How to bolt down cargo drawers?

G'day all. I'm building a set of cargo drawers for my D40, and plan to bolt the frame to the rails that run along the bottom of the tray. Trouble is, I have no idea on how I might achieve this! Can anyone point me in the right direction as to whether there are special gizmos for this purpose or if anyone has done something similar? At this stage I'm thinking of a bolt and large washer under the rail, through the plastic sleeve on the rail and then through the frame. I have not yet looked close enough to see if this is possible. thanks in advance for any ideas.

If you build it as a tight fit you hardly need to worry about bolting them in because their weight and size will pretty much do that for you. If it were me I'd whack a bolt straight through floor, I've got 3 bolts holding in my tool box but that's mainly to make sure the battery inside doesn't tip the box more than anything else, if I was unlucky enough to have an accident I know the box will just rip off its mounts and like a full draw system the only thing that has a hope of stopping it is the back wall of the cabin.

There's a particular bolt that I can't remember the name of that is perfect for this. When I can remember what it is, I'll be buying some for myself!

You can get a piece of mild steel that is wide enough to slide into the cargo rails in the floor, drill a hold through it and using a mild steel bolt of sufficient length, braze/mig that into place, providing you with an adjustable anchor point.

There's a name for the bloody thing, I just can't remember it.

Tony, your not thinking of some type of cuphead bolt like this are you: ?

http://www.boltsnutsscrewsonline.com/shop/Cuphead-Bolts-Stainless-Steel.83

this is how my roof top tent is fixed down to my roof racks - the cuphead bolt goes through a square hole in a small plate (obviously not a round hole) and then a nylok nut under the roof rack ...

That's not what I was thinking of, it's a manufactured version of what I described to make. I thought they were called unibolts or unistats or something like that. I just can't remember what the hell they are called.

I meant something like this:



Please excuse the crudity of it. It's just a piece of flat bar that will fit under the rail and has a bolt welded to it so you can clamp stuff to the rail. I'll make one and bring it to the muster if I don't remember what the stupid things are called ... curse the ruddy old grey thing upstairs!

Tony your not talking about Unistrut by any chance lol



Worked with the stuff for 20 years lol

http://www.unistrut.com.au/index.php?M1=6&M2=22&M3=81

THAT IS THE ONE!

Brilliant. Thanks! I'm going to the tattoo parlour to have that put on my forehead so when I'm shaving I'll be reminded.

I made my own clamps from 6mm alloy with a stainless bolt and loctite
works a treat
You could also just slide a piece of 6mm bar up thru the channel and have it with the stainless bolts poking up thru it

Thats the difference between you D40 guys and us in the '22s I just used a few metal tecs pre drilled and driven in.
Seriously though, so far they have held, but if they snap you've given me some ideas!

I was going to use techies to hold my tool/battery box in but seeing how thin the panel work is on these things I decided nuts and bolts were definitely better. The bracket is held to the tool box with techies but they hang into 19mm boxing at that point not flimsy sheet metal.

If your making a set of drawers that take up the whole floor space your only ever going to need to stop the thing from moving when you pull the drawer out because the rest of the time the tub holds it in, and if you use the right drawer runners even then it shouldn't be a huge issue.

If your every unlucky enough to be in a rear end accident situation the drawer frames are going to be stronger than any bolt or screw going through the body work, or in the utilitrack. Going through the chassis might be a bit different but even 1 inch diameter bolts can snap with the right force.

Others opinions obviously vary but if I was doing a framed drawer system full width and full length I wouldn't even bother with bolts through the chassis or body work, built right it wont go far unless under the worst conditions.

KraftyPg said:

Others opinions obviously vary but if I was doing a framed drawer system full width and full length I wouldn't even bother with bolts through the chassis or body work, built right it wont go far unless under the worst conditions.

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thanks for your input. I've decided not to fix to the body yet - will give it a decent test first. My main concern was the whole lot tipping with an extended drawer, but I think the tail gate will prevent that from happening- plus the only time the drawers will be loaded is when there is gear on top of the cabinet as well.

Under other circumstances I think you're right. I've got a CD/DVD cabinet here which we made a while back and the weight of 120 CD's in one drawer does have a tendency to topple the whole thing over when open fully so it's bolted to the wall but as you point out in a ute situation the open tailgate and the weight of the gear on top will pretty much stop any of that.

You might consider the consequences of having them floating in the tub loose with stuff on top over a rough track.

My guess is the first time you discover that your spare brake fluid fell under and got squashed, resulting in the entire tray getting a spray of it, you'll decide to bolt the things in place.

Call me a doomsayer, but if it could happen. I lost a can of silicone lube spray that way. Thankfully didn't eat away at the paintwork, but Jesus everything in the tub was slippery as an eel in a bucket of oil.

I don't really see how bolting drawers down stops the stuff stored in them or around them moving especially if the drawer frames are a tight fit in the hub but each to their own.

I was more thinking about something sitting on the top falling underneath as the draw unit itself bounces up and being destroyed as it comes back down. That's what happened to my silicone spray ... toolbox went up, spray rolled underneath, toolbox went down and suddenly everything was nicely lubricated.

That would be why I'd make it fit the hole, then things can't fall down into the gaps. But each person is different I know my idea works because we've done it in previous vehicles but that doesn't mean bolting things down wont work.

Old.Tony said:

You might consider the consequences of having them floating in the tub loose with stuff on top over a rough track.

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I didn't actually think of that aspect...so more contemplation to occur If I can get my butt into gear I'll take a few pics of what I've done. Was it 'measure once cut twice"? - cos no matter how hard i try I still manage to stuff things up!

fisher said:

Was it 'measure once cut twice"?

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You forgot swear and yell.