Drawer system material.

[Ahoward2k]

I'm designing a drawer system for my xterra. It's going to fill most of my back with a load floor on the top with L track for tying down. My question is the material for the load floor. What would make a good durable first effective material? The rest of the structure will be most likely 3/4" pine plywood.

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

3/4" pine will be pretty heavy. FWIW, I used 1/2" inch pine plywood for my entire drawer unit build and it's plenty strong, and I carpeted it to reduce impacts from throwing things in and out. But my longest "unsupported" mass for the top of my drawers was about 24 inches (2 vertical drawers on one side, fridge on the other).

However, my unit is a bit heavy, so I'm looking into aluminum extrusion for the frame and 1/2" or lighter for the tops, and the plan is to Rhino-line the top for waterproofing.

 

[Kozysnack]

3/4" pine will be pretty heavy. FWIW, I used 1/2" inch pine plywood for my entire drawer unit build and it's plenty strong, and I carpeted it to reduce impacts from throwing things in and out. But my longest "unsupported" mass for the top of my drawers was about 24 inches (2 vertical drawers on one side, fridge on the other).

However, my unit is a bit heavy, so I'm looking into aluminum extrusion for the frame and 1/2" or lighter for the tops, and the plan is to Rhino-line the top for waterproofing.

that should be an awesome build

 

[KrelleKryl]

I recently did a drawer system for my WK2 and kept everything to 3/4 plywood + Bully Liner for paint/texture. All of this is sitting on 3/4 plywood as well and I haven't had any issues. I made the drawer build itself lighter by cutting out significant proportions from the sides, top, internal frame, etc.

God I love pocket hole jigs...

 

[Kozysnack]

I recently did a drawer system for my WK2 and kept everything to 3/4 plywood + Bully Liner for paint/texture. All of this is sitting on 3/4 plywood as well and I haven't had any issues. I made the drawer build itself lighter by cutting out significant proportions from the sides, top, internal frame, etc.

God I love pocket hole jigs...

looks great

 

[ChasingOurTrunks]

I recently did a drawer system for my WK2 and kept everything to 3/4 plywood + Bully Liner for paint/texture. All of this is sitting on 3/4 plywood as well and I haven't had any issues. I made the drawer build itself lighter by cutting out significant proportions from the sides, top, internal frame, etc.

God I love pocket hole jigs...

I second the pocket hole jig comment -- I used a Kreg jig, and while I initially cringed at the price tag, if you wanna build a box out of plywood I don't think there is a faster, stronger method out there. It was worth every penny at twice the price.

 

[Ahoward2k]

I recently did a drawer system for my WK2 and kept everything to 3/4 plywood + Bully Liner for paint/texture. All of this is sitting on 3/4 plywood as well and I haven't had any issues. I made the drawer build itself lighter by cutting out significant proportions from the sides, top, internal frame, etc.

God I love pocket hole jigs...

I second the pocket hole jig comment -- I used a Kreg jig, and while I initially cringed at the price tag, if you wanna build a box out of plywood I don't think there is a faster, stronger method out there. It was worth every penny at twice the price.

Awesome! I've already got one of those

 

[MazeVX]

I built my drawer and fridge slide from poplar plywood slightly thinner than 1/2" (metric... You know ;-)) and the top from about 1/2" birch multiplex which is still light but much stronger.
Weight is your biggest concern, with clever construction it will be more than strong enough.

 

[Ahoward2k]

I built my drawer and fridge slide from poplar plywood slightly thinner than 1/2" (metric... You know ;-)) and the top from about 1/2" birch multiplex which is still light but much stronger.
Weight is your biggest concern, with clever construction it will be more than strong enough.

How is the birch holding up? My design has an H pattern under the load floor probably with 1/2 inch plywood now that I've gotten feedback but the H should give me plenty of strength for the load floor

 

[MazeVX]

How is the birch holding up? My design has an H pattern under the load floor probably with 1/2 inch plywood now that I've gotten feedback but the H should give me plenty of strength for the load floor

It's holding up great, no sagging or any other, usually have boxes up there so the weight is distributed but I also don't have any reinforcement under the birch and it spans around 22 inches wide over the drawer.

 

[Ahoward2k]

How is the birch holding up? My design has an H pattern under the load floor probably with 1/2 inch plywood now that I've gotten feedback but the H should give me plenty of strength for the load floor

It's holding up great, no sagging or any other, usually have boxes up there so the weight is distributed but I also don't have any reinforcement under the birch and it spans around 22 inches wide over the drawer.

Mine is going to be about 36" square up top so I'm going to put a brace in the middle to divide the space. There will be the drawer out the back and a cubby on the front side behind the seats for stuff I won't need in a hurry.

 

[MazeVX]

Mine is going to be about 36" square up top so I'm going to put a brace in the middle to divide the space. There will be the drawer out the back and a cubby on the front side behind the seats for stuff I won't need in a hurry.

With the brace there will be no problem, birch mpx is very strong and you will, most likely, not putting huge weight with a very little footprint in the middle.

 

[Moebius01]

I'm just finishing up a cube I built for my WK2 (building a semi-modular easy to remove system that I can just put in when I'm headed out). Used 1/2" plywood for the drawer cube itself, and to replace the spare tire compartment cover (which is just foam board), I used 3/4" cut to fit. I figure since it's spanning a 40" gap with no support, 3/4" would provide the extra strength. The drawer cube weighs close to 50 lbs empty, but there's no sign of flex in the 3/4" platform when it's in there.

I would think, unless you're putting something with pretty high density/weight concentrated in a small area, 1/2" would be fine since you'd also have the drawer frames to support it.