Started on a Mod for the new Toy Hauler....

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So after looking online for a baggage slider for my new Toy Hauler, I decided that I would try to build one myself. The metal ones are very nice, don't get me wrong, but the cheapest price I could find for the one that I needed (20" x 60") was $340 and was going to add a little over 150 lb to the front of the T.H......in essence...another 150 lbs of tongue weight.

So, after looking at different ideas that I saw online, I started the project and here is what I have so far. The slide sides are 1" x 4" poplar wood, the bottom is particle board, and the cross bracing is some used 1" x 4" that I already had in the garage. Everything is screwed and glued with wood glue.



My plan is to add guide rails on both sides of the slide, attached with small machine screws and nuts, and then the slide will be resting on 2" fixed casters mounted on the floor of the baggage compartment. The slider guide rails (3/4" x 3/4" aluminum square tubing) will fit into a piece of Unistrut channel on both sides of it and that will only be there for keeping the slide from moving side to side as it is pulled out or pushed in. All of the weight of the slide and contents will be on the 6 2" caster wheels.

More picture to come as the project continues....

And before anyone asks, yes, the slide is on the kitchen floor of our house. I assembled it in my unheated garage then brought it into the house overnight for the glue to cure/set up.

[66joej]

Looks like a nice addition to your TH. Let us know how it works when installed.

[Alpine]

Gotta love a DIY project! Looking forward to photos when finished!

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Originally Posted by Alpine

Gotta love a DIY project! Looking forward to photos when finished!

I am usually bored to tears over the winter months and in this case, the project of building the slide serves two purposes....
1. It will give me something to do besides a big fat nothing all winter.
2. It will be a somewhat necessary addition to the T.H., as 1/2 of the storage compartment is basically useless with out something like this.

I enjoy DIY projects and this one will hopefully be less weight (I'm guessing about half the weight of a metal one), less $$$, and certainly less tongue weight on the T.V.

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by xrated

I am usually bored to tears over the winter months and in this case, the project of building the slide serves two purposes....
1. It will give me something to do besides a big fat nothing all winter.
2. It will be a somewhat necessary addition to the T.H., as 1/2 of the storage compartment is basically useless with out something like this.

I enjoy DIY projects and this one will hopefully be less weight (I'm guessing about half the weight of a metal one), less $$$, and certainly less tongue weight on the T.V.

I have been looking at the metal slides as well. I like your idea better. Until summer ~ yes we travel 3 seasons and store during summer~~ I'll continue to use a boat hook to grab the 'stuff' in the middle of the basement. Would like to get a reel mounted to the slide for the 50 amp power cord.

[CWSWine]

The shipping weight on my MorRyde 26X90 was 117 lbs according to the shipper and I believe it weights in about 110 lbs after removing the packing and pallet.

Here is a guy that built one for his truck bed but the same concept.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SomP8UuGzQk

[xrated]

Originally Posted by CWSWine

The shipping weight on my MorRyde 26X90 was 117 lbs according to the shipper and I believe it weights in about 110 lbs after removing the packing and pallet.

Here is a guy that built one for his truck bed but the same concept.

I could have sworn that I saw somewhere in the 150 lb range. Oh well, at least it will be less expensive and I'll have the satisfaction of building it myself......and besides that, I offer a lifetime warranty to myself.....parts and labor.

[xrated]

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

I have been looking at the metal slides as well. I like your idea better. Until summer ~ yes we travel 3 seasons and store during summer~~ I'll continue to use a boat hook to grab the 'stuff' in the middle of the basement. Would like to get a reel mounted to the slide for the 50 amp power cord.

I'll try to keep posting pics of the progress

[CWSWine]

Originally Posted by xrated

I could have sworn that I saw somewhere in the 150 lb range. Oh well, at least it will be less expensive and I'll have the satisfaction of building it myself......and besides that, I offer a lifetime warranty to myself.....parts and labor.

I think Amazon page said 140 lbs and I'm sure some of the wider ones weight that much or more.

[msp2jxr]

That looks pretty slick. I would be tempted to wrap it in aluminum to make it maintenance free. You can buy a flat roll very cheap and at I think it would make the wood last longer in the long run. I think he has a great idea!!

[xrated]

Originally Posted by msp2jxr

That looks pretty slick. I would be tempted to wrap it in aluminum to make it maintenance free. You can buy a flat roll very cheap and at I think it would make the wood last longer in the long run. I think he has a great idea!!

I would love to take credit for the idea of using fixed casters instead of the traditional heavy duty slider arms, but I saw it on the interwebs.....somewhere, and decided....hey, that's a good idea, I think I'll try it. My version is different than what I saw, in the fact that I'm using 3/4" x 3/4" aluminum square tubing and unistrut, whereas the original guy just used a 2 x 4 and routed out a channel in it. I don't own a router so this is the idea that I came up with. And in my mind, my method will probably be sturdier.

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Update with some more pics. I finished mounting the side guides and then bolted the Unistrut to the 2" x 6" x 5' boards that will serve as a guide to keep the slider drawer from doing anything but coming out or going in straight. I don't have the rollers/casters under it in these pics, but those will get mounted to a piece of 1/2" plywood and then to the floor of the baggage compartment. That will give me enough height to utilize the full width of the baggage door opening...22".







All the holes drilled for mounting the guide rail and the unistrut to the 2x6 board are pretty critical as the total height of the casters will be 3" exactly. That means that the side rails and Unistrut had to be pretty much spot on in order to allow the roller wheels to carry the weight of the drawer and the side rails/unistrut just be for guiding the drawer in and out....without any downward pressure on them.

More to come when the install takes place.

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Well, I got it placed in the baggage compartment and sitting on the rollers/casters. I did have to crawl into the baggage compartment and make some adjustments on the side guide height and width to get it to travel in and out fairly smoothly. It's definitely NOT as smooth as a manufactured one with ball bearing sliders, but it works pretty good all in all. I've got a spring latch ordered for locking it in place when travelling, and I'm going to make some stops so that it will only extend out so far. When it is pushed all the way in, the back end of the slide will be up against the metal housing of the onboard generator.....with a rubber pad between the slide and the metal generator enclosure. My biggest complaint about the whole project is that Keystone could have put a larger ( wider and taller) hatch opening for the baggage compartment. I gave some thought to cutting out a larger opening and installing a new hatch, but I just couldn't make myself cut into a brand new trailer.

I will take some pics of the finished project when the time comes and post them up.

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Update with installed pics.....

This first pic shows the baggage slider all the way it the compartment; in the travel position with the spring loaded latch on the front of the drawer. Under the slider, you can just barely see the first of three sets of rollers/fixed caster wheels, mounted to a 1/2" piece of plywood. This is what the slider actually rests on and rolls on. The three sets of of rollers are pretty much evenly spaced over the travel distance......


This pic is of the entire slide, still in the compartment in the "travel" position. On the back end of the slide is a piece of rubber matting with little nubs on it that is screwed to the outside/back of the tray (not visible in the pic). This serves as the "bumper", as the slider goes all the way up against the side of the generator compartment. I will probably add some very thin grey colored indoor/outdoor carpet to the inside of the tray to keep from scratching the painted surfaces of the slide...


This one shows the slide pulled out for either loading or unloading items into the tray. I'm going to test it without an installed "stop" for the slide. It's just my wife and I, no small kids or others to accidently pull it out too far.....


This is a straight on shot of the slide pulled out to be able to get a perspective of the size of the slide. Since my baggage compartment door is pretty small, the inside area of the slide is about 19" wide x 61" long, and trust me, it JUST fits through the opening of the baggage door......


It's been a long drawn out job getting this done, partially because of the lousy weather over the winter months, but I am pretty happy with the end result. No, it doesn't slide as easily as a manufactured slide on ball bearings, and yes, it was a lot of work to build, install, and finish it. If I had it to do over again, I'm not sure whether or not I would have put this much time into it... vs. ....buying a manufactured one, but since it was over the winter months and I really didn't have any pressing deadlines for being able to use it, it all worked out for me.

As a side note, most of the items used for the construction, if not all, are readily available for purchase in either the Lowes/Home depot type stores. The two exceptions that come to mind are the 3/4" x 3/4" square aluminum tubing and the spring latch that I wanted. They were both purchased online after a bit of google fu searching.

[chuckster57]

Looks great. Let us know it does with a full load.

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Originally Posted by chuckster57

Looks great. Let us know it does with a full load.

I will! It should be perfectly fine though. Each caster wheel has a rated load capacity of 66 lbs and there are 6 total (two per mounting board and three sets). It's certainly not a heavy duty MorRyde slider, but then again, I'm not planning on putting 700 to 800 lbs of stuff up front for additional tongue weight.
I plan on using it for the BBQ grill and hose, Anderson leveling wedges, tire changing wedge and bottle jack, and assorted smaller items like city water hose and filter/regulator stuff.

[Todd727]

Shipping weight on my Morryde 42"x90" was 110 lbs. Going to install it today. RadAuto had the best price I could find and were great about getting it to me quick. Ordered on Saturday and had it Tuesday.

I considered making my own, but too many other projects around the property and house right now. Yours looks very nice.

[xrated]

Thank you sir......it was more work than I anticipated originally, but I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I'm probably going to get some lightweight indoor/outdoor carpeting this weekend and put in the slide. That should then complete the project and I'll call it a day. I've got several more mods in mind...some better lighting in the storage bay, installing my new TPMS system, new Maxxis tires, and converting the upper bed area in the garage to a storage space for two complete sets of motorcycle wheels/tires for my track bike.

[Todd727]

It's always something!

Got my tray installed today. Rolling trays sure make it nice.

[cardinal96ss]

Very nice mod. Thanks for the info and pics. Looks like exactly what I need to do, and soon.