Custom Automobile Tuck End Boxes
Custom automobile tuck end boxes from 100 — printed folding cartons for brake pads, sensors, bulbs, gaskets, fluid test kits and small parts, with fitment and part-number panels that read on a shelf or a parts rack.
A tuck carton that has to carry a part number as clearly as a logo
- Board
- 18–24pt SBS boxboard or kraft board; E flute for heavy parts
- Style
- Straight or reverse tuck top; tuck, crash-lock or glued bottom
- Panels
- Part number and barcode on both ends; fitment and cautions on sides
Order online
Order automobile tuck end boxes
Starting from $1.20 per unit
Printed to your artwork or plain, sold in runs of 100 up to 5,000 units per product online. Freight to the US, UK, Canada and Australia is inside the price.
How an online order runs
- Add the units you needThen check out with your delivery address. Add other products to the same order on the way.
- A digital proof comes backLaid on the dieline, before anything prints. Change it as often as you need.
- Pay once you approve itPay by PayPal invoice or bank transfer after you approve your digital proof, or cash on delivery in the US and Canada.
- We make it and ship it deliveredYour delivery date is confirmed with the proof, against the spec and your fill date. Freight and customs are handled on the way to you.
Another size, board or finish, or more than 5,000 units? Send the spec for a price instead. Freight by market and our terms cover delivery and remakes.
Get a price for Automobile Tuck End Boxes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Parts that ship in a tuck end carton
| Brake pads and shoes | Heavy and flat; tight width, glued or crash-lock bottom |
|---|---|
| Sensors and switches | Light and fragile; card insert or partition |
| Bulbs and lamps | Fragile; sleeve or cradle inside |
| Gaskets and seals | Flat and wide; a shallow carton with a large front |
| Fluid testers and small kits | Several pieces; window or printed contents list |
The end panel is what the rack shows
On a parts shelf, cartons stand side by side with only one end showing. That panel carries the part number in large type, the barcode, and often a color band that tells a counter worker the product line at a glance. We lay out both end panels so the same information is visible whichever way round the box is put back.
Fitment lists, cautions and installation notes go on the back and side panels, where there is space for small type. Our automotive parts boxes and cartons page covers the larger corrugated builds.
Keeping the tuck shut on a heavy part
- A friction lock on the tuck flap so the top does not spring open on a full carton.
- A crash-lock or glued bottom for brake pads and other heavy parts, instead of a second tuck.
- Dust flaps sized so a sharp edge cannot push through the corner.
- An E flute build where the part is too heavy for folding boxboard alone.
Send the part weight and whether it has sharp edges. Those two figures decide the board and the bottom style.
Print and finish for a workshop shelf
Auto parts cartons are handled with oily hands and stored in dusty places. A gloss or matte aqueous coating, or a film lamination on premium lines, keeps the print readable. Bright brand colors in full color sit alongside solid black type for numbers, which stays sharp even on uncoated kraft board. Other carton closures are in our full range of tuck boxes.
Building a carton range across many part numbers
A parts brand might sell the same design in fifty sizes. We set up a family of dielines that share panel layouts and a common print design, so only the dimensions, part number and barcode change between sizes. Each size is still printed to order at 100 cartons, so a slow-moving part does not force a large run.
Automobile Tuck End Boxes — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Board
- 18–24pt SBS boxboard or kraft board; E flute for heavy parts
- Style
- Straight or reverse tuck top; tuck, crash-lock or glued bottom
- Panels
- Part number and barcode on both ends; fitment and cautions on sides
- Inside
- Card inserts, partitions or cradles for fragile parts
- Finish
- Aqueous coating or film lamination for oil and dust
- Minimum
- 100 cartons per size
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. One side or both, with spot colors where a match has to hold.
- Color
- CMYK as standard. Uncoated and kraft stocks print lighter and warmer; a spot color is the only exact match.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, creasing plus or minus 0.5 mm, confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, made once and kept. Foil and emboss dies per artwork, also kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade board and inks where the carton touches food, with the interior left plain.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material board wherever the product allows; recycled-content and FSC stocks; no claim printed the pack does not earn.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build automobile tuck end boxes on
A folding carton is one sheet of board, so the board is the product. These are the stocks we run for cartons, what each is good at, and where it lets you down.
Natural kraft
Unbleached folding board. Warm, hides marks, costs least. Mutes color — one or two flat colors print well, photographs do not.
250–350gsm sleeves; 14–24pt cartonsWhite SBS
Solid bleached sulfate: bright, coated, the retail carton standard. Takes accurate color and every finish. Shows scuffs sooner than kraft.
14–24ptWhite lined chipboard
A recycled gray core under a white printing face. Cheaper than SBS and slightly duller; the back of the sheet stays gray.
16–24ptKraft-look coated
A kraft face over a coated inner. The natural look with a barrier behind it — the answer where oil, grease or moisture would mark plain kraft.
14–20ptRecycled-content board
Post-consumer fiber with a gray-brown cast. Right for outers and inner components; poor for bright whites and photography.
16–22ptMicro-flute E and F
A fine corrugated layer where a carton needs structure it cannot get from board — a large panel, a heavy product, a box that ships alone.
E 1.5 mm; F 0.8 mmUncoated and textured
No clay coat, or a linen or laid grain. Print reads softer and warmer; a deboss goes deeper. Photographs do not sit well on it.
280–350gsmMetalized and pearlescent
A metallic or pearl face for a shelf that needs to catch light. Costly, and it fights a photograph — a mark or a pattern suits it better.
16–20ptNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Every finish here is a decision about light on a shelf, not about luxury.
Matte lamination
Reads considered, hides marks, takes a ballpoint.
Gloss lamination
Lifts color; glares under shop lighting.
Soft-touch
Velvet in the hand; shows fingerprints in a bag.
Hot foil
Real metal leaf — the most reliable premium signal.
Emboss / deboss
Shape with no ink; works in the dark.
Spot UV
Gloss shapes on a matte field.
Uncoated kraft
Warm, natural, mutes color.
Textured stock
Texture in the paper; cannot scuff off.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a folding carton so the die comes out right: automobile tuck end boxes
Measure the product, not the box it is in now. A carton is built around what has to fit inside it, assembled — cap on, lid fitted, folded if it folds — at its widest point in each direction. Send those three numbers and say which is which.
- Length x width x height
- Internal, always. External dimensions include the board and are what the carrier measures, not what the product needs.
- Clearance
- 2–3 mm a side for a snug fit; more where an insert or void fill goes in. A carton cut exactly to the product is slow to pack and transmits every knock.
- Board thickness
- Heavier board takes internal space from the product. It matters most on small boxes, where four walls of 24pt is a real share of the cavity.
- Varies between batches?
- Glass, textiles, molded parts and cured soap all do. Measure several and build to the largest.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm on folding board. Confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Units
- Metric or imperial, as long as you say which. Mixing them in one spec is where mistakes happen.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Automobile Tuck End Boxes in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about automobile tuck end boxes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
What auto parts are packed in automobile tuck end boxes?
Brake pads, sensors, switches, bulbs, gaskets, seals, fluid testers and small kits that fit a folding carton.
Can an automobile tuck end box hold heavy brake pads?
Yes. Heavy parts get a crash-lock or glued bottom and a heavier board, or an E flute build, so the bottom does not open.
Where does the part number go on an automobile tuck end box?
On both end panels in large type with the barcode, so it reads on a rack whichever way the box is put back.
Can automobile tuck end boxes list vehicle fitment?
Yes. Fitment lists and installation notes go on the back and side panels, where there is space for small type.
How do you stop the tuck opening on a full automobile carton?
With a friction lock on the tuck flap and dust flaps sized to the part, so the top stays closed when the box is handled.
Can fragile sensors or bulbs ship in an automobile tuck end box?
Yes, with a card insert, partition or cradle inside that keeps the part off the carton walls.
What finish suits automobile tuck end boxes in a workshop?
An aqueous coating or a film lamination, which keeps print readable when the carton is handled with oily hands.
Can one design cover many sizes of automobile tuck end boxes?
Yes. A family of dielines shares one layout, so only dimensions, part number and barcode change between sizes.
Do I have to order large runs of each automobile tuck end box size?
No. Each size is printed to order from 100 cartons, which suits slow-moving part numbers.
Can automobile tuck end boxes be printed on kraft board?
Yes. Kraft takes solid black type and one or two brand colors well, and suits plain workshop packaging.
Can an automobile tuck end box have a window?
Yes. A window on the front shows a gasket, bulb or kit contents, and is placed so it does not cut into the part number panel.
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