Tacoma Aluminum Extrusion/Wood Bed Drawer System

That’s a solid price for those slides. Doesn’t hurt to try especially when Amazon has such an easy return policy. Hopefully those work out!

 

Curious if yours end up being a good product. I'm always hesitant to buy chinesium stuff but if it works, it works. I prefer buy once, cry once but damn if it doesn't feel good to save some beer money.

 

Quick update:
I got my boxes put together. I thought I would be able to make them 55" long, yeah I didn't account for the square tri-corners. I ended up having to cut them 2" shorter so they would fit. I also made the top a solid piece of plywood. I did it this way so the dogs could be up there and not fall in the "holes" behind the wheel wells. To gain access to the area behind the wheel wells and the front of the bed I put in some piano hinges. On top of all the wood I stapled some waterproof carpet. Here are my photos



You can see they were just a smidge too big here.


Perfectly level with the wheel well.


Ready for plywood.


Now I am just waiting for drawer slides. I am so happy how this turned out!

Thanks again @mpatrick for the inspiration.

-M

 

Looks great! Glad I was able to help with getting everything “almost” perfect. Sounds like you were able to fix the length of the drawer frames no problem! Please post more pictures as you get them done.

 

Now that I’m looking at it. Are your drawers the same size or did you go bigger on one drawer??

 

That's what it looks like to me.

 

Hey guys. Yes I intentionally built them two different sizes. I wanted to have a smaller drawer (17" internal) to hold my stove. I also want to put in a prep sink behind the stove. I also plan on routing in some channels so I can put in dividers. My goal is to allow me to adjust the size of the dividers based on what I am packing. I think (have to measure again tomorrow) the other side is 22" internal.

The sliders (surprisingly!) showed up today! Scheduled delivery of 5/20 so maybe Thursday I can get some boxes made.
Here they are:



-M

 

Hi im wondering how sturdy is the frame? Do you use it as a sleeping platform as well?

 

Very sturdy. It’s not going to even think of ever collapsing lol. It’s very strong aluminum. Could definitely be slept on.

 

I ordered 2 extra 7 1/8" pieces and spaced them in the middle of the length of mine (60"). I figure the leverage of a length that long meant some sagging was in the future so I preempted it if for no other reason than peace of mind.

 

@joshrighthere To echo what @mpatrick said its super strong. I would venture to guess you could easily put more on it than the stock suspension could handle.

Build is mostly finished. I got the drawers built and installed. All-in-all the chinesium rails are pretty nice. They have large ball-bearings and roll smooth. They were covered in grease and I could probably service them with some more down the road. The only thing I didn't get finished was: 1.) I totally forgot to router in my divider lines, whoops, so I have to come up with some alternative. 2.) I need to seal the front panel and probably the vertical portions of the drawers to prevent the veneer from lifting/splitting. 3.) I want to put some firing strips for on the inside of the smaller drawer so I can make a top for my stove to rest on when cooking.

All that said they are functioning and ready to stuff full of stuff. I am surprised how much, or rather how large the volume is for such little (on paper) dimensions. I didn't get to snap any photos yet because it was dark when I finished. I will do it tomorrow when I get to work and update later on Friday. I will have a write up on some of the pitfalls I ran into as well.

Again I can't thank you enough Patrick, you definitely pointed me in the right direction.

 

Glad I was able to be of help! I did the same thing with forgetting to router in some channels for dividers so I’m also still trying to think of a clean and unnoticeable solution lol. Again, glad I helped and please update with some pictures. Also, to everyone who asked how the whole drawer is mount to the bed and also how the top is mounted to the frame, here is a picture as if you were looking at the whole drawer box from the ground.

 

As promised here are some photos!






I also put together a build thread but mine is more focused on tips and pitfalls
Post numer 17

-M

 

I'm just now realizing that your drawers collapse flush with the frame which does look clean. I made mine kinda like a normal drawer where the face covers the frame when closed. Get that extra 19/32" of drawer length haha. But I like the look of flush faces more.

Did you (or will you) treat or cover the plywood with anything?

 

@CAG Gonzo I used finished plywood with a veneer finish. I picked up some matte poly today to seal them. They are already chipping so I want to seal them up to prevent further damage.

Thanks man, the flush face to me was a bonus my neighbor suggested. I love it.
-M

 

Yeah it looks like a win for sure.

 

No drawer yet but heavily inspired by all TW content

 

.
Great thread and construction looks first class OP ...

 

I like what you’ve got going on here. Thinking of doing something similar.. how did you end up connecting the right side of your build to your truck bed? Did you attach it to the bed rail somehow?

 

I managed to get it mounted on the bed rail, the build is still incomplete just cause lumber is expensive right now haha. But I'll get you some pics when im off work!