Overland Drawer Shootout: Best and Worst Designs for DIY’ers

The most annoying thing about “overlanding” (despite being one of my favorite parts too) is that you can set up a new camp spot in a completely different place, every… single… night. Yes, that means setting up and breaking down camp daily, sometimes for weeks on end. Eventually you get into a rhythm of who does what and it becomes the new normal. But when you have limited time to enjoy the great outdoors, why not try to optimize camp setup as much as possible? Bonus points for reducing stress. Enter: the overland drawer system/sleeping platform.

A simple combination of enclosed pre-setup sleeping area and ample storage for gear of all types. Recovery, tools, clothes, food, cooking, camping gear, you name it. As with any DIY project, it might take a couple of tries to do it right and each attempt is a learning process. This post will cover a few iterations of overland drawer systems/sleeping platforms that we’ve built and used. We’ll compare and contrast with pros and cons as we attempt to achieve the perfect balance for our personal needs, and yours too!

Index

• Iteration-1: Scrap Wood
• Iteration-2: The Adventure Index
• Iteration-3: Simple Truck Drawers
• Other Options
• The Comparison Matrix
• Final Considerations

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Iteration 1: Scrap Wood

I first had this revelation that we could sleep IN the 4Runner when planning a 2 week cross country trip to Colorado. I found a massive rotomolded cooler that was mis-marked at Walmart to something like 70% off.  This cooler sitting where the back seat used to reside, drove the height of the platform.  Combined with some scrap wood, $26 in hardware, a cheap memory foam mattress topper, and some plastic bins to fit underneath – we had the sleeping platform iteration #1!

Okay, so…it was far less than ideal, more of a coffin really. We still slept in the ground tent most nights BUT being able to drive 18 hours, pull over at a rest area to sleep, and wake up already ready to roll was a game changer. Not to mention the start of learning gear placement and organizational optimization.

Proof of concept = success. 

We continued to improve on this setup with a hinged clothes storage cubby within the frame, hand made blackout curtains, and other organizational updates.  It served us well for almost 2 years. Ultimately the need for more headroom and more easily accessible organization drove iteration #2.

Iteration 2: The Adventure Index

Huge thanks to TheAdventureIndex.com for providing the overland drawer plans and parts lists. He’s got countless hours into putting together the prints and hardware lists so you don’t have to think about it.  Also shout out to my buddy Ryan for letting me borrow his shop and coaching me though cutting and assembly of the basic wood structures. You gave me knowledge and confidence to tackle future wood working projects on my own. A true transfer of DIY skill.

Iteration #2 was amazing! Maybe a bit overkill but it taught us some valuable insights:

• Weight and complexity should always be a concern.  Half inch plywood alone is plenty sturdy when constructed properly. It will creak and flex under load but will easily serve it’s purpose for many years without the added weight and cost of ¾” cabinet grade plywood. 
• Drawer slides are expensive! They’re finicky to install and adjust.  Then they develop rattles, and their grease attracts dust. They can be too easy to slide too. Such that a slightly ajar drawer on a slope turns into a high-speed crash into the stops event. Or impossible to leave a drawer partially open.
• Coffee table hinges are an awesome way to create a bar height dining experience. Keeping viable flat space while accessing underneath, because when camping – flat space is at a premium.
• Organization of the overland drawer systems into top down and front to back orders of usefulness further saves flat space by not requiring things to be pulled out and set down somewhere else to access needed items.

We finished this setup off by adding a sleeping platform extension, tilt down fridge slide and fridge. Then a dual battery system with lights, outlets, and solar.

Iteration 3: Simple Truck Drawers

These learnings were combined into iteration #3 which came in the form of truck bed drawers for the Tundra. I just shared dimensions for other 2007-2021 Toyota Tundra 6.5ft bed owners (and anyone else with a littler creativity) in another post at DIY How To: Simple Truck Drawer Build for Overlanding. Including tools and parts lists! Keep in mind these plans could be EASILY adjusted to fit many other makes and models so don’t get too hung up on the measurements yet.

Iteration #3 cost, weight, and complexity reduction key points:

• All lap joints or butt joints. No fancy cuts, no routers, dados, biscuits, dowels, or other names for wood joinery.  Simply glued and screwed or crown stapled together.
• Designed to be built from common 4’x8’ sheets of ½” plywood and 1x pine for ease of assembly and weight.
• No drawer slides – wood on wood, all rubbed with candle wax. If fit properly, these glide with ease and don’t rattle or make a greasy mess. All while reducing assembled weight and maximizing drawer space. The drawer rests on the tailgate when pulled out fully so it is always supported.
• Hidden opposing ramp drawer latch design to lock closed. Simple and Secure. These also help the drawer slide action by creating a front edge to glide on.
• Plaskolite organization dividers. Cheap, light, easy to cut and reconfigure as setups change.

Easier Options for Overland Drawer Systems

Prebuilt

If you’re not feeling particularly handy (even though the benefits far outweigh the costs) you can also purchase prebuilt drawers for SUV’s and trucks.  Of course, these come at a much higher cost but there’s no woodworking tools, or sawdust and minimal effort to install.  Some popular SUV overland drawer systems I’ve seen are from the brands: ARB, Dobinson’s, and more recently DFG.

For truck bed drawers the very popular option is by the brand Decked. This is a modular plastic design that has great weather protection for open beds but has lots of wasted space within the model specific fitment packages.

Flat pack

A recent addition to the overland drawer system lineup is SHW Offroad.  They offer a wide range of fitments for different SUV and truck models in an industry first flat packed – you assemble – format.  Like Ikea but for your vehicle! If you don’t see your vehicle on their website they’re always working to add more or can help you size a universal design to fit.  These are high quality craftsman kits. Designed, built, and tested by a fellow DIY enthusiast. With the most difficult steps in the overland drawer build process taken care of for you, you can simply assemble, finish, and enjoy your own handy work.

While writing this post SHW Offroad has also teased plans for application specific composite truck bed drawers that will blow the Decked systems away.  Keep an eye on SHW for more cool overland products!

Update July 2022: SHW Offroad listened to the feedback of the market to reduce the weight, cost, and complexity. This month they announced the release of an Ultralite series of drawers that feature lighter wood, a simpler lift-n-lock friction slider design, and overall more basic drawer design. Check em out!  

The Overland Drawer System Comparison – Pugh Matrix

Okay the moment you’ve all been waiting for, the final comparison of all these options. We’ll use an off the shelf overland drawer system (like this) as the baseline, ranking on scales -3 to +3 for each category. 0 representing same as baseline, with negative numbers worse than baseline and positive numbers better than baseline.  This is highly subjective for our needs and desires, so you may rank them differently depending on what’s important to you or differences in vehicle models. This is strictly based on our experience and research.

1st Place

As you can see, the winner is Iteration #3 the Simple Truck Drawers! They were by far our favorite build due to their low weight and cost, simplicity, highly customizable and organizable.  Despite their design and assembly skills required, and more homemade look that we don’t mind, it’s the best system we’ve tried to date.

2nd Place

Coming in second in our ranking is the SHW Offroad flatpack system. Slightly cheaper, more custom fit, and aesthetically pleasing than the baseline makes this a great DIY’er system, even as someone with no project experience. I’d like to get my hands on one of these to try out at some point, maybe the next over the top build!

3rd Place

Surprisingly in third place is Iteration #1 the Scrap Wood design.  It sure was ugly, but it was so cheap and simple!  Most importantly it got us out into the great outdoors immediately instead of spending more time building than enjoying.  It’s now been disassembled with various components finding their way into next iterations and house projects.

Honorable Mention

Now don’t get me wrong, The Adventure Index overland drawer system is AMAZING! We were able to really dial it in it for our needs. But with it’s moderate parts cost, high complexity, and very time intensive assembly + customization, it ended up being TOO nice for our needs. I would go with something much more simple next time.

Other Considerations for Overland Drawer Systems

For a complete sleeping platform and/or overland drawer system build there are a few other considerations to include in your design.

Electronics – will you be housing a battery system or power source within the overland drawer system? Popular options are dual battery system under the hood like what I’ve built a couple of times. Also, Lithium Ion or LiFePO4 battery housed within the overland drawer system.  Or a simple portable power solution like this one that we use! Also keep in mind the need for wiring routing so as not to interfere with drawer slide actions. USB outlets near sleeping areas for phones/fans. 12V outlets for fridge/fans. Will you need an inverter for AC power appliances?

Heating, ventilation, and cooling – in an SUV this is quite simple. Vent visors for rain protection while having windows cracked, window screens for bugs, USB fans, and remote start set to run 15 minutes for heat combined with quality sleeping bags (and liners!). The cabins of SUV’s are fairly well insulated, but you could add more insulation if desired.

Other consideration for truck beds. For ventilation with a bed cap, we used an RV vent fan (highly recommended). A modified door screen for bugs velcro’ed around the back hatch. A 12V electric blanket for heat, although a diesel heater would have been better. Finally, bed sealing for weather and dust proofing.  There are so many holes and gaps in a truck bed that they are far from sealed from the factory.  It took a few tries to seal up all the bolt holes and openings with rubber grommets and silicone sealant. The plastic bed rail caps had to be removed and sealed with Sikaflex underneath. Then new cap seal and tailgate seals carefully applied. Finally, dry and dust free living space inside!