Lets not Quote the whole first post with pictures judt to say very nice please. It makes the thread very hard to read.

Though it IS a very nice job, i still wish i could just buy one like that. I just don't have the skills to make my own yet.

 

Update:

I've put on about 15,000 miles on it and around 33 trail runs including a recent trip to Moab and overall it's holding up well. The one problem I've run into is the slam latch. It's not quite strong enough to hold the weight of all the tools and I broke a couple of latches. I put three rubber bump stops on the back of my hatch that push on the drawer faces for those times when I climb up something on the steeper side like in the photos. Since then I've yet to break one. With a little hindsight the cool lookin' latches are not up to the challenge and I recommend getting something stronger.

For a while I thought it might have been better to make the drawers 1 inch deeper for a total depth of 4" but after camping several times I don't think it would have been worth losing the headroom or the power port. It's really nice to be able to sit upright in the back without smacking my head. I've added even more tools in the drawers and as much time as those freakin' things took to make it was totally worth it. I use them on practically every trip.

 

I still want to make one of these SOOOO bad. Just don't have the funds or tools to make it out of metal and wood would be SO heavy and lose so much useable room.

Oh well, it is a dream.

 

Awesome storage idea! I'm building a similar setup. Thanks for uploading the sketch. Couple questions...

1. What did you put on the bottom, between the bottom of the drawer and the actual 4Runner sheetmetal floor? Is there 3/4" plywood on top and bottom, or just on top? From the drawing it looks like the 3/4" is just on top...

2. Have you slept in the back much; does the 3/4" plywood support your weight without bowing down in the areas where there isn't support?

3. Do you think you could have gone 1" higher and still been able to use the power outlet and storage hatch? I know the storage hatch cover lifts up and out, if the area around the power outlet was notched or angled down do you think it would work?

4. Did you use the same thickness of alluminum for the drawer fronts?

 

DeMented Toys Wrote: Awesome storage idea! I'm building a similar setup. Thanks for uploading the sketch. Couple questions...

1. What did you put on the bottom, between the bottom of the drawer and the actual 4Runner sheetmetal floor? Is there 3/4" plywood on top and bottom, or just on top? From the drawing it looks like the 3/4" is just on top...
There isn't a bottom sheet of plywood, only the top. Since the drawers are 3" deep and the walls are 4" deep there wasn't a need. Even if the cargo box was 8 inches high it's still not necesarry since I have a flatbar piece of steel going side to side under the rear cargo tie downs and Aluminum brackets under the seatbelt bolts on the front side of the cargo. The brackets themselvs stop any lateral movement. If you use the turnbuckles though I think it would be a good idea to put a bottom on.


2. Have you slept in the back much; does the 3/4" plywood support your weight without bowing down in the areas where there isn't support?
Yep, I've slept back there many times alone and with my girlfriend. I've also loaded some heavy items back there with point loads far exceeding what a knee might do and it's more than adequeate. It may not seem like much but going down to 1/2" ply will reduce the strength significantly. For example 1/2 ply will crack and start to fail when I stand on it with one foot (I weigh 170 lbs) when there is a 16" or greater space in floor joists.


3. Do you think you could have gone 1" higher and still been able to use the power outlet and storage hatch?
Sure could but you also will need to figure out a way to notch out some wood or do something since the platform top will be in the way. I think you could still access the side storage though. I would make sure you have at least 3" of height in your drawers though, less than that and you will be running into troubles fitting things. I actually made my drawers 3 1/16" deep since many items are made 3 inches thick.

4. Did you use the same thickness of alluminum for the drawer fronts?
I did but it's a little on the thin side I'd recommend using 11 AWG if you can.

 

Thanks for the additional info! Im going to get my drawers made ASAP. Im going to go with 4" tall drawers. I am having trouble finding 42" drawer slides though.

Do you know where you got your drawer slides, or what company makes them?

 

Nice. I think you will like the 4" deep drawers. I like to pack my stuff in really tight but most people probably would like the freedom to just throw stuff in the drawer. I found my slides on ebay and got kinda lucky. When I was shopping for them I did see them go on and off a couple of times over a period of a few weeks.

Here's a nicer set than what I have albeit quite a bit more money at $200
42" Heavy Duty Slides


Try to get the beefiest ones you can get. My slides are rated at 200 lbs but when they are fully extended they lose a lot of strength. Also consider the vibrations and the g forces. So realistically my 200lb slides are good for roughly 50lbs of weight.

 

I may get this if my truck runs:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f123...drawer-168958/

 

Yeah, that is alot considering I need a set for both drawers. hmmm... I'll probably keep checking ebay

 

I didn't read every post, so this may have been mentioned already but those sliders look just like what you would use to mount a server in a server rack. A large server can weigh quite a bit. No where near 200 lbs, but still.

If everyone is interested, there has to be a IT geek that can point to a few sites who sells them. Heck, I even found them on Dell at one time.

Just pointing out another idea where you may find them... Hope it helps.

 

I'm looking to build a cargo box in the rear of my truck as well. I'm wondering if it would be possible to use 28" rails on a 36" drawer. Basically attaching the rails to the front-most part of the drawer and box. I understand then that the last 8" of the drawer wouldn't be exposed and as easily accessible - but I'm not too worried about that. Is that possible? Any reason not to do that?

Thanks
John

 

That would work, but you would just be able to open the drawers the length of the slides.

 

If your drawer slides are on wheels and allow for the drawer to be removed by lifting and tilting then it could be a problem I suppose but if they are ball bearing then I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't be able to make it work.

 

If I read the above right, would you say 200# rating would be the minimum for drawer rails? I saw some 125# ones but am wondering if they would be up to the task?

Thanks
john

 

My wanting to put in less than 50 lbs has more to do with my latches than the slides. Sorry for the confusion. If you can swing the beefy ones then it's great. You'll appreciate it when the slides are pulled all the way out.

If you double the weight you plan on putting in the drawer to come up with the rating of the drawer slides you will use then you should be good. For example if you plan on loading in 60 lbs of gear then 120lb slides should be fine. I don't know of a reason why it's necessary to overbuild by a factor of four.

The manufacturer comes up with the ratings in some way. I wonder if it's even standardized? The engineer could have been conservative in the numbers to avoid lawsuits or generous to make a buck. Since we really don't have a convenient way to know I just error to the side of good. If it's not a PITA to replace the slides I say just go for something reasonable in a common length and if they fail slap some new ones on. Thankfully if they do break it's more likely to be an inconvenience than a crisis.

In my case my 42" slides carry a lot more strain than a shorter drawer. For example if I have 50 lbs loaded evenly in the drawer when it is closed then I have 1.19 lbs/inch on the drawer slide. Not bad at all. However when I open the drawer all the way that 50 lbs gets focused to one point and now it becomes 1050 inch-lbs cranking away on the end of my drawer slide. It's apparent when I open them all the way. I can still load them with quite a bit more stuff but it loses that sturdy feel. Kind of like running 38s on IFS. You can do it but you have to be really careful. lol

 

Hey Glen how did you go about making the radii on your wood to fit the fender wells? As far a getting the measurements and transferring them to the sheet of wood before cutting? I have attempted something similar but never succeeded.

And to everyone else... Have any of you that talked about trying this actually tried yet?

 

Measuring would be good if you want to mass produce them but if you are doing a one off I think it might be more work than it's worth to get a good set of dimensions.

A couple of good ways I've found:

1. Use cardboard to make a template then trace out the shape on to the wood.

2. Use small lead bar and bend it to shape then transfer over to the wood sheet.

I have one of those lead bars somewhere it's pretty cool. It has a plastic sheath that allows for a nice flat edge when tracing. I only use that when I have some precision work to do though. Most of the time it's just more convenient to take a pair of scissors and cut away the cardboard.

 

OK I guess I'm just gonna have to take a while to make a template. I finally have a vehicle that I am proud of so this project is going to take a long time. I'm very picky about the details. When my dad says It's good enough for government work I say Well i'm not the government.

Thanks for the quick response.

 

Creating a cardboard template is the easiest and it won't take you long to do. Once you're satisfied the cardboard is an exact match to the wheel well, transfer it over to the wood and you'll have a precise match.

 

I almost have mine finished. I decided not to use drawers because the slides were way to expensive. Mine are low profile 4" deep. I made three seperate boxes and attached them together with bolts and fender washers. the front and back boxes have piano hinged lids and the middle one lifts off. I'll post some pics of them finished. They turned out good I think.