I have decided to work on building a drawer system for my D2 so I thought I would solicit some advice. My initial idea was to build a woodin 6 inch tall drawer across the back with a single locking drawer with internal dividers. But I came up with a few questions I thought I would seek everyone’s advice for.

                1 I have the factory storage compartments in back that I find super handy right now. Should I  remove them and utilize that space when building the system? I’m leaning towards leaving them in.

                2  Do I need to fasten the drawer to the tie downs in the back?

                3  Does anyone have any suggestions in general from there past builds?

Thanks in advance guys for your info.

Dan....I built a drawer system in the back of my D2, it has 2 drawers and a flip up storage compartment (not shown in the pics) near the rear seats. Made it with 3/4" plywood, covered in outdoor carpet and aluminum for the edging. It's tied down to the factory loop hooks with tie hooks at either end and tighten the middle (forget the actual name). All the stuff bought and used is from Lowes, although I would like to upgrade to other stuff found online. There are few pros and cons that run along with the box. If I were to build another one, would be lighter, right now it's heavy and does cut down on gas mpg. Also when offroading would tie an extra 2 straps over it for added safety. Another better design would be to put an access panel near the drawer handles in case the rear door doesn't open have another access to stuff in the drawers. Good luck with your build! Here a few pics of mine.

Dave, those are called turnbuckles.

Now I expect you to come to my rescue the next (rather frequent) time I cannot remember something...  

I'm also looking at the same thing. I've been considering taking out the factory tubs, though and building something across the entire back, likely about 2 drawers high. I'm still looking for ideas, though. One thing I discovered (pun not intended) a few years back is that it become very noisy if you remove the rear carpet and the inch or so of sound deadening backing. So I'd suggest whatever you put in goes on top of the factory carpet and flooring.

Good advise reminding us to watch the weight, as most of this is sitting behind the rear axle so it will have a multiplied effect on the weight to the rear of your truck. Should make your headlights shine higher, though!

If you're keeping the factory tubs, I suggest you pull off the two vent cowlings between the tubs and the rear door. You'll discover two rather large storage units for small recovery stuff such as shackles, gloves, tree straps, etc. Theres a few wires running through this area, down to the bumper lights, but I've been using these two additional storage areas for years and find them really useful for all the little things that might otherwise roll around or take up valuable tub/drawer space. My fire extinguisher lives quite nicely sticking out of the right side vent port and doesn't rattle like it used to when it was on its original snap-mount.

Dave

I was able to fit my ARB air compressor in that vent space. It's quite large.

There's a ton of space behind the molding that makes up the back side of the cubby too. I trimmed mine and was able to fit a 2.5gal air tank back there.

On the subject of drawers, you don't need drawer slides. You can use small wheels designed for the bottom of a drawer that are recessed almost entirely into the drawer. Put two wheels at the top of drawer, and a bump stop. You'll save both weight and gain a lot of storage space that is normally lost to drawer slide hardware.

My drawers were professionally made by Truck Vault to my specification. I had two drawers, and two wing areas. The wings folded over into the cubby area (with the cubby faces/lids removed. This gave the illusion of one giant false floor which can help deter theft. The Truck vault drawers were designed to be very stout so that they couldn't be opened easily (They were gun safes). This was nice because I could lock my GPS and other expensive gear in the drawers when I went for a hike. Mine were secured by J hooks that hooked onto the bar that holds the 3rd row seats to the floor (probably don't have this if you have cubbies). They were also secured via small ratchet type straps to the bar that holds the 2nd row seats in place.  They had T-handles that rotated to keep them shut but didn't automatically lock.  This works well, as it allows you to open the back door when nose up on a steep hill and not have the drawers slide out and get you.

Yep, Justin owns my old DII and I believe he's still sporting the drawers.  There should be some photos of them in the "Craig's 99 DII - Snowshoe" thread in the project forum.

My friend Geoff has an Australian chuckwagon setup that he bought for his 62 series land cruiser.  I have never seen anything that works as good as these do.  The frame is aluminum, the drawers are translucent plastic.  It has room for an ARB/Engel style freezer/refrigerator unit with sliding tray, and a huge water carrier.  I think this is the present website:

http://motorcare.com.au/content.php?pageid=1243677038

The system mounts using the same djustable hooked end bolts as an Engel reefer does on its sliding tray. 

The prices shown are Australian, so I don't know what the conversion to U.S. $$ would be.  I do know he paid a little over $2 K for it new back when.  He has since sold the Land Cruiser, and I don't think the unit fits under the topper he has on his 4 dook Taco.

If anyone is interested, I would be happy to follow up and see if he wants to get rid of it.  Please PM me.  Perhaps we could gett some pics too.

Dale

I found a picture of Geoff's setup. 

 Well its been a few weeks since I started  this project. I have my drawer system 99% complete. I am still working on a locking system to keep the drawer from sliding out unwantedly. I am pretty happy how it came out I think it looks pretty clean. Since Brent was doing some Spring cleaning over at Columbia Rover ( shamless plug) I also added one of their rear door panels to the scope of the project.

 I was noticing the one drawer set up. Makes more space only having two drawer slides instead of four. The drawer can be sectioned off inside. Great looking.

Here are a few cheap & simple ways to keep the drawer shut that I can think of...

Drill a hole clean through the top, drawer, and base.  Then get a sturdy rod of slightly smaller diameter, cut to length leaving a tag end long enough to drill a hole through for a key ring.  Insert the rod in the holes and it shouldn't budge unless you want it to.  Double or triple up on the rods across the width depending on how much weight you plan on having in the drawer.

Another option is to cut slots on the top and base to loop webbing through.  Then use buckles or tensioners to keep the drawer shut.

Regardless of what you do, the drawer looks great!  I need to go buy my supplies and start my attempt.