Rear storage draw - My latest project

[Guest]

With the nights starting to close in and the camping season nearly at an end thoughts have turned to this years winter project. OK I still have to do some bits on my winter project from a couple of years ago and then there is work to do on the S1 to get her back on the road for the summer so I thought I would start with a little project and see where it takes me.....

I have for a while wanted some rear storage draws for the 110, clearly I could buy one from Mobile Storage Systems at £545 inc VAT I really couldn't justify buying one new and having watched ebay for the last year they don't come up very often and when they do they go for nearly the price of a new one!!

The final option is to build one, unfortunately I don't have the skill or equipment to fabricate one out of metal as it would need folding etc and by the time I had paid for that to be done it would be getting close to the MSS draw. I have therefore decided to make one from WBP Plywood, timber battens, some metal work and painted in protecta-kote, this style of building has worked well on the trailer build and has held up very well to the riggers of overland travel.

I have some ideas in my head, I wanted to go for a main draw with a slot on the right to allow the draw to open against the door and a storage locker at the rear angled down against the dog guard I will also drill holes in the base etc to take out some weight, but wanted to through it out to the masses first, I also have a few questions.

• Has anyone made one before, what worked what didn't?
  
• Does anyone have a MSS draw that they could give me some measurements from?
  
• Was going to use 12mm ply do you think that it is thick enough for the top?
  
• What gap would you leave between the back door and the draw (flush or a bit of space)?
  
• Anything else I should consider?
  

I have priced up my current design and think I can make the draw for between £80- £100 all in with the paint draw sliders etc, for those who have one is it worth the £100 addition?

Cheers, Jason.

[stretch121]

planning something a little simmilar for the back of the Disco plus removal of the side bins to place storage and extra 12v bat in the bottom dog guard to go in then a shelf attatched to this for more storage space, so i will watch this thread take form if you dont mind.

I saw your trailer build and must say mate you did an exceptional job, wish i had the skill space and time to do that kind of thing.

[moose]

Sorry not built one,

But i have always thought that the perfect home build runners for and big storage draw would be the rack mount rails that are used to mount rack servers into data cabs.

They can easily take that weight, most have a mechanism for separating the rails, so if using for a storage draw you would be able to take the whole draw out of the car when needed.

[Guest]

planning something a little simmilar for the back of the Disco plus removal of the side bins to place storage and extra 12v bat in the bottom dog guard to go in then a shelf attatched to this for more storage space, so i will watch this thread take form if you dont mind.

I saw your trailer build and must say mate you did an exceptional job, wish i had the skill space and time to do that kind of thing.

Thanks, I am happy (ish) with it now although like the Land Rover I don't think it will ever be finished, as for skill & time I actually have little of both, my metalwork skills are not existent and my wood working is basic I would say most people could accomplish what I did and I dare say in a lot less time...

Sorry not built one,

But i have always thought that the perfect home build runners for and big storage draw would be the rack mount rails that are used to mount rack servers into data cabs.

They can easily take that weight, most have a mechanism for separating the rails, so if using for a storage draw you would be able to take the whole draw out of the car when needed.

I did try and use server sliders when I built the trailer however found that it jumped the rails when driving around, I then found these at £12.99 they fit the bill and give a 50cm slide out which would allow a 70cm draw I can also double them up for extra weight if needed.

Jason.

[Ben_J85JTY]

Jason,

I have the MSS Longline draw which you are welcome to have a look at and take measurements from. It will be at the L2B Next weekend......

Ben

[v8bertha]

I guess we were the lucky ones, we got our MSS drawer very cheap

It's unfortunate that they are so bloomin' expensive, but you get what you pay for... the quality is excellent and they are proper robust.

Ours is the full width version that takes up the whole floorspace in the back of the 110. Just shout if you want measurements.

I've mounted it with a 150mm space between the back door. I did this initially because we planned to mount a cooker on the back door. However we never got around to that so although its waisted space now,it does act as a very useful shelf, so I'd definitely recommend leaving a usable gap.

[Guest]

I guess we were the lucky ones, we got our MSS drawer very cheap

It's unfortunate that they are so bloomin' expensive, but you get what you pay for... the quality is excellent and they are proper robust.

Ours is the full width version that takes up the whole floorspace in the back of the 110. Just shout if you want measurements.

I've mounted it with a 150mm space between the back door. I did this initially because we planned to mount a cooker on the back door. However we never got around to that so although its waisted space now,it does act as a very useful shelf, so I'd definitely recommend leaving a usable gap.

Cheers, I know that the MSS units are very good quality, I just can't justify the new price to myself, hence the desire to make on, I also look at the amount on ebay as an indicator and as they just don't come up, it is a good indication that people want to hang on to them!! Thanks for the offer of the measurements, and the gap bit that's what I was most interested in at this stage, I am not short of space in the 110 so was just trying to see what the optimum gap would be.

Thanks, Jason.

[Guest]

Jason,

I have the MSS Longline draw which you are welcome to have a look at and take measurements from. It will be at the L2B Next weekend......

Ben

Thanks Ben,

I remember seeing yours in the 130 just was not sure if it was the same as the 110 version.

Jason.

[discomikey]

i think you should make it fit flush to the rear door, wiht some sort of rubber bushes, this will eradicate any rattling in the system, also silicone in the edges as it reduces squeaks.

you could put a catch mechanism in too, and i would but i could imagine it starting to rattle over time if it wasnt flush to the door.

[Retroanaconda]

How well-timed, I've been thinking about making my own recently too. I've seen the MSS drawers and while they are fabulous, they're just well out of my price range. If I can make something 3/4 as good for 1/3 the price then that's gotta be worth a go.

I'm thinking ball-bearing runners, and spring-load the drawer slightly (only the last 6" or so) like a cash register. Partly to help it open, as it will sort of spring out towards you, and partly to stop it rattling. If the latch mechanism is pre-loaded with spring pressure then things shouldn't rattle about.

I was thinking of making the drawer only half the depth of the 90's rear loadspace, or to leave a foot or so as a 'work surface', but I guess the problem with this is that the space becomes filled with stuff which is then in the way when you want to open the drawer. So logically one should make the drawer full-length I guess. With a small gap at the front (rear?) to clear the door card etc.

Design-wise, I was thinking of a taking a single piece of folded 2mm aluminium in a large U-section for the main body of the actual drawer itself. Getting this folded up wouldn't be too costly I'd have thought. The runners would bolt straight onto the sides of the wheelboxes (perhaps with reinforcing plates behind if flex becomes and issue), and the bottom of the 'tray' would be braced with some top-hat section (or similar) riveted across the width in order to stop it bending under the weight of it's cargo and scraping on the tub floor when being retracted etc. In the case of a full-length drawer allowance would need to be made for clearance on the right hand side for the door and door stay etc. in the same way that MSS do. The front face of the drawer can just be another piece of 2mm ally cut to fit and either riveted onto the (flanged) front of the drawer tray, or if I'm feeling fancy I'll see if I can convince someone to TIG weld it on

Top piece was just gonna be a piece of sturdy ply across flush with the top level of the seatboxes (and in my case carpeted to match ), I figured this was the best way and gains the most vertical space in the drawer. I have things I'd like to keep in there which are not much shorter than the height of the seatboxes at current, so height is important

With regard to security, I was thinking of basically copying the MSS latch setup or similar.

Not got anything mocked up yet, but that's what's been floating around my head for the last few weeks

[crclifford]

Great minds etc......

With new dog on the way, SWMBO doesn't want them lose in the back, i have decided to fix a cage permenantly across the load space behind the seats.

So, got the chippys at work to get a piece of 19mm ply, 1220 wide and 950 deep (which goes across the top of the arches rather than flush) and they added two 100x50 runners underneath to keep the piece in place laterally.

In the space below, I plan to put my new flight case (thanks ruuman and Retro(for the delivery)) underneath for all bits (junk) i need to carry.

I have decided not to go full length as I don't want to have to pull it outside the door too much.

I've used a plywood so I can screw some cargo tie downs there to secure the dog cage to the ply.

I amy in the future get a piano hinge, so that i can go full length and be able to lift the end up and still access stuff with out pulling the drawer fully out.

HTH

[discomikey]

try europaspares.com for latches etc. the latches and hinges etc are in the brightwork section

in fact i could spend loads on this site on just general carp whic i like the look of, or which would improve brian etc.

what about having a lift up top on it instead of drawer? although then i suppose you cant access the drawers when the rear is full (eg overland, revocery in box, all other stuff on top.)

[Guest]

i think you should make it fit flush to the rear door, wiht some sort of rubber bushes, this will eradicate any rattling in the system, also silicone in the edges as it reduces squeaks.

you could put a catch mechanism in too, and i would but i could imagine it starting to rattle over time if it wasnt flush to the door.

The issue I have with that is when anything touches the door card on my TD5 it squeaks I can use a good latch which should stop it from making any noise I will also plan to have a cooking shelf so not sure how that would work.

Jason.

[Guest]

I'm thinking ball-bearing runners, and spring-load the drawer slightly (only the last 6" or so) like a cash register. Partly to help it open, as it will sort of spring out towards you, and partly to stop it rattling. If the latch mechanism is pre-loaded with spring pressure then things shouldn't rattle about.

I think the spring may be over complicating things my current sliders don't make any noise and it does not rattle.

I was thinking of making the drawer only half the depth of the 90's rear loadspace, or to leave a foot or so as a 'work surface', but I guess the problem with this is that the space becomes filled with stuff which is then in the way when you want to open the drawer. So logically one should make the drawer full-length I guess. With a small gap at the front (rear?) to clear the door card etc.

I think you have hit the nail on the head there 'leave a space, fill it with waste!!' the draws I have seen leave a space at the back with a locker lid on for that stuff you don't use that often, or for extra batteries etc.

Design-wise, I was thinking of a taking a single piece of folded 2mm aluminium in a large U-section for the main body of the actual drawer itself. Getting this folded up wouldn't be too costly I'd have thought. The runners would bolt straight onto the sides of the wheelboxes (perhaps with reinforcing plates behind if flex becomes and issue), and the bottom of the 'tray' would be braced with some top-hat section (or similar) riveted across the width in order to stop it bending under the weight of it's cargo and scraping on the tub floor when being retracted etc. In the case of a full-length drawer allowance would need to be made for clearance on the right hand side for the door and door stay etc. in the same way that MSS do. The front face of the drawer can just be another piece of 2mm ally cut to fit and either riveted onto the (flanged) front of the drawer tray, or if I'm feeling fancy I'll see if I can convince someone to TIG weld it on

I am not sure that 2mm ali would be up for the job, especially if things were bouncing around in the draw you may need to ply line the draw to prevent damage. I am going to go for the MSS type offset and the draw will open 500mm with a 700mm draw

Top piece was just gonna be a piece of sturdy ply across flush with the top level of the seatboxes (and in my case carpeted to match ), I figured this was the best way and gains the most vertical space in the drawer. I have things I'd like to keep in there which are not much shorter than the height of the seatboxes at current, so height is important

I plan to make mine flush with the top and was considering either rubberised paint or carpet, there was a chap selling some at Newbury last time, that's the shame that I will be at the L2B for this one!!

With regard to security, I was thinking of basically copying the MSS latch setup or similar.

Not got anything mocked up yet, but that's what's been floating around my head for the last few weeks

Mine has been in my head for a year now so I just need to draw the plans and get on making it!!

[Guest]

try europaspares.com for latches etc. the latches and hinges etc are in the brightwork section

in fact i could spend loads on this site on just general carp whic i like the look of, or which would improve brian etc.

what about having a lift up top on it instead of drawer? although then i suppose you cant access the drawers when the rear is full (eg overland, revocery in box, all other stuff on top.)

Thanks for that Mikey, that's next months wages spent!! I got the hardware for the trailer from here

[Mark]

Here's how I build the ones in my disco: drawer build

I have to admit that for the 110 I have gone with the standard length MSS drawer, as the spare wheel is stored against the bulkhead in my doublecab.

In terms of getting them drawer not to rattle, the foam draft excluder around edge gives enough spring for the latch to be held tight and not rattle.

hth

Mark

[Guest]

Here's how I build the ones in my disco: drawer build

I have to admit that for the 110 I have gone with the standard length MSS drawer, as the spare wheel is stored against the bulkhead in my doublecab.

In terms of getting them drawer not to rattle, the foam draft excluder around edge gives enough spring for the latch to be held tight and not rattle.

hth

Mark

Cheers, Mark.

I was looking for that thread but couldn't find it, there are some great ideas in there I have considered metal but don't have the skils hence the wood.

Jason.

[bluehaze]

This is what I've done for my 110:

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f15/storage-solutions-112363.html

[Simon119]

What about something like in the hopefully attached picture. Basically a small shelf on the end of the draw. Would allow a cooker to be mounted to the rear door or could be used as a dumping ground/work bench but with the advantage of sliding out with the the drawer so wouldn't need tidying before the draw could be opened.

cheers

Simon

[Guest]

This is what I've done for my 110:

http://www.landyzone...ons-112363.html

Thanks, just had a look, those landyzone threads are hard to read!! And then I realised I had seen your truck before when I brought your bull bar from you!! Small world.

[Guest]

What about something like in the hopefully attached picture. Basically a small shelf on the end of the draw. Would allow a cooker to be mounted to the rear door or could be used as a dumping ground/work bench but with the advantage of sliding out with the the drawer so wouldn't need tidying before the draw could be opened.

cheers

Simon

Good Idea but I fear that with no front to the shelf all the stuff would just end up on the big shelf!!

Jason.

[Guest]

Starting to put a parts list together, although I had already found draw sliders I found this company tonight, have asked for a quote so will see what they come back with, although it took me ages to decided what I wanted, what a choice.....

[Ed Poore]

I've only skimmed through the posts but thought I'd mention I have an alternative to the MSS drawers.

About 6 months ago acquired a Bullbox second-hand for £150, from what I saw of the MSS stuff is that although secure they're not built to the same specs as gun cabinets which is where the Bullbox differs. New they're a bit pricier and ironically about a week after I got mine another friend was selling one for the same price.

Originally I had it squeezed in under the bench seats in the 110 (a perfect fit more or less) with it offset to one side. Rather than using the existing angle-brackets to anchor it I simply drilled a couple of new holes into the brackets and mounted them underneath the 2nd row seat belts. I haven't actually got around to securing the rear (or rather front) of the drawer but it doesn't bounce around whilst off-road so can't really be bothered to dry and dodge the fuel-filler etc to drill through that corner. The drawer itself has withstood a fair beating and the first time it was substantially loaded was to take a university shooting team to a competition where we had 9 shotguns and 1000 shells (rest was in a trailer) in the cabinet. Since then carried lots of tools etc in it and it's perfect.

Over the summer because the 110's been used on the farm etc I've removed the bench seats and put some thick sheets of chip-board (had it lying around otherwise would have used something thinner) over the top. To counter the fact that the cabinet is slightly below the wheel-box a couple of batons support the middles to bring them back up. I was originally worried about putting weight on the top (something like 2mm sheet metal) but it's survived having almost half a tonne in the back with no issues at all.

Because it was originally intended for a Range Rover it's relatively short front to back and there's probably about 18" all told difference between the 110's boot and the cabinet. But because of the mounting through the seat-belts (it could only be moved 2 or 3" closer anyway otherwise seat-belts would have to be modified) there's probably about 12" between the back of the 2nd row and the cabinet and then a further 6" between the door and the drawer. However the front gap has proven to be quite useful for storing the air-compressor and spare bottle of windscreen wash. The gap behind (before the boards) was useful for people to use to climb in. The space on the right hand side (needed because of the door-stay) is also quite useful for storing the standard Land Rover jack, an umbrella and (at the moment) a couple of machetes.

I don't have the time at the moment to take measurements (got to finish rebuilding the engine, install it and ideally MOT the Series tomorrow) but I am going to be in Surrey from Monday and moving up there permanently hopefully a week later so you're more than welcome to have a look at it.

[edit]

If you have some reasonably accurate drawings of what you want then it might be worth having a chat with Chris at CLH. They recently built a motor base for a project and all told (metal, bending, welding etc) charged £260+VAT for building this out of 4mm steel. The benefit is that they have some stupidly big presses (think their small one is 8ft wide and 75 tonnes).

Not local to you but they are cheap and do really good work (can even galvanise it for you if you want that) and since they're local to my family home there's a neighbour of ours who runs a haulage company and would probably be willing to throw it on the back of a lorry to drop it off. They travel the M4 corridor fairly frequently.

[/edit]

Edited September 28, 2011 by Ed Poore

[Guest]

I've only skimmed through the posts but thought I'd mention I have an alternative to the MSS drawers.

About 6 months ago acquired a Bullbox second-hand for £150, from what I saw of the MSS stuff is that although secure they're not built to the same specs as gun cabinets which is where the Bullbox differs. New they're a bit pricier and ironically about a week after I got mine another friend was selling one for the same price.

Originally I had it squeezed in under the bench seats in the 110 (a perfect fit more or less) with it offset to one side. Rather than using the existing angle-brackets to anchor it I simply drilled a couple of new holes into the brackets and mounted them underneath the 2nd row seat belts. I haven't actually got around to securing the rear (or rather front) of the drawer but it doesn't bounce around whilst off-road so can't really be bothered to dry and dodge the fuel-filler etc to drill through that corner. The drawer itself has withstood a fair beating and the first time it was substantially loaded was to take a university shooting team to a competition where we had 9 shotguns and 1000 shells (rest was in a trailer) in the cabinet. Since then carried lots of tools etc in it and it's perfect.

Over the summer because the 110's been used on the farm etc I've removed the bench seats and put some thick sheets of chip-board (had it lying around otherwise would have used something thinner) over the top. To counter the fact that the cabinet is slightly below the wheel-box a couple of batons support the middles to bring them back up. I was originally worried about putting weight on the top (something like 2mm sheet metal) but it's survived having almost half a tonne in the back with no issues at all.

Because it was originally intended for a Range Rover it's relatively short front to back and there's probably about 18" all told difference between the 110's boot and the cabinet. But because of the mounting through the seat-belts (it could only be moved 2 or 3" closer anyway otherwise seat-belts would have to be modified) there's probably about 12" between the back of the 2nd row and the cabinet and then a further 6" between the door and the drawer. However the front gap has proven to be quite useful for storing the air-compressor and spare bottle of windscreen wash. The gap behind (before the boards) was useful for people to use to climb in. The space on the right hand side (needed because of the door-stay) is also quite useful for storing the standard Land Rover jack, an umbrella and (at the moment) a couple of machetes.

I don't have the time at the moment to take measurements (got to finish rebuilding the engine, install it and ideally MOT the Series tomorrow) but I am going to be in Surrey from Monday and moving up there permanently hopefully a week later so you're more than welcome to have a look at it.

[edit]

If you have some reasonably accurate drawings of what you want then it might be worth having a chat with Chris at CLH. They recently built a motor base for a project and all told (metal, bending, welding etc) charged £260+VAT for building this out of 4mm steel. The benefit is that they have some stupidly big presses (think their small one is 8ft wide and 75 tonnes).

Not local to you but they are cheap and do really good work (can even galvanise it for you if you want that) and since they're local to my family home there's a neighbour of ours who runs a haulage company and would probably be willing to throw it on the back of a lorry to drop it off. They travel the M4 corridor fairly frequently.

[/edit]

Thanks Ed,

I have taken a look at the gun box but since reading this and checking out the draws on the Expedition Portal and the ideas posted here I think I also want to take Mo Murphy's approach of integrating a pull out shelf into the draw to either use as a brew surface or somewhere to use as a workshop surface!! I am still in design phase but again may consider metal fabrication although and will look at pricing/weight etc although still convinced that I can build something semi professional for under £100, but do appreciate the offer.

Cheers, Jason

[Mo Murphy]

Thanks Ed,

I have taken a look at the gun box but since reading this and checking out the draws on the Expedition Portal and the ideas posted here I think I also want to take Mo Murphy's approach of integrating a pull out shelf into the draw to either use as a brew surface or somewhere to use as a workshop surface!! I am still in design phase but again may consider metal fabrication although and will look at pricing/weight etc although still convinced that I can build something semi professional for under £100, but do appreciate the offer.

Cheers, Jason

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