my cheap assed draw set up. 98 GU st patrol wagon. cheap but works

Hi all, thought these pix might help anyone looking to do their own draw set up.

Materials cost under $300. The most expensive bits were the SKF bearings. The recessed part at the back of each draw is to house two 98ah Gel-Tech deep cycles ( I know the one in the pic is an AGM), when the draw is closed they are tightly secured. I still haven't finished yet as I still have to install a Ctek charger and associated bits and pieces, I will post new pix when it is all shmicko. Also I haven't forked out the coin for draw handles or latches yet, they ain't cheap, so if anyone has any suggestions would be good.

I only used 1 X 15mm, 1 X 12mm and 1 X 9mm sheets of 8X4 ply, was able to do this with a little bit of thought and was left with very little waste. All tech screwed and glued. I have seen on forums mention of the problem of the "mountainous" floor in the back, just cut around the bits that stick up. I used a bit of 3mm MDF to make templates for fitting the top panels. All was done in the garage with a 3 year old trying to pinch my tools and a 6month old terrorising the misses who in turn terrorised me.

The fridge slide fits a 40lt engle, JUST fits.

I know it aint perfect but it works, was cheap and is my first attempt.

any questions or suggestions welcome.
It was built basically in 6 steps:

1: sub frame/shell made/fitted
2: top panels fitted
3: draws made
4: draws fitted with runners
5: draw fronts made, carpeted and edged
6: top panels carpeted and edged

the sides still have to be covered in, will use something light. The charger will be mounted on the right hand side behind a switch and outlet panel.

the back of the draws slopes back to follow the cargo barrier, so little wasted space and it holds down the batteries nice and tight, basically built it around the batteries

how long did it take you to knock this one together??

well, it probably would have taken a week of after work garage time, a few hours of picking up bits and pieces and scratching my head,

but,

double that when you add time taken up by your 3yr old pinching your tools and "discussions" with the missus about "are you finished yet" and "can you just hold the baby for a second while I blah blah".

If I had the luxury of plenty of my own time then I would have done it a little neater, but I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

with the ally edges I cut a rebate with the router on the front and back edges of each panel/draw front, this way the ally is flush on the back and on the front it covers and holds the carpet edges, fiddly bits like this take time but are worth it in the end.

If you have curvey/bumpy/odd shaped bits and pieces that you have to fit the frame around, just take your time to make templates with cheap 3mm MDF 1st, it will help avoid any head aches making the end product fit. you can sand/trim/cut/join templates as much as you want and get them perfect before you cut up your expensive ply.

I have seen people cut the bottom out of the cargo barrier to give more room/allow deeper draws, but I couldn't justify cutting up a good strong cargo barrier and the extra space you might gain I thought was stuff all.

is there ''stoppers'' to stop the drawers sliding all the way out or do you just have to be careful then opening them?

nup, not yet, thats what the blue tape is for to tell my missus to stop pulling or it's going to end up on your toes. Would be easy to put some kind of stopper there, just haven't done it yet.

Looks like a great setup. I'm just looking for ideas for my own setup, and I think I might pinch your idea if you don't mind..

My hat goes off to you. Thats fantastic. I recently bought a GU and it had a drawer system in it made out of 12mm MDF! I took three blokes just to get it out of the car! That looks much lighter. Ever though to weight it in?

cheers for dipping your hat. Weight and cost is what it is all about, I haven't bothered to weigh it but believe me it's as light, cheap and strong as I could get it using ply. The bits of materiel cut out is just used some where else thats how I managed to get away with 1x12mm, 1x9mm and 1x15mm. Stand by for more pix of the electricals.