Ironman 4x4 Drawers

[ryanjl]

My Ironman 4x4 drawers arrived today.

These are the "900 mm" ones found here: https://ironman4x4america.com/storage-systems/locksafe-twin-drawers-900mm/

The "blue" edge is a protective film over a metal trim piece.

Exterior dimensions are:

• Cabinet Length 35.43" (900mm)
• Cabinet Height 10.82" (275mm)
• Cabinet Width 38.2" (970mm)

Seems to be a perfect fit.

The creme de la creme of drawers for the LR4 are the Front Runner drawers. But those are $3,200 shipped to me. The Ironman drawers were around $1,000 shipped to me. (Ironman4x4 had a 15% off deal going. Looking at their website it appears to sill be active.)

These are HEAVY. Shipping was via truck freight. Box strapped to a pallet. Delivery guy took the box off the pallet and then slid it to the hydraulic platform at the rear of the semi trailer. I backed my LR4 up to the rear of his trailer. He lowered that platform so that it was just higher than my tailgate, and we shoved the box off that platform and into the back of the Rover.

After that, I had to more or less rip the carboard box off around the drawers. I believe the drawers are around 140 lb.

I haven't mounted them yet. Plan is to remove the 3rd row seats, then put the drawers over that void. This will require me to take the drawers apart so that I can move them in and out of the rear of the Rover.

My plan to mount them will be similar to how these guys mounted them in the rear of this 4Runner:

This turnbuckle mounting method is the same way the Front Runner drawers are mounted.

My biggest concern right now is access to the spare tire winch. That will take some thinking. Losing the 3rd row seats will help. May make a removable access panel on the top of the drawers that will allow me to get to the winch with a drawer pulled out, and maybe mounting the drawers offset a smidge as the spare tire winch is dead center left to right. Ultimate solution may be an external spare tire mount.

Another concern is the fact that drawers designed for the LR4 angle up a small degree when you pull them out. The end of the tailgate is a tiny bit higher than the floor of the cargo area. These Ironman drawers clear the end of the tailgate, bt just barely. Do not know if it will stay that way when the drawer casing is strapped down tight and the drawers are full of stuff.

 

[itsaguything]

It is a silly location for a spare…. move it to the roof rack??

 

[Al Pizzica]

That is a sweet set of drawers.

One car I had, can't remember which, maybe the Jeep Commander, had the same spare mounting location as the LR4 but instead of a winch it was on there with a threaded rod and the tire holder piece had a nut welded onto it. Less convenient than the winch situation but probably more reliable. Would be easy to delete on that winch and put in a threaded rod then cut to desired length and use the same tire holder with the nut spot welded on.

 

[ryanjl]

Putting it on the roof rack is too high up and would raise the center of gravity too much. Either the Tactical rear bumper or the Terrafirma rear tire mount are probably in my future.

On Land Cruisers the spare is mounted in the same spot, but the winch is accessed from the outside through a hole just over the rear bumper. On 4Runners it is accessed at an angle from a hole right near the latch for the rear hatch door. For whatever reason, Land Rover saw fit to make you have to take everything out of the back of the LR4 to get access to the spare tire winch.

 

[powershift]

Carabiners might suite you well when trying to secure cargo with the drawers in place. They make tying things off quick and easy.

 

[CRYA]

On my homebrew fridge slide, I definitely had to raise it up higher off the deck so the weighted fridge and drawer would still clear the tailgate without jamming. I can't see it being much different with the Iron Man drawers. You may need to tack on a long ratchet extension into the spare tire winch and then configure the drawer around that somehow, so that the extension is always in place and just needs a wrench plugged in.

 

[ryanjl]

I'll have to take the drawers apart when I remove them (too heavy to remove as a unit), so I'll see more what sort of customization I can do then.

It may be this weekend. Who knows. The weather has been so abysmal here lately it's putting a lot of things off. Right now, these drawers are still just riding unmounted in the back.

 

[ftillier]

I believe the Front Runner drawers have a provision for an extension to reach the spare tire winch. I wonder if the winch could be relocated (say to the bumper area) with just a pulley in the original location and a longer cable, and remove the need to access it through the interior.

 

[ryanjl]

I believe the Front Runner drawers have a provision for an extension to reach the spare tire winch. I wonder if the winch could be relocated (say to the bumper area) with just a pulley in the original location and a longer cable, and remove the need to access it through the interior.

The front runner drawers are offset. One drawer is wider than the other. This makes it so the center support of the drawer system is offset, allowing for a straight shot down to the spare tire winch using one or more access panels.

(You can see the access panel on the top of the Front Runner drawers in the first picture here. I forget if there's another access panel in that larger drawer or if you have to pull that drawer out to get to the spare winch.)

My plan is to see what I can do in that regard with these drawers. Maybe mount the whole drawer system offset a little bit. Then put an access panel into the top of the drawer system so that when I pull one drawer all the way out and then open that access panel, I'll be able to access the spare tire winch.

Best solution for me is probably a Terrafirma tire carrier. I'm a little reluctant to drill holes in my car, though. I've owned this thing for 8 years now and I'm not sure how much longer I'll own it before I get bored and move on.

 

[ryanjl]

You can kind of see what the construction of these drawers is like in this video:

Those drawers seem a little downmarket. Mine are carpeted inside and the finish looks a bit better. But the general construction is the same.

There's no real panel on the bottom. Just a bit of frame. I'm thinking if I remove the third-row it should be easy to drill a hole in the top that allows me to use the tire winch tool plus extension and raise/lower the spare.