
Heavy-wall aluminum, a foam-filled RigidCore lid that does not flex when you sit on it, and a low profile that still clears most rear glass. This is the crossover to buy if you intend to keep the truck.
Build
9.7
Weather seal
9.5
Security
9.4
Bed usability
9.2
Value
9.0
Why we picked it
+Foam-filled lid does not oil-can under body weight
+Low profile clears rear glass on most full-size crew cabs
+Heavy-wall extrusion survives being used as a step
+Gas struts are serviceable rather than sealed units
Good to know. Skip it on a 5'5" short bed. At 69 inches it will sit on the rails, but you lose a disproportionate share of a short bed and the money is better spent on a side-mount pair.
A 72 x 13 x 16 in aluminum topsider that bolts along the bed rail and leaves the floor completely clear. For anyone who hauls sheet goods or a pallet, this is the right shape of tool box and a crossover is the wrong one.
Build
9.5
Weather seal
9.4
Security
9.3
Bed usability
9.7
Value
9.1
Why we picked it
+Bed floor stays completely usable
+Long and shallow suits hand tools and cordless kits better than a deep well
+Buyers parts and latches are stocked everywhere
Good to know. It consumes rail space, so a tonneau cover and a bed rack both get complicated. If a cover is non-negotiable, go crossover and give up the floor instead.
A 70 x 19 x 14 in gloss black aluminum single-lid box at a price the premium brands do not touch. You give up some lid rigidity; you keep most of the useful volume.
Build
9.2
Weather seal
9.2
Security
9.1
Bed usability
9.3
Value
9.6
Why we picked it
+Full 19 in of depth — a framing square lies flat
+Gloss finish wipes clean; dust does not show the way matte does
+Priced well below the premium aluminum boxes
Good to know. Not the one if you plan to stand on the lid daily — the panel is thinner than UWS's foam-filled RigidCore and will flex. Buy the UWS or a saddle box instead.
Brite aluminum, locking pull handles on two-stage rotary latches and full-seal weather stripping the whole way round the lid. This is the side box to buy when the bed floor has to stay clear and the contents have to stay dry — the latch and the gasket are the two things the cheap end of this format gets wrong, and both are right here.
Build
9.4
Weather seal
9.5
Security
9.4
Bed usability
9.5
Value
9.0
Why we picked it
+Two-stage rotary latches are a real mechanism, not a stamped hook
+Full-perimeter weather stripping is the difference between dry and damp after sustained rain
+Lo-side profile keeps the whole bed floor clear and still clears the rail
+Brite aluminum does not rust at the mount holes
+Short enough at 48 in for a mid-size rail as well as a full-size one
Good to know. The mounting kit (Better Built 29510402) is sold separately, so budget for it: the box ships with stability legs rather than bed-rail hardware.
$314.996% off · Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad
48 x 11.5 x 11 in is the size that actually fits a 5'5" or 5'7" bed rail without crowding the wheel well. Small, honest, and the right answer where a 72 in topsider will not go.
Build
9.1
Weather seal
9.0
Security
8.9
Bed usability
9.7
Value
9.4
Why we picked it
+Fits short beds where longer side boxes will not
+Light enough for a single-person install
+Leaves the bed floor and the tailgate clear
Good to know. 11 in of depth is a hand-tool box, not a power-tool box. If cordless kits in cases are the cargo, you want a crossover.
The question behind the question: what else is in the bed?
Nothing else. Crossover. More secure volume for the money, easier install, and the lost bed length is the part of the bed nobody reaches anyway.
A drawer system or a bed slide. Side mount. A crossover and a drawer system both want the bed floor at the bulkhead, and the drawer system wins that argument.
A tonneau cover. Side mount, usually. A full-height crossover stops a standard cover closing — the two routes around that are on tonneau covers that work with a tool box.
Sheet material, drywall, plywood. Side mount, and a narrow one. A crossover limits how far forward a sheet can slide; a side mount lets a 4x8 sheet lie flat if the opposite wall is clear.
A ladder rack. Either, with care. A crossover competes with the front rack upright for rail space; a side mount competes with nothing. Ladder rack with a tool box covers the combinations that work.
Where each format is genuinely better
Crossover: security and access
A crossover's lid opens at waist height from either side of the truck, which is the difference between grabbing a tool and climbing into the bed. Its ends sit on the rails where the structure is strongest, and because the lid is one large panel, a good one is harder to pry than a side mount's long narrow lid. The full ranking is on crossover tool boxes, and the lid layout question — one lid or two — is on gull wing against single lid.
Side mount: length and a clear floor
A side mount's advantage is geometry. It runs with the bed rather than across it, so a 48-inch box takes long items a 69-inch crossover cannot swallow, and the bed floor stays free for everything else. The cost is reach — you work from one side of the truck — and a harder install, because most side mounts hang from brackets rather than clamping to rails. The format is ranked on side mount tool boxes.
The third option people forget
A topside box mounts on the rail like a side mount but stands taller, giving close to crossover volume without taking the floor. The Buyers Topsider on this page is that format, and on a long-bed work truck it is often the best of both. The trade is a high centre of gravity on one side and a box you cannot reach across the truck.
What we would buy
For a general work truck with an empty bed: a 69-inch crossover from the mid or commercial tier. It is the most storage per dollar in the most usable place.
For a truck already running a drawer system, a slide or a cover: a 48-inch side mount, mounted on the passenger side so you load from the kerb rather than from traffic.
For a long-bed truck that carries both: a topsider on one rail and the floor left clear. More volume than a side mount, none of the crossover's floor cost.
Questions people actually ask
Is a crossover or side mount tool box better?
A crossover gives more secure volume for the money and lets you reach it from both sides of the truck, at the cost of the front of the bed. A side mount leaves the bed floor clear and takes longer items, at the cost of reach and a harder install. What else lives in the bed decides it.
Does a side mount tool box need drilling?
Often, yes. Most side mounts hang from brackets that fasten to the inner bed wall or the stake pockets, and some patterns require drilling. A crossover, by contrast, clamps to the bed rails with J-bolts and needs no holes — which is the method described on our no-drill install guide.
Can you fit a crossover and a side mount together?
Physically yes, on a full-size bed, and it is a common contractor setup: the crossover at the bulkhead for hand tools, the side mount along one wall for longer items. You lose both the front of the bed and a strip down one side, so it suits a 6'6" or 8 ft bed far better than a short one.
Which tool box works with a tonneau cover?
A side mount usually does, because it sits below the rail line along the bed wall. A full-height crossover does not — it occupies the space the cover needs to close. The two ways around that are a tool-box-edition cover or a low-profile or under-tonneau box.
Does a crossover box block the rear window?
A full-height one largely does, which is why low-profile crossovers exist. If the rear view matters to you, measure from the bed rail to the bottom of the rear glass and buy a box whose published height clears it, or choose the low-profile format.
Last reviewed November 10, 2026. Think a figure here is wrong? Tell us at contact@toolboxandtruck.com and we will check it, fix it and date the correction — see our editorial policy.
