Rear drawer set up for LC105 series

I'm not a fan of many aftermarket drawer systems as they appear to be HEAVY.
Yes they are convenient, but if you are a handy person you can make what you want far lighter and cheaper. If you really want the extra of carpet well go for it.
These are at least 30% or more heavier than some thing you or a mate can make.

One glaring thing to me in all the pics is the fridges, while on slides etc are either one way round or the other, ie vents to rear of truck or inside facing forward.
This means there is almost no airflow around and through the condenser sections of the fridge which is essential for it to be able too cool or freeze.
All I have seen do not have provision for this airflow to be changed with cooler air. All fridges seem to sit in a stagnant pool of recirculating hot air which the fridge is creating by pumping the heat to the outside of the case.
This must make the fridges run either full or nearly full time. = flat battery quicker.

If you have a setup make sure you have a computer fan and flex hosing feeding cooler ambient air from a slightly open window or special vent made for the purpose.
This will keep the fridge as cool as possible in situ and also keep pumping air into the car the expel the hot air created by the suns rays. This means the fridge works less hard and the battery discharges slower, the vehicle is cooler inside.
You can't leave a child in a closed vehicle and a fridge feels the heat too. It may not die immediately like the child will but it won't be much good at fridging or even freezing.

It is a pity drawer makers don't seem to consider the fridge but make a hole for one.
35C day, vehicle 45C inside, fridge can only cool to about 40 below ambient working full time = hot lettuce and beer.

I made my own and did the fan thing too, never any problems.

Hi, no 2 which give you the flat surface on top,I built s my own and have 25 litres water tank behind the fridge as there is ample room with a 39 litres Engel fridge,as the fridge run in air all the time never had any problems in years of travel.

i built my own unit similar to No.4, though i have an 80ltr fridge in the back. in the rear section behind the fridge i've drilled 6 holes about 110mm in diameter to allow better air flow aswell as a small metal vent in the top shelf to allow some heat to escape when there isn't anything sitting above the vent (i try and pack the top shelf so it gets some air flow through there). due to the height of my fridge there isn't a lot of room to get stuff on the top shelf (your size fridge would work better), but i still manage to get our bags full of clothes up there plus some other gear. fridge has been there since 2006 and been to Cape York, through the Gulf and across The Simpson without issue thus far.
for us when we don't have the camper trailer along, food goes in the top draw (aswell as down the side sections) and tools / tool box and recovery gear takes up the bottom draw. axe, log splitter, umbrella and tent poles go under bottom draw. chairs, tent and sleeping bags go on roofrack in roofrack bag as there is 4 of us, so we leave the rear seat for the kids to sit in.
we have longrange tank so no wories about fuel, water goes in jerry can on rear bar and some more water usually gets stored in the rear of vehicle also in smaller containers.
the way i built the draw system all O.E storage pockets in the rear of vehicle are still accessible, so spares and other stuff are tucked away in them. all in all it does the job for us.

ignore the mess, there's stuff everywhere in this pic

I have a two drawer system with a built-in fridge slide.
The fridge is strapped to the slide when I'm using it, otherwise I have a flat surface for other times when I'm not camping. Don't underestimate this feature.

This allows the fridge to sit in an open environment with air circulation around the fridge vents. No need to bugger about wth computer fans, etc.

I find two drawers sufficient for most of my gear, with food items stored in two removable and stackable plastic drawers.

Each to his own I guess.

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Craig, with an arrangement such as setup02 where the fridge is housed in a 'tunnel' try to position the fridge so that its vents are at the 'end' of the tunnel in order to get best ventilation, although I understand that this may create some problem with the opening direction of the lid. The worst case is if the fridge vents are at the back of a 'closed' tunnel, but even if the back of the tunnel is open, there would be recycling of the hot exhaust air unless the vents are right at the end of the tunnel.

Craig like some above I'm not really impressed with the majority of storage systems on the market due to being so heavy, fixed permenantly & with draw sizes that don't fit my gear. This one below in my old 105 fitted a 73 litre Autofridge yet had far bigger draw space than most others. It's far lighter as well with the draws being alluminium, a RHS frame & weldmesh sides to assist with air circulation. Including a 1/2 cargo barrier total installation time was just 10 minutes meaning it could be removed easily to put the 3rd row seats back in. By not having infill panels on the sides you gain even more space & flexability. I could slide a 10L Jerry on the LHS & a 20L on the right. You may also consider fitting a tapered water tank in behind the fridge like these 50L water tank
Whichever way you decide to go ensure the fridge is mounted as low as possible to ensure easy access & removal. Your 3rd option for example is too high & can't be easily slid out with gear packed on the sides & obviously nothing can be packed on top.
Full height cargo barriers waste space too & aren't required with a storage system.

Cheers Craig....................

Hi Craig,

I have always made my own drawer systems and this is my 3rd incarnation. It has been in my 200 for some 4+ years now and has worked very well, both for touring and as a daily driver around town. It has a 60L water tank, invertor, ARB compressor, twin fridge slides and power outlets.



Depending on where I am travelling, I can have a wide combination of fridge and/or freezer space. There is a writeup of how I made it in my blog, if interested just click on the link below.

Cheers

Captain