Everything you need to know about medium duty 4WD drawer runners

The Dunn & Watson 4WD drawer runners are one of our most popular products. These 125kg locking drawer slides are considered to be medium duty 4WD drawer slides. You can also check out our types of drawer slides including our heavy duty 227kg locking drawer slides and our light duty 60kg locking drawer slides.

Medium duty 125kg locking slides are ideal for anyone who needs to stow gear safely in the back of their Ute, 4WD or pickup. So they’re great for tradies and campers. They glide open and closed smoothly, but lock when in the fully open or closed positions. This makes sure that nothing moves around when you’re in transit or parked on a slope, keeping everything stowed away safely.

What sizes are available?

Locking drawer slides are available in different lengths. The 125kg medium duty locking drawer slides are available from 356mm to 1016mm. This wide range of lengths means that you shouldn’t have any problem finding the right size sliders for your drawer system or fridge. These slides extend for their full length, so if the length of your slider is 1016mm for example, it will extend outwards for 1016mm as well. This will be the fully open position. However, because they are locking slides they have a trigger lever at the end of each slide (see below). This adds another 25mm to the length of your 4WD drawer runners which needs to be taken into account when you measure the space you need for your drawer system or fridge slide.

Locking drawer slides vs non-locking 4WD drawer runners

Regular non-locking slides are extensively used in the caravan, canopy and camper trailer industries. There’s hardly any difference between these slides and the locking options, except for the fact that they don’t lock in place. This means that if you want your drawers to be locked when closed, you’ll need to fit a lock to the drawers, but that won’t stop the drawers from sliding back and forth when it’s open. This can be a safety problem if it happens when you’re driving or parked on a slope. That’s why the locking drawer slides are so popular, because they fix this problem immediately.  

To unlock the locking drawer slides you simply press down on the orange trigger at the front of each slide, pull the slide towards you and they will lock in the fully extended position. Once finished, you press the trigger levers again and push the drawer until it’s fully closed. It will automatically lock in the closed position. Since they only lock in the fully open and fully closed positions, you need to make sure that you always open or close the drawers properly, because if they are left open slightly or not fully extended they won’t lock in place. Our 125 locking 4WD drawer runners are ideal for accessing fridges, BBQs or other heavy items when you’re on the road. 

Disconnecting the 125kg locking drawer slides

The medium duty 125kg 4WD drawer runners can be disconnected. To disconnect them, you first need to press the triggers and fully extend the drawer slides. If you press on these triggers again when the slide is fully extended you will be able to disconnect the sliders completely. Disconnecting the sliders is sometimes necessary if you need to access a small space and you can’t reach around, under or over your 4WD drawers. So taking them apart makes the job easier. To reconnect the sliders, you simply slide the internal cage of the sliders back towards the front and then slide in the part with the trigger. If you do it right, you’ll hear a ‘click’ which means it’s connected again.

What if I need locking drawer slides with a different weight tolerance? 

If you need heavier locking slides, then check out our heavy duty 227kg locking drawer slides; if you need less weight tolerance then check out our light duty 60kg locking drawer slides. Towards the bottom of this page you’ll see a chart that helps you to decide the size you need for the weight you need to carry. For example, if you need to carry 50kg, then you need a pair of drawer slides 300mm to 900mm in length. This means that our medium duty 125kg 4WD drawer runners should be perfect for your needs. Always remember however, that the longer the slides extend, the less weight they can carry. So it’s better to opt for a heavier duty slider with a shorter length than a medium duty slider with a longer length.

If you find that neither the medium duty 125kg sliders nor the heavy duty 227kg sliders can do the job, you can double up the runners. However, doubling the runners doesn’t double the weight they can carry. Instead you can count on an additional 75% of the weight rating. Whilst this might be a rule of thumb, it’s actually safer to install more drawers than to double the 4WD drawer runners. 

Also, remember that the weight ratings of these drawers are calculated using a 500mm square drawer. If your drawers don’t match these dimensions, it’s best to give us a call and we can advise you on the best size locking drawer slides for your situation. 

Can these 125kg locking slides be fitted to any drawer system?

Yes, as long as you select the right size locking drawer slides they can be fitted to any drawer system. They must be installed vertically however, because if you install them horizontally, they won’t operate properly. The gravity valve won’t work and the locks won’t engage in the horizontal position. You can install these medium duty drawer slides in carpet lined drawer systems, checker plate and aluminium drawer systems.

Will these medium duty locking drawer slides really make a difference? 

If you want to prevent your drawers opening and closing when you’re driving along the road, over corrugations or parked on an incline, you definitely need our locking drawer slides. These Dunn & Watson slides have been made for 4WD enthusiasts and have been extensively market tested. They are perfect for increasing the safety of your drawer systems, whether in the back or side of your canopy, even under the tray. These are the strongest and most reliable locking drawer slides in Australia and are used by leading manufacturers of caravans and camper trailers. As fifth generation drawer slides, they are designed to be robust, reliable and to glide smoothly and effortlessly. Made for Aussie conditions, our medium duty 125kg 4WD drawer runners are simply the best!

So if you want to make it easier to access all the gear in the back of your Ute, 4WD or pickup truck, our medium duty 125kg drawer slides are ready for action!