Sometimes you need to look in the areas you are talking about to see what might be in the way.. There are situations where it is impossible due to equipment, or wheel boxes, or rear rakes, but there is one more thing to be appraised of: Drawers waste a lot of space… There is clearance above the drawers, below the drawer, in back of the drawer, rails and rollers on each side and clearance, a box within a box with wasted space all around… Secondly, you cannot over stuff a drawer like you can a shelf… And also on a bouncy road or corrugated track, the contents of the drawer move around and mound up and you can’t get it open… That is why there are not many drawers on yachts, you are always in there with a stick trying to flatten things out to get the drawer open…
On a shelf you can compress things and overstuff the shelf, and the storage difference in total is about 40-50% less in a drawer due to structure and the ability to compress contents… Drawers are a stationary home style concept and look, it is only natural to want them in vans instead of the shelves and doors that we normally do. It makes sense to want them, but with a big loss in space you have to question if it is worth the effort. You need at least two for the galley for kitchen rolls and utensils and such… But for a pantry, besides the loss of space, there will be times when the pasta lumps up or the can pops up and such on the corrugation, and you will battle to get the drawer open… My best advice is to minimize drawers…. Especially in clothes areas, a pantry, or pots and pans type of areas as you will come to grief when the contents get jumbled a bit on bad back tracks….
If you are going to do it anyway, or are thinking about adding them or converting your own as some have talked about in a previous thread, you need to dovetail the corners like we do, to have it all hold together full on back bad tracks… Just like all of
Bushtracker, there is no second place... Dovetailing is the strongest that is practical, in real wood...
Yes, drawers are more convenient, but there is this hidden drawback… Of lost storage space…. As always, I am going to give my best evaluation on the matter, so you can choose what is right for you… You don’t have to do it my way, you can have it your way… But we don’t necessarily tell you what we think you want to hear, instead we give you the benefit of our experience so you know all of the pros and cons on a subject…. And, mind you, we are the most experienced of all…. We have had more than a few Bushtrackers around here, and done more than a few trips around the Bush and Back… Like way more… Ha!
But to be fair, this is one of those grey areas that there will be opinions on, that differ.. And with all due respect sometimes the convenience rule is important due to physical difficulties or other factors.. But in my new 22' van, there are few drawers to maximise the storage....
Kind Regards, from da “Lone Ranger” at
Bushtracker