Cost of a drawer build compared to a purchase ?

[Neil Stone]

Hi guys
I'd like to get some drawers for the back of the 80, to sit behind the rear seats (to match the height of the seats when folded).
I've really enjoyed the various builds on the forum and would love to build my own......

BUT my question for all you DIY builders is.......what sort of material cost were involved for the finished article and how much time did you invest in the build?

I'm not sure if the material cost and time taken would exceed the cost of buying one?
(time does seem to be a scarce commodity these days and I'd have to buy a few tools too-if an excuse was needed ).


If I decided to buy, are there any particular recommendations for an 80?

Thanks, I look forward to your responses.

 

[Andrew Brierley]

I built drawers for my 120, but haven't done so for my 80. All-in, the materials ran to around £150 (excluding fuel for too many trips to B&Q!), but the time commitment was around 5 days. I'm not sure that this really helps, because I hadn't done anything like it before, and it was somewhat of a journey of discovery. However, I was happy with the end result, and it was a great feeling of achievement...

 

[Chris]

I have made just about everything for my Cruisers to date. Because I can and take pride in it plus it keeps me from having to cut the grass.

I bought drawers. I just knew that I couldn't match the fit and finish, lightness and strength plus the hours involved. Sliders? Made them because you can't really buy what I could make. Rear winch bumper, the same. On board air blah blah you get the idea. But when it came to storage, what I wanted was available to buy. Making things yourself hides the true cost. Now if you have no friends and are happy to wile away days and days in the workshop like me then labour is nothing. It's the value of what else you would be doing with your time, isn't it. If someone wants a job doing on their truck, then to me it's the cost of what I should be doing on mine. Make sense? Chuck in a price of £25 hr for weekend work and tot up what a set of drawers would be plus the materials. £150 is reasonable I guess, but two Sats and Suns to get them made up is nearly a grand. I worked out recently that at that rate which is pretty cheap let's face it, I owed myself at least £25, 000 in labour on this 80 alone. Anyway, that's all virtual BS I know.

Answer is - it all depends. If you are a genius with access to a drawer building factory, it's a no brainer. If you are a putz without even basic tools? Forget it.

Chris

 

[SpinDrift]

I built the storage system in my 90 and am now building a storage system for my 100. I would say it would costs around £150 (wood and fittings) and 3 to 5 days (depends on how complex you make it) to complete. Since I am doing the build myself, I dont factor the cost of the time in. If you create a plan with all the measurements, you can pop down to bee and que and have them cut all the wood accordingly FOC. It certainly comes out neater than what I cut and saves time - but double check the measurements because sometimes they do cut wrongly.

I had actually considered looking at a the storage system Chris bought for his 80 to see if it would fit the 100, but £150 versus approx £700 (Chris: was that the cost?) and the fact that I have spent lots on other things recently I went for the diy option.

 

[sae70]

I made my shelving/storage system from 18mm Ply

Here's a link to the build thread viewtopic.php?f=30&t=8370

Although there's no draws, there's plenty of space for storing all I need and its very adaptable as I carry all of my heavy off roading kit in a separate long box that I only carry when off roading for the weekend.

I also managed to incorporate a working surface for well working from off of and cooking on

........and the other great thing about the way I've made my storage system is that the entire thing can be removed in one lump in under 10min leaving nothing behind and using no tools to do so

In terms of cost and time I spent some time creating a cutting list that I took to B&Q where they cut every bit to the correct size for very little money (50p per cut, first four were free). I then bought it all home and spent no more than a weekend gluing and screwing it all together. Bit of paint and a few carpet tiles and all done for about £70/£80

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

If you can buy what you want for a price you can afford and time is short then that's the best option by far. Making them yourself works best when what you want isn't available, is more than you can afford, or you have lots of spare time. What I wanted wasn't available, the closest option was not a price I was willing to pay for a compromise and I could afford to spend the time making some so I did.

 

[Neil Stone]

Interesting stuff.
I could certainly do a ply system and just purchase the drawers.........

Thanks for the responses gentlemen

 

[Neil Stone]

Chris, where did you get your drawers (ooooeeerrrr Mrs)?

EDIT: are these the ones?
http://www.land-rover-mobile-storage-sy ... oyota.html

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Chris, where did you get your drawers (ooooeeerrrr Mrs)?

He got them from here http://senseofadventure.biz/index.php/t ... rawer.html

 

[SpinDrift]

Interesting stuff.
I could certainly do a ply system and just purchase the drawers.........

Thanks for the responses gentlemen

Both my systems have been made of 18mm ply for the carcass. I use plastic boxes as drawers (600mm x 400mm x 230mm). I have different boxes in which I store and carry recovery equipment, camping equipment, kitchen box, spares etc, so before a trip I just load the boxes I need depending on what I am doing - they are always ready to go - maybe just need topping up. I suppose you could say I operate a modular system

Plastic boxes from here: http://www.plastor.co.uk/

I have photos of the build so far. I'll post them up when I get a chance.

 

[Neil Stone]

Thanks Jon

 

[Graham]

Thanks Jon

.
Both exactly the same drawers aren't they?

Gra.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

Thanks Jon

.
Both exactly the same drawers aren't they?

Gra.

Yep.

 

[Paul_Humphreys]

Well I will be building my own in a few weeks time.

Sliders, £80 a pair for ones that will open 1m out and take 150kgs a pair ot £260 a pair that will take 300kgs at a meter out. As for the steel thats cheap and you have to add the catches and covering.

Paul

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I think the main challenge in making your own is making them strong enough to do the job without needing stronger springs to carry them before you even put anything in them.

 

[Chris]

That and making them look professional rather than an old chest of drawers hacked with an axe. Precision and 'design' take time. Nail gunning a frame together and sticking Tupperware boxes in it is easy. But looks carp.

Bought ones are well, proper and making home made ones to the same standard takes some doing. Personally I didn't want a boot full of hewn logs which is what it would probably have looked like. If you are rubbish with a saw, can't weld and simply dangerous with a hatchet, then it's a no brainer. Now actually I an none of those things, but frankly just couldn't be bothered to spend another three weeks scratching my chin. For me it was time. Your own time isn't necessarily free if there are other things you need to be doing. Which in this case, there was.

Stuck on a desert island with nothing else to do, I'd have had a go. So cost isn't the only factor, it's actual ability and desire to do it. These metal drawers are great in that there is much 'less drawer' than if you make them out of old floorboards. This gives a great capacity, good longevity and a much lower profile plus they are probably lighter and you don't have quite so many challenges on the build and finish.

Chris

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I'm not so bothered about how they look, more if they do the job they were designed to with as few compromises as possible vs bought ones. I had a good look at yours at the last Lincomb if you remember Chris and they are nicely made, but mainly not big enough for what I wanted or I probably would have just bought some as well.

 

[Chris]

Got to say Jon, I pack tonnes into them. You know me and 'stuff'. Plus they are lower profile which leave you plenty of room up top and they match the height of the folded seats which means you can still chuck a bed in there. Camped this weekend at an off road bash and have to say that I wanted for nothing. Including hot water of course . Storage was spot on. But I still intend to make use of the roof space with a upper level storage system too. I think if the drawers were any higher, I'd struggle to get the tonic water out of the fridge!

Chris

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

the drawers I had in the 100 were a similar depth to yours and were fine but then much later I put in a taller drawer elsewhere and I just found it a much more useful size. I think we're probably only talking about 60mm here but it can make all the difference Different horses for different courses

 

[Chris]

Remember I made the drawers in Lil Blue, so I am no stranger to a bit of carpentry and I came up with the electrical conduit idea. But having seen the work that went in from both Ben and Sam to make something that looked that good and having no space to do it in, my hand didn't take much forcing.

Chris