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Based on the excellent threads here, I have built myself a rear shelf. It was an enjoyable project and I benefited greatly from the other posts on the forum and the advice of members, so I thought I'd give back to the forum by detailing what I did and how much it cost for the benefit of anyone else considering doing likewise. Like anything you do for the first time, you learn things along the way, and reflect on what you would have done differently etc. I'll share some of those thoughts at the end.
I am not aware of another supplier of square aluminium tubing in Adelaide (at least none that were convenient for me to get to when I had the time), so I purchased the majority of my supplies from Bunnings. I thought about buying shelf runners and making my own slide, but decided I was better off buying something ready-made. I got the slide from Dunn & Watson on an ebay sale. It's a reasonable amount wider than my fridge, but I made use of the room by securing a fire extinguisher on the inside of the cage I made to go around the fridge. See the last pics below for that.
SHELF:
Fridge slide $160.00
Tee nuts x100 $23.10
Bondcrete for sealing ply wood $9.00
Flood anti-mould additive $12.90
Connect-it corner pieces $44.89
Connect-it tubing $147.00
Screws, washers $12.67
Turnbuckles x4 $16.40
Bolts (3 boxes x25) $21.29
Eye bolts x2 $7.40
17mm ply wood (1200mm x 2400mm) $51.30 (I couldn't get a smaller piece unfortunately, as I only needed 1/3 of it - should have shopped around perhaps...)
Carpet (0.9m x 2m wide) - cost attributable to the shelf $28.27
D shackles x2 $2.20
Contact adhesive $12.13
Aluminium angle 3m $20.23
Angle brackets x4 $6.00
TOTAL $574.78
FRIDGE CAGE:
Connect-it corner pieces $13.44
Connect-it tubing $61.84
Wire rack for cage sides $23.00
Screws, washers $6.30
Bolts (3 boxes x25) $2.37
Carpet (0.9m x 2m wide) - cost attributable to the cage top $3.14
Contact adhesive $1.35
Aluminium angle 3m $20.23
Angle bracket 600mm $3.60
Angle brackets x4 $6.00
TOTAL $121.03
(prices current Sep/Oct 2017)
First I drew up a design then created a parts list. Of course, I ended up going back and forth to Bunnings MANY times throughout the build as I realised different things I needed and could return.
I built the frame, and tested it in the car before moving on to the top.
I had Bunnings cut the large sheet of ply into thirds for me, then created a paper template and checked it in the back of the car before drawing it onto the ply then cutting out the shape with a jigsaw.
This pic below shows the frame sitting on the wooden top. You can see that I have attached the bottom horizontal pieces of tubing on the frame (showing at the top on the pic), but that was a mistake as I needed to drill out bolt holes in the frame so needed to remove those pieces.
This shows a closer-up view of the frame (with the horizontal pieces removed) after I had drilled the holes.
The full frame with all the holes drilled:
The wooden top showing the holes drilled:
Tee nuts fitted:
(The reason I chose the 17mm ply is that was the minimum thickness I could go with for the tee nuts to fit ok)
Test fit:
I painted the wood with a couple of coats of bondcrete with some anti-mould additive (see parts list above) to waterproof it, before using contact adhesive to glue on the carpet.
I skipped forward in the build a bit here without taking more pics. I didn't take any pics of the cage build, but I built it with a combination of regular tubing and lipped tubing, and used a wire shelf rack that I cut to size with my angle grinder and secured to the frame with self-tapping metal screws. I used a spare piece of MDF I had in the shed that I covered with carpet for the top. After taking those pics, I added a solid metal angle bracket to the front top of both sides to provide a lot more rigidity to the frame, as I was concerned about the plastic corners braking with lateral movement of the frame when the top is loaded up with weight. It's very solid now.
All put together:
After carpeting the top, I screwed on a piece of 1mm aluminium angle to protect the front lip of the shelf. I thought that would also provide some extra support for the frame at the front, given there is a plastic joiner there with no leg support underneath. However, even with that metal piece there and the frame bolted to the 17mm ply, the wooden top has bowed a little with the weight I had loaded onto it, so I've bought a 3mm galv steel piece of angle that I'm going to place under the front horizontal tubing to span the join. I haven't done that yet.
Held in place by turnbuckles to the four tie-down points:
After taking the above pics, similar to the cage described above, I added solid metal brackets to two of the edge legs (not the front ones, but the second row back) to provide a more solid frame to avoid the plastic corners breaking from lateral movement when the shelf is loaded up.
We recently tested it out with a trip up Googs Track and it performed flawlessly, other than the slight bow in the middle at the front that I have described above.
Here's a phone pic of the rear loaded up for that trip:
It all bolts in place but is removable in part or in whole, such that I can just have the shelf without the fridge slide or cage, or the shelf with the slide but no cage. The top bolts to the frame once I have the frame in the car (ie cannot install/remove it in one go), and then the cage goes in on top.
Weights:
Fridge slide 14.1kg
Shelf, frame and fridge cage 21.3kg
Total 35.4kg (which is slightly less than the third row of seats that I removed)
In the under-floor area for the trip I had my second battery to run the fridge (I have a 6B&S cable from the isolator under the bonnet through to the under-floor area), my first aid kit, my air compressor, jumper leads and my tool bag, so it was all stuff that didn't need to be accessed frequently but was accessible when needed. I purchased a power distribution box (http://www.australiandirect.com.au/b...dist/KACBV-CUA) that has a volt meter, 12v power socket, dual USB ports and an anderson plug, and that was attached via velcro to the left leg of the shelf frame and was handy at times along the way for things like charging phones etc when stopped at camp and for plugging my air compressor into, and for checking the charge level in the second battery.
Things I learned along the way:
I realise this has been a long post, and if you've read the whole thing you've done well! But I wanted to provide some costs and details to assist anyone contemplating doing something similar.
Feel free to ask any questions in the thread, but if it's been dormant for a while, I suggest you shoot me a PM as well to ensure I see your post.
I am not aware of another supplier of square aluminium tubing in Adelaide (at least none that were convenient for me to get to when I had the time), so I purchased the majority of my supplies from Bunnings. I thought about buying shelf runners and making my own slide, but decided I was better off buying something ready-made. I got the slide from Dunn & Watson on an ebay sale. It's a reasonable amount wider than my fridge, but I made use of the room by securing a fire extinguisher on the inside of the cage I made to go around the fridge. See the last pics below for that.
SHELF:
Fridge slide $160.00
Tee nuts x100 $23.10
Bondcrete for sealing ply wood $9.00
Flood anti-mould additive $12.90
Connect-it corner pieces $44.89
Connect-it tubing $147.00
Screws, washers $12.67
Turnbuckles x4 $16.40
Bolts (3 boxes x25) $21.29
Eye bolts x2 $7.40
17mm ply wood (1200mm x 2400mm) $51.30 (I couldn't get a smaller piece unfortunately, as I only needed 1/3 of it - should have shopped around perhaps...)
Carpet (0.9m x 2m wide) - cost attributable to the shelf $28.27
D shackles x2 $2.20
Contact adhesive $12.13
Aluminium angle 3m $20.23
Angle brackets x4 $6.00
TOTAL $574.78
FRIDGE CAGE:
Connect-it corner pieces $13.44
Connect-it tubing $61.84
Wire rack for cage sides $23.00
Screws, washers $6.30
Bolts (3 boxes x25) $2.37
Carpet (0.9m x 2m wide) - cost attributable to the cage top $3.14
Contact adhesive $1.35
Aluminium angle 3m $20.23
Angle bracket 600mm $3.60
Angle brackets x4 $6.00
TOTAL $121.03
(prices current Sep/Oct 2017)
First I drew up a design then created a parts list. Of course, I ended up going back and forth to Bunnings MANY times throughout the build as I realised different things I needed and could return.
I built the frame, and tested it in the car before moving on to the top.
I had Bunnings cut the large sheet of ply into thirds for me, then created a paper template and checked it in the back of the car before drawing it onto the ply then cutting out the shape with a jigsaw.
This pic below shows the frame sitting on the wooden top. You can see that I have attached the bottom horizontal pieces of tubing on the frame (showing at the top on the pic), but that was a mistake as I needed to drill out bolt holes in the frame so needed to remove those pieces.
This shows a closer-up view of the frame (with the horizontal pieces removed) after I had drilled the holes.
The full frame with all the holes drilled:
The wooden top showing the holes drilled:
Tee nuts fitted:
(The reason I chose the 17mm ply is that was the minimum thickness I could go with for the tee nuts to fit ok)
Test fit:
I painted the wood with a couple of coats of bondcrete with some anti-mould additive (see parts list above) to waterproof it, before using contact adhesive to glue on the carpet.
I skipped forward in the build a bit here without taking more pics. I didn't take any pics of the cage build, but I built it with a combination of regular tubing and lipped tubing, and used a wire shelf rack that I cut to size with my angle grinder and secured to the frame with self-tapping metal screws. I used a spare piece of MDF I had in the shed that I covered with carpet for the top. After taking those pics, I added a solid metal angle bracket to the front top of both sides to provide a lot more rigidity to the frame, as I was concerned about the plastic corners braking with lateral movement of the frame when the top is loaded up with weight. It's very solid now.
All put together:
After carpeting the top, I screwed on a piece of 1mm aluminium angle to protect the front lip of the shelf. I thought that would also provide some extra support for the frame at the front, given there is a plastic joiner there with no leg support underneath. However, even with that metal piece there and the frame bolted to the 17mm ply, the wooden top has bowed a little with the weight I had loaded onto it, so I've bought a 3mm galv steel piece of angle that I'm going to place under the front horizontal tubing to span the join. I haven't done that yet.
Held in place by turnbuckles to the four tie-down points:
After taking the above pics, similar to the cage described above, I added solid metal brackets to two of the edge legs (not the front ones, but the second row back) to provide a more solid frame to avoid the plastic corners breaking from lateral movement when the shelf is loaded up.
We recently tested it out with a trip up Googs Track and it performed flawlessly, other than the slight bow in the middle at the front that I have described above.
Here's a phone pic of the rear loaded up for that trip:
It all bolts in place but is removable in part or in whole, such that I can just have the shelf without the fridge slide or cage, or the shelf with the slide but no cage. The top bolts to the frame once I have the frame in the car (ie cannot install/remove it in one go), and then the cage goes in on top.
Weights:
Fridge slide 14.1kg
Shelf, frame and fridge cage 21.3kg
Total 35.4kg (which is slightly less than the third row of seats that I removed)
In the under-floor area for the trip I had my second battery to run the fridge (I have a 6B&S cable from the isolator under the bonnet through to the under-floor area), my first aid kit, my air compressor, jumper leads and my tool bag, so it was all stuff that didn't need to be accessed frequently but was accessible when needed. I purchased a power distribution box (http://www.australiandirect.com.au/b...dist/KACBV-CUA) that has a volt meter, 12v power socket, dual USB ports and an anderson plug, and that was attached via velcro to the left leg of the shelf frame and was handy at times along the way for things like charging phones etc when stopped at camp and for plugging my air compressor into, and for checking the charge level in the second battery.
Things I learned along the way:
- Consider where all the holes need to be positioned before you drill them all and position everything - I couldn't really visualise that so just worked it out as I went, but it meant that one of my bolt holes to hold the fridge cage in place is very close to the frame underneath such that I don't have room for a washes on that one. It's not a problem though, but it's just a little more fiddly to get that one done up.
- Before finalising your design, consider what you're going to put under it (ie how tall and wide it will be). I hadn't thought that specifically ahead of time, and just made it high enough to be able to get stuff in/out of the under-floor part, but in hind-sight perhaps I should have considered the height of what I was going to place under it (eg the plastic storage tub I put my camp kitchen stuff in) to make best use of the space. Also, consider where to put the middle leg. I simply made each side even in width, but in hind-sight I might have been better to make one side a little larger and the other a little smaller - after I had built everything I purchased a heap of different plastic tubs to see what would fit best and one that would have been an ideal size for our gear was about a cm too wide to fit, meaning I had to rule it out as an option. Had I measured that before hand I could have tweaked the design to accommodate it.
I realise this has been a long post, and if you've read the whole thing you've done well! But I wanted to provide some costs and details to assist anyone contemplating doing something similar.
Feel free to ask any questions in the thread, but if it's been dormant for a while, I suggest you shoot me a PM as well to ensure I see your post.
.. their connect-it bits are 1/2 the price as well..... But take a hack saw with you as they do charge a bit to 'cut to size'...
MITZY . 97 NL 3.5 GLS AUTO (Formally owned by geopaj
)__ Snorkel ,2 Uniden Uhfs , Roof Console, 2"lift, TT Suspension, Dual bat, Redarc System, BFG KO2's All Terrains, 55L sub tank, Pioneer sound, Milford cargo barrier, Extractors, SS exhaust, Rear camp light, Free Wheel Hubs, Improved Rear Storage unit, Alarm, Led interior lamps... 
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