KISS Drawers (Keep It Simple Storage) For 100 Series (3 Viewers)

[BigRogers79]

So my plan is to add 3 strips of "L-track" on the top of the drawers. To make sure the top is flush I will add 3/4" ply for the space between the tracks. I actually already have some left over oak ply from a train table I built for my son and I hope its enough. I need a car seat anchor which is what started me down this route but I also want to have a way to tie down gear and "stuff" that needs to go up top. I also want to figure out a way to add a little divider that I can lock in to the track to keep groceries or whatever from being able to slide around. I know this adds weight but I think it'll be advantageous to me in the long run. I'm not sure if I'll add anything to raise the height of the wings or whether I'll add a hinge, I'm thinking of doing the magnets but still need to decide.

I ordered 3 of these L-tracks 48" long that I assume I'll need to cut down a little bit. The olive color is on sale for $10 a track which helped me pull the trigger. I also ordered 6 of these single stud ring fittings but there are a bunch of different ones that I'm sure I'll order more of after I get the tracks installed and figure out how I'm going to use them. I didn't buy the track fasteners and am hoping that I can find them locally but may end up ordering them anyway. I don't think I need SS but we'll see what I can find when the track comes in.

I plan on using the same system for some tie down anchors. Had them in my 4runner build before i sold it. Absolutely the best customized strapping system I have come across. If you have not used the FrontRunner Strachits, they pair well with the anchor system.

https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/us/rack-accessories/front-runner-stratchits-pair.html

View media item 52467

 

[nnnnnate]

Those straps look pretty slick but are cost more than I'm willing to spend on straps. I'm all about HF 6 pack straps and I've made other straps with cam buckles in the past that I can use here. My rails should be delivered today which is getting me excited for the drawers to come.

I checked lowes for the carpet and did see the large roll of grey carpet. It seems like I'll have to buy a lot more than I need since they won't cut the width down at all. They also had smaller rolls that were 6x8 already packaged up that looked decent as well.

 

[BreakerMark]

Those straps look pretty slick but are cost more than I'm willing to spend on straps. I'm all about HF 6 pack straps and I've made other straps with cam buckles in the past that I can use here. My rails should be delivered today which is getting me excited for the drawers to come.

I checked lowes for the carpet and did see the large roll of grey carpet. It seems like I'll have to buy a lot more than I need since they won't cut the width down at all. They also had smaller rolls that were 6x8 already packaged up that looked decent as well.

Maybe approximate the right square footage, buy the length and cut strips/squares and layout that way? I know most people want a solid piece for the top/fronts of their drawers, but with a little work you can make a 1x12ft piece into 2 1x6ft, or 3 1x4ft. the lay them out together to fit the size and shape you need.

Personally I think since its going to be covered with gear/dogs/mattress it's not going to bother me if I go this route.

 

[cruzerDave]

For those interested but either not assembled or not purchased yet: 100 & 80 series drawers are 59" x 42" on top at their widest width and length, so a 60" x 60" piece of something is a perfect starting point. Or you could get a 5' x 5'. KISS Drawers are flexible.

 

[BreakerMark]

For those interested but either not assembled or not purchased yet: 100 & 80 series drawers are 59" x 42" on top at their widest width and length, so a 60" x 60" piece of something is a perfect starting point. Or you could get a 5' x 5'. KISS Drawers are flexible.

View attachment 1416650

Thanks for the measurements Dave!

 

[BigRogers79]

Those straps look pretty slick but are cost more than I'm willing to spend on straps. I'm all about HF 6 pack straps and I've made other straps with cam buckles in the past that I can use here. My rails should be delivered today which is getting me excited for the drawers to come.

I checked lowes for the carpet and did see the large roll of grey carpet. It seems like I'll have to buy a lot more than I need since they won't cut the width down at all. They also had smaller rolls that were 6x8 already packaged up that looked decent as well.

I thought the straps where a bit on the high side as well unit i started using them, ended up really loving them and have bought a second set since. They are just so simple and quick to use. The carpet i purchased (6' x 12') was over kill, but i think it was 35 bucks for the roll and spray adhesive. I will undoubtedly find another place to use the other half.

 

[nnnnnate]

I got my kit today and am super excited to get going on it.

Something I've been thinking about the last few days (just did a long weekend trip with my club) is whether there would be room far a cutting board. Looking through pictures it looks like there is minimal clearance from the top of the drawer sides to the bottom of the top. If I trimmed the drawer sides 1/4" in height would that cause any issues that you can see? What I'm thinking is to route the edges of a cutting board so that it sits tightly in the drawer but also so I can slide it back and forth as needed to access the contents underneath. Does that make sense?

Also, I'm planning to go to a buddy house on Saturday afternoon to cut dados in the drawers for dividers. I asked about doing this earlier in this thread but I'm wondering if anyone thinks I should do it do the base as well as the sides or whether cutting just the sides should be good enough. I still need to run to lowes to find a material suitable for the dividers.

 

[cruzerDave]

Re: dividers, check out the 1/8" ABS sheets - washable, no finish required, and likely to slip right in after a cut from a standard saw blade (your blade and panel dimensions may vary). With respect to bottom dados, I would say it depends on the weight of what you are putting in there vs the flexibility of the dividers you choose - if light stuff like tools and ropes and such then I don;t see the need. If spare front diff then yes. I would also hesitate to dado much into the bottom just from a strength perspective - again, your needs drive that.

Trimming drawers shorter - no issue for the drawers themselves, but there is a screw that drops down on the outside edge of the inside of the drawers that prevents the drawer from being pulled out too far. That will get in the way of your cutting board. You'll have to come up with an alternate way to stop the drawer from opening too far, or, since they don't slide willy nilly on every incline like roller slides anyway, just be conscientious about it., maybe a red mark on the drawer side top that once you see it you know that's enough.

Looking forward to your mod, please post pics!

 

[nnnnnate]

I saw mention of that stop as I was looking at the build guide. If I understand it correct that screw contacts the back of the drawer right? There isn't any reason to cut that back piece down for the cutting board so unchanged the stop shouldn't be affected. I found a cutting board on amazon that is 18x24x0.5 that would allow me to cut it down to the right width and its only $22.

The more I think about the dados I don't think they are needed for the bottom of the drawers. This is mostly to keep like items together and I'm not going to be hauling around super heavy chunks of metal so the dividers don't need to be robust. Another thing that ABS will allow me to do is install dividers that will keep the things stuffed into the wings in their space and not spill in the way of the drawers while bouncing around. The neat thing about the extrusion is that I can just cut the sheet to the right height and slide it into gap without any need for screws or brackets. Perhaps with some shimming if its needed to keep any movement down I could also mount this or that to the ABS (ham radio guts, power distribution block, etc) as well.

A sheet of ABS .118x48x96 is $46 and I can get it locally. Awesome.

 

[Simplespirit]

I think Dave was implying that the cutting board itself would meet interference with the screw.

 

[nnnnnate]

I had to think too long about that before it made sense. You're right and I'll have to figure out something for that but it shouldn't be too hard.

 

[cruzerDave]

If the cutting board is 18.0" wide then you will probably have enough room, depending on how you slide/secure it:

Are you going to run brackets into the aluminum channels on each side to form a shelf? Then maybe add thin guides on the left and right for it to move in? Interested in this for my setup too... thanks for doing the R&D

Do you have a link to the cutting board you're buying?

 

[nnnnnate]

I ordered this cutting board. I almost bought the white one but then saw the different colors and figured that the white one would "show" dirt a lot quicker than blue or green or red so I picked blue.

I wasn't explaining myself very well so I decided to class up this thread and paint a picture of what I mean. Don't be too jealous of my skills. Hopefully this explains why I need to cut the sides of the drawer down a bit for the cutting board to clear the platform top. Also, I'll cut the cutting board to the outside dimensions of the drawer width and then route 1/4" off the bottom of the cutting board so it will fit snug on the inside of the drawer but still be supported by the top of the drawer sides and can slide forward and back to access what is stored below.

And this is what I meant when talking about the ABS sheet on the sides.

I could 3d print brackets that slide into the extrusion channel, but I had not considered doing that. I do want to cut the width of the drawer face down though so the edges would remain static and could be a mount point for different stuff. Basically I want to be able to do this:

Getting a part to 3d print with those parameters is doable but may struggle to not break, it would probably work better to use a extrusion nut slid in the channel and design the parts to nest tightly into the groove but pass a screw through the part and into the nut. Interestingly enough I built a 3d printer with extrusion that is about the same size and the picture below is of spare parts from that but nesting nicely into extrusion from this kit. I didn't expect it to be so close but it is, design the part shape a different and its a great bracket.

 

[Thunder90]

Delivered last night and installed within 24 hours and a few beers!! Just in time for turkey season!

 

[Thunder90]

btw, I gotta say the fit on these is amazing. The more time I spend with this system, the more I realize how well thought out and clever this solution is. Fixes my storage problems and turns the back into a viable sleeping platform. Definitely one of the most practical and satisfying mods I've made. And extremely cool to support a fellow mud member instead of buying mass market. Thanks Dave!

 

[cruzerDave]

btw, I gotta say the fit on these is amazing. The more time I spend with this system, the more I realize how well thought out and clever this solution is. Fixes my storage problems and turns the back into a viable sleeping platform. Definitely one of the most practical and satisfying mods I've made. And extremely cool to support a fellow mud member instead of buying mass market. Thanks Dave!

Thank you @Thunder90, it may sound corny in this cynical day and age but posts like yours are more rewarding to me than the couple bucks I make selling one of these. I've received so much from this community and my cruisers have brought me so much happiness - it really is a pleasure to bring some happiness to other cruiser owners. Cheers to you all!

 

[nnnnnate]

I spent a bit working on the drawers yesterday.

I sanded all the surfaces down with 220, cut the sides of the drawers down in height by about 1/2", and started on the dados for dividers.

Here I've got all the dados cut. I started at 6" in from each end then cut slots every 4" based on the math and getting nice even spacing. I have the sheet of ABS but didn't cut it down yet. I had to do 2 passes on the table saw to get the slots wide enough for the .118 thick ABS.

Here I've got the 2 drawers assembled. This is where I had to end for the day.

My cutting board arrived so I stuck it on the drawers for a visualization. I still need to cut it to width and cut dados in it so it'll be supported by the drawer sides while sitting down in the drawer.

I'm hoping I can get some more done on Monday after work. Thanks again to Dave for putting these kits together.

 

[wdukes]

I spent a bit working on the drawers yesterday.

I sanded all the surfaces down with 220, cut the sides of the drawers down in height by about 1/2", and started on the dados for dividers.

Here I've got all the dados cut. I started at 6" in from each end then cut slots every 4" based on the math and getting nice even spacing. I have the sheet of ABS but didn't cut it down yet. I had to do 2 passes on the table saw to get the slots wide enough for the .118 thick ABS.

Here I've got the 2 drawers assembled. This is where I had to end for the day.

My cutting board arrived so I stuck it on the drawers for a visualization. I still need to cut it to width and cut dados in it so it'll be supported by the drawer sides while sitting down in the drawer.

I'm hoping I can get some more done on Monday after work. Thanks again to Dave for putting these kits together.

Just a thought...what about some blocks/stops between your dados to hold the cutting board. If you ran them all the way to the end of drawer, you could slide the cutting board out of the way when you wanted to access below it???

 

[nnnnnate]

Thats the plan but without blocks. I'll have to do some more work and show what I'm doing because I can't explain it well at all.

Stay tuned.

 

[WillW]

Hey Dave, will the tops of the drawers be strong enough to hold a fridge slide like the Tembo Tusk one?