Rear Storage Drawers Features - What is the best?

No Rattles! That's why I bought one instead of making my own. I hate rattles. I removed it (Black Widow) from my patrol a week ago as I am putting it in my new 100 series when it arrives and I recon about 1/4 of all the bolts were loose. One of the anchor bolts had worked its way out 10mm! It was installed by a 4WD accessories shop - not impressed. I will be using loctite and silicone to make sure it stays tight.

I have a fridge slide and recon it is a necessity if you have a fridge.
Cheers
Justin

Stan

Mine are from 4wd Interiors - Cairns supplied and fitted by my favourite 4x4 shop.

I have the fridge slide, water tank and storage box, Top gear no rattles and handle heaps of weight in the draws (drag chain, hand winch etc etc). Have my recommendation.

The thing to watch is how the fridge mounts. I have a 39 litre Engle which mounts on the slide above the draws. This is quite high and I carry a small step to place on the ground ( My better half is NOT impressed with the fridge height ). The Fridge slides in an out without a problem. You may wish to give serious consideration to making sure the fridge is lower mounted ( can be done with this system).

Watch the fridge clearances in a Prado with draws. I am told the high mounting can be very tight. A fridge bigger than about 40 litres will probably require low mounting.

There are a number of these systems around. I am very happy with my choice.

Regards

Paul

With regard to the tight fridge fit in the Prado, I was reading somwhere else on this forum (can't find it again), that a large Waco 80l will fit with a fridge slide. I'm not sure which brand it was though.

Cheers,

Greg

Stan,

- Whatever you go with, make sure that the fridge has a housing over it - otherwise when you pull the fridge out, everything will fall down behind it.. Not so much of a problem in camp when you're unloaded, but unworkable for a morning tea or lunch stop.

- if your inclined to have two low drawers with a fridge on top, model it first to make sure you are happy with it - I did and I wasn't ;-)

- work out how you are going to do your water too - if you do like mine, and have jerry cans behind the seat, then this will influence the drawer depth. (having pumped water at the back of the car is heaven after having lifted jerries in and out for a while!)

- if you go with a low mount fridge, I'd recommend 3 drawers rather than two, as you get much more "surface area"

- definately get "wings" on the side so that you can hide away all the stuff you don't often use - almost like another drawer each side.

- I had mine made by Offroad Systems - cheap for what you get - see previous comments at Site Link

If you are interested in the water setup I did, or the drawer system I ended up with you can see it at Site Link

We think that having the fridge at floor level is the most important design idea unless your wife is 2 m tall. We have the fridge on the left and two drawers on the right. The fridge goes into it's own alcove so there is no need for a cover. Also having water on tap at the rear, gravity fed, is a help.

Hi Stan,Darren at ATS Geelong stock a good set up as I have seen it in Joe`s Prado.Is as light weight as you can get while being strong.His set up has 2 drawers on the right,fridge on left.

No affiliation,othet than he is an LCOOL member who doe a great job.

Regards Paul Klat.
www.lcool.org - Landcruisers Owners On Line

The # 1 feature of a boxing system would be mounting the fridge on 100kg slides as low as possible so you can see what's in it from the ground. This allows for 2 draws beside the fridge with a shelf above. With this type of system you can access all your gear without anything piled on top. The Height of a fridge leaves just enough gap to the roof to slide plastic storage crates, a pram or a swag on top. The height of each 2 draws should match the items you need to pack. For me 270 was the magic number with everything from oil containers & camp ovens to tupperware fitting in that space. Layout all your gear on the shed floor, measure it up then build to suit. I'm yet to see a commercial boxing system fit anyone's gear properly. The draws are either too small to fit stuff or too big & waste space.
By not covering the wheel arches with false floors (as many do) you can often fit 10 to 20 litre jerrys in the rear corners & still keep access to the factory storage areas in the sides.
Mounting the unit can be by hooking under the 3rd row seat brackets & turnbuckles to the standard tiedowns in the corners allowing for quick & relitively easy removal (15 min) so the 3rd row seats can be replaced for carting the soccer team around.
After building 4 box's now for various cars the lightest system I've found that's strong enough to stand outback roads is by building the frame out of RHS & angle steel, weldmesh sides (fridge ventilation) with a plywood shelf. Aluminium draws are easy to fabricate & waste no space. (unlike the folded steel types) Waterproof carpet adds to the weight but is nessesary to stop rubbing & rattles.
I've seen a couple of systems now where a space is left between the box & the rear seats so 3 water jerry cans can be stored side by side. A small 12 volt pump & hose with trigger tap run to the back makes for easy water access. By folding the rear seat forward jerrys can be filled, lifted in & out or the suction hose moved to the next one.
A half height cargo barrier bolted to the front of the box keeps everything safe without wasting space.
ATS are probably the closest to this type of system if you want something pre built but for around $800 a handy man should be able to put something together with the help of an engineering workshop for the sheet metal cutting/folding & mig welding. It's a fiddly & time consuming job to get it right that make many wish they just bought one off the shelf :-)
Cheers Craig.................
Homemade boxing system in 105 Cruiser.

definetley the fridge slide being strong!!

we built ours ouselves and because we have to little girls who are still needing their car seats strapped in we had to have them still bolted to the bass and so build the draws to end at the bolts.....

but when we put the floor over the top we did it so that the floor has 2 holes where the straps go through and then cut a lid out of the floor so that behind the draws and between the 2 setsof straps there is a hidey hole where we stash our recovery gear!! best thing ever this hole....even fits the first aid box in!!

we even did ours so that we have a spot either side of the draws for 2 x 22lt water jerry cans that fit perfectly because they are in front of the wheel humps....

another ting is the draws being able to come out all the way and still support the weight.....

IMHO the people who make draw systems are making a killing off what they do and even though they are good at what they do - if you can do it your self then do it and have the enjoyment and keeping lots of money in you pocket!!! ours cost a total of $50!!! we aquired most of the runnning gear out of the in-laws old kitchen draws and Nathan welded the fridge slide himself.....the Navy also donated haps too seeing that they were throwing it all out anyway!!!

have fun......

Laura B

Fridge down low - eg on the deck.. specially if the missus is small, or you want kids to get their own drinks out.

then go 2 draws on one side.