Drawers: Metal vs. wood

[llamalander]

Angle Iron has many of the same properties as square tube, but you can use the inside.
Likewise bent sheet can be remarkably strong/stiff, there's a lot of places you don't need drawers to be as strong as bumpers,
The Coroplast above is a good example. Part of outfitting a rig is figuring out what you don't need and striking a balance between weight and durability.

The platform that my kitchen slides under is 1/2" ply supported by a 3/16" wood divider rabbited into the platform, no glue or fasteners, just gravity.
The bed sides prevent it from racking and the divider has never buckled or deformed because it can hundreds of pounds of in-plane compression, no steel required.

Another consideration is that the slides required to support long &/or heavy drawers starts to get bulky, heavy and expensive-
How wide a gap for those Decked drawers hardware? looks like enough room to file a 12-pack at least! I couldn't live with myself wasting so much space!

 

[ricoisme26]

What kind of sheet metal thickness could you get away with for an upper skin and still be able to stand on top of the drawer system? 18 ga. sounds pretty thin, would you need to add cross bracing to prevent it from bowing, how often would bracing need to be, every 12" more or less? 1/2" plywood should be able to hold people/items on top of the drawer system no problem (probably not park an ATV on it as Decked claims they are capable of) but not require any cross bracing. Maybe on on a short bed, two on a standard bed, more on an 8' bed all for good measure.

 

[Oscar Mike Gulf Yankee]

To the original question, I'd think most guys know how to work with wood and have woodworking tools. Most guys probably can't weld or own equipment for metalwork and probably can't weld. While I own a welder I haven't welded anything for decades and wouldn't bet my life on my welding skills.

I'll take the simple and cheap route every time if it's satisfactory. My F 150 has a bed liner, long plastic cases slide easily over the floor and tailgate, the same boxes slide over the carpet on the boat or on the steel floor of my utility trailer. They can also stack and slide in the cargo trailer. When not in use they are ready to go in the garage. 3 plastic cargo boxes were less than a hundred bucks.

I use my truck for its utility purpose more than for recreation. If I went to the expense of putting in a drawer system, it would be harder to haul a freezer home or to load up limbs to haul off, reducing the depth of the bed takes away from the utility aspects.

When I needed a platform a 1/2 CDX sheet was supported by 3 cargo twist lock pipes that fit in slots of the bed liner, the ends fit on each side, this has held about 400 lbs. The plywood makes a good floor for the truck tent.

This arrangement is inexpensive, almost indestructible, sturdy and keeps the weight down. My F 150 likes to travel light.

The commercial drawer systems are very nice, if I were using my truck commercially I'd consider them but for recreation I put them in the overlanding bling category, just don't need them.

Some good ideas floating in this thread, if you need drawers I'd suggest you build them as well.