Been awhile since I posted because all our spare time recently has been devoted to designing, sourcing materials and building a rear storage system for our GU. Completed it in nice time for our
Easter which proved to be a good
test run for our handy work. We're extremely happy with the end result and VERY happy with the ease at which we can now access all our gear. No more digging in boxes and crates. YIPPEE!!!
We recognised the need for a storage system quite some time ago and after first deciding to build our own, then deciding we didn't have the time, then researching commercially made units and not liking the price too much we finally bit the bullet and went down the DIY road.
The design of the unit was basically dictated by the size of fridge and the fact that neither of us are 6ft tall so we wanted the fridge to remain as low as possible. Hence putting the fridge on a slide on top of a twin drawer system was out and fridge on one side with stacked drawers on the other was in. Also, as we rarely need to use our recovery gear we decided that the premium storage space in the drawers would be used for food and other regularly accessed gear. Recovery gear, jump starter pack etc goes into the side compartments above the wheel arches where it is still easy to get to anyway.
The unit is constructed of aluminium square tubing connected together using various plastic joiners. Some of you may know this as the Qubelok system (thanks for the tip Truckster) although we actually used a rival product from Ulrich Aluminium. The advantages of this system are that it is extremely strong, lightweight and very easy to use. (I can vouch for just how strong the aluminium is since my hubby's best mate ended up using an offcut as an extension bar when trying to loosen plugs on the GU's driveline recently. He's a diesel mechanic with over 20 years experience and he reckons they were the hardest he'd ever come across. Anyway, the aluminium bar ended up dented and battered but stood up under the abuse - much to his amazement).
After working out the basic design we most of the had the aluminium cut to length by the supplier so all we had to do to complete the basic frame was to knock in the connectors. We then riveted to this plywood of varying thickness depending on the location. We spent a lot of time researching the options for heavy duty drawer runners but in the end after experimenting with weights etc decided that a simple solution of running the bottom edges of the drawers along 3mm aluminium angle lined with a gloss laminex would do the job. Also by now we had decided to go for 3 drawers rather than 2 very deep drawers so the carrying weight of each would be less. In fact we bought and had the laminex cut but never ended up using it as it just wasn't required. The two aluminium surfaces slide over each other very easily, especially once hit with a bit of dri-lube. With the drawers loaded up over
Easter we were able to open and close them with no noticable effort. Even our 4 year old was easily able to access the drawers.
For a fridge slide we purchased a ready made slide and fitted that to a base board. Fitting is easy and simply involves doing up 4 bolts threaded into Tee-nuts fixed to the underside of the base board. The entire finished unit including drawers weighs about 25kg with the single heaviest component being the fridge slide which adds about another 20kg. For this reason we fit the fridge slide after the unit has been fitted in the vehicle. The storage unit is fastened into the vehicle using existing tie-down points and also leaves access to the child restraint points. Fitting and removal of the unit including fridge slide can be handled by one person (although its overall size makes it a little awkward for one person to lift) and takes about 20 minutes.
Because we have a full length cargo barrier and the overall length of the unit was dictated by the available space at the top of the fridge height we've ended up with an unused space between the barrier and the lower part of the unit. Our plan at some point in the future when we no longer need to use the child restraint points is to have a
water tank custom built to fit into this space.
To finish off we made removable panels to cover the front and tops of the side compartments and covered the entire unit with outdoor carpet. Lockable latches were fitted to all drawers for extra security. There's not a lot of space left between the top of the unit and the ceiling but we managed to buy two shallow crates (one for footwear, another for kids toys etc) which ride on top against the barrier. We fitted a low barrier on either side of the unit to prevent them slipping sideways. In front of these there is just enough space left for the stroller which fits snuggly between the pillars.
We had very few problems with the construction but realised along the way that we hadn't quite allowed enough space between the top of the LHS
barn door and fully extended fridge for the lid to clear the door frame. Those with a GU will know that the LHS
barn door doesn't open out a full 90 degrees but there is a bit of slack in the hinges so this problem is resolved by giving the door a bit of hip when opening the fridge to enable the lid to clear the door. We decided if this proved to be a problem we'd buy a set of those aftermarket hinges that enable the door to open wider. However over
Easter we realised this was actually a blessing because when parked on a uphill slope the lid has a tendency to fall closed and the door frame actually holds it up. (This is clearer in the pics).
Anyway, I've uploaded some pics here for those that are interested.
:o) Melissa