How thick should a plate system be?

[dstock]

I'm going to add a plywood baseplate to our trailer as a basis for adding drawers and some other storage options without having to drill through the bed of the trailer every time. I'm curious as to what thickness others have gone with as a base plate, 1/2" or 3/4"? I'd like to keep the weight down wherever possible.

Any info is appreciated!

 

[mep1811]

I'd go with the 3/4" Heavier but you can screw into it with more strength than a 1/4" screw in a 1/2 "board

 

[rayra]

I'd say 3/4 both for the depth for screws to bite but also so you could countersink some fasteners attaching it to the trailer bed, so their heads dont interfere with attaching other things to the deck.

 

[jgaz]

Definitely 3/4” for the reasons listed above but also for the ability to seat pronged tee nuts in a counterbore on the back side.


Using these tee nuts will allow you to add or remove items depending on your needs

 

[jgaz]

If you’re concerned about weight, cut out some areas off the base board. These cut outs combined with some 1 1/4” holes will allow you to strap down items with roller cam straps. The water can holder is an example of another option that can be added or removed depending on the trip.


Note: I stole the 1 1/4” hole idea from @BritKLR. He has a great baseboard set up in one of his vehicles. I just don’t have time right now to find his picture of his set up. I believe it’s in the storage thread somewhere.

 

[plh]

I'm doing 3/8" HDPE

 

[dstock]

If you’re concerned about weight, cut out some areas off the base board. These cut outs combined with some 1 1/4” holes will allow you to strap down items with roller cam straps. The water can holder is an example of another option that can be added or removed depending on the trip.
View attachment 519046

Note: I stole the 1 1/4” hole idea from @BritKLR. He has a great baseboard set up in one of his vehicles. I just don’t have time right now to find his picture of his set up. I believe it’s in the storage thread somewhere.

Thanks everyone!

@jgaz thanks for the info, I was looking at T-nuts as mounting points, it's great to see how you used them in your plate. Nice build out you have there! I know exactly the thread you were talking about from @BritKLR, the lashing holes are a cool idea. My platform is actually going to have to rest directly on the trailer bed floor because of height requirements of certain items in our kit but the bed has raised ridges in it so I may still be able to incorporate some of the lashing holes. I'll be adding to my trailer build thread (in my sig) once I get going on it, still assessing where everything is going to go.

Thanks again!

 

[dstock]

I'm doing 3/8" HDPE

Where are you sourcing the HDPE from? I'm not seeing it in 4'x8' sheets in my area. Thanks.

 

[plh]

Where are you sourcing the HDPE from? I'm not seeing it in 4'x8' sheets in my area. Thanks.

Menards, special order, takes about 1 week. Can be black or white.

https://www.menards.com/

I paid $110.36 delivered to my local store for a 4' x 8' x 3/8" sheet of white.

 

[dstock]

Menards, special order, takes about 1 week. Can be black or white.

https://www.menards.com/

I paid $110.36 delivered to my local store for a 4' x 8' x 3/8" sheet of white.

Interesting, I'll have to look local to see what's available as we don't have Menards here and they want $278 to ship it...haha!

I do like the idea of it for the baseplate. Thanks.

 

[rayra]

Trying to find a local source in north L.A. myself. Need to replace my roof deck and black HDPE in 3/8 or 1/2 seems to be the way to go. My MkII plywood deck is starting to delaminate on the front and rear ends. Considered aluminum plate but the costs are well over $400

 

[plh]

Trying to find a local source in north L.A. myself. Need to replace my roof deck and black HDPE in 3/8 or 1/2 seems to be the way to go. My MkII plywood deck is starting to delaminate on the front and rear ends. Considered aluminum plate but the costs are well over $400

Yeah, Aluminum is expensive. recently bought a 53" x 100" x 0.080" sheet. right around $275 delivered from the local metal warehouse.

For HDPE, also check out Starboard (brand I guess) should be available from boat maintenance places. It was about double the cost locally for me compared to the Menards stuff which I seriously think is the exact same.

 

[dstock]

Grainger was pretty expensive for the HDPE as well. Even the Marine grade plywood seems to be a unicorn here in Los Angeles, Home Depot lists it but it's "unavailable". I may just end up going with plywood and sealing it since it's going to be in the bed of the trailer which is enclosed with a Diamondback cover and only gets wet if I do something stupid..haha.

 

[jgaz]

Thanks everyone!

@jgaz thanks for the info, I was looking at T-nuts as mounting points, it's great to see how you used them in your plate. Nice build out you have there! I know exactly the thread you were talking about from @BritKLR, the lashing holes are a cool idea. My platform is actually going to have to rest directly on the trailer bed floor because of height requirements of certain items in our kit but the bed has raised ridges in it so I may still be able to incorporate some of the lashing holes. I'll be adding to my trailer build thread (in my sig) once I get going on it, still assessing where everything is going to go.

Thanks again!

Thank you.
My baseplate sits right down on the carpet. The blocks you see on the bottom of my board fill in the spaces where the rear seat brackets, rear seat belt, etc were mounted. These areas have no carpet or padding. The blocks sit right down on the floor of the tub.
To “fish” the straps thru to the various holes I melted a small hole in the end of the straps and used a piece of welding rod to hook the strap and pull it to the desired hole.

 

[jgaz]

@dstock. At the suggestion of a member here, I secured the tee nuts into the baseboard with some epoxy. Seems like a good idea, can’t hurt. Just something to consider