September 2022 - 58

BIG TIME BOXES
which happen to be his favorite type of tools.
" I love all my Milwaukee cordless tools, "
Eldridge said. " They're really strong tools.
I use a lot of the 1/4 " when I do a lot of my
interior work. The ratchets are really fast, and
the batteries last good. It allows me to do all
the work I need to do all day with a lot of
flexibility. I've got a ton of M12 and M18's. "
One of the advantages of having a big toolbox
is it is a lot easier to organize the tools
the way you see fit. For Eldridge, that means
putting each kind of tool into its own drawer.
" Everything has a place, " he noted.
" There's two sides to the box. On the one
side, I have all my sockets in my top drawer.
The next drawer down I have my metrics.
After that comes my standard wrenches,
and then I have my pliers and pullers. On
the other side, I have my extensions and
ratchets in one drawer, my torque's and
Allen's are in another drawer, and then I
have my solder iron in another drawer. "
When asked if he plans on adding any
Passing on a legacy
This shop owner came across a green,
223 " Cornwell toolbox he had to have.
By Brandon Lewis, Contributing Writer
J
acob Eldridge has been a
technician since before he
could legally buy a drink.
He's always loved cars and bonded
with his father-in-law, a long
time shop owner, over repairing
vehicles. When his father-in-law
became ill, Eldridge bought the
shop from him - Don's Auto
Center - and has run it ever
since. The shop is located in
Corsicana, Texas.
About 18 months ago, Eldridge was looking
for a new toolbox, one he could consolidate
all his tools into and organize. Over the
last two decades, he's had multiple brands
of boxes, including three Snap-on, two Mac
Jacob Eldridge
Shop: Don's Auto Center
Location: Corsicana, Texas
Tools, and two Cornwell boxes. After a few
months of looking, he came across a green,
223 " Cornwell toolbox he had to have.
" I wanted one box. I had two Cornwell
boxes and two Mac boxes before this box,
and they weren't the same color and size. I
wanted everything to match, " Eldridge said.
One of the features of his current
Cornwell box that drew Eldridge immediately
was the charging cabinet. He noted it's
big enough to hold all of his cordless tools,
58 PTEN SEPTEMBER 2022 www.VehicleServicePros.com
other tools to his arsenal, Eldridge said
he's not specifically looking to add any
tools to his box at the moment.
" Mainly now, I just buy special tools.
With vehicle repair, you have to stay up
on your tools because certain jobs need
certain tools I may not have, so I will buy
those, and then I will replace any tool I
lose, but I'm not looking to add any specific
tools to my collection right now. "
Don's Auto Shop currently has four
employees. As for the type of work the
shop conducts, Eldridge was quick to
point to almost everything.
" We do all mechanical work, and a lot
of work on foreign cars, " the shop owner
said. " The only thing we don't do is alignments
and rebuild transmissions. "
For 21 years, Eldridge has seen and
done a lot of repairs on vehicles. When his
father-in-law passed away a few years ago,
he did not hesitate to keep the shop open.
" I want to continue building on his
legacy, " the 40-year-old said. " You do what
you're good at. I'm good at fixing cars. "
Want to show off YOUR Big-Time
Box? For more information, email
Editor@VehicleServicePros.com.
http://www.VehicleServicePros.com
September 2022

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