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Another (better?) bed drawer system in the works...

smlobx

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I will be turning my Gladiator Rubicon into a long range overlanding vehicle. Our goal is to be able to take an extended trip to Baja for a couple of months.
We have had the opportunity to rent a Toyota 79 Series Land Cruiser in Africa that was set up for long range expeditions and it has worked fantastically. Basically it has a strong aluminum cap that is made by Alu-Cab to put a RTT on. Inside it is a drawer system that is set up to allow the placement of a water tank against the front of the bed and holes to place gas tanks for cooking.

Here is a short video from the company that we rented from explaining the rig..



The big difference between something like a Decked drawer system and the one in this vehicle, which is made by Front Runner is two fold:

1. The drawer is “square” that is the sides are vertical which allows you to actually store more inside it. We had no problem storing food and cookware in for two weeks at a time. I have seen versions with two drawers and also a single drawer. I actually prefer one large one...

2. And this is the most important for me, is the ability to store your fridge on the floor of the truck bed so you can actually access it without having to put it on a slide and have everything at an angle when you’re trying to access it. It is on the back left corner.

Here is a description of the one in the Land Cruiser front Front Runner...

https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.c...-79-dc-reise-auszug-set-von-front-runner.html

Well to make a long story short I emailed FR and asked them if they could send me detailed measurements of the one for the 79 Series as I thought it may fit the JT. He provided me some measurements but he said that they were actually going to offer one for the JT!!! He did not have a timeframe yet.

I will definitely be ordering one as soon as it becomes available.
The only draw back for some (although not for me) is that the top of the drawer system is carpeted and I would expect that it should be kept covered...
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steffen707

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I will be turning my Gladiator Rubicon into a long range overlanding vehicle. Our goal is to be able to take an extended trip to Baja for a couple of months.
We have had the opportunity to rent a Toyota 79 Series Land Cruiser in Africa that was set up for long range expeditions and it has worked fantastically. Basically it has a strong aluminum cap that is made by Alu-Cab to put a RTT on. Inside it is a drawer system that is set up to allow the placement of a water tank against the front of the bed and holes to place gas tanks for cooking.

Here is a short video from the company that we rented from explaining the rig..



The big difference between something like a Decked drawer system and the one in this vehicle, which is made by Front Runner is two fold:

1. The drawer is “square” that is the sides are vertical which allows you to actually store more inside it. We had no problem storing food and cookware in for two weeks at a time. I have seen versions with two drawers and also a single drawer. I actually prefer one large one...

2. And this is the most important for me, is the ability to store your fridge on the floor of the truck bed so you can actually access it without having to put it on a slide and have everything at an angle when you’re trying to access it. It is on the back left corner.

Here is a description of the one in the Land Cruiser front Front Runner...

https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.c...-79-dc-reise-auszug-set-von-front-runner.html

Well to make a long story short I emailed FR and asked them if they could send me detailed measurements of the one for the 79 Series as I thought it may fit the JT. He provided me some measurements but he said that they were actually going to offer one for the JT!!! He did not have a timeframe yet.

I will definitely be ordering one as soon as it becomes available.
The only draw back for some (although not for me) is that the top of the drawer system is carpeted and I would expect that it should be kept covered...
hopefully they come up with something cool. The bottom of the bed is 44" between the wheel wells, the tailgate is only 49" wide. I believe the inside by the top of the box is 55" or so.

A cfx 50w fridge is 18.5" wide, that only leaves space for a 30" wide drawer.

Also that fridge is 28.5" long and will likely hit the wheel well, so to be beside the wheel well subtract 28.5" from 44". That doesn't leave much space the drawer.

Maybe i'm missing some things, or they've got some fancy ways of packaging things.

I don't have a JT yet, so I can't measure, but this is my idea.
My plan is to build an almost 44" wide 7" tall square drawer with flat top that goes all the way from bedside to bedside and on top of the wheel wells, but put a slide and drop fridge ontop of that. I can then pack a bunch of crap ontop of the 7" tall Deck around the fridge cage.
 

hawkijon

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Hey guys, im glad im not the only one looking for a bed storage system that could incorperate a fridge or large box at a lower point in the bed. The Decked cargo box option is great, but comes with the sacrifice of bed deck height in an already shallow bed. I plan to go with a RoofNest Sandpiper RTT on top of a Leitner Design ACS rack. After seeing how modular their construction is, i emailed them a mocked up design which would allow an optional deck top that indexed toward the front of the bed about the length and width of an average fridge/cooler (nothing special like @Bobs85Reny Could render *wink-wink*). This would allow possible use of a fridge/cooler in the standard pull out drawer, furthermore a possible purchase option of a flat base slideout to replace the standard drawer for direct fridge mounting. End result, you have a lower fridge placement on a slideout and still have use of the other slideout drawer for equipment and essentials. Attached is my simple rendering.
 

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Bobs85Reny

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Hey guys, im glad im not the only one looking for a bed storage system that could incorperate a fridge or large box at a lower point in the bed. The Decked cargo box option is great, but comes with the sacrifice of bed deck height in an already shallow bed. I plan to go with a RoofNest Sandpiper RTT on top of a Leitner Design ACS rack. After seeing how modular their construction is, i emailed them a mocked up design which would allow an optional deck top that indexed toward the front of the bed about the length and width of an average fridge/cooler (nothing special like @Bobs85Reny Could render *wink-wink*). This would allow possible use of a fridge/cooler in the standard pull out drawer, furthermore a possible purchase option of a flat base slideout to replace the standard drawer for direct fridge mounting. End result, you have a lower fridge placement on a slideout and still have use of the other slideout drawer for equipment and essentials. Attached is my simple rendering.
I am working on one with @ralphjjr right now It will be made with 80/20. It will consist of 2 side storage boxes and an adjustable bed slide. I am sure Ralph will have it in his build thread when we start the prototype. This will work with no drilling.

There is another project I am working on as well. It is a custom built rooftop camper. This will be very different from anything I have seen that is out on the market and have multiple configurations. I already have the designs complete and have started building the prototype. These 2 projects have been keeping me busy. At some point I will make a build thread on the camper top. I just don't want someone to steal my design idea. This thing is very cool and so far everything is going as planned. This is also built using 80/20 along with other lightweight materials.
 

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hawkijon

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I am working on one with @ralphjjr right now It will be made with 80/20. It will consist of 2 side storage boxes and an adjustable bed slide. I am sure Ralph will have it in his build thread when we start the prototype. This will work with no drilling.

There is another project I am working on as well. It is a custom built rooftop camper. This will be very different from anything I have seen that is out on the market and have multiple configurations. I already have the designs complete and have started building the prototype. These 2 projects have been keeping me busy. At some point I will make a build thread on the camper top. I just don't want someone to steal my design idea. This thing is very cool and so far everything is going as planned. This is also built using 80/20 along with other lightweight materials.
Wow! Thanks for the reply! i figured you had something up your sleeve. I wish i had the educated abilities to put my ideas to you use as you have. I cant wait to see what you develop. An 80/20 would be a perfect solution to the midsize bed width. Keep it up bud.
 

Slapping_Rabbits

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Can't wait to see this. The decked just takes up the whole bed. This could be what I get. Do you think they'll be at overland expo this October?
 
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smlobx

smlobx

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Can't wait to see this. The decked just takes up the whole bed. This could be what I get. Do you think they'll be at overland expo this October?
I’m hoping so..i’d Love to have one in my JT by then...
 

steffen707

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Can't wait to see this. The decked just takes up the whole bed. This could be what I get. Do you think they'll be at overland expo this October?
Where is overland expo in October? Wonder if I can make it there.
 

Slapping_Rabbits

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