kiwi build thread. ARB, OME Dakar...drawers + fridge underway.

[KiwiKurt]

Not a bad design. I wanted the drawers running the length though, for the untility drawer/shelf.... so the lateral drawer wouldn't work for me.

I'll look at the design with Trekboxx and see if there is away to gain access via a cubby hole like he has.

Thanks for sharing the link.

 

[jerdog53]

Kurt, next time you talk to the folks at Trekboxx ask them if there is anything in the works for the LR3 / 4 owners, trying to decide on a drawer unit and like what I have seen here.

 

[KiwiKurt]

Sent u a pm

 

[KiwiKurt]

ARB bumper, super sliders, and OME HD Dakar installed. Pardon the fat finger in the pics.

Truck rides great now. It's how it should have been from the factory. The front compresses maybe an eighth of an inch when my wife stands on it, so the hd springs will hold a winch no problem. Based on the ride, I was concerned they would compress too much under load, but it seems great. The hd Dakar pack has enough rigidity and lift to hold the drawers and fridge and keep it level or slightly raked.

I'll park it next to a stocker next time I'm able.

 

[KiwiKurt]

I need to hit that thing with an orbital buffer.....inyo trashed it.

 

[Weekender41]

Looks good!

 

[KiwiKurt]

First cuts are underway. Access to cubby maintained via rear seat.

 

[KiwiKurt]

frame is done. will be returning to finish drawers and hardware in a couple weeks most likely.

The amount of time and effort that goes into making a quality custom fit unit was more than I realized. I can't count the number of times I have heard (and said myself) "how much for what? I'll go get some plywood from home depot, a buddy and a case of beer and be good."

Well, unless you have auto CAD, a full shop, and serious carpentry skills, no...you won't be. lol....

The difference between the garage home brew setups and the professional grade drawer systems doesn't show up in 5mp photos on the web, but having had a taste of the work that goes into these systems, I can say I'll never look at them the same again and I understand why they are so expensive. That said, its different strokes for different folks... I wanted an engineered solution that would go the life of the vehicle with a certain level of fit and finish as well as features. Others just want a set of drawers.

Teaser of the system frame:



And yes, for a drawer box, it is LIGHT.

Weight savings has been achieved. Hard to gauge without the bed liner on, because that stuff weighs in on its own, but I think we will be pretty close to our goal of 100lb.

I'll update again as I get more.

 

[KiwiKurt]

for the nissan folks... I want to trade my '14 pro4x wheels for pre-14 pro4x wheels if anyone is interested. also have pro4x suspension w/13k on the clock for sale....all four shocks and front springs. Best offer picked up in Bay Area.

 

[richard310]

I'm assuming they are CNC cutting the material? I could have built you one in Solid works and have it translated into CNC files... given I have access to a 2nd gen. Then shop around to have it sent off to be machined. We do all sorts of similar one-off builds at my job so I'm familiar with the process. I whole heatedly agree with you on how expensive it is for a high quality set of custom units can be. When you have great consistent tolerances, its a great feeling to see it completely assembled along with the fit and minimal finish work. If you've got the finances for the quality, its worth it. Its a shame to see it covered in liner but it'll last longer.

 

[bluetick82]

I wonder if its possible not to paint the whole unit with LineX, but just the outside high wear surfaces? It doesn't seem necessary to paint the insides of the frame and would save weight.

I know you've got the fridge to build around, but I wonder how much more efficiently the space could be used with one large drawer vs two. Movable dividers could be used to organize the space.

Good to hear you like the OME set up. I'm planning on the Med-weight 607 spring set up to replace my stock springs and Bilstien 5100's. W

 

[KiwiKurt]

It depends on what you want out of the drawer. Some people want a large single drawer they can just stuff with various recovery gear and a fridge slide on top. You would end up with more total drawer space in the drawer and you would have one less slider (~7lbs). I thought about that, and it was an option that was discussed. I decided to go with the parallel dual drawer. One for locking items, and another misc/galley drawer under the fridge. Because the X doesn't have a tail gate, we found that the thing we wanted most was a slide out counter top for those stops to make lunch or just putz around without having to unpack a table. Now we park, lift gate opens, the fridge slides out, and the counter top and drawer slides out from underneath the fridge, and I have a table/utility space. Or for discussion over a map, or whatever. It was a utility/feature I wanted that was more important than just the raw cubic inches of the drawer interior.

You could save weight by only linex'ing the exterior. I will line x the whole thing for durability and asthetics. Bottom line, to do just the exterior looks a little cheap imo. With drawer systems this expensive, people expect to see certain things...like the whole thing coated...same for the tbar locking handle. I could use a simple drawer pull and cylinder lock instead, but thats not what people 'expect' to see on a drawer system of this caliber/expense. Call it vain, and it is a bit, but its just a reality...and to be honest, I'm one of "those people" with that. The "gucci-ness"/fit finish/appearance of the system matters quite a bit to me. Vainly/put bluntly, I want people to see this drawer system and say "man, that's a sweet system" not just "yeah, that looks like it works."

That's the thing with the drawer setups that can make them kind of tough to please everyone. Everyone has different wants/needs for the system. As you mentioned, you may want a larger single drawer for more drawer space. I wanted some specific utility I saw from his LandCruiser system that took care of a headache we had on trips and added a ton of utility in an area we really wanted to have it.

The tolerances this is being cut to are borderline absurd. There isn't one single cut that isn't measure to the 64th of an inch or one angle that is the slightest bit off of 90deg. It is cut and fit perfectly. I am really impressed with the craftsmanship. Not to say other systems made by other folks don't work for their needs, its just a different level of quality. This truck will likely move with us to Africa in a few years, so having everything built to standards is important now.

As far as OME-

I would take a ride in mine with the HD set up before you commit to the medium duty. You aren't that far from me so you could shoot up when the drawers are done and see the whole set up. The HD suspension is not too stiff IMO, and I would probably feel the med duty is too light...especially if you add armor. $.02

 

[KiwiKurt]

I'm assuming they are CNC cutting the material? I could have built you one in Solid works and have it translated into CNC files... given I have access to a 2nd gen. Then shop around to have it sent off to be machined. We do all sorts of similar one-off builds at my job so I'm familiar with the process. I whole heatedly agree with you on how expensive it is for a high quality set of custom units can be. When you have great consistent tolerances, its a great feeling to see it completely assembled along with the fit and minimal finish work. If you've got the finances for the quality, its worth it. Its a shame to see it covered in liner but it'll last longer.

Initial runs are done in the shop by hand to ensure proper fit/tolerance. After that, yes, they are all CNC'd.

 

[richard310]

We do 0.005" tolerances for dry fit. I'm the tolerance nazi at work...
Being that they're CNCing it, they can give it a tighter more OEM type fit by going around 0.008". It'll fit so well you probably won't even need hardware to hold it together.

I can't wait to see this. Get some pictures of the joints if you can as I'd like to see the fitment and how they assemble it.

 

[skibum315]

Do they offer options on coating? I'd be willing to go with something like a varnish or paint, if it would save weight over the full bedliner ... I'm *really* liking the preliminary info coming through on the drawer unit though. Thanks for taking the initiative to pursue it, and please do let us know when they're ready to talk with other potential customers.