Truck bed drawer systems under a camper: what to plan

A drawer system turns a truck bed into something closer to a kitchen and a gear closet. Under a truck bed camper, though, drawers share space with your living area, your water and your mounting hardware, so a little planning saves a lot of rework. Here is what we think about when we fit drawers under a camper, using our own Junk Drawers as the example.

Kyle's reason for building ours was simple: he wanted everything he needed for a trip to already be in the truck. Pack the cooler, and you can leave from work when a buddy calls. 

A drawer system helps with that by:

• Giving everything a place, so you are not digging through bins.

• Using the space around the wheel wells, which is usually wasted.

• Keeping heavy gear low, where it is easier to reach and easier on handling.

• Letting your truck still be a truck, with a flat deck on top.

Height. Every inch of drawer height comes out of your standing and sitting room inside the camper. Our Junk Drawers are 20 inches tall.

Aisle width. If you want to stand or move between drawers, check the aisle that is left. With the Bed Deck installed, our aisle is 15 inches on mid-size trucks and 21 inches on full-size trucks.

Mounting access. Your camper mounts to the bed, so the drawers cannot block the mounting points. Our Junk Drawers sit slightly inside the mounting pucks, so you can still mount and remove the camper.

Weight. Drawers add weight before you load a single item. Our Camp Kitchen side is 142 lb and the Bed Deck is 68 lb. Count that against your payload along with the camper, water and gear.

Bed stiffeners and liners. Check what is already in your bed. Junk Drawers are designed to work with bed stiffeners.

Water and power. Decide where your water tank and battery go before you build. Junk Drawers work with The Tank, but on mid-size trucks the tank has to go on the passenger side. The Bed Deck has a dedicated compartment for a 105Ah battery.

Junk Drawers come in two configurations:

• Camp Kitchen (driver side): a camp stove slide, a short gear bay with dividers, a deep go-to drawer, a wheel-well stash and a cubby behind the wheel well for bigger gear.

• Camp Kitchen plus Bed Deck: adds a removable two-piece platform that slides out as a flat deck for a fridge or works as a second sleeping area, with gear storage underneath, battery storage and a second go-to drawer.
  
  

The outer boxes are marine-grade plywood with a truck bed liner coating. Installation is a bolt-in install at our shop in East Wenatchee, WA. We are not offering Junk Drawers install at other locations right now.

Want to see drawers and a camper together in person? Find a demo or start your build at lonepeakoverland.com.

If you run drawers under your camper, what is in your go-to drawer? Tell us below.