Doozy4212's Better Truck Drawer Build/Guide

I do not seeing foam core supporting a 150 lb cooler and 12 gallons of water on my slide. then the problem also becomes, it is strong enough to be fastened properly and withstand shifting loads on a 4x4 trail. i would skeptical. the wood is crazy heavy however i know it i there to stay.

 

@1 Bored Clerk would be the man to answer any questions on that. He's very knowledgeable on it and is building a whole camper out of it. If you were curious about it at all.

 

his build is phenomenal!

 

It really is! Both his and yours are my two favorite right now for stuff not on the truck itself, if that makes sense.

 

LIFT UPDATE:

Got my lift installed about two weeks ago. Ordered the kit from Marie at @HeadStrong Off-Road pre assembled and it shipped quick. Everything was at my door in less than a week. I installed it in a day with a friend in his garage and overall the whole process went extremely smooth. I have spent the last week fine tuning things and will probably continue to do so for the next month or two. I did the 90021 struts and 887 coils with Wheelers Offroad SuperBumps in the front. I also did SPC UCAs to help with alignment and wheel travel. In the rear I did the EL096r leaf pack and I did end up adding an extra

$50 EL46XL ARB XL to Suit El095R 96R

EL46XL to the pack. With the weight of my cap, rack and drawers the leafs flattened out pretty quick and I have sliders on the way. I spoke with TR from ARB this weekend at the Toytec meet and he recommended adding the EL46XL leaf after seeing my pack. He also gave it to me for free In the rear I also added a 3 degree shim to correct drive line angles and have the Wheelers U-Bolt Flip and SuperBumps installed to boot!

 

Drawer update will be posted this evening!

 

Dude, truck looks sweet! And that's awesome you got a free AAL!!!

PS your truck would greatly benefit from you removing the bedside decal IMO. Would look so clean

 

thanks randy, ive debated for a long time i may just have to do it.....

 

*chanting* Do it, do it, do it! Very easy to remove. And if you hate it, you can get new ones for cheap, or even go custom!

 

damn it randy, let me finish one project at a time

 

UPDATE 6/11/2018:

Okay! The day isn't over til it's over and while this update is later than I wanted it to be, here it is. I have been working on this on and off for the last week or so do lots of odd little jobs. I also took a step back for a bit to just relax and also do some brain storming as I still have a few design features to work out, but I'm almost there....I think.

I got the drawers back in my truck and at this point they are there for good. These things are heavy as a mother with the drawer slides and all attached. In reality it is probably not much heavier than my last system if at all just due to some design differences. Using only one 3/4" piece of birch on the right side wall as opposed to two stacked like I did in v1 and the cut outs in the base don't save a ton of weight but enough to offset the extra pair of slides, maybe.



The threaded inserts for the right hand side deck work flawlessly. All of the screw holes lined up perfect and with a 1" round head 1/4"-20 machine screw, washer and lock washer, everything came together nicely.



And the corners matched perfect!

Right hand side deck (passenger):



VS.

Left hand side deck (driver):



I bought a dremel last week and the only thing I am upset about is I did not do this sooner. I got through 40 machine screws with one blade in 30 minutes. Here is a pic of all of the screws that hold the slides in places.



I even sanded down all of the rough edges of the cut screws with the little barrel sander attachment.



To support the bedslide portion of this system I bought an 8' section of 1/16" x 2" aluminum angle and cut in half. I then got creative with lots of clamps to get everything lined up properly and drilled holes in the aluminum where I would need to run the machine screws through to attach it to the slides. One all the holes were drilled I fastened the aluminum to the slides with a #10 truss head screw. The slide manufacturer calls for a pan head screw but I was unable to find ANY in the proper size for my application. The truss heads work great, they have a little more surface area, are plenty strong and most importantly clear all the internals of the slide itself.



Here's some cool pics I snapped with my phone in one hand and the scary dremel in the other.



Once the aluminum angle was secure and the screws were lopped off I struck a line down the center of the top face, marked off every 6" and drilled pilot holes for all of the screw that will be used to secure the deck of the bed slide. This will be screwed up and into the bedside deck from underneath.



With it in the truck you can start to get a good idea of how this will all work and how far it will stick out!



By the way, here is the deck for the bedslide under my truck. the wood was a little warped but a few days under the truck solved that. Now I am just to lazy to move it.



Lastly for todays update I worked on the idea for the drawer that will live underneath the bedslide. This will be our kitchen. I am going to have enough clearance for a designated spot for the stove while still being able to fit 24" full extension SOFT CLOSE ball bearing slides underneath for a last minute audible. I am going to have a built in, slide out cutting board that will discretely fit directly underneath the stove and be in the perfect place to chop when we need it. If space allows I am also going to try to find a collapsible rubber tub/kitchen sink for dishes. It will look roughly something like this.



Thanks for watching!

Drew

 

Bravo

 

How have I not been following this thread? Build is looking sweet! I’m a bad forum member apparently. I’ve fixed this problem by subbing.

Anyway, the plastic honeycomb core panels I’m using are very stout and weigh practically nothing. The finished thickness is near .875” with 14oz of glass on both sides. Very stiff and appears to be fairly impact resistant. Fastening to it is fine...just need to be smart about how you do it since screwing right into it like plywood isn’t ideal. Using it as a slide base wouldn’t worry me at all.

 

too late now as I am on the final stretch but maybe next time! hopefully that won't be for a long time though. My girlfriend hopes so at least

my next project is going to start with a 5 x 8 aluminum trailer and end up as a full badass off road tear drop with slide out galley! but that'll be a while. i have a ring to buy so she legally obligated to hang out with me

 

great job.

 

thank you!

 

I'm late to the party, but looking forward to the final sprint. Looks great so far!

 

AND A SPRINT IT IS! I worked on these relentlessly this weekend and got my first of 3 coats of varnish on this AM. I took zero pictures (sorry guys) because I have company coming into town and need these done! You all will not be disappointed though! I am very excited about the outcome.

 

Teaser.