My Low Profile Custom Cargo Drawer

[G8RB8_12SR5]

First a quick thank you to [MENTION=49966]mikey's2010SR5[/MENTION] for the info on drawer slide parts and to him and [MENTION=47340]Titanpat57[/MENTION] for the inspiration to do my own drawer. First picture shows the problem and one of my supervisors. I built a riser as a quick fix to accommodate our second hunting dog we got this past summer and was never thrilled that I lost nearly all storage in the trunk. So I went about designing a fix and this is what I came up with.

I put a divider in the middle to keep things organized (medical kit, dog stuff, flashlight in the front. Tools, axe, shovel, knife, ratchet straps in the back). You'll see in the far back there's another space. I put in the bracing for rigidity with the crate and the dog on top of it. I managed to leave myself right under 1/4" of clearance from the crate to the back window (that was the limiting factor).

There was also the problem someone had with their battery dying and unable to open their rear hatch to get to their jumper cables out of their drawer, since the hatch release is electric. So that back space I put a hinged flap to store jumper cables that I can access from the backseat in the case that the battery dies and I can't open the trunk.

Materials:
1x6 for the sides and drawer faces
1x4 for the drawer
1/2" plywood for the top bottom and drawer bottom
24" full extension slides

Cost: ~$100 with hardware

The problem

The supervisors

The build

Completed

Clearance

 

[scjo06]

Nice! Those GSPs look mighty happy and spoiled.

Are you going to add another drawer?

 

[G8RB8_12SR5]

They are definitely spoiled (I think I came across 10 tennis balls in my trunk). No plans to add a second drawer because the crates won't fit otherwise (height of crate meeting the curvature of the rear hatch). We take the dogs everywhere with us even when we have guests, so we did this set up so we can still have them and 4 (or 5, once) people and don't have to leave the back seats folded down all the time.

 

[publichouse]

I like the drawer idea, what's the weight like on it? Looks pretty solid. Love your shorthairs. Since we just purchased our 4Runner have not had a hunting season with it yet. Curious what you do with your guns as far as placement in the vehicle?

I posted a link to my shorthair here.

 

[G8RB8_12SR5]

I like the drawer idea, what's the weight like on it? Looks pretty solid. Love your shorthairs. Since we just purchased our 4Runner have not had a hunting season with it yet. Curious what you do with your guns as far as placement in the vehicle?

I posted a link to my shorthair here.

Generally, we put the guns on the floor of backseat. We don't have kids or any extra people though, so nothing to worry about there. Drawer weight I would put around 35-45lbs empty. Its not super light but its not heavy either. I never weighed it so it's just a rough guess.

 

[publichouse]

Generally, we put the guns on the floor of backseat. We don't have kids or any extra people though, so nothing to worry about there. Drawer weight I would put around 35-45lbs empty. Its not super light but its not heavy either. I never weighed it so it's just a rough guess.

Not bad, may have to steal your idea... We usually have 3 or 4 people with us when we go and the other guy has a dog as well so we would put both shorthairs in their kennels leaving 0 room for anything else. I am going to get a rack for the roof but obviously we do not want to put ours guns up there. Should fit length wise on the kennels though. Not ideal but it should work

 

[G8RB8_12SR5]

Not bad, may have to steal your idea... We usually have 3 or 4 people with us when we go and the other guy has a dog as well so we would put both shorthairs in their kennels leaving 0 room for anything else. I am going to get a rack for the roof but obviously we do not want to put ours guns up there. Should fit length wise on the kennels though. Not ideal but it should work

Another option we've done is break the guns down in two parts and put them behind the back seat behind the kennels. Because of the angle of the seats there's a huge gap back there that could hold 2-3 guns broken down like that.

 

[4RnR Grl]

They are definitely spoiled (I think I came across 10 tennis balls in my trunk). No plans to add a second drawer because the crates won't fit otherwise (height of crate meeting the curvature of the rear hatch). We take the dogs everywhere with us even when we have guests, so we did this set up so we can still have them and 4 (or 5, once) people and don't have to leave the back seats folded down all the time.

I ALWAYS have a crate in my cargo space. I like your idea! I travel with a 42 inch wire crate between the wheel wells, so I would need something wider to support the weight of the entire crate. Or even two drawers would work. I would LOVE the extra storage space because with a 2 year old "puppy" nothing is safe tucked in next to a crate for field trials. GREAT JOB!!! :high5: