Rear drawer/fridge slide systems for L322?

[GregMilner]

Hello chaps and chapettes, do any of you wise people have any knowledge of fridge slide/drawer systems for the L322?

I'm a bit over just chucking stuff in the back and discovering the one thing I really want is right at the bottom of the pile. And I can't open the Engel without dragging it out onto the tailgate first.

I've looked around online but can't find much that's particularly helpful.

[chaybra]

Either make your own or use a universal...however...and a big however.
If you put a draw system in, especially with a fridge, you will not be able to access your spare tyre (without considerable efforts to remove on the side of the road, possibly alone)

My best suggestion, and something I am working on atm is making smaller, individual draw sets that are not bolted down, for easy removal. (Even tho my spare tyre is on the back, i still want to access water tanks/compressors in the event of a failure)

the fridge slides require them to be secured to a solid frame that can offset the weight of the fridge, again, not possible if you want to get to your tyre. best thing to do, is make sure it can slide easily on the carpet or mat.

Edit: if it is also to close to the edges of the boot space, you will not be able to access fuse panels etc

[GregMilner]

Mmmm, I guess I figured there'd be no easy solution. I might look at designing a simple upside-down U-shaped arrangement in carpet-covered marine ply that would at least be light enough to haul out in an emergency, and I'll just put up with having to drag the fridge out, without having a bolt-down slide.

[chaybra]

What I did prior to having my fridge was a false floor setup with a steel frame (an early, unfinished photo of it attached) where the legs would come down near the restraint mountings in the floor, this allowed the bottom to be accessed after removing all the tubs etc from under it. The outer panels of wood were on hinges to fold up and allow access to the side panels.
Something like this would just be to high for a fridge to sit on and probably not structurally viable if you have to cut a hole in it to slide a fridge in and out, so i ended up scrapping it.

[GregMilner]

Thanks for that. I'm thinking of something that sits about the height of the existing factory sliding screen, which the fridge would fit under, along with a couple of drawers to one side.
I'll see what I or my shipwright mate can come up with in marine ply.

[Graeme]

In my D4 I access the fridge over the closed bottom tailgate lifting the lid towards the side window and had hoped to do the same on the L322. I'll discover any shortcomings in that idea after I get the car home Monday and start the change-over process.

[GregMilner]

Unfortunately with the slope of the rear window on the L322 the fridge has to go inboard a fair bit so it's a bit of a lean in Graeme.

[landie56]

Hi.
I have made my fridge slide with the use of aluminum square tubing then cover in non construction ply. And then made same with two draws for food and recovery gear. These two pictures are my food storage. Don't fridge draw picture om phone. It's easy for me to remove to access the spare tyre.
Jason

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[CSBrisie]

Greg, I had Drifta make me a false floor same size as spare wheel well cover and it bolts in using existing tie down points. The separate fridge box and slide is bolted to the floor. Works a treat :)

[GregMilner]

Now that looks the business Chris. Where are they? Can they make a replica?

[LRD414]

Greg, Drifta are in Gloucester NSW but ship anywhere. This is my setup in a D4 and something similar may suit the L322. The spare wheel winder is accessible and so are the side cubby storage compartments.

97373

It attaches to the factory tie down points using turnbuckles & I assume the L322 has something similar. The whole thing is completely removable.

You can customise how you want the drawers, fridge slide, height, etc. eg, I have a storage box that bolts on the fridge slide when the fridge is in the camper. There's also a table between the drawers that slides out.

97374

So you really just need tie down points and the overall dimensions.

Hope that helps,
Scott

[GregMilner]

That looks pretty neat Scott. Bit different in the RRV though, as you have to physically lift the spare out of the wheel well rather than wind it down as per the Disco and RRS. So it has to be something that can be easily removed wholly from the cargo space, which makes for a whole different ball game.

[CSBrisie]

? 4WD DRAWERS ? Drifta Camping & 4WD (http://www.drifta.com.au/4wd-drawers/)


Greg, they will make anything you like, so I was going to have one drawer too - but ended up with just the box. Give them a call! They probably have my measurements etc still on file. Drifta don't know this but I did need to put a 1cm thick clark rubber base under the new floor as when you pull the fridge out loaded it JUST scraped on the end of the tailgate. So, floor could have been a little thicker - not their fault ofcourse!


I did have to cut a small (2cm) amount of the rear of the box lid/roof as I forgot the cargo barrier intrudes a few centimetres when in place - but it was easy and you cant see it anyway. I also had to do a bit of running around to find bolts long enough to go through the (my home made) brackets which attach to the base of the floor and sit above the tie down point floor threads (once you remove the tie down points themselves); these bolts then reach down into the existing tie down point threads (ie I couldn't use the factory chrome allen key bolts as they are too short. I'm trying to find a better (read: neater) way of securing the floor to be honest, but it has served me well so far!

[GregMilner]

That looks about what I need Chris, I'll give them a call. What did they charge you for that by the way?
And how much of a pain is to get at the spare?

[CSBrisie]

I think the box was about $350 (fridge slide was priced separately) but it should be on their website. Getting to the spare means taking fridge out, undoing 4 bolts and then lifting out the floor/box (which I did by myself). Given how rarely I anticipate a flat tyre ever happening - I was not too fussed (bear in mind I had the spares on the roof on recent off road trip). In addition, when towing the van I have ability to have a spare mounted on front of van (in place of the 2nd spare van wheel).
cheers

[33chinacars]

Last time I went away with my L322 I put the my 50 lt fridge on the passenger side rear floor. The seat was folded up. Fitted quiet well. Still had room on other side for a child seat. Everything else went in the back.

If there is only 2 travellers you could even remove the rear seat altogether & fit a false floor to the uneven section.

Gary

[landie56]

Hi.
Here is further update on my rear draw system. This is fridge slide with storage draws. In progress with putting carpet on.:)

Sent from my GT-I9505 using AULRO mobile app

[uteman]

Greg: I have many photos of how we set up our car. I wanted a fridge slide and drawers that would be easily removed, would fit with rear seats in "up" position and give plenty of fridge capacity. I use an Engel with a "Two-Zone" attachment and it worked well for us on a 6 week trip.
We had one puncture on Tanami and even though I had a second spare on pack rack my wife and I removed the drawers and fridge in under 10 minutes and used the regular spare so that I did not have to lift the wheel back to the roof.
Of course I had to make it myself.
The system secures to the 4 tie-down points built into the car.
Happy to assist if I can be of help.
Other photos show load rack, water bladder, flat floor in rear etc.

[chaybra]

Greg: I have many photos of how we set up our car. I wanted a fridge slide and drawers that would be easily removed, would fit with rear seats in "up" position and give plenty of fridge capacity. I use an Engel with a "Two-Zone" attachment and it worked well for us on a 6 week trip.
We had one puncture on Tanami and even though I had a second spare on pack rack my wife and I removed the drawers and fridge in under 10 minutes and used the regular spare so that I did not have to lift the wheel back to the roof.
Of course I had to make it myself.
The system secures to the 4 tie-down points built into the car.
Happy to assist if I can be of help.
Other photos show load rack, water bladder, flat floor in rear etc.

What cargo cage are you using there?

[GregMilner]

Greg: I have many photos of how we set up our car. I wanted a fridge slide and drawers that would be easily removed, would fit with rear seats in "up" position and give plenty of fridge capacity. I use an Engel with a "Two-Zone" attachment and it worked well for us on a 6 week trip.
We had one puncture on Tanami and even though I had a second spare on pack rack my wife and I removed the drawers and fridge in under 10 minutes and used the regular spare so that I did not have to lift the wheel back to the roof.
Of course I had to make it myself.
The system secures to the 4 tie-down points built into the car.
Happy to assist if I can be of help.
Other photos show load rack, water bladder, flat floor in rear etc.

That's a nice set-up indeed. Looks like you're removed the back seats completely - presumably a reasonably easy job?

[uteman]

What cargo cage are you using there?

The cargo barrier was made by Auto Safe (http://www.autosafe.com.au)
They are authorised manufacturers of such equipment and a sister company to Tradesmam roof racks.
Mine cost $920 back in 2010.
I suspect it is the only one they have made.
We even got a magazine rack built into above front centre armrest for travel books etc.

[uteman]

Greg: Glad that you like what we did.
Yes we removed the rear seats, built a flat floor that fits in conjunction with the cargo barrier and out a water bladder in foot well.
Not difficult to remove seats but good to have an extra pair of hands due to size and weight.
We also have some carpet which we velcro to mudguards where they are upholstered in rear of car as this protects the upholstery whilst dragging gear across them such as luggage boxes etc.
The pack rack has an air outlet on each corner so that we just connect compressor at rear then plug in wherever we need air.
Probably a bit overdone in some ways but I enjoy doing such things.
The ladder in photo folds and fits in base of drawer system.
I probably need to think about what to do with it all as we just don't go outback anymore.

[GregMilner]

Yeah, a helluva lot of work if you're not using it any more. Can't say I'd ever go to those lengths as we don't go bush more than once a year and it's only ever two of us.
Like the idea of the ladder to reach to roof rack though. Last time I had a flat, on the way to the Kimberley last year, I decided to use the spare on the roof rather than unload everything. I levered the thing off, it bounced when it hit the ground and nearly brained the bride.

[uteman]

Yeah, a helluva lot of work if you're not using it any more. Can't say I'd ever go to those lengths as we don't go bush more than once a year and it's only ever two of us.
Like the idea of the ladder to reach to roof rack though. Last time I had a flat, on the way to the Kimberley last year, I decided to use the spare on the roof rather than unload everything. I levered the thing off, it bounced when it hit the ground and nearly brained the bride.

The ladder folds and is easily stored. It is a RHINO product.

[Strangerover]

Here's my attempt, wish I'd done this years ago:
Secondhand Piranha fridge slide on right, 2 drawers on the left, the lowest made to fit my Coleman dual fuel stove snugly. Drawers and slide assembly sit on a false floor made of a sandwich of 2 layers of ply with square section aluminium so it can't sag. My Freedom tent (http://www.freedomcamping.com.au/ft.html) slides in underneath. Whole lot is held in with 2 ratchet straps connected to the tie-down points. I've had my little Waeco 35-litre fridge for maybe 20 years, great to finally have it on a slide!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/777.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/778.jpg

You might notice that I've had to cut the top corners back- a moment of panic when we first tried it and the top tailgate wouldn't close, but with that done, she just squeaked in. Battery-powered recipro saws are a handy thing to have lying around. I'll be tidying this bit up some more soon.

Bought the spring latches online, the size was a bit of a surprise when they arrived, I thought they'd be smaller... yes, overkill but at least they won't break. Very sturdy.

I have photos taken during construction, can post if anyone's interested. Next job is to take it all out again for a few coats of polyurethane, didn't get time before my trip.