D3 Drawers

[shamirj]

Well - had the Disco 3 for one day and went out to Capral in Erskine Park who sell qubelock to make my next drawers for the D3 (see pic). they sell them in 6.5m lengths aluminium not painted for $20. silly me only bought one length cut in half and just fits inside the D3 to bring home. i thought last time i made the D2a drawers only needed one piece but wrong need two lengths at 6.5m each totaling 13m. actually total will be slightly more then 13m but have some black painted older ones which i can use 3x 15cm uprights for.

will need to go back and purchase another length. did quick calculations and found following measurements

height will be 15cm for drawers, total 23cm incl qubelock top and bottom frame. this includes another 2.5-3.0cm wedge to allow drawers to slide out past the drop tailgate when open.
length approx 1m
width approx 1m
being an S disco not sure what to do with the space below the drawers as it houses the jack and bits. don't want to lose this space. see pic
will need to offsite the two drawers side by side to allow access from the top to the spare wheel contraption. thinking 45cm + 55cm side by side, need to check though for clearance for the hole to the spare wheel mechanism.
i don't want to build too tall a drawer hence the lower height.
being 1m long will prob incl another support upright at 50cm (middle) so it can potentially take more weight in the middle.
as for cutting the Alum - i will fit a blade i bought last time onto my drop saw. cheers

[shamirj]

well went back to capral and bought 2nd length of 6.5m, mapped out how many cnr pieces were needed 18 in total and got them at same time. this was purchased today. all cut, deburred, filed, cleaned up, hammered into position, quite time consuming work but finally the frame is complete and fits nicely into the rear of the D3. made one side larger to give me access to the bolt for spare tyre otherwise if it were two identical drawers would of fouled on the access.

pic temp install, next to look at tie down mechanisms to attach to tie down points in D3. having made another for the D2a, this is the hard work done, the rest is easier to do. taking my time as i want to get it right for my application. have secured some black plastic handles for the two drawers. unsure about sliding mechanism, had runners before but they are expensive and heavy. trying to keep weight low. cheers

[p38arover]

Looking good.

This thread might have to be moved to Projects and Tutorials! :)

[shamirj]

hi all,

a long time update on drawers, pretty much majority done except some gluing, side infills, final touches ie tie downs. rear slides into position, anchors on the false floor, when pulled fwd the L bracket attaches to false floor, not wanting to have 4 tie downs for ease of removal but prob will not remove once fitted.

front sides will have 2x tie downs. carpet gluing to sides to be done. created a entry point on top with pvc pipe which allows access to bolt for spare without the need to remove the drawer. just easier then having to remove the whole drawer though that is possible. had to have the LR emblem as one of the final touches.

also used window locks to lock drawers into position. whole lot came in prob around $200-$250 with carpet, glue, wood, screws etc all sourced from bunnings. used locking drawer slides but had probs so returned to ebay supplier and got bottom mount slides non locking far simpler construction to use. the non locking only have two roller bearings per side whereas the locking slides was more complicated in design. anyway happy to test out now and see how it holds up. may consider extra tie downs at rear if required.

additional note - that black plug would be familiar to Disco 2 Td5 owners, had new spare so used it for this purpose.