Keeping your car trunk organized can be a constant challenge. For many car owners, the trunk easily becomes a cluttered space filled with tools, emergency kits, and various loose items. To combat this, and create a more functional storage solution, building a custom tool box with drawers is an excellent DIY project. This article will guide you through the process of creating a practical and removable tool box unit designed specifically for your car trunk, ensuring your essentials are always organized and accessible.
When planning this project, several key criteria were considered to ensure the final product would be both useful and fit seamlessly into the vehicle:
- The box had to fit comfortably within the trunk while the rear seats are in their upright position, maximizing space efficiency.
- It needed to be a completely separate and removable unit. This is crucial for those times when the entire trunk space is needed for larger cargo, allowing for easy removal and reinstallation as required.
- Most importantly, the drawers had to fully clear the car’s hatch when opened. This ensures full functionality of the drawers, allowing access to tools and items even when the toolbox is positioned in the trunk.
To construct this functional tool box, a selection of readily available materials was utilized:
- 3/4″ Plywood: Chosen for the main structure, including the base and sidewalls of the box. This thickness provides the necessary strength and rigidity for the overall unit.
- 1/2″ Plywood: Used for crafting the drawers and the top of the box. This slightly thinner plywood keeps the drawers lightweight while still being durable enough to hold tools and supplies.
- 1/8″ Sheet: Employed for the drawer bottoms. This thin sheet material minimizes weight and adds a smooth base to each drawer.
- Rubber Mats: Applied to the drawer bottoms and the top surface of the box. These mats serve a dual purpose: they prevent items from sliding around inside the drawers and on top of the box, and they also reduce rattling noises while driving.
- Drawer Slides: Four drawer slides were essential for smooth and reliable drawer operation. These allow the drawers to open and close effortlessly, even when loaded with tools.
- Spray Paint: Used to finish the toolbox in a color of your choice. A red and black theme was chosen for a visually appealing and durable finish.
Building this tool box was a valuable learning experience, particularly in custom fitting and drawer construction. Here are key lessons learned during the process:
- Accurate Depth Measurement: Initially, the box depth was set at 27 inches with an 8-inch height. However, the thickness of the plywood was not properly accounted for in these measurements. This oversight meant the rear seats were unable to lock into their upright position after the box was installed. To rectify this, it was necessary to reduce the total depth by one inch, highlighting the importance of considering material thickness in design calculations.
- Drawer Construction Precision: Creating drawers from scratch was a new challenge, emphasizing the critical need for precise measurements. The mantra “measure, measure, measure” became paramount. Despite careful measuring, mistakes were made on one drawer multiple times, reinforcing the need for patience and meticulousness in woodworking, especially with drawers.
- Handle Design for Space Efficiency: Traditional drawer handles that protrude outwards were intentionally avoided. These would consume valuable space within the car trunk and potentially interfere with other items. Flush mounted handles with a pull ring style were considered but deemed potentially noisy due to metal-on-metal contact. The solution found was to use rope as drawer pulls. This proved to be a simple, quiet, and space-saving alternative, perfectly suited for the application.
While acknowledging that the craftsmanship might not be perfect due to being a non-professional carpenter, the resulting tool box effectively fulfills its intended purpose. It provides organized storage, is easily removable, and enhances the functionality of the car trunk space, making it a successful and practical DIY automotive project.
