This has been a long time coming. I drew up the plans for the box last summer had slowly worked on it ~ 1 weekend a month due to family and work obligations. I finally finished it this evening.
One thing I've learned from Reddit, always post the finished product first.
Crude sketch up:
First cuts and box assembly:
The box and drawer faces are all 3/4" birch plywood. The drawers are all 1/2" birch plywood.
I cut out the bottom to save weight and to salvage wood for the drawer faces. I don't have a workspace in the garage so that's why the cuts are not as clean as I would like...
Sliders are in and fit testing in progress:
These are Fulterer FR5400 locking, full extension drawer slides. While the 450 lb capacity is overkill, I wanted full extension, lock open drawer slides so the options were kinda limited. I found the best price here:
Heavy Duty Fulterer Drawer Slide 450 lb Capacity Locking Side Mount Full-Extension Ball Bearing Zinc Plated Sold As Pair FR5400.L Series
Tie down hardware:
These are some hefty turnbuckles I got from Home Depot combined with a C link shackle since Home Depot doesn't sell double hook turnbuckles and the ones online are ridiculously expensive.
The D rings I got from Amazon (
Robbor D Ring,Tie Down Anchor 4 Pk) and are secured with carriage bolts and washers with nuts on the inside of the box.
My link is set to Amazon, but the forums redirect to eBay for some reason.
I made sure there was plenty of clearance between the drawer and box for hardware and such.
You can also see best in this picture how I used T nuts and bolts to secure the drawers to the sliders. I went with this method so I can remove the drawer if necessary to get something that may fall under or behind. The box will be carpeted as you'll see soon, and the sliders are not removable once installed. This was really the only option I had unless I wanted a ton of large nuts on the inside of the drawers.
Lid to the box is secured and carpeting is complete:
I used a roll of cheap scrap carpet I found at Home Depot for $25. It was more than enough for everything. It is essentially really cheap indoor/outdoor carpet. I secured it with spray on Gorilla Glue and 1/2" staples from my air powered staple gun.
Drawers are installed:
Wings are sized and cut:
I just used cardboard and cut out the shapes I needed until I was satisfied. Then I traced the shape of the cardboard onto 3/4" birch plywood for cutting with my jigsaw. I also relocated my "personal patches" to the box and plan on leaving only trip related patches on the headliner.
Wings getting installed after carpeting:
I bought a piano hinge for the fold away drawer face wings. I cut it in half so I had some for each side of the box. It was plenty. I made sure to keep the face panel wings flush with the drawer faces. The top wings were secured with cabinet door hinges. I chose this route instead of more piano hinge because I wanted it to look seamless from the outside. A standard hinge underneath would not work so I am left with this. It was a snug fit but it works well. I probably could have found a better hinge solution if I went to a cabinet shop (unlikely to be open due to COVID), but I just stuck with what I could find at Home Depot.
I thought I got a picture of it, but I put a 1x3" wedge of sanded down plywood on the underside of the main wings as a stopper to keep the front facing wings in place and to prevent them from being pushed in without the top wing being opened.
The sleeping platform:
The sleeping platform I did today was the last piece of the puzzle. It is a 32"x36" sheet of 3/4" birch plywood that had been my "workbench" (plywood and plastic sawhorses) for this project.
The connection to the back of the box is two sets of two "L" shaped brackets screwed into the panel that were spaced about 1/8" out from the edge to fit into two larger brackets that were spaced 3/16 away from the box with washers. This connection is essentially a hook in loop system. I didn't take pictures but can if someone really wants to see it.
Sleeping platform legs:
Another Home Depot sourced item, the legs. They were pre-treated and had a bolt already installed. I just cut some plywood scraps to length to make sure the platform was level, then cut the legs to the same length on my table saw. Then I just used more T nuts up under the bottom of the platform to secure the legs in place. This is actually not very stable and I will likely be looking for a replacement leg solution in the future. I wanted a folding set of legs, but I did not want to try to create something from random pieces at HD. I know there are folding brackets online but this will do for now.
Side note, if for some reason you weren't aware, the seat bottom is secured with only one bolt for each side. It is super easy to take out and put back in. Definitely a must for long trips when the seats aren't needed and you want a platform like this.
The finished product one more time:
The area on the left above the drawer is intended to be a pull out cutting board/work table. I haven't figured out what to put in there just yet. The space accommodates a 1" thick piece of material that can go the entire length of the box. I was considering buying a made to cut shape of cutting board, but if someone has a better idea that won't weigh as much, I'll all ears!
The plan is to have a fridge on top on the driver's side (left drawer in this image) with the work table pull out just below it. Recovery and similar stuff will be in the left drawer and foodstuffs in the right. At least that's the plan for now.
Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions.
__________________
2020
Army Green TRD Pro -
Trips and Mod Thread
Former owner of a 2018
Cavalry Blue TRD Pro, a 2015
Nautical Blue Metallic Limited with 3rd row, still the managing owner of my wife's 2013 PriusC III.