Weight of a drawer system in a 100?

[rickyjunker]

I must have looked into half a dozen "home made" drawer system threads on here trying to answer these questions. I see that everyone uses 3/4" wood for the drawers, could you safely go with something thinner to save weight? I understand that the rear seats weigh in at close to 90lbs but if you put in a drawer system that weighs twice that amount, then add in all the tools, aren't you kind of shooting yourself in the foot?

I ask this because I'm a firm believer in going as light as possible when you do any mods to a vehicle and considering that we're planning on bumpers and sliders from Slee and a roof top tent we're already going to be plenty heavy. I was thinking that we could build a drawer system out of aluminum that would offer more storage room (thinner material) at a much lighter weight than wood.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is how much does your drawer system weigh and if you could build another one would you make it lighter or just deal with the added weight? Any reason not to go with aluminum?

Thanks!

 

[pillguy]

I made mine out of 1/2" plywood with no bottom and no drawers. Weighs about 25-30 lbs. It will support 2 people on top of it as I reinforced it with good screws and epoxy. I need to put a piece of low friction material on the carpet so I can drag my bags out more easily. Mine is in my 4runner so it may be slightly lighter than one built for a 100.
Go get 7-10 ply plywood at a good building store and buy screws from mcfeelys.com

 

[angerhater]

you could easily do it with 1/2 in plywood, the bottoms and the top deck of mine is 1/2..the drawer sides are 3/4 so i could set the bottom into a 5/16 rabbet groove...but if you were to make just the bottom out of 3/4 and screwed the drawer glides into it, you could make everything else out of 1/2. and you dont have to have a complete bottom of the "cabinet".....my single 40" x 18" with 30" 250 lb glides probably weighs 40lbs empty..

 

[Woodsman]

you could easily do it with 1/2 in plywood, the bottoms and the top deck of mine is 1/2..the drawer sides are 3/4 so i could set the bottom into a 5/16 rabbet groove...but if you were to make just the bottom out of 3/4 and screwed the drawer glides into it, you could make everything else out of 1/2. and you dont have to have a complete bottom of the "cabinet".....my single 40" x 18" with 30" 250 lb glides probably weighs 40lbs empty..

I make 1/2" drawers all the time. I use the 1/2" for the whole drawer box including the bottom. The ends are rabbeted and the bottom is placed into a groove with everything glued and screwed. After a trip to the Maze last November I decided to test the strength of this drawer construction so I dropped about 120 pounds of cast iron barbels into it and they've been riding around back there since then with no ill affects.

As an alternative, baltic birch is also available in 5/8" thickness.

 

[jonharis]

My drawers are 50-60lbs. It's pretty insignificant after removing the third row seats.

Consider safety and security too.

 

[titanpat57]

My drawers are 50-60lbs. It's pretty insignificant after removing the third row seats.

Consider safety and security too.

Same here...I used 9 ply 1/2" cabinet grade. The 4Runner has a slide out tray, I have the drawer unit bolted in 4 places. With tools, straps, flares, flashlights,etc...it's probably another 60 lbs of crap. I have since built a door to cover for the front 6" space that houses my AK and some clips in case the zombies come, or heading to the range.

I also added small locks in the front to keep them closed and secured.

 

[RobRed]

I used 3/4 for the main box, 1/2 for the drawers - except I used 3/4 on drawer bottoms. Box and drawers with latches was about 30... drawer slides added about 22 more.

I weighed the third row seats at 43.6 each, about 95 total if you remove the brackets, seat belts and associated fasteners.

 

[FullyLitLED]

I used 3/4 for the main box, 1/2 for the drawers - except I used 3/4 on drawer bottoms. Box and drawers with latches was about 30... drawer slides added about 22 more.

I weighed the third row seats at 43.6 each, about 95 total if you remove the brackets, seat belts and associated fasteners.

My system is about 45lbs, now with the 84 lb rear bumper I only gained 30 lbs more since I took off the 3rd row

 

[Bogo]

Go get 7-10 ply plywood at a good building store and buy screws from mcfeelys.com

The plywood to get is cabinet grade Baltic Birch and depending on the source it can be bought in 4'x8' or 5'x5' sizes. True Baltic Birch is not supposed to have any voids on the internal plys, and the external plys are without any patches. It is very stable and sturdy. The Baltic birch out of Scandinavia, Canada, and the USA has always been good quality. Some out of China and Russia has had voids and surface patches.

 

[RobRed]

The plywood to get is cabinet grade Baltic Birch and depending on the source it can be bought in 4'x8' or 5'x5' sizes. True Baltic Birch is not supposed to have any voids on the internal plys, and the external plys are without any patches. It is very stable and sturdy. The Baltic birch out of Scandinavia, Canada, and the USA has always been good quality. Some out of China and Russia has had voids and surface patches.

That would be the best choice for sure. It also weighs alot.

 

[titanpat57]

Thought it might help to show it loaded....I've a little bit of a bag/organizer fetish since I put those in...weird...

 

[SHREDwagon]

From the all the humming done - before I broke down and just bought a set - the lightest drawers have teflon runners.

To build a set (NEXT TIME!), I'm heading straight to Lee Valley and buying 1/2" baltic birch and HDPE.....

Edit: Regarding aluminum, moot point if you then add 50 lbs of drawer slides. 1/2" ply is light enough!