Post up your drawer/storage system

[SilverBullet]

sweet design, nice work!

 

[Goatdog]

Yeah, that's the whole reason of this thread is to share ideas, so post away.

Love the way you were able to stain the wood so you still see the grain, but it has that black look to it...very professional!!

I'd love to take credit for that but it is actually a bookshelf i bought in black simulated woodgrain. I cut it to fit, added hinged plywood lids that open either to the side (rear) or forward (front) and bolted it down with brackets. I keep my bugout bag and other survival gear in one compartment, my camping gear, sleeping bags, and tent in another, and my Optima Blue Top/Inverter in the third.

The storage comes out in less than 5 minutes leaving me with a big flat truck bed-like surface to haul stuff, if I'm too lazy to hook up my trailer anyway.

I'll post some more stuff When I'm not so beat. Drove 550 miles today.

 

[scottishpinz]

Looks great but is it tied in at all or if you were unfortunate to end up upside down would your storage come loose. Perhaps the middle row seat mounts could be used as tie-down points for the whole thing. Its the same problem I have with my sleep arrangement, it is mostly gravity that keeps everything where it should be.

 

[Goatdog]

Looks great but is it tied in at all or if you were unfortunate to end up upside down would your storage come loose. Perhaps the middle row seat mounts could be used as tie-down points for the whole thing. Its the same problem I have with my sleep arrangement, it is mostly gravity that keeps everything where it should be.

Good question ScottishPinz! The answer is yes...and no. The storage itself is secured, but I haven't put a locking hasp on yet to stop the contents from spilling out should I roll. I put this in last summer so I really have no excuse for my apathy. Maybe this weekend. I got my 3" lift, Spidertrax, and Nitto TG's last weekend. Hope to put a CB setup this weekend.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

If I understand, you made that out of an MDF shelving unit? Suffice it to say, nothing you do to that is going to make your cargo "secure".

 

[offroad_nomad]

Nice work.

Would you mind posting a pic or two of the underside of your "extension." I'd like to see how you have it supported to match the height of the cargo area. Thanks.

Evened the floor with some 3/4" plywood

Covered it with automotive carpet using staples and spray glue

 

[Goatdog]

If I understand, you made that out of an MDF shelving unit? Suffice it to say, nothing you do to that is going to make your cargo "secure".

Not really inclined to get into debates, I do appreciate what you are saying though. I am not on my first rodeo with off-road storage and making it secure, as i have rather extensive "vehicle expedition" experience for professional purposes. I didn't just throw this setup into the back of my 4Runner. The storage is real wood with a veneer, not mdf or sawdust. I reinforced all seams with good brackets, just haven't put locks on the hinged lids to secure them. Will do so this weekend. Have been doing some work in other parts of the world and haven't been around a lot.

I think it is at least as secure as most of the ARB (or other brand) refrigerators I see mounted in various ways on here. I cannot be critical of their techniques.

I have been in vehicle rollovers, and even a forced hard helo landing, that made me appreciate a secured load.

Thank you for your input. I believe safety is important also.

 

[Goatdog]

Nice work.

Would you mind posting a pic or two of the underside of your "extension." I'd like to see how you have it supported to match the height of the cargo area. Thanks.

Hi Offroad Nomad
I don't have an underside pic right this minute. Plan to run a CB antenna coax soon through there and will have an opportunity to snap a pic then.
The supports are 2x4's, cut to fit, bracketed to the floor and plywood. I stapled and glued automotive carpeting to the supports to match the plywood floor.

 

[ralphhardwick]

My Discovery setup

Here is some detail of the system I used for my Morocco trip last year:

http://www.overland-rovers.com/ralphs-pages/vehicle-modifications/123-boot-storage-system.html[/URL]

although the trip went horribly wrong the boot system worked very well.

With the aquisition of a rooftent and fridge I am now rebuilding the system and making modifications for a planned trip to Tunisia in October :

http://www.overland-rovers.com/ralphs-pages/vehicle-modifications/160-full-length-boot-storage-system.html[/URL]

Comments are welcome

 

[southpier]

trip & links

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Not really inclined to get into debates, I do appreciate what you are saying though. I am not on my first rodeo with off-road storage and making it secure, as i have rather extensive "vehicle expedition" experience for professional purposes. I didn't just throw this setup into the back of my 4Runner. The storage is real wood with a veneer, not mdf or sawdust. I reinforced all seams with good brackets, just haven't put locks on the hinged lids to secure them. Will do so this weekend. Have been doing some work in other parts of the world and haven't been around a lot.

Ok, well, if it's made of plywood, that's better. I've never seen a shelving unit with a veneer made from plywood, only MDF. In an accident, MDF will return to it's natural state: sawdust.

I'm still skeptical of plywood structures restraining a lot of weight in a serious accident with typical joinery. I've been in a serious head-on collision in a sedan, serious enough that I broke my arm on the dashboard. A 40 lb suitcase in the trunk made a mess out of the back seat. I don't expect a 3/4" plywood wall with some screws and glue will hold 100's of pounds of stuff. These systems should really be designed to withstand a 30g impact, because that's what's survivable for the drivers anyway. It would suck to have your seatbelts and airbags protect you in a head-on, only to be hit from behind by your gear. 30g means every 100lbs will exert 3000lbs of force. And that's assuming the gear was resting against the front wall to start with. If the gear gets a "running start" before it hits the barrier, it'll be even worse.

But anyway, I was mostly alarmed because I assumed your veneered shelving unit was made of MDF.

 

[xcmountain80]

This is my custom storage drawer and fridge slide. I built the fridge slide and had a cabinet maker do the drawers slide. Then I added some stain I had and while not my 1st choice in color I feel it turned out well.

A

 

[nwoods]

I like the low profile drawer. How long have you had it installed, and have you found it functional?

I have a low profile slot (for a future drawer I hope) in my Jeep tray, and it works great for me. I wanted a commerically offered unit, but no one makes one less than 6" deep, most of them deeper than that.

 

[The Adam Blaster]

With a Shorty, there isn't much storage space BEHIND the rear seats; and because the seats are mounted right on the floor, there is no room UNDER the seats. So, this simple box and crate holder is just the thing to carry around those little things that are always rolling about in the rear. The Superstore crates are handy for those trips to the grocery store and can be left in for general cartage at other times.

Have you thought about making a fold down "tailgate" for the bottom half?
It could hold the bins in the stored position, and then you would have a flat surface to pull them out on sit on when you're looking for something.
The piece could be hinged at the bottom and have light chains on either side to hold it parallel with the ground.
Looks nice though!
And where are you located anyways?

 

[java]

Storage: Part 1.
Drawers!! i liked keeping my emeregncy stuff under the stock shelf but it wasnt full length ans wasted space. so i am building a storage system to replace them the drivers side will have one long (38") drawer and the pass side has a 24" drawer and a cubby. the short drawer will have a cutting board fitted into the top and is just the right size for my stove to sit on if i want to cook under the tail gate in bad weather. the top will get some tie downs and rhino liner and the drawer fronts will be a piece of aluminum.

here is the first part i built last weekend. basically copied the stock storeage shelp height but full length and just better.




Building a drawer




Drawer Slide. this side is a 22" slide and a 24" total length drawer. so it has a cubby behind it for fluids that dont need to be used often.



This is the Cubby behind the drawer on the passenger side.




these holes bolt it to where the stock tir downs were behind the "shelf". holds the drawers in.





Finished for tonight.




ill add the other drawer down the line a bit when i can afford the REALLY long slides. so far i like it.

Part 2:
here are a couple more with the bedliner.

painted




stainless torx drives and hold downs




in the rig




turn buckle to hold the rear end down, and laquer on the drawer.