What to consider when buying slides for heavy duty drawer

 

 

When in the market looking for heavy duty drawer slides, there is a need to consider the following:

Length

Consider how far you will want your drawer to be able to travel. The heavy duty slides are typically coming in a variety of lengths from 12 inches to 40 inches. There are some exceptions that you will come across which come in length of up to 60 inches equivalent 5 feet.

Width

The width of you application needs to be considered. Just like each drawer slide having a maximum load which it can be able to bear, each drawer slide has a width on the maximum which it can comfortably support. Generally, heavy duty drawer slides are known to support up to 42 inches equivalent to 3 ½ feet. The maximum width refers to the one that the experts have validated via cycle testing which is rigorous.

Majority of the major brands perform testing through strict industry standards. A generic brand might not, leading to dubious reliability in the long term. You need to check out if the brand of the slide that you think of tends to have a limited lifetime warranty which is behind.

Outdoor or indoor

A slide generally will fit majority of the indoor applications without having any troubles, but the outdoor ones are a matter that is different. The outdoor application does contend with debris and moisture. The humidity can have an effect which is corrosive on the slide members, while the debris can end up clogging the bearing which is lubricated, hindering a smooth movement. If that happens to be the case, you should choose the slide which is heavy duty form a material that is corrosion resistant.

Stationary or vehicular

A vehicle application is known to bring several new challenges. A slide that is utilized for vehicular usage might see its load rating being affected by up to 40%. The reduction factors in the adverse effect of the frequent vibration.

With that, you will be able to see the load rating maximum falling from 600 lbs. to about 360 lbs. whenever a vehicular application is in place.  You need to also consider solutions which have features that keep compartment closed while they are in transit.  These might be slides which are with a heavy duty hold in detent or mechanism that is lock-in.

 If you have a project which already has slides which are heavy duty installed, then you might as well be able to retrofit a feature for locking.

Orientation

Is the project going to be side-mounted or be flat-mounted? The flat-mounting slide can end up reducing its rating of load to about 2/3. heavy duty drawer slides