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Rattling Storage System

Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 11:53

Member - Geoff & Jen

My hubby is designing and building a storage system and is worried metal drawers on rollers will rattle.( He is fanatical about rattles) He wants to build it as light as possible and is concerned the metal may be a problem. They will be shallow drawers,carpet lined, as the bed will be on top of the unit. Has anyone found rattling a problem with metal, or is ply a better way to go? Thanks Jen
ThreadID: 5278 Replies: 10
Views: 363 FollowUps: 23
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AnswerID: 21820   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 12:14

Truckster (Vic) replied:

Im with Hubby on this one, I HATE rattles and clunks... they annoy me to hell.

I would "GUESS" that steel being steel it would clunk and rattle eventually some what as you have to have some movement in the system to allow the draws to slide open and shut..

Personal preference - Ply.

YMMV.
Reply 1 of 10
FollowupID: 14244   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 13:03

Member - Geoff posted:

Truckster, while you are in the same mind no rattle/clunk noise, what is your view of a half length roofrack? Geoff, being in the trade of mechanicall designing tends to want to make up his own. I suggested a metal mesh base and sides roof rack, with the base lined with caravan annex flooring, to stop movement and so as water can get through. He is thinking ply, mainly for rattles and less friction on the items it holds. This is all for our top end trip in Sept and we will be carrying the extra spare wheel and a toolbox for light recovery gear on top. We are open to suggestions from all the experienced. Thanks Jen
FollowUp 1 of 3
FollowupID: 14245   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 13:18

Truckster (Vic) posted:

I have a ply wood floor in an ARB rack. No rattles in it.. Depends if you want things to last, I did thats why I went ply....

Mate on this list makes Alloy roofracks, but seriously strong and light..... No rattles......

Its all trial and error I think.... But annoying...
FollowUp 2 of 3
FollowupID: 14251   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 14:25

Truckster (Vic) posted:

Tell hubby to look at

http://www.geocities.com/hay_dj/PatrolStorageSystem/PatrolStorageSystem.html if he wants simple and cheap.
FollowUp 3 of 3
AnswerID: 21826   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 13:17

Member - Willem replied:

I used 16mm MDF board. Strong as anything. I do not have many rattles as all my gear slides out and is packed in quite firmly but rattles don't worry me anyway. On my truck the windows rattle, the doors rattle and the dust still pours in. I am working on a solution. If you are building with metal then you may try using graphite to lessen possible rattles.

Cheers, Willem
Never a dull moment
Reply 2 of 10
FollowupID: 14253   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 14:51

Member - Wherethehellawi posted:

hey Willem,
silicon seals almost anything from dust! heheheRichard
FollowUp 1 of 5
FollowupID: 14255   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 15:08

Member - Willem posted:

Hi Richard,
I have pumped some silicon into the door rubbers and it has worked to an extent but I have a long way to go. I suppose the best is to bite the bullet and get new door rubbers( about $75 for my old truck ) from Clark Rubber. Seem to spend most of my money on petrol though and have to put up with the dust !!! :-)Cheers, Willem
Never a dull moment
FollowUp 2 of 5
FollowupID: 14256   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 15:22

Member - Wherethehellawi posted:

i note you have been out tourist driving again!

some people get it lucky!!!Richard
FollowUp 3 of 5
FollowupID: 14277   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 19:42

Member - Willem posted:

Its a hard life !!!Cheers, Willem
Never a dull moment
FollowUp 4 of 5
FollowupID: 14284   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 21:09

Member - Geoff posted:

You've done well, getting this far with just dust and rattles, if thats what it takes to have fun in a trusty old Nissan, go for it. The MDF should be a good goer as far as rattles go, but the weight maybe a little too much as we want to limit the load, as we want to bring home an ice box of fish;-)
FollowUp 5 of 5
AnswerID: 21831   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 14:02

Peter replied:

We currently use large plastic storage boxes with lids in shelves.
These are about 500 wide 800 long and 200 tall they are made by nylex and are opaque so you can see what is inside. they are very strong

Has a couple of points ie you can take boxes to place that they are needed food and cooking gear to camp kitchen. To clean empty and hose out. If anything breaks it is contained.

They may be a bit more difficult to pull out than roller draws.
If there is a lot of length put an opening in false floor under matress to access these parts of floor. We put stuff that is not essential all the time here.
Reply 3 of 10
FollowupID: 14285   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 21:20

Member - Geoff posted:

Yeh Peter, the plastic boxes sound a good alternative as far as practicality, especially when we will not be overloading the boxes, as there is only the 2 of us now. Have you travelled on rough road with the plastic, as we were wondering if it would wear with tinned food etc moving inside?? We are taking the back seat out of our Mav and storing under the bed through the back doors and also through openings in the bed base. Thanks for replying
FollowUp 1 of 3
FollowupID: 14291   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 22:37

Member - Howard posted:

Geoff
like Peter I use plastic boxes (6 off in total, 3 across 2 deep.)under a ply false floor. I also carry a couple of taller ones on top with food. Have done cape york, Gulf , gunbarrel and kimberlys and have no probs re strenght of plastic boxes. some of those under the floor hold recovery gears and others full of tinned food . In 4 years I have only busted out 1 roller from 1 case.
I do have a heavy rubber mat on top of carpet to make the boxes roll better.
I really like
1) you can see whats in each box as they are clear,and
2) the ability to remove from truck and put them out for easier access to contents at camp sites.
3) lids keep out most of the dust the truck doesnt.
regards
howard
FollowUp 2 of 3
FollowupID: 14346   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 15:33

GaryInOz (Vic) posted:

I've got three of the 75x40x18 plastic rollouts from the reject shop $40 or so total. Good thing about them is you can also remove them totally when you are home so you don't carry "dead weight" around town (better for security too). If you place them directly on carpet they don't roll fore and aft/side to side, just hold them down with a couple of occys, and pack-em tight- no rattles squeeks or crashes. Early days for me though, I'm in the process of kitting out my vehicle...

Also cheap as chips so you don't mind trashing one occasionally.
FollowUp 3 of 3
AnswerID: 21845   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 16:03

Alex H replied:

I made my cargo drawer system out of 19mm pine. I figured it was lighter than ply, and looked good as well. I haven't noticed any rattles, but I usually have the stereo up too loud!!
Reply 4 of 10
FollowupID: 14288   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 21:39

Member - Geoff posted:

Alex, we presume you didn't cover your pine drawers, did you have a steel frame with rollers or just have have slides ? We were wondering if the rollers caused a lot more rattling and were thinking maybe slides were the way to go. So if all else fails we will crank up the good old country music!
FollowUp 1 of 2
FollowupID: 14325   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 10:56

Alex H posted:

No , there is no frame at all, and no rollers. The botom edges of the drawer slide on the wood of the main "case" of the unit, and I lubricated the moving parts by rubbing a candle over them. This worked pretty well, and I fitted a barrel bolt to keep it shut - without the bolt the gunbarrel and the Gibb would both have had it rattling open.
Otherwise, Go the country music!!
FollowUp 2 of 2
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AnswerID: 21863   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 19:30

Rick replied:

Made my own with construction grade (econds) ply. Good - no rattles. Besides, I could make it at home - no tools to work steel /galv sheet with at home. The initial rollers were too light - so that cost an extra $ 120.

Regarding the roof rack, I have a full length rack on The GU, with a mesh floor. Used to have light 3 ply as a base, but I have taken that off, and just use 1 inch thick foam instead. Heaps easy, no rattles, and I can easily put a hole in the foam to tie things off onto the mesh floor - eg occies, rope. Sure is versatile + light + cheap.

Cheers
Reply 5 of 10
FollowupID: 14287   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 21:28

Member - Geoff posted:

Rick, thats what we need,versatile, light and cheap. The foam idea sounds as though it worked out well. Was your entire frame and drawers in the storage unit made of pine and ply and carpet covered???
FollowUp 1 of 2
FollowupID: 14307   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 08:00

Tony posted:

A lot of top weight when the foam gets wet.
FollowUp 2 of 2
AnswerID: 21876   Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 22:07

Member - Rick replied:

Geoff & Jen

No, the frame was 20mm galv tube, with mounting plates to the floor. Full width drawer slid in & out on proper runners, and top was heavy duty ply, covered with marine grade carpet.

Fridge, 4wd box of tools & recovery equipment etc(heavy) all sat on top, as did stove, bags of clothes, water drums etc. It worked fine.The drawer itself was compartmentalised ply construction.

I originally made it for our Ford/Mazda Raider. When we swapped to the current Patrol, had to shorten the length by 300mm!!!

CheersRick (S.A.) - ' It is better to travel hopefully than arrive'
Reply 6 of 10
AnswerID: 21898   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 09:50

Member - Glenn(VIC) replied:

Made mine out of ply and covered with industrial carpet. My vehicle is an 80 series. I realise that it is probably heavier than metal, but it suits me. Definately no shakes or rattles and it has survived many trips over different terrain. If you would like some photos, I could email them to you.Just Do It!

Reply 7 of 10
FollowupID: 14390   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 21:31

Member - Geoff posted:

Glen, Would like to see the setup you have so if you could send the photos to gocruise@bigpond.com We have had some great ideas coming from this question, so it shows there are some cluey designers out there. Jen
FollowUp 1 of 3
FollowupID: 14411   Submitted: Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 10:51

Member - Glenn(VIC) posted:

Hi Jen,

I will take some shots over the weekend and also see if I can locate the measurements etc I used. I will send to you next weekJust Do It!

FollowUp 2 of 3
FollowupID: 14426   Submitted: Friday, Jun 06, 2003 at 15:13

Member - Geoff posted:

Thanks Glen, that will be fine, very much appreciated. Jen
FollowUp 3 of 3
AnswerID: 21916   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 05, 2003 at 13:16

Cruisergxl replied:

I also made mine from ply, nothing beats good solid mass to stop rattles. When you cover your metal in carpet should deaden the noise a good deal though when your draws are fully loaded you get this accect anyway. I also cover my cargo barrier with all the bedding and that helps stop all the rattles from the back.

Draws over plastic boxes any time, so glad I built mine makes life much easier and if you choose the write draw runners you can lift the draws out and carry them to your camp (unless like mine they are so big you need to be built like Arnie!)
Reply 8 of 10
AnswerID: 22843   Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 17, 2003 at 23:18

Member - Glenn(VIC) replied:

Hi Geoff and Jen,

Sorry to take so long but I am trying to send the photos tonight. Unfortunately the attachment is 6MB so it may take a while. If you do not or cannot recieve the email, please let me know via this thread.

For a quick tip get the dimensions of the Outback Roller Drawers from their website www.4wdinteriors.com.

Good LuckJust Do It!

Reply 9 of 10
FollowupID: 15159   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 19, 2003 at 09:11

Member - Geoff posted:

G'day Glenn,
We have received your Email ok, although the photos will not open in the Adobe files so will try to unzip them tonight, after installing an unzipping program. (Maybe you have other ideas) Will let you know, thanks heaps, Jen
FollowUp 1 of 3
FollowupID: 15163   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 19, 2003 at 09:40

Member - Glenn(VIC) posted:

Hi Jen,

If you go to Tucows.com and download the freeware version of Winzip you will be then able to unzip the photos and view them normally.

CheersJust Do It!

FollowUp 2 of 3
FollowupID: 15178   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 19, 2003 at 11:42

Member - Geoff posted:

Thanks Glenn, I had just downloaded a free trial of winzip for the time being, and the photos turned out well, they should really interest Geoff when he gets home tonight. I can imagine him, as it is he has already thought of putting in a slideout table for two,plus many other detailed areas of comfort, and I can see he will get more ideas off your set up. Our unit takes up the full area from the back of the front seats, so as we can have our bed on top. Fridge under the head of the bed on one side and recovery gear on the other side. May be able to send you photos when finished if you like. Only 10 weeks to go before we head for the Cape. So not long now to have it finished. We have a disc at our office for winzip so he will bring it home and install it. Thanks Jen
FollowUp 3 of 3
AnswerID: 22997   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 19, 2003 at 13:32

Member - Glenn(VIC) replied:

Hi Jen,

I would love to see the finished product. It is always great to see what others have done in setting up their rigs. You can never stop learning.

Hope you both have a great time on your journey.Just Do It!

Reply 10 of 10
FollowupID: 15208   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 19, 2003 at 14:56

Member - Geoff posted:

G'day Glenn, We will take photos from the initial stages just incase it turns out bonza and we can help others holiday in comfort also. One great thing about this forum it is filled with the majority of sharing helpful people of the same mind, which brings a good feeling of trust in this world of selfishness. Many thanks. Geoff and Jen
FollowUp 1 of 2
FollowupID: 15218   Submitted: Thursday, Jun 19, 2003 at 16:50

Member - Glenn(VIC) posted:

I totally agree. Definately the friendliest forum I have used, that was of the reasons I became a member.

CheersJust Do It!

FollowUp 2 of 2

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