Cargo Drawer / Sleeper

[fjc8871]

I have been looking into a half drawer system since I want to keep half of the 3rd row. I have 3 boys and the older one wants his own space. The 2 younger ones are still in car seats. Looks great.

 

[94SRUNNER]

Looks good!

 

[greentruck]

I have the latch in hand an nothing to secure to. Not even grooves that would help hold it in place if popped into a tight fit opening.

Some of the paddle latches are designed to weld in, usually with spot welds. Perhaps that's what you've got?

Yeah, that won't work with wood. There are others that are designed to work with wood or other thicker materials.

 

[Bluetribal]

Yeah, I'm just going to drill 4 holes and put some lag bolts through the wood.

 

[VanGo]

Mark,

How about some SS security TORX or standard allen bolts in the appropriate length? Just a little added security to match the lock and key security of the paddle handle? Just PM'd you about a PDF on the cut template.

vAn

 

[94SRUNNER]

Mark....I have an off-beat question for you and perhaps I missed it as I reviewed this thread, but how much weight do you estimate you have added with this system?

 

[Bluetribal]

Mark,

How about some SS security TORX or standard allen bolts in the appropriate length? Just a little added security to match the lock and key security of the paddle handle? Just PM'd you about a PDF on the cut template.

vAn

How would those be more secure? A carriage bolt has no access from the outside. The only access would be the nut on the inside of the drawer.

 

[Bluetribal]

Mark....I have an off-beat question for you and perhaps I missed it as I reviewed this thread, but how much weight do you estimate you have added with this system?

It's not going to be a light weight mod. Just the cargo box shell is weighing in at 40lbs. That's not including the two sleeping platforms or the drawer. Now I won't need to have the second row sleeping patform in at all times only for camping trips but that would probably only save 10 lbs by removing it. I estimate the drawer/sleeper systme to come in around 90-100 lbs and then I will probably load it up with another 100-140 lbs of tools & spare parts. I am still waiting for the slides to come in, really hoping they arrive today or tomorrow!
I will document all this as I get it completed.

 

[Bluetribal]

Well apparently a storm in FL delayed my drawer slides and they will come in Monday of course! And I ordered from them because I thought they were located in Sacramento but apparently the warehouse is in FL!

So I got around to some detailed stuff and will have to wait on the drawer part another week.

I decided to drill holes in the flange of the paddle latch to mount it.

It was a close fit when drilling the holes for the carriage bolts but drilling the holes in steps from small to medium then to large bits. And drilling it with the latch in place kept it from splitting.

And here is the back side.

Next up was figuring out how I would remove the box once the drawer is in place. I put a little hatch in the back panel to access the rear bolts.

A view through the hatch to the bolts

Next was a hole in the floor of the drawer to access the front bolts

 

[94SRUNNER]

This is taking shape nicely!

I like those latches!

 

[Bluetribal]

The drawer slides finally came in and although I am a little dissapointed with the 11 day order & shipping process it's not horrible. And the slides are very NICE! They are 30" closed and they teliscope out into two additional sections. The first section slides out 16.25" and the last section fully extends to 30.25". So only 7" of my drawers will stay inside the box since I didn't want to search for, or pay for 36" slides.

Now that I have the slides I was able to verify the remainder of my dimensions and update my drawings. So for those of you who contacted me for plans for this cargo drawer here you go.
Cut Plan

Plan View

Elevation

3D Closed

3D Open

3D Sleeper

I will have final photos for you all after this weekend, then a shake down/trial run the last weekend this month and a final fit and finish in February.

 

[VanGo]

Mark,

This is really awesome of you to provide this information! Thanks for posting the drawings and looking forward the completion pictures!!

 

[94SRUNNER]

Thanks for sharing the plans for this great mod! I am certainly looking forward to pics of the finished product.

 

[thestunts]

Wow !! Thank you so much for providing the plans and diagrams.

Looking forward to the finished product.

 

[honda maniac]

looks great i need to do this to mine but im working on geting a set of truck vault drawers free so im work with them

 

[easyG]

This is awesome and thanks for sharing. My question is to all the metal workers out there. How easy would it be to adapt these plans to construct this out of metal?
Aluminum would increase the cost but probably cut the weight in half.

 

[Bluetribal]

Someone has done a cargo drawer made out of aluminum and it was a very nice piece of work! A quick search didn't locate it for me to share but it's on MUD here somewhere?

 

[VanGo]

SLEE currently is offering a galvanized steel drawer solution that appears pretty stout:

Slee - SUV Storage Drawer System Details

 

[Bluetribal]

Well got quite a bit done this weekend but a little too much Friday & Sat nights caused some later starts in the morning. But I got it done with the exception of the legs that swing out to support the DS platform. I had a major snag with the bolts that I got from 619Toy, they would have worked perfectly if they had been just 1/4" longer. But I got three of the four bolts in unfortunately without the cool washers. This also ruins my plan to add dynamat to the rear cargo area in the future unless I source some longer bolts. But it will hold for this weekends shake-down run.

I decided to simplify the drawer interior design from my rendering and just put two adjustible panels. Notice they do not interfere with the trap door.

Next came the tricky part of the drawer slides. Since I could only put 3/4" long screws into the side walls of the box I decided to mount them sitting directly to the bottom of the box.

Since I was so close to the bottom plate of the drawer I decided to mount 1 1/2" screws into the bottom plate of the drawer rather than 3/4" screws to the side of the drawer. Because even if the slides can hold 250 lbs the screws would become the weak link.

But this caused me to move the drawer up losing 1/4" of height inside the drawer but IMO made it stronger.

Next up was to notch the top of the box for the strike of the paddle latch to go into and keep the drawer closed. Since the box was already built prior to having the latch and there is only 8" of room inside the box I had to use a flex connection on my dremmel with a sprial bit. I got the outline of the square before the flex thing broke and I had to chissel the middle out. It's not pretty but no one will ever see it and it actually is a tight fit on the strike.

Anyway here is the final look before the shake down trip!

Oh and a $2 shoe box container from the Container Store was the perfect fit in the cubby for my fluids. I am thinking I will screw the container to the side of the box to keep it from moving around. Unfortunately the cubby is not tall enough for standard oil bottles or brake cleaners. But the small WD40's will fit.

Lastly here is the view out of the back with the 2nd row platform standing up. I am considering hinging the middle part but when I have it in I will mostlikely have the back filled with coolers, sleeping bags & camping gear and won't be able to see out anyway.

 

[Bluetribal]

Oh and here is a look at the hardware I used to connect the 2nd row platform to the box platforms.