38 replies to this topic

[Godlykepower]

Might be in the wrong place this, feel free to move if necessary O great Mods...just wanted a bit more coverage!

Following on from an earlier thread about storage space, it seems several of us dont really want to pay muchos £££'s for a Mobile Storage System drawer, and are thinking about building our own.

I came up with a design of my own which appeared to get a bit of a thumbs up from a few guys.

Now,coming up with ideas I'm OK at....but making stuff come to life is a bit different......and here is where I need a little (or a lot) of input.

I have decided not to go with a steel system, as that is making it an even harder project, due to lack of facility to bend & fold.

So its looking like a Plywood job (cheers for that Mr Murphy!)......

See HERE for a rough design.
I have all the dimensions & a rough idea what needs to be done...but how do you think I attach the "planks" that would run the length of the vehicle??

- I'm thinking that I have to bolt onto an L-shaped edging/angle iron?
- Would you recommend that I bolt those L shaped bits through the floor or would the bolts in the top (over the seatbox) using existing holes be enough to be secure?
- How do I attach the smaller "planks" that would run across the width of the system, to the others. I think L shaped brackets on the inside?

I dont know if these brackets & corner bits have a proper name, so I hope you can visualise what I mean.

- What thicknes Ply would you recommend? I think 10mm for the 4 longest planks & 6mm for the top & bottom & chest division (on the right of the pic)

Geez, sorry, I feel like I have waffled and not explained myself very well

I KNOW I can make this work, but I dont want it to come out looking like a pile of poo!

Help me O wonderful & clever Land Rover people

[Ryan]

I take it you got my e-mail then

[Godlykepower]

I take it you got my e-mail then

Hey Ryan....yeah, I did. Thanks very much. TBH...not QUITE as bad as I thought, but still more than I want to pay.

[Ryan]

No worries. I do tend to get an uncontrollable tic when I open that attachment...

[steve_d]

Can you explain the function of the drawer and the compartment to the right.
Knowing what the bits will do, and carry, will help in deciding how it is built and how strong it needs to be.

What is going in the drawer?
What is going in the compartment?
What will be stowed on top and would you expect to walk or crawl over it?

Steve

[Mo Murphy]

Martin, I still haven't started yet (exam revision and high winds have ruled out 6x3 sheets of plywood strapped to the roof) But ...

The top sheet will go across the wheel boxes for continuity and simplicity, bolted through the wheelbox tops. Access to storage beside the drawer will be by means of a flush fitted hinged flap.

The main vertical divider will be screwed to batten which will in turn be bolted through the floor and screwed to the main horizontal sheet across the wheel boxes.

The drawer will be made of cut plywood sheet. The base will sit on batten screwed to the sides and front and there will be internal uprights in the corners again made of batten.

A small pull out table will slide out from under the drawer on drawer runners for brews and so forth.

There you go, easy, all you need now is a tape measure

Mo

[Godlykepower]

Can you explain the function of the drawer and the compartment to the right.
Knowing what the bits will do, and carry, will help in deciding how it is built and how strong it needs to be.

What is going in the drawer?
What is going in the compartment?
What will be stowed on top and would you expect to walk or crawl over it?

The drawer will be holding "stuff" just the regular stuff needed on travels......cooking gear, ropes, clothes etc.....no anvils or spare engines! So it needs to be robust & sturdy but not designed to hold 100's of kilograms.
The hole to the right of the picture is similar to a storage chest. A flush fitting lid covering between 2 and 4 compartments.
I'm thinking a 6mm ply top extending from wall to wall covered in chequer plate. I WILL be getting on top of it and storing stuff on top of the system (once again...no anvils or owt hugely heavy.) A couple of storage boxes attached & secured via cargo rails, boxes containing just more "stuff"

The main vertical divider will be screwed to batten which will in turn be bolted through the floor and screwed to the main horizontal sheet across the wheel boxes.

The drawer will be made of cut plywood sheet. The base will sit on batten screwed to the sides and front and there will be internal uprights in the corners again made of batten.

Yes.......batten.........I know exactly what these are!!
Mo, I think you & I are singing off the same hymn sheet with regards to what the end result will look like, but its things like this batten stuff that I need a very detailed explanation! I am in no way involved with manufacturing things in my job......and never have been, so I have no clue what some parts are/how they work etc.......

[Godlykepower]

The top sheet will go across the wheel boxes for continuity and simplicity, bolted through the wheelbox tops. Access to storage beside the drawer will be by means of a flush fitted hinged flap.

Mo, I gather from this, that your going with my idea on the storage to the right of the drawer take on the MSS design???

[Mo Murphy]

Martin, batten is about 1 1/2" x 3/4" wood. An example of it's use would be on the inside corner of the drawer - you can screw both the back and the drawer side to it to hold them together without having to worry about screwing into the edge of the plywood or using brackets.
Yes, I'm keeping it to the left to avoid it fouling on the door check arm and the tools I have quick-fisted to the inside of the rear door.

mo

[Godlykepower]

Martin, batten is about 1 1/2" x 3/4" wood. An example of it's use would be on the inside corner of the drawer - you can screw both the back and the drawer side to it to hold them together without having to worry about screwing into the edge of the plywood or using brackets

Right, I think I get it......the square (ish) bits you see in corners of some wooden drawers?

Would there be any benefit to using Batten then, over say, several 1/2" strips of L-shaped brackets in all corners???

[Mo Murphy]

That's it m8.
I think the batten will look better and be easier to do. The brackets will hold it together but I don't think that they'll reinforce the joint as well as the batten will.
Mo

[Godlykepower]

What about material thickness then?

What do you think of major load bearing/support panels being 10mm & compartment divisions/rear walls & fronts in 6mm??
I'm adamant that the top & front (6mm) will be laminated with chequer plate, front for cosmetic reasons....top for practical reasons.

[Mo Murphy]

I'll probably do the whole lot in 10 mm, I've only got to buy one sort then The only chequer plate that I'll use will be on the surface of the brew table to protect the wood from the heat of the burner. Rough and rugged look for me
I think 6mm too thin for the top, I'd go for 10 mm, better too thick than too thin in my humble opinion

Mo

[freeagent]

First off i wouldn't use marine ply.
it doesn't have enough laminations and isn't really very good for this application.
I'd look for birch ply, ideally finnish birch.
This will be much harder than marine ply, and have much finer laminations (sometimes not much over 1mm thick) this makes for a superb structural material due to the high glue content, and the fact that the laminations run in different dirrections.

I'd use 12mm birch ply for pretty much everything, especially if you are going to clad the top in tread plate.

for jointing it up, use a good quality waterproof woodglue (west system boat-building glue would be the ultimate) you could use 'battens' but you could also use 1" wide strips of Birch ply...

if you are going to screw it together, use the gold passivated serated screws that Screwfix sell, they are quite thin (use a 3.5 or 4mm) so won't split out when driven into the end of the ply...

I made the cargo system in the picture below for my disco, it doesn't have drawers in it at the moment, but I might put some in it before we go away this summer... it has worked really well using the boxes in it so far though..



hope this helps...

[pugwash]

I've just started the build of mine (although i'm not sure it will be done- oh great vapour drawers).

Finnish Birch Ply is the THE stuff to have- has the stiffness and stability that you need and as a bonus looks pretty.

Sliders are from Southco and the latches are from Pro-Tex (flush jobbies)

I am following this build http://forum.ih8mud....ar-storage.html (WARNING ITS NOT A LANDROVER SITE)

[steve_d]

Can't see any benefit for the storage compartment at the moment as you will not be able to access it when the back of the truck is full of other kit.

As said a full sheet across the top of, and bolted to, the wheel boxes with a vertical divider running up the centre of the floor and another a few inches out from the offside wheelbox (to deal with the door stay). This space can be used for long bits like a highlift jack, brollies etc.
Build two drawers.
For variety the drawer could have opening tops and drop down trestle type legs on the end so that it can be pulled out to its stops and used as a table or work surface.
With both drawers out and one of those rear tents the drawers could be the end of your double bed.

Just some thoughts.

Steve

[streaky]

 FRDRSW21.jpg   12.71K   244 downloadsI made a really sexy set of storage drawers last year for the Disco and was really chuffed with the results untill I realised how heavy these things are. I used 13mm marine ply, steel runners etc.
My rear springs are rated to carry an excess 265kg and yet when the drawers had all the gear in you could see the drop in the back end.

My next venture is to construct an aluminium frame and have slide-in plastic Wolf boxes instead. The frame will weigh next to nothing when empty...plus I just have to pull out the amo boxes when I don't want to carry a heavy weight around in the back.

The pictured ones are from Front Runner....

Regards.

S.

[freeagent]

 FRDRSW21.jpg   12.71K   244 downloads

My next venture is to construct an aluminium frame and have slide-in plastic Wolf boxes instead. The frame will weigh next to nothing when empty...plus I just have to pull out the amo boxes when I don't want to carry a heavy weight around in the back.

The pictured ones are from Front Runner....

Regards.

S.

Now that is very cool, i've got two wolf boxes, and had been planning to pick up some more... I like the way they could be pre-packed at home and loaded up ready to roll...

Hmmm... food for thought....

[Mark]

I am in the process of building a set of drawers for my disco. Given the tendency of discoveries to leak, and my tendancy to dunk it into ponds, I avoided any wood whatsoever.

In the disco you have much wider space to play with, so mine will be 2 drawers side by side. they are almost the full depth of the discovery boot, and are slghlty less wide than the gap between the wheel arches - This is so they can be attached to the load rail that runs the length of the floor. The gaps at the side will be used to take jerry cans and/or toolboxes.

Currently I have a steel box section frame made of 20mm square ERW. I also have 2 drawer frames, made of the same stuff, which are then to be clad in 3mm and 1mm ally - 3mm bottom and front, and 1mm sides. The top of the main frame will be clad in 3mm ally too.

runners are accuride 75kg rated ones that I found in a scrap yard, and handles are from southco.

I can post a couple of pics up of the progress so far if anyone is interested?

[Godlykepower]

I can post a couple of pics up of the progress so far if anyone is interested?

Yes please!