Drawer Build

Hi y'all.

Decided to build a drawer set up for the truck. I've been using a 3 box system where I keep all my stuff in those boxes for camping but decided to switch it up because:

1. I don't like crawling in there and getting the boxes.
2. Limited garage space to store boxes/stuff.
3. Stresses me out having to pack on a busy work week. With this I can leave it in there, add food and leave at short moment notice.
4. I want to sleep in the shell for more stealth when I'm fishing public areas where there isn't dispersed camping.
5. Convenient to sleep in when crappy weather.

Initial regrets, not using 1/2" ply for the drawers.
The base is 3/4 and the drawers are 5/8. The whole set up is heavy, but again, depending on the trail, the truck slams around violently so it needs to be beefy.

As a disclaimer, I live in an HOA, so I have to be very concious of noise, work times, mess, etc etc in a garage full of crap. I had to bum around a few buddies houses to borrow tools etc.
So the project is not perfect but gotta make do.

Did the dimensioning in cad. I had to trim some areas and would adjust some of the dimensions if I were to rebuild it. So cad is accurate , but user needs slight trimming or adjustments. If anyone wants a STEP file, lmk. Bed dimensions r good.

Still some work to do before its all done. Need to create a top platform, paint the stuff and mount my water port.






The paint was a total PIA.
Used some KellyMoore AcryShield wood primer and the KM AcryShield premium enamel carbon black.

 

Awesome. Very similar to how I did mine

 

Love the heavy dutiness of the drawer slides and guides very cool and hopefully handle banging around the back roads

 

Thanks!
Yeah, I kept thinking about how my body gets slammed from side to side depending on the trail, and didn't want the drawers to be flimsy.

 

So how much does it weigh?

 

sub

 

Not sure. If I had to throw out a wild guess I'd say 100lb or less.
I'll weigh the drawers individually and then try to weigh the base. If I can't weigh the base I'll approximate once I've calibrated myself to the drawers lol.

I'm slowly letting go of the mental stress of adding weight. I kinda think about how my truck is still located in the "reasonable" weight range, compared to some of these fully loaded and armored trucks.

 

Ha, I think my brain is going the opposite direction. Lightweight is my best friend. But I'm definitely curious to see where it ends up, I've been contemplating building something like this too and need to do some thinking on material.

Also, I clearly don't have your woodworking skills, so I need to factor that in too

 

Yeah, I was hell bent on buying full skid set, but right now I'm focusing more towards my fishing and mild offroading, where I rather have this than a full 1/4" skid set up.
So I'm running stock skid for a while unless I change my mind.

What is your concern for weight? Mileage, driveability (hills, braking, etc)?
I don't want my mileage to be complete crap, but even worse is that there's only so much the V6 can do. The hills for me suck, too slow. Been thinking supercharger lol...


I think the base can be made lighter. The bottom can be 5/8" the uprights that support the bearings should be 3/4 and the drawrs can be half inch.
I prefer beefy cus I'm hard on my stuff, but I think what I said above would be good.

Honestly, this is pretty much my first time really working with wood.(no pun intended). I saw this thing called a Kreg Jig on youtube, it makes pocket holes, which makes assembling wood pretty easy.
I got it all done in cad so that I could pay my lumber yard to cut every piece you see. They cut the base, the uprights, and most the drawer parts.
(There is no way I could have done this project without me designing the drawers first, and paying lumber yard to cut).
Then the rest I used a few simple tools, but I do have a fabrication background which I think helps with the thought process.


The hardest part of the project is my little working space and HOA. I share the garage and it's full of stuff. So I have to do one thing at a time, cant have all my crap laid out. Then the noise and HOA crap.

Shoulda seen me primer these things with a little light bulb over my head last night haha. Should have more pics this weekend, heading over to a friends to try and wrap most of it up.

 

My main concern with weight is that it accumulates surprisingly quickly if you're not keeping an eye on it, and added weight adds wear on the drivetrain, frame, brakes, etc. I think lugging a 75lb backpack through the mountains as a teenager probably gave me some extra weight sensisibilities.

If you wanted to lighten that up you could certainly cut or drill some strategic holes, there's a bunch of places there that don't have to be completely solid.

Looks like a lot of working smart not hard to me. Color me impressed.

 

Yeah I was thinking of plunge cutting the base. Base could lose two big panels at the bottom.

 

Looks good OP! Some cutouts in the bottom would definitely lighten it up some. I like the drawer setup for sure. Mine has been adapted to a wood version of a carpet kit since my rig is like a duck wakes up to a different task every day it seems. I tried something similar but stopped everything above the wheel wells, might end up marrying the two concepts if I had a inside space to stow the drawer when it needed to vacate the truck. Seems like a never ending process.

 

Just updated the first post.

I feel you man. I've never used the truck for hauling stuff other than camping. My moped once, but with the shell its a PITA.
So i decided to quit beating around the bush and commit to a set up, I don't daily this too so it's not a big deal. I gotta finish the platform sides.

 

Update:
Haven't done the platform sides. Don't have a table saw right now (excuse).
The shell leaks at all 4 corners so I wanna take care of that before I do the sides (where it will get wet). I've been dreading pullling the shell. Have to take the RTT off, then pull the shell. When I tried last time the shell was super stuck.
Going on a 1 week trip through Oregon stating this coming weekend, so it will be crappy to sleep on the drawers, but I will try and manage. RTT if it's not raining, crappy platform sleep if it is.

 

How is the square aluminum attached to the drawer? With the drawers fully loaded and extended have you leaned the drawer. My concern is the aluminum bending under weight when fully loaded and extended. Will the whole box lift up with both drawers fully extended or is it secured to the bed?

 

They're mounted with Teks self taping screws. The tube is 6061T6 1/8" wall 1x1 so it's been working fine. I've had the left drawer loaded no problem.
I get a lot of the same comments. It depends on the application. If I were running a plumbing operation I'd go with steel and change a few things because you're loading the drawers with dense metal tools. I'm not packing these with steel tools lol. The box will get mounted to the rear tie down points soon. But once again, I will not have both drawers open at once because I don't have a need for it. One is for cooking and food, and the other is for other crap like my fishing gear. It's easier to access one drawer at a time than two to put things way.

EDIT:
If you look at the last picture with the stove, what do you expect to put in there that would bend the tubes? That's kind of my point, nothing. The drawer has utensils and spices, and the back will be all food with a pot and pan/cups.
The worst case on that drawer would be two boiling pots of water. That would be the worst case because of the large mass at the end of the drawer.

 

The little drawer is pretty bad ass actually, it works great. I'll be taking pictures and video of the set up once I'm on the road. Still needs work but I'm also not able to foresee the whole design without testing it.
For example, the right drawer has sooooo much space, I can't even fill it up. It took away space for where I had my max trax and hi lift, so those are being moved. I'm hoping to fall into a system by the end of my week long trip where I will come back home to modify it, and finish it all.

 

I was inspired by this guy here.


He obv mounted the platform to the bed.

 

mine will be filled with tools, lots of them thats why I asked.

 

Yeah I would go with steel then.
I would also drill holes in the bed for mounting, which I don't wanna do on mine.