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Measure Twice, Cut Once

This is entry is going to feel less like story time and more like here’s how you get shit done…so you can FINALLY hit the road for more story time. Building slider shelves from scratch for your Sprinter van was gratifying but not without challenges. One of them being that there is a LOT of information out there (including other bloggers with plans, tool lists, etc) and shelves you can buy straight off the shelf (no pun intended). Being that I am Irish, stubborn, and very persnickety about Greta, I insisted that I build (who am I kidding, WE build) shelves for the garage from the ground up. 

First things first. Measure your garage floor where the shelves will be mounted. I suggest measuring twice, then maybe one more time. When you don’t, two things may happen: 1) you will continue to assume your bikes will fit in the garage when they don’t (whoooopsies) and 2) your brother will have to get in there with a Dremel and a reciprocating saw to make your brand new shelves fit correctly. Pro tip: as you’re deciding the width of your shelves, make sure to take into account the slider brackets will take up an inch or so of width on each side of each shelf.

Next, get the materials you will need for building these bad boys. I opted for a two slider system. No bike storage, as I’ll throw my bikes on my Owl Vans B2 Carrier. Materials list was adopted by starting with Riding Roads and Trails DIY Bike Slider Trays.

  • 1″ x 4″ x 8′ Maple – enough to go around each slider box for your dimensions. For example, I had 2 sliders: 1 – 18″ x 44″ , 1 – 14″ x 44″. I needed 2 x 18″, 2 x 14″, and 8 x 44″ cuts (you’ll see in the picture above the long side of the boxes get two times the maple fun to mount the sliders).
  • 4′ x 8′ x 3/8″ plywood sheet
  • 1/2″ x 1/2″ – enough to go around the inside of the slider box and create a lip for the plywood to sit on
  • 44″ heavy duty locking sliders (my garage was 44″ deep)
  • #10 3/4″ wood screws
  • #10 2″ woods screws
  • 1 inch nail gun nails
  • Rubber Flooring
  • Wood Glue
  • Wood Clamps
  • L Brackets
  • L Track – this was not my favorite L Track. Next time I would opt for a full 44″ length L Track
  • L Track Stud Fittings
  • 10″ Table Saw
  • Cordless Drill
  • Drill Bits
  • Nail Gun
  • Staple Gun and Staples

To build them, we engineered a bit as we went but here are the steps we took:

  1. Measure Twice, Cut Once. Cut alllllllllllll the pieces to your specifications. I ended up with 2 x 18″, 2 x 14″, 8 x 44″ maple, then 4 x 10″, 4 x 34″ for the 1/2″ x 1/2″ lips.
  2. Attach the Wood Lips. Cut the 1/2″ x 1/2″ to fit lips on the inside bottom of each of the 4 walls of each box but not extending the full length of the box wall. Just enough to create a lip for the plywood to sit on. Throw some wood glue between them, clamp them for 30 minutes, then secure them with the 1′ nails using the nail gun.
  3. Boxes Next. Build box frame using the maple cut to size and #10 2 inch wood screws to secure the corners (mine were 18″ x 44″ and 14″ x 44″). Drill pilot holes for sure. Maple is tough.
  4. Plywood and Protect. Measure the inside length and width of each box and cut the plywood to fit inside. Check to make sure it fits (learned this one the hard way). Then cut the rubber flooring to fit the plywood on what will be the “top” and staple it secure. Throw some wood glue down on the top of each of the 1/2 lips and secure the plywood with the clamps. Let them set for 30 minutes or so.
  5. Here Come the Sliders. Mount the sliders to the outside of each box, over the L brackets. I chose to have them unlock by pulling up on the knob but dealers choice here. Then you will mount the second piece of maple to the outside of the slider.
  6. L-Brackets. Mount the L brackets on the outside of each box with one side of the L on the box and the other to what you will mount the slider boxes to. In my case, it was the bottom of the garage. I used 8 L brackets per box (4 each side).
  7. Get ’em Inside! Get both slider boxes into the garage space where you will mount them and use the #10 3/4 screws to secure the L brackets to the floor of the garage. 
Greta's new sliders, complete with safe bolted in there!

JUST ME, BETSY B

Avid nature student: mountain living, van adventuring, star searching, river running, mountain & gravel biking, hiking, backpacking, ski & snowboarding lady in braids.
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