My D22 Drawers

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Chartrock

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My truck is shown elsewhere on the forum but I thought some may be interested in the drawer system I have built for the back of the ute.
The RHS steel at 25mm is probably overkill but as my other half says, I just can't think small. The timber is a very lightweight ply so did not add much to the weight. All up, without contents, it probably adds about 40kg to the truck but it has already proven its worth. Cost would be about $450 with a couple of weeks of work.

Paul
 

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My truck is shown elsewhere on the forum but I thought some may be interested in the drawer system I have built for the back of the ute.
The RHS steel at 25mm is probably overkill but as my other half says, I just can't think small. The timber is a very lightweight ply so did not add much to the weight. All up, without contents, it probably adds about 40kg to the truck but it has already proven its worth. Cost would be about $450 with a couple of weeks of work.

Paul

Hi Chartrock,

Love the drawers! Can you please tell me, after having these for a while is there anything you would have done differently to what you have done?
The rollers have they been up to it and what sort are they?

What sort of weight are you carrying in the drawers at anytime?

Sorry for the questions but they look the goods and seem to be what I am after as well.

Thanks
 
:victory:G'day Cruz,

I am very happy with the drawers, but one change I would probably make would be to use lighter RHS tube. I built these with 25mm and it does not need to be that heavy, even 20mm is probably overkill depending on how much bracing you use.
One drawer is mine. I carry a battery charger, snatch strap, two bow shackles, tyre repair kit, tow rope, ice cream container full with assorted light rope and occy straps, a large plastic box with spare screws, nuts, bolts, fuses, globes, jubilee clips and anything else small enough to fit in it. I have a briefcase size container with my main tools, a small metal socket spanner box with metric open end and ring spanners, a plastic box socket set and a roll of screwdrivers and all up probably weighs around 30/35kg.
The other drawer my wife has claimed and holds all our survival gear, coffee, sugar, cups , thermos, water bottles. We also store our wet weather gear, binoculars, cameras and other gear when we are travelling. Side pockets have my second battery one one side along with my jumper leads while the other side holds my compressor. This can be removed so if need be I carry a jerry can in the pocket. I have thought about fitting a water tank in the pocket at the rear of the tub but cannot decide on size or material.
The rollers have had no problems at all. The hardest thing was lining them up especially the centre ones as there is a roller on both sides of the support. They carry the load well and allow me to remove the drawers if needed. The same with the fridge slide. I have purchased a 3 way fridge that is larger than my 40L Waeco but because the feet on it sit on the slide I can still use it as normal.
Go for it, mate. It is worth building your own. If I can help any way, just ask.:victory:
Paul
 
Did the sam thing for a mates GQ SWB. Ours were functional, but nothing really pretty. Fridge, 2 drawers, and 2 12" sub boxes. Well done
 
Paul, Mate they look the goods. We spent $2500 on Black Widow drawers. When I see jobs like yours they make me twitch a bit because your quality is awesome.

But as you'd know, once you've had drawers theres no turning back, I don't regret spending that much.

Good work.
 
what about when you need to put large bulky items in the tray?...Thats the reason i haven put draws/canopy on....you loose alot of versatility
 
what about when you need to put large bulky items in the tray?...Thats the reason i haven put draws/canopy on....you loose alot of versatility

You certainly do, Joshy but I do lots more touring than I do carrying large items, mate and I keep a 7x4 trailer for that purpose when it arises.
Which reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw once. It read
"Yes it is my ute, and no, I won't help you move."
Cheers
Paul :lazy:
 
Haha yeah i seen that sticker gettin around before. Fair enough
 
Cheers Chartrock for the info. I was looking at some 25 mm RHS yesterday and thought maybe its a little big but would last the distance. I need to carry all my riggers gear so large spanners and ratchets spanners, ropes hammers etc.

I can keep the weight down and load it up as needed but when I travel for work I need almost everything so that is the issue I am facing with what size RHS i need to use.

Where did you get the rollers from? and what sort of cost are they. I haven't really found any that would do the job yet so any info would be great.

Thanks again
 
Makes my converted filling cabinet draw system look really bad, but it cost nothing and has stood up to 18 months abuse carrying cable and electricians gear. mine only fills the space between the arches so I dont have to lift my 25 kg tool box any higher than I have to, but Id love one like yours
 
Looking at doing something similar myself. Priced some heavy duty drawer runners but way too expensive ($800-$900 for 1 set!). Interested in how much weight you think your roller system could carry and where you got them from? Cheers.
 
fantastic job paul. you've inspired me to give it a go in my camper trailer i'm about to start. it's going to be a d40 ute tub on a custom built frame set at the same height as my d40 dual cab running the same stx factory alloys. going to have kitchen & storage suspended from underside of camper tent base allowing whole camper section to be removed to use as just a standard trailer when not camping. thats the plan anyway, it's all dependant on being able to find a single or king cab tub, so if you know of any it would be greatly appreciated! cheers, phil.
 
10/10 Chartrock. At near 2G from blackwidow, it makes sense to DIY!
Just a few questions...
Do you reakon you could use 20/25mm aluminum instead, to keep the weight down?
Where did you get the bearing runners? and approx price?
How high above the tray did you make it. (My nav's 5" higher than std and dont really want the fridge above my head)
Can you open the fridges lid with the slide partially open?
 
Last edited:
10/10 Chartrock. At near 2G from blackwidow, it makes sense to DIY!
Just a few questions...
Do you reakon you could use 20/25mm aluminum instead, to keep the weight down?
Where did you get the bearing runners? and approx price?
How high above the tray did you make it. (My nav's 5" higher than std and dont really want the fridge above my head)
Can you open the fridges lid with the slide partially open?

G'day tommy,
First, apologies for the delay answering. I am in Sydney visiting relos for the last week and have only just managed to aquire a bit of computer time on my Sister-in-law's computer but wont be home for another week.
As to your questions,
Yes, I am sure that size aluminium will do the job. I used 25mm RHS steel which I am sure now was a big overkill.
The bearings and runners were simple. I used 25 X 50mm RHS bolted to the drawer sides and these just run between 30mm OD ball races with and ID to fit the bolt holding then on. I just purchased these from a local bearings shop and the bolts to fit from a bolt shop. The bearings were about $2.75 each.
The fridge runners were standard runners (I can't think of the brand name but they are the well known ones). I bought them on ebay for $60 for two sets and sold the 2nd set to a mate.
The top of the frame exactly matched the wheel arches so the timber deck sat on the frame and the arches neatly. The only way I can see you solving the height problem would be one of those fancy fridge slide that drop down when you pull it out to its extreme, although I did see on another forum a slide a guy had built that came all the way out and then tilted down but that would depend on the weight of your fridge.
I can open my fridge (40L Waeco) lid with the slide partially out but I do have the hi-top canopy which gives a bit more clearance.
Hope this is of some help but get back if you need any more.

Thanks Jason. I'll catch up with you when we get home

Paul
 
g day chartrock. firstly nice build on the drawers mate, they look great. how long did they take to build, were you working on them full time or just in your spare time. roughly how much did they cost to build. finally, making the drawers was it one of those things that you would ever do again or was it one of those jobs thats just not worth the hassle. sorry about all the questions mate, just still contemplating if im going to attempt the build. thanks.
 

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