Thread: Project Log: DIY Rear Drawers and Fridge Slide

Materials cost (to date):
$145.37 30 m (5 x 6m lengths) 25 mm square tube
$31.63 6 m lipped (flanged) 25 mm square tube
$19.01 24 x 3 way 'Y' connectors (qubelok or cube lock or handyman or whatever brandname you want. Mine came from Ullrich.)
$2.73 4 x 2 way corner connectors
$7.92 8 x 4 way 'Y' connectors
$209.28 3 x Pairs 700 mm 125 kg locking drawer slides
$62.50 1800 x 1200 x 2 mm aluminium sheet remaining from my rear door card project (1200 x 2400 sheet was $79.77)
$19.24 100 x trumpet head metal screws (25 mm)
$6.05 25 x M6 x 40mm bolts and nuts
$3.90 M6 washer pack
$22.00 1200 x 900 x 7 plywood
$3.05 12 mm x 1 m aluminium tube
$Free A length of 40mm square galvanised tube I had left over from another project
$Free 2 x 40 mm square plastic end caps as above
$Free Some 1/4 SS Bolts, nuts and washers I had around the shed
$18 2 x 10mm Turnbuckles
$10.50 2 x M10 85-100 mm bolts
$4.13 2 x M8 60 mm bolts

$565.31 Total so far

Consumables:
$16.93 Pack of 5 sheet metal jigsaw blades

Tools Used (to date):
Tape measure
Sharpie
Cutoff Saw
File
Dead blow hammer (Best tool EVER! Or you can use a less awesome rubber mallet)
Jigsaw
F clamps
Drill and bits
Some wood offcuts for clamping and drilling
Straight edge
Philips screwdriver (or driver bit if you are feeling lazy)
Your preferred grades of sand paper
Hacksaw
Masking tape
Rags

17. After letting the turnbuckle issue marinate for a little while - it was annoying me that because the frame comes so close to the side trims at the front, the turnbuckles wouldn't be able to turn, and if I spaced them out so they would, then It would be cumbersome so slide objects down the sides of the drawer assembly and impractical to remove the tail light / aux electrics / SLS air intake trim covers. Then I saw some galvanised tube I had spare and thought - that looks like it would fit over the tie down points - viola!
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18. An M8 bolt goes through the eye of the tie-down D inside the square tube, then an M10 bolt goes through the tube at 90 degrees and into the frame. Once they are bolted, they are pulled to tension by tightening the two turnbuckles at the back of the frame, that don't foul on the frame. Black caps on the top of the square tube make it all finger friendly.
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19. I was very careful when drilling to use masking tape and some old towels to prevent any swarf getting into the drawer slide mechanisms.

The frame feels very solid now everything is tied down to the vehicle.

20. I cut the flanged section for the sides of the bases of the fridge slide and draws to length, but feel the flange is too small to support the internal ply properly, so I will probably end up rotating these tubes and sacrificing some drawer depth for the extra strength of screwing into the top of the tubes rather than the little flange.
IMG_0379.jpg

Hope to get the fridge slide and drawer internals finished off this week - stay tuned!

Materials cost (to date):
$145.37 30 m (5 x 6m lengths) 25 mm square tube
$31.63 6 m lipped (flanged) 25 mm square tube (they only had black coated in stock, so I got that for the price of uncoated.
$19.01 24 x 3 way 'Y' connectors (qubelok or cube lock or handyman or whatever brandname you want. Mine came from Ullrich.)
$2.73 4 x 2 way corner connectors
$7.92 8 x 4 way 'Y' connectors
$209.28 3 x Pairs 700 mm 125 kg locking drawer slides
$62.50 1800 x 1200 x 2 mm aluminium sheet remaining from my rear door card project (1200 x 2400 sheet was $79.77)
$19.24 100 x trumpet head metal screws (25 mm)
$6.05 25 x M6 x 40mm bolts and nuts
$3.90 M6 washer pack
$22.00 1200 x 900 x 7 plywood
$3.05 12 mm x 1 m aluminium tube
$Free A length of 40mm square galvanised tube I had left over from another project
$Free 2 x 40 mm square plastic end caps as above
$Free Some 1/4 SS Bolts, nuts and washers I had around the shed
$18 2 x 10mm Turnbuckles
$10.50 2 x M10 85-100 mm bolts
$4.13 2 x M8 60 mm bolts
$Free an offcut of 7mm ply that was big enough for the fridge slide.

$565.31 Total so farConsumables:
$16.93 Pack of 5 sheet metal jigsaw blades

Tools Used (to date):
Tape measure
Sharpie
Cutoff Saw
File
Dead blow hammer (Best tool EVER! Or you can use a less awesome rubber mallet)
Jigsaw
F clamps
Drill and bits
Some wood offcuts for clamping and drilling
Straight edge
Philips screwdriver (or driver bit if you are feeling lazy)
Your preferred grades of sand paper
Hacksaw
Masking tape
Rags
Draw slider internal screw hole template on a length of aluminium flat bar
21. After cutting the flanged section to length (650 mm) I carefully measured the distance between the drawer slides closed and extended. Then I carefully measured it again. 418 mm for me.
IMG_0386.jpg
Cut and filed to size, knocked it together with the two way right angle connectors and it fit perfectly.
IMG_0387.jpg

22. Then I made up the ply sheet that sits inside the perimeter flanged lip, did a couple of cutouts for the tie down straps to pass around the tubes and screwed it down.
IMG_0388.jpg

23. Had to make a template of the slider hole positions because I didn't want to take the assembly out of the car and was too lazy to tape the slide shelf in place while marking.
IMG_0389.jpg

24. The shelf screwed in nicely. 7 Screws on each side of the inner rail, not going anywhere anytime soon.
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25. The moment of truth. Test fit our fridge Engelbert and realised the lashing straps I had lying around weren't long enough will have to pick up some more.
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26. ...and Engelbert sits comfortably in his new home.
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Next update I will remember to hold my phone sideways when photographing. Hope no one gets a sore neck.

Not sure if ur aware, but judging from the pics ur car seems to be lying on its side! Thought I'd point it out as it's easy to miss

Two for one! This is Friday night and today/

Materials cost (to date):
$145.37 30 m (5 x 6m lengths) 25 mm square tube (only used 4 out of 5 lengths)
$31.63 6 m lipped (flanged) 25 mm square tube (they only had black coated in stock, so I got that for the price of uncoated.
$19.01 24 x 3 way 'Y' connectors (qubelok or cube lock or handyman or whatever brandname you want. Mine came from Ullrich.)
$2.73 4 x 2 way corner connectors
$7.92 8 x 4 way 'Y' connectors
$209.28 3 x Pairs 700 mm 125 kg locking drawer slides
$62.50 1800 x 1200 x 2 mm aluminium sheet remaining from my rear door card project (1200 x 2400 sheet was $79.77)
$19.24 100 x trumpet head metal screws (25 mm)
$6.05 25 x M6 x 40mm bolts and nuts
$3.90 M6 washer pack
$66.00 3 sheets of 1200 x 900 x 7 plywood
$3.05 12 mm x 1 m aluminium tube
$Free A length of 40mm square galvanised tube I had left over from another project
$Free 2 x 40 mm square plastic end caps as above
$Free Some 1/4 SS Bolts, nuts and washers I had around the shed
$18 2 x 10mm Turnbuckles
$10.50 2 x M10 85-100 mm bolts
$4.13 2 x M8 60 mm bolts
$Free an offcut of 7mm ply that was big enough for the fridge slide.
$30.00 Pair of cambuckle tie downs

$639.31 Total so far

Consumables:
$16.93 Pack of 5 sheet metal jigsaw blades

Tools Used (to date):
Safety glasses, ear protection, overalls, boots.
Tape measure
Sharpie
Cutoff Saw
File
Dead blow hammer (Best tool EVER! Or you can use a less awesome rubber mallet)
Jigsaw
F clamps
Drill and bits
Some wood offcuts for clamping and drilling
Straight edge / square
Philips screwdriver (or driver bit if you are feeling lazy)
Your preferred grades of sand paper
Hacksaw
Masking tape
Rags
Draw slider internal screw hole template on a length of aluminium flat bar
Ratcheting screwdriver or 1/4 inch shifter
Small chisel
35 mm hole saw

27. Knocked up the drawer internal frames. Side ply is on the outside to maximise internal space, the base ply sits nicely inside the flanges on the back and sides. I deliberately left it secured by gravity alone, so if anything gets spilled or impacts the base it is easy to replace.

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28. Stay hydrated when working with power tools late at night.
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29. Only managed to get the sides and base of the top drawer finished Friday night (and the frame for the bottom drawer). Took it for a test run on Saturday.
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Fridge moved a tiny bit off road. Going to put some locating bolts under the feet to stop lateral movement.

30. After making all the qubelok I had exactly this much left, plus an uncut 6 m length.
IMG_0414.jpg
Only needed 24 m!

31. Finally got around to removing (the bloody heavy) rear seats today. Didn't have a T50 bit... so now I have a complete set of Tamperproof Torx bits! I don't know if I love or hate whoever invented them. It makes the length of the drawers a bit of a non-issue for now, but one day the seats will go back in.
IMG_0440.jpg

32.
All four drawer slider mounting patterns were pre-drilled from my template. I very very carefully removed the innermost rail from the drawer slide, keeping it out of the aluminium swarf, filings and sawdust to not get the lubricant contaminated. Then screwed the 7 locating screws through on both sides, then re-mounted very carefully, making sure not to damage the bearings (or to straighten the one that got caught...... anyway).
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33. Tada! Two drawers. I had to chisel a little notch in the rear right of the bottom drawer to accommodate the bolt for the turnbuckle on that side.
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34. Ran out of pictures, next post.

34. Made and secured aluminium plates to the rear of each drawer.
IMG_0446.jpg

35. Hole saw + Jigsaw = drawer handles. Sits just under the frame rail.
IMG_0447.jpgIMG_0448.jpg

36. Drawers are done!
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37. New home for the manual
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I was a bit worried about the internal volume when I made the frames, but now it is all together, there is a lot more room than I thought.
Just need to carpet the top, put L trims on edges and I think I am going to use the left over ply to make a fascia over the front of the aluminium frame so it looks more schmick (and the CFO has requested for prettiness).

Hopefully only one more part to go!

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Conceptual question: do you actually need slides?
I decided not, which saved a lot of money and weight.
Just a thought...

My dad built many many sets of rear drawers for various range-rovers, pajeros, cruisers and whatever other 4wds we owned over the years.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY WAY before drawers in the back of wagons was the trend, never had fancy ball bearing slides, never had fancy carpet or fridge slides or none of that junk, but they still lasted and lasted and lasted, and im pretty sure most are still stashed away under his house somewhere in As Good condition.

From the Landrovering Gentlemans Journal:

"A gentlemans regional touring conveyance should be representative of his own particular style, acumen, proficiencies and proclivities.
Just because one can do without, does not mean one should. In the end, what would a grand tour of the southern continent be without style."

Now to choose between the Walnut and the Golden Oak stains.
Tally ho!

Any idea of the weight of your unit?

All the best

Laurie