Woodwork is one of my hobbies and I built some drawers for a friend's LC a few years ago. He spent around $2K on materials and, while they were very good, the materials were not top of the line. I figured the absolute cheapest we could have gotten by was around $500. They would have been barely functional. If you throw in any labor the cost goes up fast.
Good luck and best bet? Learn a skill!
Yes, it add up incredibly fast!
I'm kinda interested in a drawer system for my 4runner. My goal would be a very low profile one because I don't have the rear cargo slide and I'd like to store all my tools and crap in a low profile drawer system. Do folks think that the durability advantage of aluminum is worth the extra cost vs something like cabinet grade plywood?
Do you want to be able to sit/stand on the open drawers? Or just use them for storage of lighter weight items? The slides and the material the drawers are made out of will need to accommodate the extra weight if standing/sitting on them is a priority. For me I'm not sure I need that, but others may have different needs.
Is baltic birch plywood good enough or would marine grade plywood be better - okume or similar?
For me marine plywood is expensive to source. Like $150+ per sheet. Even high tech materials like polypropylene honeycomb with fiberglass is cheaper, 80% or so lighter, and stronger. I happen to have a bunch sitting around from a past project, but I just don't think it's worth the effort to save 10lbs. And I personally don't think buying expensive hardwood plywood would be justified for my own personal use, but I could be convinced otherwise. I'm just not sure on this one.
Do most people prefer a 2 drawer system or a single large drawer? I think the cost would go up by a significant amount for another set of slides - but the weight may be less or similar. The reason is that you'll need a relatively thick piece of material to span the full width of the cargo area for a single drawer, whereas you'll use thinner material for the top of the box if you have a central divider, and I think it would more than offset the extra weight of two additional slides and drawer sides.
Full extension slides are expensive. Are they a "must have"?
Also - if you were using wood - do the woodworkers think that fancy joinery is necessary? I absolutely love fine woodwork. I'm not sure this is an appropriate place for it because it's probably hidden all the time. Does it need to be dovetail jointed or something similar? My inclination is that it won't flex much on a regular basis and a simple rabbet joint would be adequate, but I am not a cabinet maker by any definition.
I would argue that wood is better than aluminum or steel. Wood has an infinite fatigue life as long as you don't exceed it's yield. Good luck breaking a quality baltic or similar. Aluminum is probably the worst option, for the drawers anyways. It's 1/3 the weight of steel but also 1/3 the strength. Don't get me wrong, each material has a place, but not for the drawers themselves. All metals will work harden and eventually fatigue, not to mention the "coke canning" that will surely happen with metal thin enough to be a reasonable drawer.
I use wood, steel, and aluminum in my systems. I use them where their strengths are an asset. Wood drawers, steel slides, bolts, and cages, and aluminum brackets. They all have a place.
As far as wood- for this application marine ply is no better than baltic. Both need to be coated for moisture resistance, and neither will be "below the waterline", so Baltic is the best cost/benefit imo. With quality Baltic you could even get away with things you can't in regular ply, such as screwing into the edges. Not recommended, but you can do it. Pre-drill and clamp to prevent splitting.
Edit- don't be fooled. "Birch plywood" is NOT Baltic Birch. You can't get baltic at HD or Lowes. And not all BB is created equal. I actually wrote a couple of articles on materials and things if you guys want to have a look.
http://www.trekboxx.com/articles/
For joinery, I've always been a purist with woodworking. From dovetails to Maloof chairs, I have always stayed away from fasteners. However, and this is a big one, the fact is that the best glue joint will eventually fail, especially with the heat and moisture cycles such as in a vehicle. So, mechanical fasteners are the key here. Either dovetail joints, which may "fail" along the glue line but will stay together, or screws/bolts. Good joinery and glue makes a stronger joint initially, but when (not if) it fails the toughness of mechanical fasteners start to shine. That's why you have to pry a screw back and forth to remove it. It may take less pressure initially to get the joint to move, but it will stay together long after a glue joint pops. And, you can tighten it back up!
I think that full extension slides are worth it. However, if I was going to do a budget build I would skip the slides all together. Your first build will never be exactly what you want, no matter how much you pour over the design. I say make a quick and dirty system and use it for a while, then plan V2.0. You'll be happier in the end and it will be cheaper in the long run.
