DIY folks? what have you used for drawer sliders!?

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Red_Leaf_Overland

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Hello! I am in need of advice about drawer sliders. I plan on putting a slider in the back of my LJ with possibly another mounted above. I tend to have a roof basket mounted in the back and the cooler gets strapped to that with a CO2 tank and some clothes, underneath is usually spare parts, tools, water, fuel, and a quick grab bag.
I have been looking for some heavy duty sliders that can handle some weight and extend a good distance. Everything I see seems to be crazy expensive. Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
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i built a platform in the back of my tundra and the drawers are on 5' slides. i originally used thin strips of UHMW plastic as runners to reduce friction and allow the drawer to slide out easily. it half-assed worked, but still had a lot of drop the further i pulled the drawer out. i removed that and made my own slide system by using rollerblade wheel bearings and 5/16" bolts as an axle. i made two rows of the bearings on each side of the box with a piece of uni-strut mounted to the drawer and slide in between the two rows of bearings. it worked ok, but would bind up and had some slop in it. i ended up going on amazon and buying 60" heavy duty slides and they work great.
i built this back before covid and the 300% increase in lumber. my 3/4" plywood was $30 a sheet at home depot and now its almost $70 a sheet...not sure how much the slides have gone up in price. if you are going a short distance on the drawer, you might could get by using plastic strips as runners on the bottom and sides. the roller bearings are not a bad idea and would probably do better on a short drawer...my drawer is over 6' deep and i was running the two rows of bearings spaced 9" apart, so that was a lot of bearings to get perfectly aligned. i used 5/16" bolts as the axle and used blind nuts in the side of the box for the bolt to thread into and not need a nut sticking out on the outside of the box. like i said, that would probably be doable with a shorter drawer.

here's a link to the DIY slides... Make your own Truck Bed Drawers — Pask Makes

IMG_4252.JPG
 
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Red_Leaf_Overland

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grubworm said:
i built a platform in the back of my tundra and the drawers are on 5' slides. i originally used thin strips of UHMW plastic as runners to reduce friction and allow the drawer to slide out easily. it half-assed worked, but still had a lot of drop the further i pulled the drawer out. i removed that and made my own slide system by using rollerblade wheel bearings and 5/16" bolts as an axle. i made two rows of the bearings on each side of the box with a piece of uni-strut mounted to the drawer and slide in between the two rows of bearings. it worked ok, but would bind up and had some slop in it. i ended up going on amazon and buying 60" heavy duty slides and they work great.
i built this back before covid and the 300% increase in lumber. my 3/4" plywood was $30 a sheet at home depot and now its almost $70 a sheet...not sure how much the slides have gone up in price. if you are going a short distance on the drawer, you might could get by using plastic strips as runners on the bottom and sides. the roller bearings are not a bad idea and would probably do better on a short drawer...my drawer is over 6' deep and i was running the two rows of bearings spaced 9" apart, so that was a lot of bearings to get perfectly aligned. i used 5/16" bolts as the axle and used blind nuts in the side of the box for the bolt to thread into and not need a nut sticking out on the outside of the box. like i said, that would probably be doable with a shorter drawer.

here's a link to the DIY slides... Make your own Truck Bed Drawers — Pask Makes

View attachment 207792
Click to expand...
I have considered skateboard bearings and a lengths of square tubing to ru n on them. But I wasn't sure how much it would droop. I need to re-measure but I think it's about 5'.
 
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I have two drawers in the back of my Xterra. Each drawer rides on a set of 22" non locking slides.


To lock the drawers, I used some barrel latches.

I also built a tilting fridge slide. The pull out section rides on a set of these.


I would recommend just spending the money on slides that lock. There's nothing wrong with the setup I have, but after using locking slides for the fridge, I wish I'd done it with the drawers.
 
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Red_Leaf_Overland

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reaver said:
I have two drawers in the back of my Xterra. Each drawer rides on a set of 22" non locking slides.


To lock the drawers, I used some barrel latches.

I also built a tilting fridge slide. The pull out section rides on a set of these.


I would recommend just spending the money on slides that lock. There's nothing wrong with the setup I have, but after using locking slides for the fridge, I wish I'd done it with the drawers.
Click to expand...
I would love to do a locking slide. Mine would need to be about twice that length at least and they get expensive quick lol. I'll have to have another skim through Amazon and see what I can find.
 
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reaver said:
I would recommend just spending the money on slides that lock.
Click to expand...
yeah, anytime i'm parked on the slightest incline , i get 2 heavy drawers sliding out the second i drop the tailgate. a locking slide is the way to go, especially on a long drawer.

i just let the drawer slide out to where i need it and shove one of my wife's hiking boots between it and the lowered tailgate and all is well. if you can't find a locking slide, you can use a size 6 hiking boot and be good...

IMG_1028.JPG
 
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I didn't use sliders, I just waxed the bottom of the drawer and put aluminum angle Iron on the top of the drawer enclosure where the tops of the drawers would make contact as I pull it out. I can pull my fully loaded drawers out with only 4" left inside the cabinet with no issues. My drawers fit the cabinet I made so good, I had to drill holes in the back to eliminate the suction created when pulling the drawers out or pushing them in.
 
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Are there any heavy duty locking drawer slides that would also let me remove the drawer from the cabinet easily?

I'm going to build drawers for my Jeep JLU and want to be able to use the lower tub space under the fridge/drawers. It'll be lesser used items, but I figure if I could pop the bottom drawer off, I'd still have access to the space. Here's a pic of the base I already built for the fridge slide and tie downs for tubs (to be replaced with cabinet and drawers on top of this).
962021234653.jpg
 
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