Building a sleeping/drawer platform for my suburban, have a few question *** BUILT **

[rayra]

you shouldn't. you're building a cabinet, not a lumber wagon. the drawer front in the picture (obviously designed to sell the tool) will pull off the screws and in such a way there'll be no way to reattach but to add more screws. you need to think sheer & tension, not compression.

i've had good luck with Sherwin-Williams All Surface Enamel, both versions: acrylic is good/ alkyd is more better.

Just posted the image to illustrate the pocket hole, not advocate attaching a vehicle drawer front with it. Way too much weight involved. Better to build a 5-piece drawer, a box with a cosmetic front added to it. You trap the ends you'll pull on between the sides, so all teh force is trying to shear your screws rather than tear them out of their holes. Needs to be a double thickness with the paddle latches I'm using, anyway, And I'm attaching those with 6 bolts thru the flange of the latch, which will go thru both drawer front pieces, box and skin. So all the force is acting as a shear rather than a pull. And I'm gluing and screwing anyway (too).

 

[rayra]

Use a carpet with a good rubbery backing and apply the glue liberally where the cut edges will be and it should last for a good long while.
Also, you could put the hatches in, apply glue to the whole surface and lay your full carpet down and go back with a fresh blade and cut the carpet right on the hatch seams. Close fitting, the edges should be more protected.

/and thanks for the reminder to leave room in my design to wrap over edges and joints.

eta I was thinking about carpeting the top deck and using a sort of 'brick mold' rabbeted into an L-shape to fit over the edge of the carpet and end of the platform, sort of like a bullnose edge.. I have the woodworking tools to form that out of hardwood. I bought a black/black suburban without really intending to (regret it already, for both keeping it clean and how damned hot it will get in the desert) and I'm kind of 'classing up' some of my design ideas to suit it better. Like using some nice cherry or mahogany stained hardwood bits in various places. Slider over radios in a new console section. fishing pole / antenna rack on the ceiling, edges of the platform and maybe the drawer fronts. It's going to be a daily driver with most of the 'expo' stuff as unnoticeable as possible. But I want a lot of built in capability for desert excursions, road trips, overnight comforts for astronomy, HAM field day support. So lots of power and water and storage options.