anyone build sleeping/drawer system with 1" square aluminum?

[rc51kid]

I think i am going to use 1" square aluminum tubing and connectors to build the basic frame of my new platform. Right now i have a simple system made from 2"x2" wood frame and skinned with thin 1/4 or 3/8 plywood. Has worked great. But i want to change the height a little and i think the aluminum will be much better. I do have a few questions. Specifically will one companys connectors work with another companies 1" tubing? Also what thickness and what brands did people use? I just started looking into this. So any or all info about this will be great.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Take a look at the MASSIVE thread on sleeping platforms - most every option including this one has been touched on. Be patient - there are LOTS of pages to read through

 

[rayra]

1" would certainly work but it's overkill just like 3/4" ply. You'll be losing a lot of cubic inches of storage room, if you build a drawer inside of a framework of 1" tubing.

There's a lot of variety and ingenuity in the home-brewed systems here, but a lot of them waste 5-10% of the vehicle storage volume with the way they are designed.

 

[nalshort]

I built a DIY storage setup for the back of a Jeep JKU recently using square aluminum tubing. Cut down on a ton of weight vs. 2X4 framing. Best advice I can give is to source the tubing as well as the connectors from the same supplier. I bought my tubing locally and the connectors online. Low and behold the connectors were too big. I didn't want to spend more money so I ended up having to shave down each one individually with a grinder. Extremely tedious task to say the least! I can't post any pic's as I am away at work currently, sorry I can't be of more help!

 

[Jeepinaaron]

I have been working on a storage drawer/K-9 Kennel/fridge slide over the past few weeks. At this point I am keeping it bare wood until I am sure everything is just how I want it, then I will paint it. The only thing I need to change at this moment is the fridge slide, since 1/4" plywood worked so well with the box I thought it would support the weight of the fridge. Wrong. So I'm going with .125 aluminum plate instead. The entire setup is lightweight, and I can take it out of my Jeep in about 10 minutes.

I sourced my tube from eztube.com and I utilized 1/4" birch plywood.

 

[krax]

That looks very similar to what you'd get from Goose Gear. I mean that in a good way.

 

[Jeepinaaron]

That looks very similar to what you'd get from Goose Gear. I mean that in a good way.

At a fraction of the cost! But in all honesty, it is still expensive. I probably have $500 in the project. Looking at the Goose Gear products it is apparent they spend a lot of time in refinement and getting it perfect. They were my inspiration.

 

[MANUCHAO]

That's a lot of wasted space......
I would go with aluminum drawers and aluminum or steel housing to house everything together...

 

[perkj]

Here is my platform made from 1" square aluminum: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...-dimensions-on-pg-4)/page6?highlight=platform