I decided to "upgrade" the cargo are of my HE with a drawer system. We transport dogs in crates and they don't go for it when you stack cargo on top of them, so coming up with a raised floor was the best way to make effective use of the tall LC cargo area. I looked at the options and they either didn't do quite what I wanted or they were kind of pricey for what they are. Also, I wanted to make custom use of the voids on the sides. In my case housing an air compressor on the left and a more robust jacking device on the right. I decided to go with 80/20 as the main frame since it provides the right amount of stiffness without too much weight and I had some extra laying around from other projects. Also it makes for a more precise mounting of the slides. That brings me to the slides - I picked a rather heavy duty Hettich slide that is probably overkill. I wanted the slides to both a) handle what ever weight I throw at them and b) lock at full and half extension. In practice they probably stole 1/2 an inch of space side to side and added 10 extra pounds in the aggregate, but not worth swapping at this point. The drawer boxes I sourced at the Cabinet Door Store. Good pricing and reasonable lead time. I'm finishing it using Raptor 2k. If you are considering this canned option of Raptor, a word of warning: I found the coverage on absorbent Baltic Birch to be well below the spec'd s/f coverage. I have used spray on Raptor with an air compressor and gun (both of which are collecting dust in my basement), but figured this would be easier than dealing with MEK substitute to clean up (I hate the smell of that stuff) and avoid the long set up and break down of the spraying equipment. Mistake - it has taken me 6 cans to get a passable finish, and cost much more than if I have just ordered a 4 liter kit that would have MORE than completed my project on all sides. Live and learn. It's taken me about 45 days to get the project more or less complete (working a little bit each day and skipping many). Bottom line, if you have the inclination and are a little handy, you can save a nice chunk of change over the commercially available options and get just what you want. If it's not your thing, pick the drawer solution that best suits you and know when you are shelling out your money that a lot of time and effort more than likely went into the design and fabrication.
When all is said and done, will have just under $1,500 in the project including the compressor and having spent almost $200 on cans of paint (ugh). Here are a some photos of the WIP (and I'll add some more once I get it all assembled):
When all is said and done, will have just under $1,500 in the project including the compressor and having spent almost $200 on cans of paint (ugh). Here are a some photos of the WIP (and I'll add some more once I get it all assembled):