Commander drawers securing? How? Ideas?

[WHHEMI]

Here are some pics of mine in a WH, I used 90 x 35 pine as a frame so have 90mm of storage under the fridge and have now made a lid for the drivers side, so have storage under there as well.

[Hanna]

Looks good mate!

How do you access your spare wheel winch, or don't you anymore?

[WHHEMI]

Slide fridge out and use orig tools to wind down, I made sure there was room.

[Hanna]

Just to clarify - do you mean that you need to take the entire fridge slide out of the car in order to access it?

[WHHEMI]

Originally Posted by Hanna

Just to clarify - do you mean that you need to take the entire fridge slide out of the car in order to access it?

No, just slide the fridge out.

[JamesLaugesen]

Originally Posted by Hanna

My only real issue with this setup is that unlike James, I still have my spare wheel located underneath the cargo area, so I would still need access to the winch hole, which is located in the centre (right underneath where he has the drawer slides)

Maybe weld a bar onto the winder with some appropriate socket/fitting on the end? You'd only need to space the slides enough for that bar to fit between. So you could fix the slides to a plywood support to get some space, and a bit easier than fixing to a length of angle.

The final height of my "floor" was determined by the height of the heavier slides. I wanted the floor to be flat so it could still be used for other stuff. So I ended up with a ~140mm gap under the floor (~60mm for the height of the slide plus ~90mm for the 'drop' below the lip of the boot.). I thought of using the full ~140mm height for a battery and tools and things, but decided that the two thin drawers/tables would be more useful for us, which ended up having around 50mm useable height.
I've still managed to fix a 150ah lithium battery and electronics in the 90mm 'drop' space on one side. Here's how it looks atm (slow progress with two new kids haha.);


Keep in mind with the curved boot opening, the drop down in the 'void' is about ~70mm for center of the opening (sounds like it's the same in the Commander.), but the curves at the sides mean you need to compromise boot height vs space between the slides. Either loose some height above the floor or end-up with voids the outside of the outer slides... unless you cut into the boot opening.

I like the 50/50 split because with one side pulled out, I can stand in the 'corner' and get things out of the drop with a full load on both sides of the floor. Otherwise when both sides are extended I get to the void via a folded rear seat.

[Hanna]

Originally Posted by JamesLaugesen

Maybe weld a bar onto the winder with some appropriate socket/fitting on the end? You'd only need to space the slides enough for that bar to fit between. So you could fix the slides to a plywood support to get some space, and a bit easier than fixing to a length of angle.

The final height of my "floor" was determined by the height of the heavier slides. I wanted the floor to be flat so it could still be used for other stuff. So I ended up with a ~140mm gap under the floor (~60mm for the height of the slide plus ~90mm for the 'drop' below the lip of the boot.). I thought of using the full ~140mm height for a battery and tools and things, but decided that the two thin drawers/tables would be more useful for us, which ended up having around 50mm useable height.
I've still managed to fix a 150ah lithium battery and electronics in the 90mm 'drop' space on one side. Here's how it looks atm (slow progress with two new kids haha.);


Keep in mind with the curved boot opening, the drop down in the 'void' is about ~70mm for center of the opening (sounds like it's the same in the Commander.), but the curves at the sides mean you need to compromise boot height vs space between the slides. Either loose some height above the floor or end-up with voids the outside of the outer slides... unless you cut into the boot opening.

I like the 50/50 split because with one side pulled out, I can stand in the 'corner' and get things out of the drop with a full load on both sides of the floor. Otherwise when both sides are extended I get to the void via a folded rear seat.

Sorry for the delayed response James - once again you're right on the money!

I hadn't thought about the curve of the boot opening, and you're absolutely right. I have been working through the design and I think I will end up with a sliding floor very similar to yours, must be by fluke!

The final floor level will end up being very similar to the existing floor level with the 3rd row seats folded down by the time I add the height of the slides and the 18mm ply to the spacing to get the floor above the curve in the boot. I can't complain about that. It should leave me with about 140mm of storage space under the new floor which I never had. Still deciding whether I will add another set of slides on one side like yours, but I will work that out after I get the main set in place first. I have a trip to Cape Leveque coming up at Easter, so I will be working hard to get it done before then. So far I have taken the seats out and bought the timber for the frame, but the fridge slides, anchor track and ply will be another week or so away. (Always hard to get living in the most remote part of the Country)

By the way, i love what you have done with the batteries in the floor space! I was going to add a second battery to mine and connect it to the cranking battery via 6 B&S cable, VSR, circuit breaker and an Anderson plug. Where did you run the cabling from the front of the vehicle? Inside or outside the cabin? Did you drill a new hole in the floor for it?

Cheers,
Hanna