KISS Drawers (Keep It Simple Storage) For 100 Series (5 Viewers)

[PNWTreeOctopus]

Sorry, should've clarified. I meant could the wings open up with the seats up, but looks like the REEF is designed to do so, while the KISS needs to be notched

For reference, my 80 with reefs a d wings with the needs seats down to open up wings.

 

[gasolinesunsets]

Hey guys, apologies but I've been slow crawling back out of my holiday shell. Well, that and this is just too much for one guy anymore and I lost my part-time help and am in process of training up a new one. While moving drawers for GX, Forerunner, Land Rovers etc into production. And more SharkNet models. Anyone want to buy in to a booming business to help it grow faster?

I am revamping, yet again, the ordering process because of problems that just keep cropping up. I think I can finally get to stocking product with my new helper, and if not well we are looking at the old notify-me system (but I don't think it will be needed much). Existing pre-orders will be fulfilled in February, invoices going out soon.

Will you be taking new orders this month? If so, got a ballpark on lead time?

 

[linuxgod]

+1 on ordering. I want to get a single drawer installed by May. I'm hopful that @cruzerDave will have the store opened soon and start shipping, otherwise I'm going to end up building something with my B-rate carpentry skills.

 

[SARCOM]

Will you be taking new orders this month? If so, got a ballpark on lead time?

I hope the website / Store opens soon.... looking forward to placing an order as well .....

 

[AJax33]

Would their be any issue with moving my reef drawers from my 01 Land Cruiser to an 04 LX 470? I’m thinking of swapping for this LX and think my reef drawers and wing kits will fit but just want to make sure.

 

[SARCOM]

@CruiserDave
Good evening Do you have a general time line for opening the Web Store?

I am interested in placing a couple of orders however am starting to scramble for a plan B to meet my travel plans ... I would much prefer your product

Thank you

 

[linuxgod]

The store seems to have opened back up. That said I filled my cart, but at checkout it says there's no shipping to my state? I'm hoping this is temporary

 

[dska3u9]

I am having same shipping problem to California.

 

[linuxgod]

Yeah I got an email announcement a few minutes ago saying the store wasn't quite ready yet.

 

[khans]

Kitting out the back of my 2006 Toyotal Landcruiser. Got a single REEF 40 drawer + driver side wing ordered.

Here's my general plan:

Dometic CFX3 55iM powered cooler next to a single Reef 40 drawer which has a bunch of Snowpeak "Iron Grill Table" burners fitted in it.

Questions:

- thoughts on mounting cooler on top of drawers vs. single drawer with cooler next to it?

- the Dometic fridge slide is $299. anybody have any after market drawer / slider recommendations?

- do the REEF drawers extend out far enough to be used as a camp kitchen. How much weight can they support fully extended?

- concerns about heat being put out by the burners?

thanks!

 

[trdtoyotrk]

Kitting out the back of my 2006 Toyotal Landcruiser. Got a single REEF 40 drawer + driver side wing ordered.

Here's my general plan:

Dometic CFX3 55iM powered cooler next to a single Reef 40 drawer which has a bunch of Snowpeak "Iron Grill Table" burners fitted in it.

Questions:

- thoughts on mounting cooler on top of drawers vs. single drawer with cooler next to it?

- the Dometic fridge slide is $299. anybody have any after market drawer / slider recommendations?

- do the REEF drawers extend out far enough to be used as a camp kitchen. How much weight can they support fully extended?

- concerns about heat being put out by the burners?

thanks!

I recently go the CFX 45 and have the dual side-by-side reef. If you plan on putting the CFX on top of the reef, look at a tilting slide. With my 2" lift and reef it's way too high for a standard slider to access anything without getting on the tailgate or using a step stool.

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

I just got back from a week with my drawers loaded up pretty heavy. They work fine heavy, but rely on the tail gate for support at full extension.

If I needed a drawer to be a full kitchen I would rebuild the drawer with folding table legs below.

 

[Ro Land]

Please check out my website for current information: Land Shark Outfitters, this thread is for 100-series owners to talk about their installs & mods.

Current lead time ranges from "In Stock" to "3-4 weeks" depending on the product and how well I am succeeding that week at guessing sales patterns versus supplier workloads.


Introducing the Keep It Simple Storage (KISS) Drawers for 100 & 80 series Land Cruisers & LXs.

View attachment 1301402

View attachment 1301405

This thread is intended to be a technical resource for potential buyers, and a place for owners to share their customizations. For sales please see the upcoming group buy, or my signature.

These drawers were designed with specific goals in mind:

1. Quality & Strength​

2. Minimize weight and cost​

3. Anyone can assemble without special skills or tools​

4. Ships in pieces as a flat-pack​

5. The best starting point for users to customize to fit their needs​

1. Quality & Strength
These are going in the gold standard of trucks for strength and quality, so these needed to match. The wood is Baltic Birch 7-layer plywood - the best plywood you can buy - learn more about it here: Ultimate Guide to Baltic Birch Plywood: Why It’s Better, When to Use It | Woodworkers Source Blog For strength data see the spreadsheet I uploaded in this post: Lessons Learned Designing & Building A Storage Drawer System. Top and front are 15mm (5/8"), drawer sides and bottom are 12mm (7/16"), and all cut on a CNC table for accuracy and repeatability - nothing would end up square if these were cut by hand every time.

The skeleton for the drawers is T-slot extruded anodized aluminum. It is extremely strong for its weight, and allows easy, repeatable connections. These 1" bars have (4) channels the user can attach to for customizing (I'll post examples later in this thread) and are used for the main frame and for squaring and assembling the drawers:

View attachment 1301406

The material has a yield strength of 35,000 lbs/in2 and if you were to place 500 lbs on top of one support, evenly between supports, and there were NO plywood there to help distribute the load, they would deflect only 1/16". There's 3 of them.

2. Minimize weight and cost
Weight and cost are direct results of design decisions. Settling on the extrusions was a huge help in reducing weight (the entire skeleton weighs only 12.2 lbs), but drove up cost: that skeleton costs $160 per set and there's no opportunity to reduce by volume or going to China (quality would suffer at these quantities).

So once you select premium materials the best you can hope for is minimizing the amount of material and extras included in the product. Fortunately goal 5 was to provide a starting point for the user to customize, so these can work in harmony. An example would be flip up access to the sides. While some may want that while they are sleeping in the back, others would never use them as the back would be loaded with gear or have a fridge on top. Adding them would require hinges, structural supports, additional cuts, and assembly steps. Adding that cost and complexity into the build for some but not others was against goals 2 & 5, and not doing so is one of the big reasons why the overall build cost is so low.

3. Anyone can assemble without special skills or tools
I'll admit this gave me more problems than any other part of this project. While I (or you) may be comfortable driving a screw into plywood straight, and building the drawer 'box' square, not everyone is. I built the drawers 5 different ways with different joining systems before settling on what now seems obvious:
View attachment 1301404
It wasn't obvious getting here though, so you can benefit from my R&D now if you want to take the idea and roll your own - I spent $1,051 in R&D for these drawers (you're welcome

Assembly is about as easy as an Ikea desk, so maybe 2 bananas - you need to follow the directions carefully at a couple points, but all you need is a screwdriver (I provide an allen wrench for some of the screws, they are only $0.80 so what the heck) a crescent wrench, and a couple of hours. Detailed instructions will be provided as well as a youtube video. Loctite is recommended if you bounce around a lot.

4. Ships in pieces as a flat-pack
This was an absolute necessity, as shipping costs on full drawers can be as much as the drawers (cheap ones anyway) and stories of damage are prevalent. Carriers are used to handling big flat boxes though, so this way you don't have to drive to Bend, Oregon to pick them up (tho I encourage you to use me as an excuse as there is some gorgeous wheelin around here Shipping dimensions will be around 61"x23"x5" and via FedEx Ground - no freight needed - from Oregon to NY is just $100.

5. Be the best starting point for users to customize to their needs
If you go read 100 threads on storage drawers you'll find 100 different approaches, priorities, and results. It took no time to see that building a system modular & comprehensive enough to meet all needs was going to put them well over $1000 and that was not what I wanted for myself, or for others. That is why this unit ships with only two handle options - with or without a cutout (and after enough orders that will likely settle on one of those). No finishes (see post below about those). No cubby hatches. No organizers. No modules. Just drawers, frame, top.

The KISS drawers jump start your custom build, not define it
​

Hi,

I have a 91 80 series and want to purchase (build first) one of your setups. Your website says it's still migrating. Any chance I can get a hold of you on here?

Thank you

Roland

 

[menancyandsam]

Assemble, stained and varnished.
Looking good, taking it to Josua Tree this weekend.

 

[GTV]

I’m working on assembling my wing kits but they’ve got me feeling stupid and at a loss on how they go together. I have these aluminium (supports?) that my directions make no mention of. I believe they are coupled with the wood supports that the t-nuts are hammered into but I’m not sure how they would go together if that’s in fact what they are. Can anyone offer guidance before I go and bother Dave?

 

[trdtoyotrk]

I’m working on assembling my wing kits but they’ve got me feeling stupid and at a loss on how they go together. I have these aluminium (supports?) that my directions make no mention of. I believe they are coupled with the wood supports that the t-nuts are hammered into but I’m not sure how they would go together if that’s in fact what they are. Can anyone offer guidance before I go and bother Dave?

View attachment 2696560

You should see opening on each side. The bars go into those slots and then mount with the hardware.

 

[GTV]

You should see opening on each side. The bars go into those slots and then mount with the hardware.

Right, I kinda figured that they go in there above the wood supports but how the hell are they secured?

Edit: I've had a lot on my mind and I totally forgot that I ordered these upgraded aluminium supports! I still can't wrap my head around how they work though...

 

[PNWTreeOctopus]

You should have some extra machine screws and t-slot nuts. Use them in the holes that line up with the small slots that would accommodate the wing supports. You either use the metal supports OR the wood ones, but not both together. If you need more help feel free to PM me and I can take some pics. You got this!

 

[GTV]

Thanks guys!
I’m an idiot. Not only did I forget that I ordered the upgraded wing supports in the first place, I just ordered one. D’oh! That’s why it wasn’t adding up.
Anyway I finally got the supports in and placed the wings on top to have a look. I’m really liking it. I’m a very picky guy and this is a well designed kit. It is just dry assembled now, planning on taking it down at a later date and finishing/assembling it properly but I need it soon for a trip to CO & NM next month.

 

[captmuff]

men, after two days and countless drinks i've arrived at the end of this thread. just put in an order and cannot wait ot build this thing out with my 3 year old daughter who is convinced the land cruiser is hers (it is, likely). excited to receive the kit and not be spending tens of thousands of dollars on any of my other vehicles. i've had my LC for abot ten years, and i've just crested 100K miles on this 2001 beauty so it's time to get weird and begin modifying. I've tried my best to keep the rig stock, but here we go...

could not be more pleased to see the evolution of this product and business through these pages. thank you dave, in advance. I better head back to the garage and check to make sure the RS4 hasn't exploded upon hearing i spent over $1k on the LC.... to be continued.