Building a low-profile drawer system for my Badlands - what's your input?

[j_4260]

Hi all,

I'd love your input and ideas on how to build my drawer system.

Requirements:
- Dual drawers
- Access to the jack storage compartment
- Access to the drawers without sliding them open
- Drawers will be for storing some recovery gear, camping kit, tools, accessories for pew-pew'ing.
- Relatively flat to allow me to sleep inside (probably the easiest requirement)
- I can build in my garage with power tools or hand tools

Construction materials (all up for discussion/debate):
- A mix of 80/20 aluminum, 1/2", 1/4" plywood
- 1/2" plywood for the frame and platform
- 1/4" plywood for the cabinet drawers
- Drawer hardware

In my first draft (pictured in the sketch), I have the platform opening with a pivot towards the front but in order for this design to work, the entire cabinet has to rotate upward.

This means:
- Need a pivot point to the platform top (to gain access to drawer contents)
- Need a pivot point to the entire cabinet

Any other approaches I can think about?

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[j_4260]

Ok - I was over-complicating this way too much.

For the frame I used some poplar lumber I had (3" tall x .75" thick) and picked up a 4' x 4' sheet of .5" plywood from Home Depot.

Measurements:

Front support: 41" long x 3" tall x .75" wide
Left and right supports: 28" long x 3" tall x .75" wide, using some scrap for the center support
Platform top: 41" wide x 31.5" tall x .5" thick

In the next week, I'll wrap the surfaces in black carpet, add some brackets to tie it down to the factory cargo points, and order a few gas struts to keep it open.

I'm going to skip drawers right now and use some plastic bins to keep my crap organized.

 

[popo_patty]

Following! I love custom builds

 

[j_4260]

Gas shocks came in and got them mounted tonight!

 

[AMCheese]

Looks great!

Why couldn't Ford do something like this and give us a flat cargo area?

 

[Callelk]

Looks great!

Why couldn't Ford do something like this and give us a flat cargo area?

They do have the pull out tailgate. With only a roughly 4" height, the drawers would not not be very deep.

 

[j_4260]

Looks great!

Why couldn't Ford do something like this and give us a flat cargo area?

Thank you!

When I first went about drafting plans, I had goals of putting drawers in and all that but I realized there's not a lot of space to work with.

After calculating the dimensions of the cabinet and drawer hardware, you're left with two drawers, with the approximately dimensions of 19.5" wide x 28" deep x 3" high.

As they say, "The juice isn't worth the squeeze." This keeps things tidy and I can use packing cubes or whatever to toss in the compartment when it's not in use.

Not having drawers is a feature and not a bug! . Sorry I'm a software nerd.

 

[scotman623]

Following for ideas myself..

 

[da_jokker]

I had had plans similar to create something as low profile as possible. However the reality of usable depth squash that.

For me, ironically as I went around measuring all the things I wanted to keep in the Bronco (air compressor, bottle jack, battery station, recovery gear, etc....everything came back at 8" .... Meaning if I could not fit something 8 in tall, there was no point.

i ended up with a split basically down the middle. 8" clearance on 1 side, and 4" clearance on the other (allows me to keep shorter things like fold up chairs), lock box, etc.

That is the basic core problem with all those systems that provid a "flat top"... The drawer depth is just not usefull.

 

[j_4260]

I had had plans similar to create something as low profile as possible. However the reality of usable depth squash that.

For me, ironically as I went around measuring all the things I wanted to keep in the Bronco (air compressor, bottle jack, battery station, recovery gear, etc....everything came back at 8" .... Meaning if I could not fit something 8 in tall, there was no point.

i ended up with a split basically down the middle. 8" clearance on 1 side, and 4" clearance on the other (allows me to keep shorter things like fold up chairs), lock box, etc.

That is the basic core problem with all those systems that provid a "flat top"... The drawer depth is just not usefull.

It's a shame with that silly seat height difference in the back - I saw some folks with Jeep Gladiators do a seat delete and install full-length drawers. Tempting for me but I still want to be able to bring friends along so this will have to do.

At least this provides me with a somewhat flat surface for sleeping in the Bronco too.

 

[j_4260]

Almost 100% done - I ran out of carpet!

 

[ColoradoChris]

Great job! looks fantastic. Wondering if you would share link for struts/latches and if you remember the cut out measurements for the rear latch on the platform. Thanks!!!

 

[j_4260]

Great job! looks fantastic. Wondering if you would share link for struts/latches and if you remember the cut out measurements for the rear latch on the platform. Thanks!!!

For sure!

Here are the latches. I chose locking ones so that when you put things on top, they don't accidentally open. Worked well during last week's camping trip. I'll get you some measurements in the morning for the cut-outs.

Here are the struts. I used the 13lb / 15 inch combo. I measured the weight of the platform to be around 20lbs.

The latches have little gaskets I traced to get a rough cut with my jig-saw then I sanded to fit with flat files.

 

[NVCowboy]

Have you found suitable bins yet? Even if you had to build shallow boxes, without all the drawer hardware it'd be possible to open the lid to access contents; simply pulling them out and placing them on the ground if it all goes bad, and you need the jack.

 

[Bellime]

I used aluminum rails with full extension sliders mount to give a nice pull out tray

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