Poor man's drawers and tilt fridge slide

**CanadianRyan** · 30th August 2019, 01:01 PM

After seeing a few of my mate's custom drawer and touring setups, I started to investigate the options for my 08 D3 TDV6. I liked the look of the Drifta system but the cost plus freight put me off. "There must be a cheaper option" I thought... and I like working with my hands, so down the DIY path I went. Over the past few weekends I started to piece together a system that looks half decent and functions how I want it. Below are some photos of the process...
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The basic ply boxes assembled. I didn't take any photos before this one. Slides came from Dunn and Watson via ebay, plywood from Bunnings.

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Carpeted inside and outside. Carpet and spray adhesive also from Bunnings.

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First install into back of D3, with wings fitted and kayak handles off ebay installed. I used turnbuckles hooked to the existing luggage tie down points to secure.

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Onto the fridge slide. I have a Waeco 45L fridge, and was going to be too high to access easily without a tilt/drop down option. I looked at all the options online (expensive) and again decided to put one together myself. Partially because of the cost and partially because the ones that would fit were too wide for my liking. Thankfully I had all the steel already, so the only expense I had was the slides ($70 from Bunnings)

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I also decided to install a ARB compressor in the back, which sits inside the left wing cavity and is screwed into the side of the drawers. Again, the switch/outlet panel was custom made from scrap steel I had. One of the features I really wanted was a system that was easy to remove so I could keep the utility of the rear seats when family visits etc. Doing it myself, I have all the wiring easily accessible to unclip, and the turnbuckles undo quickly. After that's done, it just slides out... about 5mins to remove I reckon.

All in all I'm happy with how it turned out, and if I find the fridge gets too heavy as I age... I'll design a negative gas strut setup to compensate.

Just thought I'd share this for all you budding DIYers out there who are contemplating something similar. Overall I put about $400 into the drawers, and $70 into the slide, but had steel and various other supplies on hand. Cheers
Ryan

**Aussie Jeepster** · 30th August 2019, 01:37 PM

Naturally, you remembered access to the winch for the spare wheel!?
Alan

**trout1105** · 30th August 2019, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by Aussie Jeepster

Naturally, you remembered access to the winch for the spare wheel!?
Alan

If you look closely at the images of the finished setup you will see the rear spare wheel carrier, No need to access the winch

**CanadianRyan** · 30th August 2019, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by Aussie Jeepster

Naturally, you remembered access to the winch for the spare wheel!?
Alan

Yes as trout1105 mentioned above... my spare is on the rear carrier so no need to access the winch. I hope to eventually fill that space with an extra fuel tank or water tank...

**BMKal** · 30th August 2019, 07:32 PM

Brilliant. Thanks for this - my next project is to modify my existing fridge slide to tilt as yours does.

I have a Boab drawer system in my D4 with the removable plastic boxes, and a conventional fridge slide on top of this. I have mounted my fridge on the right side of the vehicle so as not to block my rear vision any more than my spare wheel already does, and also because I can slide the fridge out without lowering the bottom tailgate (ideal for throwing the shopping in at the supermarket). However, there are times when I have thought that either a cantilevered fridge slide arrangement (very expensive option) or some sort of tilting slide like yours would be great to have. You have just shown me exactly what I am going to do.

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**Disco-tastic** · 31st August 2019, 08:24 AM

I've been meaning to do this for about 18months now but never got around to it. This has given me some motivation to get stuck into it!

I plan to mount the fridge on the floor with a 2 level drawer/ shelf system beside which incorporates the kitchen and a slide out table - similar to a Drifta setup - so i still need to plan it out a bit.

What weight capacity are your drawer slides?

Cheers.
Dan

**cjc_td5** · 31st August 2019, 08:56 AM

Nice idea. I take it the whole slide tilts up on the front hinges? You may need some form of barrier around the back of it, as I know that it if were mine, whenever I tilted it up, crap would fall in under the slide and I would forever be climbing up to clear it before I could tilt it back up.... Either that or squashing and breaking something fragile...

**loanrangie** · 31st August 2019, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by Disco-tastic

I've been meaning to do this for about 18months now but never got around to it. This has given me some motivation to get stuck into it!

I plan to mount the fridge on the floor with a 2 level drawer/ shelf system beside which incorporates the kitchen and a slide out table - similar to a Drifta setup - so i still need to plan it out a bit.

What weight capacity are your drawer slides?

Cheers.
Dan

Pretty much how I will do mine, I made a slide for my D1 and will reuse it in the new setup.
Mine won't be any higher than the storage bins either side and will be easy to remove.
Ideally a modular design so I can have just the fridge if I want.

**Disco-tastic** · 31st August 2019, 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Pretty much how I will do mine, I made a slide for my D1 and will reuse it in the new setup.
Mine won't be any higher than the storage bins either side and will be easy to remove.
Ideally a modular design so I can have just the fridge if I want.

Sounds like we're on the same page there! Im keen to see what you come up with

Poor man's drawers and tilt fridge slide

**CanadianRyan** · 31st August 2019, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by cjc_td5

Nice idea. I take it the whole slide tilts up on the front hinges? You may need some form of barrier around the back of it, as I know that it if were mine, whenever I tilted it up, crap would fall in under the slide and I would forever be climbing up to clear it before I could tilt it back up.... Either that or squashing and breaking something fragile...

Yes it all tilts on the front hinges. I've thought about putting a cage around it as a barrier, but we'll see how it goes over the coming weeks. Holland Track next weekend should test it thoroughly. However i don't think i'll have anything loose in the back to fall behind it, as I'm planning on using travel/storage boxes in the cavity to the right to maximise storage efficiency.

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