Another drawer build thread.... (1 Viewer)

[savirc]

@Bloomer looks great, good job. Sucks about the slides looks like you got Accuride? That's not acceptable IMO they are the most expensive slides on the market. I got the Ryadon slides which are 10-15% cheaper and are of excellent quality they work flawless customer service is awesome too. Looks like you can grind the lip with a dremmel? not sure you can bend those with out affecting the alignment they are pretty tick steel.

As for the drawers being too big, make some dividers, it helps with organizing. Mine have 3 sections, I just routed a slight channel on the inner walls and slid two dividers.

 

[cruzerDave]

@Bloomer great looking build there! It's always more rewarding to build something yourself, to your needs, IMHO, which was actually the genesis of the KISS Drawers (and thanks for mentioning them in the same sentence as Trekboxx

Yes lots of gotchas along the way, don't feel bad about the wings hitting the rear seats when up, my first entire proto did the same thing! I look forward to seeing how you finish it, as I'm sure you've discovered by now the light wood in sunlight casts a horrible glare in the window...

 

[Bloomer]

@Get outside Hey Paulo...thanks! Just used screws for the slides. Yeah, may have to use something to raise things up a bit to clear the tail gate.

I did reach out to Allegis Corp today and they are sending me a replacement slide. Hoping it arrives before Friday when I have another work day planned.

 

[fireball]

Keep at it!

FWIW, 5/8" BB ply is entirely sufficient for a drawer build like this and will save about 7# per sheet used. I would also cut out a good bit of the bottom piece to save some more weight.

I have used over a dozen set of Accuride slides in various builds and never had that issue, so glad to hear they are quickly sending out a replacement.

A few dividers in the drawers will be super helpful to keep things organized! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bloomer]

Third work day.....
In process of raising drawers to clear the tailgate, installing compression handles, mounting system (U bolts), fixing side wings so they clear the seats, and replacing the defective slide.

Have a quick question to throw out there. Will I be creating any real issue covering a portion of the vent on the rear passenger pillar at the opening of the tail gate? Wondering if this is for the rear A/C? Will only cover 3/4" strip up the length of the vent. See pic below.

Raising the system to clear the tail gate completely changed the geometry of the side wings and front side panels. Will have to make some changes to the front side panels and decided to just stay with the side wings to avoid having to purchase more wood (which adds another day of work since going to the hardware store takes 1/2 day). I'll be changing the side wings to incorporate a built in handle (basically a gap in the corners of each side to reach in and use as a handle to open).

 

[Bloomer]

A few quick pictures of the finished product ready for coating. One small issue to contend with. The side closest to the fridge slide needs to be reinforced. It only secures to the base of the drawers. I have an L bracket securing it from underneath, but likely need to look into getting a longer and stronger one.

May not look much different from the last set of pics, but a full day of work went into fixing the issues mentioned previously.

 

[TrekboxX]

Nice work!

Just a thought on your comment about reinforcing the left side panel... If you move the drawer slides up a bit, that would give it a lot more support. It would require a new drawer face, but just a thought. Well done.

 

[TrekboxX]

But why wood...? plywood is to make skateboard ramps, so heavy and overbuild...

Not to muck up your thread, but I hear this a lot. Actually, wood has one of the best strength to weight ratios of any material. But here's the best part that many people don't know- it has an infinite fatigue life as long as it stays below yield. Example- when I was a helicopter pilot I learned a lot about materials used to make rotor blades. Everything from wood to super expensive composite to aluminum honeycomb was used. All of them were life limited (X hours and it goes in the trash!) except- you guessed it, wood! I flew a 1952 Hiller for a while with the original all wood rotor blades. On the 407 I flew the 4 rotors were composite and ran something like $70k a pop. Yup, X hours and in the trash they went! Point is, metal or plastic drawers will fatigue and eventually fail. It may not be in our lifetime if designed well, but it will happen.

Don't underestimate wood. As long as you work around it's idiosyncrasies (shrinkage, warp) it's unbeatable for a super tough last a lifetime drawer system.

Again, great job on the build. I actually had one of my drawer slides do what you were talking about. I was able to fix it, but I'm glad Allegis sorted you out. They're good people. And BTW @Get outside - they are supposed to lock out 1/2 way, that's not a defect. It's super handy with the 36" slides as they are so long you would otherwise have to take a step back to lock them open on a hill.

Merry Christmas all.

 

[Bloomer]

Disassembly for coating....

 

[bamabrock]

Looks great! What slides and latches are you using? I need to finish the box Brennan built for me the week before HIH.

 

[planomateo]

Very nice!

 

[Bloomer]

Looks great! What slides and latches are you using? I need to finish the box Brennan built for me the week before HIH.

I purchased the slides from Allegis Corporation. They are the lock in/lock out and rated for 300 - 500 lbs (I believe). The locking slide is sold individually so you can purchase the side where you want the locking mechanism. I only wanted the locking mechanism on one side, so I purchased a set of nonlocking slides (rated for same load) and an individual right locking and individual left locking. Just swapped around the locking and nonlocking slides for each respective drawers to make two complete sets with one locking slide on each. I'd recommend calling Allegis Corp and let them know your drawer length, expected load, and what you want to accomplish with locking mechanism. They were really helpful when I was ordering. Also, if you've prebuilt the drawers, keep in mind how much of a gap you have between the drawer and casing to ensure you have enough space for the thickness of the slide.

The latches/handles are South Co. compression latches (C5-31-15) and also were ordered from Allegis. I can't take credit for finding these. I saw that @reevesci was using these in his tailgate storage system and reached out to him for the recommendation (Huge thanks to him as I really like the latches!). I used a small piece of aluminum angle stock cut to fit as the backing plate.

Hope this helps. Good luck on finishing your build.

 

[Bloomer]

Very nice!

Thanks!

 

[fvunen]

I've a generic question about drawers. While I can see some of the advantages of the slides and drawers, when I look at any of the solutions on offer I see a lot of wasted space (inherent in the drawers, mounting system, etc), and having your fridge sitting on top of a drawer set makes it virtually impossible to look in it due to height.
I'm interested to hear comments from drawer users on this, does their practicality indeed outweigh the downsides?

Bloomer, nice carpentry work and a great looking solution....but same disadvantages on your solution?
Thanks,
Nan

 

[RobRed]

...having your fridge sitting on top of a drawer set makes it virtually impossible to look in it due to height.
I'm interested to hear comments from drawer users on this, does their practicality indeed outweigh the downsides?...

Get a shorter fridge.

 

[Bloomer]

Started reassembly late today. Been a little difficult getting everything to line up as nicely as it was prior to bed coating. Had to dremmel down a few spots to make things fit, with still some fine tuning to do. Overall, pretty happy with the outcome. Here's a preview of it set in place....

Have to work on getting the slides installed and anchoring it down. Project for next weekend....

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

Nice latches... HA!

Looks great! Nice work!

J

 

[Bloomer]

Nice latches... HA!

Looks great! Nice work!

J

Thanks, and yes those latches are great! Thanks for the help sourcing them!

Was just thinking I need to run power for the fridge, so that's probably going to delay getting everything finished up a little longer. Figure it's going to be easier to just do it now, rather than have to pull it all out again to access the side panels.

 

[Get outside]

Nicely done Mr Bloom!!!

 

[slimbuddha]

Started reassembly late today. Been a little difficult getting everything to line up as nicely as it was prior to bed coating. Had to dremmel down a few spots to make things fit, with still some fine tuning to do. Overall, pretty happy with the outcome. Here's a preview of it set in place....

View attachment 1382205

Have to work on getting the slides installed and anchoring it down. Project for next weekend....

Which bedliner did you end up going with?