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Installing Titan 900mm Drawers in 90 Series Prado
I thought i'd put together a quick guide on how I went about installing my Titan 900mm rear drawers (with fridge slide) in the rear of my 90 series Prado.
First, the drawers themselves. I measured the rear and confirmed that 900mm would comfortably fit between the rear seats and lip of the vehicle with the rear door closed. When you go and pick these up, they come in a very large box that's very heavy. You'll need another person to give you a hand lifting the box into your vehicle, and again to remove it from the vehicle once you're home.
The drawers come mostly assembled inside the box. Rip open the packaging, and slide out the drawers, and remove the mounting points and screws holding down the tops on both drawers. Once you've done this you should be left with the frame of the drawers, 2 drawers, and two top pieces and a crap load of bolts. Don't mix up the bolts that hold down the tie down points with the ones that hold the tops down, they're different!
Things you'll need
You'll need:
Removing the rear seats
To fit the drawers, you're going to have to remove the two fold up rear seats. You don't be able to use these once the drawers are in place as the drawers are too high for the seats to be lowered. The seats are super easy to remove. Fold them down, and then remove the plastic covering where the seat connects to the side of vehicle. Two bolts per seat. Don't remove the seatbelts (at least if you're in NSW as doing so will earn you a defect notice!)
Cut the plastic wheel arches
You're going to need to cut about 15mm off each plastic wheel arch housing so that the drawer frame fits. This is very easily done using a dremel. The actual wheel arch itself is hidden under the plastic and is metal, and is several mm below the plastic, so as long as you don't cut too deep with your dremel, you won't risk cutting into the metal. I cut mine without removing them from the vehicle.
Finding the bolts to use as mounting points
Remove the rear mat, and pull up the carpet and you'll spot metal brackets with two bolts holding them in place - two near the front and two near the rear. We'll use these to mount the drawers.
You'll notice the two rear bolts line up with each other, but the top two sets don't. We'll need to drill holes in the mounting plate a little later on.
Drilling mounting holes
The drawers pre-drilled holes are suitable for the most part, but we need to drill some additional holes to that our bolts and mounting brackets line up. You'll need to place the drawers in the back of your prado, loosen the bolts holding the mounting brackets on the bottom and slide them up and down so that they line up with your mounting holes front and back. Then, mark on the sides where you'll need to drill new holes for bolts to secure the mounting bracket to the drawer frame on both sides, and in the middle. Lastly, you'll need to also drill an additional hole on either side to let you use those two off-centre bolts near the front that don't line up correctly.
Mounting the drawer frame
With your holes drilled, place the drawers in the rear and bolt them down. Be sure to use loctite to keep the bolts from vibrating loose. I used two washers on each M10 1.25 35 bolt.
Installing the drawers and bump stops
With the frame mounted, you can then install the drawers. They simply slide in. with them installed, you can then install the bump stops at the rear of each drawers side. The flat edge sits on top of the drawer rail, with the orange/white plastic piece on the bump stop facing to the front of your vehicle (the black end should face towards the rear of your vehicle). I had to drill holes through the marine carpet inside the drawer to slide the bolts through for each bump stop.
Install the top pieces and test
Finally, install the top pieces back in place and secure them down using the mounting points and bolts, and then the other 8 bolts (being sure not to mix these up!!).
You're done!
This took me two afternoons in the rain to get this finished and in.
First, the drawers themselves. I measured the rear and confirmed that 900mm would comfortably fit between the rear seats and lip of the vehicle with the rear door closed. When you go and pick these up, they come in a very large box that's very heavy. You'll need another person to give you a hand lifting the box into your vehicle, and again to remove it from the vehicle once you're home.
The drawers come mostly assembled inside the box. Rip open the packaging, and slide out the drawers, and remove the mounting points and screws holding down the tops on both drawers. Once you've done this you should be left with the frame of the drawers, 2 drawers, and two top pieces and a crap load of bolts. Don't mix up the bolts that hold down the tie down points with the ones that hold the tops down, they're different!
Things you'll need
You'll need:
- a dremel to remove plastic around the wheel arches
- M10 1.25X35 high tensile bolts. Autobarn and Repco sell these - you'll need 8 bolts (the bolts that come with the drawers are the wrong size)
- 7/16" flat washers for the bolts (2 per bolt)
- Allen key
- A powered drill
- A stepcut sheet metal drill bit
- Loctite
Removing the rear seats
To fit the drawers, you're going to have to remove the two fold up rear seats. You don't be able to use these once the drawers are in place as the drawers are too high for the seats to be lowered. The seats are super easy to remove. Fold them down, and then remove the plastic covering where the seat connects to the side of vehicle. Two bolts per seat. Don't remove the seatbelts (at least if you're in NSW as doing so will earn you a defect notice!)
Cut the plastic wheel arches
You're going to need to cut about 15mm off each plastic wheel arch housing so that the drawer frame fits. This is very easily done using a dremel. The actual wheel arch itself is hidden under the plastic and is metal, and is several mm below the plastic, so as long as you don't cut too deep with your dremel, you won't risk cutting into the metal. I cut mine without removing them from the vehicle.
Finding the bolts to use as mounting points
Remove the rear mat, and pull up the carpet and you'll spot metal brackets with two bolts holding them in place - two near the front and two near the rear. We'll use these to mount the drawers.
You'll notice the two rear bolts line up with each other, but the top two sets don't. We'll need to drill holes in the mounting plate a little later on.
Drilling mounting holes
The drawers pre-drilled holes are suitable for the most part, but we need to drill some additional holes to that our bolts and mounting brackets line up. You'll need to place the drawers in the back of your prado, loosen the bolts holding the mounting brackets on the bottom and slide them up and down so that they line up with your mounting holes front and back. Then, mark on the sides where you'll need to drill new holes for bolts to secure the mounting bracket to the drawer frame on both sides, and in the middle. Lastly, you'll need to also drill an additional hole on either side to let you use those two off-centre bolts near the front that don't line up correctly.
Mounting the drawer frame
With your holes drilled, place the drawers in the rear and bolt them down. Be sure to use loctite to keep the bolts from vibrating loose. I used two washers on each M10 1.25 35 bolt.
Installing the drawers and bump stops
With the frame mounted, you can then install the drawers. They simply slide in. with them installed, you can then install the bump stops at the rear of each drawers side. The flat edge sits on top of the drawer rail, with the orange/white plastic piece on the bump stop facing to the front of your vehicle (the black end should face towards the rear of your vehicle). I had to drill holes through the marine carpet inside the drawer to slide the bolts through for each bump stop.
Install the top pieces and test
Finally, install the top pieces back in place and secure them down using the mounting points and bolts, and then the other 8 bolts (being sure not to mix these up!!).
You're done!
This took me two afternoons in the rain to get this finished and in.
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