DIY Canopy Drawers
Where to start?
The humble DIY canopy drawers.
Arguably the most useful way to utilise space.
But also quickly becoming heavy, expensive and an all round head fk.
So, I moved backwards.
What is the absolute lowest profile I can achieve before things don’t fit.
Things being the Water Tanks and the Battery.
With that constraint the drawers can begin.
The SIMPLEST drawer system you’ve ever seen
Drawer plans + templates to kickstart your canopy fit-out.
The water and battery compartment
Water and battery height determined the height of the drawers.
This was to create a uniform false floor of the same level.
With this height decided, the rest of the build could follow.
The drawer frame
Initially, the plan was double drawers.
With the fridge, I didn’t account for the tapered canopy door which couldn’t close.
So now we’re down to one drawer.
Luckily the fridge fit in the space left by the left drawer.
The frame is 17mm film faced ply.
The panels are glued with polyurethane and screwed in place.
The frame is fixed using factory holes in the tub, with nuts and bolts.
Fridge slide
The slide is a Kings 60L medium slide.
The fridge is raised slightly higher than the lip edge of the slide.
It removes necessary waisted space when using large fridge slides.
While also maintaining a weight capacity that can carry the fridge.
The slide is fixed via screws directly to the frame.
The fridge is kept secure with the use of straps.
Drawer
The drawer is 12mm ply and is about 5mm smaller on all sides than the frame.
It is fixed using polyurethane and 15mm brads.
The handle is hand sized and cut into the top of the drawer.
The drawer has felt strips underneath and naturally slides on the film face ply.
I decided to keep the natural look of the timber and varnish the drawer face.
The purpose of the drawer is pantry storage.
To organise, there are clear containers within the drawer.
They are light and keep things from moving around when driving.
3 things I wish I knew before my canopy build
1. A setup doesn’t need to cost $15,000+
2. Storage drawers don’t need to weigh 100kg+
3. I should’ve read this ⇩
Plan your setup properly, once.
12V Control Box
The control box on the left side of the tub was fitted next.
It fills the space left between the tub wall and the fridge.
This was built using 12mm ply and fixed with brads and polyurethane.
The face panel was kept natural and varnished to match the drawer.
False floor
The false floor pieces were custom cut to the shape of the Navara tub.
The 12mm pieces are sanded back and 25mm finger holes made for easy removal.
The false floor pieces sit on supports either on the frame or glued to the tub walls.
All ply is painted black, apart from varnished faces of the drawer and 12V control box.
This helps create a protection from any wayward liquids.
The top surfaces are then covered in marine boat foam.
