Started building a rear drawer system and was inspired to document it. My particular system will be leaning toward overlanding but I don't see any reason the drawers couldn't be modular to fit any task.

My goals with this build:

• Install a strong and safe rear platform
• Make the drawer system removable and be able reinstall the 3rd row in an evening (under an hour would be ideal)
• Secure storage
• Keep the back usable for picking up 4x8 sheet goods
• Keep 2nd row usable

We'll see how close I come at the end of the build. I make no promises.
Also, I am not wise in the ways of SketchUp, AutoCAD, or any other CAD/drawing program so I'll share the dimensions, and am happy to answer questions, but there won't be any plans that would make any sense to anyone but me (if you really, REALLY, want the hand drawn sketches I did on a steno pad I'll share but don't say I didn't warn you).

The part's I get from Amazon I'll link, the parts I use from the box stores post the item names.

Day 1: Spent most of the day cutting materials to length, crossing out parts of the plans, and remeasuring. Took some pictures of the mocked up frame.


Just getting started, I'm using Box Rail (I think it's used for exterior barn door track) as the frame.



Don't remember which box store I bought it from, but it's fairly common. I chose it because I had good bit laying around, its pretty strong, and 3/4 plywood fits perfectly in the opening.



After figuring out most of my planning was wrong (wrong measurements, wrong materials, wrong concepts) I'm rather proud I thought of using the 3rd row seat... carriage(?). Lengthwise box rail's are 64in and crossbars are 45 3/8in and the crossbar closest to the 2nd row is 49 1/4in. As you see in the picture I used extra box rail (about 2 1/2 in) as a spacer on the drivers side and 3/4in plywood on the passengers.
If I measured correctly (which has been a challenge for me so far) the outside of the plywood walls should be 48in apart to fit the plywood for the platform. There should be some adjustment room when I start bracing the crossbars in.



Nothing like high resolution dog hair. The 3rd row carriage is only held in with 4 bolts, so it should be easy to swap out. The two rear bolts are T50 and the two front bolts are 13mm. I drilled a 3/8in hole in the box rail which was bigger than necessary. the box rail is held in with a washer on the shoulder of the rear bolt. It feels VERY solid.

This was as far as I got on day 1. After this I cut up the plywood for the sides and middle section, then as I was test fitting I realized most of what I had planned out wasn't going to work so I reworked what I needed to and made a shopping list. I hope it will start coming together more easily on day 2.

 

Looking good so far, are you going to source a second seat latch or are you going to remove it when or if you need to reinstall the third row seat?

 

If I find myself with a second seat latch then great, but it's not much work to move the seat latch between the two.

 

Did a bit after work today. Cut in some tie down points and some hand holds in the wood panels and routered the edges. Also, started staining.



The sides with tie-down points. Will get a coat or two of polyurethane before they go in.



The top with handholds.

 

After staining the wood I left it outside to off-gas, I started drilling... and 3 cobalt bits and hundreds of holes later:


So many holes.

I FINALLY started actually assembling the frame. I also learned I'm not very good at measuring. Pretty sure I had to redo almost every part at least once.

End result:


Frame assembled and installed. I've installed it for the 'final' time at least 4 times since this pic. I will say; it is pretty easy to remove and reinstall.

A bit in-depth on the frame:


I'm not a welder so I had to get creative. I used building ties and drilled my own holes. The outside are 8in ties and the inside are 5in. With the Box rail there's just enough room to fit a combo wrench to hold the bolt. Worked out pretty well and feels very strong.



Ran out of bolts (5/16 x 18 x 1in is what I used) but you get the idea. I used heavy 2 1/2in construction ties. for the rear most crossbar.



Some product info on the building ties.



This is how I handled the offset crossbars attached to the seat latch. Bracket is an inch and a half building tie, found them for under $1.

With the frame assembled I needed to figure out how to handle the middle 'wall'. The outside boards are easy, but the middle was a real pain. I think I've got a okay solution but I'm sure somebody could come up with a much better solution.



So the Box channel holds 3/4 plywood very well but how to take advantage of that with the crossbars? I cut down some off cuts but didn't think the plywood would be strong enough by itself so I found some building straps I could cut down (bonus points because they could be cut with tin snips). I cut the building strap in half and put it on both sides of the box channel. Drilled through everything and put some three inch bolts through. Used some extra nuts on both sides to hold everything together.



This is upside-down but it's the final result. Again using building ties (they're cheap and galvanized, I don't remember the size). Used a grinder to cut in some access.



Another angle of the rear driver side (again upside-down) with the bolt cutoff.



I cutout a relief for the seat latch bar to freely move.



Pic of the under side of the frame. After adding the wood it's starting to get really heavy. Defiantly needs two people to move it.

for the drawer slides.

HALFWAY POINT!



I knew it would fit but... was still more excited about it than I should have been. Slides are just mocked in, they're very much in the wrong spot. And, the other set hasn't shown up yet.



Even in the wrong spots the slides still pull out a good way.



And the Money Shot! This is why the Ex is KING! Room for 64in drawers WITH the second row sears up. Jeeps can't do that!

On to the drawers!

 

Looks good! Someone that I sold a previous X too is building a similar drawer system since he does construction.

 

Built a drawer system for my F250 but its cheaply done with wood. My intention was to have a deck to put a mattress on to sleep on while camping. Drawers were just a place to put tools and camping gear.
I can remove the entire system in 15 minutes if I need to the truck to haul something in.

Your drawer system is much better built than what I did !

Good Job!

 

It would be built very differently if it was in the bed of a truck (it would probably be much easier). In the Ex there's no metal wall between me and the cargo, drawers, box, or other projectiles in the case of an accident.

 

Turns out finishing work takes a long time. Also I cut in some removable panels, 1/2 because I thought it would be nice to get into the drawers while the inside the vehicle. 1/2 to cut weight, this thing is HEAVY, my son and I are having a tough time moving it and we're not small guys. Thing has to weigh over 200 pounds.


Sanded the top and cut some 'access' into the top.


Use a couple hole saws to cut the corners and used a jig saw at 45 degrees. Tried using a circular saw at 45 but it... didn't go well. Not sure why but jig saw is the right answer. Spent WAY to long routing the edges, on the top and the... lids.

Mounted the main drawer rails. I don't think it matters where the rails are mounted but being parallel is VERY important. I used some scraps to keep consistency.


I didn't plan well enough and needed to hold the drawer an inch away from the rail so cut a couple of strips of 1/2 in ply and glued and pin nailed them together.


Getting the holes drilled in the drawer slides and into the... stand-off's (not sure what else to call the wood strips). I was very careful to take 'exact' measurements. Later I would discover I was almost 1/2 an inch off so... working as intended I suppose.


I needed to widen the screw holes to fit the 3/8th's bolts. Used t-nut's on the wooden side. They seem strong but I'm worried about their durability. I might switch to regular nuts and washers if the t-nuts don't hold up.

Pictures are a bit out of (chronological) order. Started making the drawers. Just the sides and bottom, I'll work more on the drawers themselves separately.



Cutting out the bottom of the drawers out of 1/2 inch plywood.


I reinforced the edges of the drawer bottoms. This will allow stronger screws to hold the sides up. Keep in mind the screws that hold the sides to the bottom will also hold the entire load of the drawers.


Used some 3/4in drywall screws (what I had) and glue to secure the reinforcement strips.


Use the router to clean up the edges on the bottom. I use the 1/4in round over bit to smooth out all of the edges that could cause splinters or be sharp in general.

Then mounted the drawers (what is made of them) to the rails. This is where I discovered that the holes I pre-drilled were not in the right spot. If I was to do it again I wouldn't even try to pre-drill any of the holes, I was at least a 1/4in off on every hole.



Drawer carcass's mounted to the sliders.


After mixing up the stand-offs several times I decided to just attach them to the drawer sides. The screws I had were a tad to long so I put some roofing(?) washers on them so they wouldn't poke the slides.

 

Cool stuff. Very cool!