80 and 100 Series drawers

[Scott]

My Drifta drawer unit and camp kitchen + camp table are still tucked up in storage if anyone is interested https://www.landcruiserclub.net/com...le-camp-kitchen-for-sale.142629/#post-1378090
Drifta do a substitute drawer to go in place of the kitchen for day to day use, I wouldn't think it would take too much effort to make a substitute drawer here in the UK.

I decided to keep it incase I needed it, but it still hasn't been used and is in as new condition. Its an impressive bit of kit, craftmanship and design.

 

[StarCruiser]

There's not much to show at the minute Bert. Just a pile of cut plywood for the drawer fronts. The drawings are only 2d so probably don't mean much to anyone other than me but I could tidy and post some I suppose. If I can get it built I'll certainly post up some pics then.

 

[Rosy]

@Scott wowza! you must be one hellava cook to need that setup on the road!

 

[Bert]

There's not much to show at the minute Bert. Just a pile of cut plywood for the drawer fronts. The drawings are only 2d so probably don't mean much to anyone other than me but I could tidy and post some I suppose. If I can get it built I'll certainly post up some pics then.

Hello SC....well, here are my 'very' rough plans at the moment. Not sure when I'll get them made as they've been in my mind for a bit now, but hope to finalise the dimensions sometime soon and get it done......

Rough idea of what I need for the main carcass....


Rough idea of measurements, I think I can achieve the 1,000mm between the wheel arches if I remove the plastic first....to be verified.


Rough idea of drawer construction......


As I said, all very rough at the moment, but you get the idea....

 

[chapel gate]

Hello SC....well, here are my 'very' rough plans at the moment. Not sure when I'll get them made as they've been in my mind for a bit now, but hope to finalise the dimensions sometime soon and get it done......

Rough idea of what I need for the main carcass....
View attachment 123658

Rough idea of measurements, I think I can achieve the 1,000mm between the wheel arches if I remove the plastic first....to be verified.
View attachment 123659

Rough idea of drawer construction......
View attachment 123660

As I said, all very rough at the moment, but you get the idea....

If you work to a 0.2 mm tolerance bert you should be making these!

 

[Bert]

If you work to a 0.2 mm tolerance bert you should be making these!

Hello CG.
I plan to cheat a bit and get the wood yard behind where I work to cut the parts for me and then self assemble. The drawer runners I'm looking at have +/- 0.2 so it stands to reason that's what to go with. The drawer depth I will increase a bit I think. I plan to fix the carcass to the bed using the same bolt holes for the rear seats. I think it'll work ok.
There's an option to get it constructed from folded aluminium (I work for a steelwork company) but I don't think I'm worried about it all that much, besides I think wood offers greater adaptability IMO.

 

[chapel gate]

What appeals to me about these drawers is they appear to be well thought out and tested, reasonably short lead time and they are a perfect fit in a 100. The downside is they are from the US so shipping and tax adds a lot to the price.

StarCruiser - The system you have planned is way too complicated for my needs.

chapel gate - If you can do something that fits as well as the US ones at a similar price point then I would be interested. I need them installed by early June, that is a hard deadline. Is that too tight for your current workload?

Ian

is the alu frame a big attraction? I can see they save some weight but I keep going back to three ply upstands and a segmented ply base. ive sourced and priced birch ply.

 

[StarCruiser]

I'm considering doing the same CG. Even though I've designed Ally upstands, ply may well be better. I'll be sticking with my Ally drawers though.

 

[chapel gate]

trees, the past, the present and the future...

 

[Ian Rubie]

is the alu frame a big attraction? I can see they save some weight but I keep going back to three ply upstands and a segmented ply base. ive sourced and priced birch ply.

The big attraction to me is the fact they have already been designed and tested. All the threads I read where people have scratch built stuff, the design stage is a pain and then there are a few development evolutions before the final item is good to go. This design has been through that and there are I would guess 50 or 60 sets of these drawers out there. That is a lot of real life testing, one truck has had a roll over accident and the drawers remained intact. That has a peace of mind value.

Another attraction is because there are so many of the drawers out there already there are a lot of people doing and publishing modifications.

Things have moved on a bit since I first posted and I'm now in casual discussions with the US vendor about licensing his current and future designs so that I could produce the kits here and hence avoid the air freight and import costs associated with them. As I say they are only casual discussions at the moment but if there is a market for them them I will look deeper into it.

Currently the range is double drawers for the 80 and 100 but a single drawer is just going through the testing phase.

So to revive and slightly rephrase my initial question, would people be interested in a self assembly, flat pack drawer system with a strong but light aluminium frame? Required skill level to assemble is similar to flat pack furniture. The only real build choice is if you want a cut out handle or a solid front so you can add your own design of handle as seen here. If you take a look at the thread I linked to in the first post you will see people have hinged the side sections, covered them in carpet, added LED lights to the drawers, added dividers etc etc.

 

[GeekOKent]

Would love some more details. But in principle count me in

 

[stumog]

Sounds like a good plan that Ian.

 

[chapel gate]

The big attraction to me is the fact they have already been designed and tested. All the threads I read where people have scratch built stuff, the design stage is a pain and then there are a few development evolutions before the final item is good to go. This design has been through that and there are I would guess 50 or 60 sets of these drawers out there. That is a lot of real life testing, one truck has had a roll over accident and the drawers remained intact. That has a peace of mind value.

Another attraction is because there are so many of the drawers out there already there are a lot of people doing and publishing modifications.

Things have moved on a bit since I first posted and I'm now in casual discussions with the US vendor about licensing his current and future designs so that I could produce the kits here and hence avoid the air freight and import costs associated with them. As I say they are only casual discussions at the moment but if there is a market for them them I will look deeper into it.

Currently the range is double drawers for the 80 and 100 but a single drawer is just going through the testing phase.

So to revive and slightly rephrase my initial question, would people be interested in a self assembly, flat pack drawer system with a strong but light aluminium frame? Required skill level to assemble is similar to flat pack furniture. The only real build choice is if you want a cut out handle or a solid front so you can add your own design of handle as seen here. If you take a look at the thread I linked to in the first post you will see people have hinged the side sections, covered them in carpet, added LED lights to the drawers, added dividers etc etc.

View attachment 123851

Ok good.
ill probable end up making a set anyway because that thought process has started..
i spent most of sunday in the back of a 100 series with a tape measure. Got some ideas along the flat pack and posted theme. My initial thoughts are coming in at about £350-£400 posted. They will look exactly the same as the ones pictured.
I can go from snowed under to a week or two of nothing if a job falls through..

 

[Ian Rubie]

If you are going to come in at that price point then there is no longer any point in me pursuing the US design. The ali frame factor will make the US ones at least 25% more expensive than that and with the very limited market here I don't think it is going to be worth me taking it further.

 

[StarCruiser]

This is sounding so familiar…

If you're familiar with my Gullwing production, I thought I had got the pricing right after many hours of deliberation only to find a while after that I had been paying people to buy them!!
I hate pricing!

 

[chapel gate]

a little progress, didnt have time to make and fit the brackets for the wings.

 

[chapel gate]

should be finished tomorrow, touch plywood..

 

[stumog]

They look great well done.

 

[chapel gate]

thanks stu.
with self assemble in mind everything is marked and pre drilled. the three uprights slot into grooves on the base and underside of the top, again pre drilled.

the wings can either be fixed or hinges can be put on or magnets. there is a fair bit of room in there..

 

[stumog]

They certainly look very neat.