How to build a DIY one-hand linkage for COREAX 76mm locking drawer slides.

Before you start

Mount the slides first. Measure the linkage second.

Before building your DIY linkage, make sure the slides are already mounted correctly and aligned. This sounds obvious, but it is the step that prevents most of the frustrating problems later.

• Measure only after the slides are installed. The final distance between the two lock levers depends on your drawer width and the real mounted position of both rails.
• Measure from hole center to hole center. That gives you the most repeatable reference for the linkage geometry. If your end fittings add length, subtract their offsets before cutting the tube itself.
• Leave a little room for adjustment. A rigid bar cut too tight can preload one lever, keep one side partly released, or make the drawer bind.
• Deburr every cut edge. A fresh hacksaw cut on steel or aluminum is sharp. Clean the edge before you install inserts, touch the tube, or route it near wiring and cargo.
• Test the release with an empty drawer first. Both sides should release smoothly and return to the locked position before you add the real load.
• Keep the slides side-mounted. The 76mm L2576 family is a side-mount slide. Do not lay the pair flat under a shelf and reuse the side-mount load rating.

Why builders link the two sides

On a wide drawer, reaching both lock tabs is usually the awkward part.

With two independent locking slides, you normally have one release point on the left and another on the right. That is fine on a narrow drawer. On a wide van drawer or truck-bed drawer it gets annoying quickly: you stretch across both sides, pull from one corner, and the drawer can start moving before the opposite lock is fully released.

A linkage moves the release point to one place. It can be a simple straight bar across the front, a centered handle, or a flexible cable routed somewhere easier to reach.

Two real-world reference designs

Before making your own, it helps to see how other builders have already solved the same problem.

These are not COREAX accessories and we are not claiming that their parts fit our slides. We are showing them because the thinking behind both products is useful: standardize the ends, let the builder cut the middle to width, and keep the job simple enough to do with ordinary workshop tools.

Reference 1: Selectlok 3076-LBAR

This is the closest market reference to our 76mm heavy-duty slide because Selectlok also builds its kit around a heavy-duty locking slide family and a cut-to-width crossbar.

View Selectlok reference

Original product images: Selectlok Australia, 3076-LBAR product page. Shown here for design reference.

What Selectlok is doing

The kit is built around a 1,000mm long, 12mm outside-diameter mild-steel tube. The builder cuts that tube down to suit the drawer width. At the two ends, Selectlok supplies the parts that matter for repeatable operation: two lever sets, stainless fixing hardware, and nylon bushings.

That is the useful design idea. The width is the variable, so the width stays DIY. The lever pieces and the tube-end connection are standardized.

Crossbar1,000mm long x 12mm OD mild-steel tube, black powder-coated.

End hardwareTwo lever sets with stainless fixing hardware and nylon bushings.

AdjustmentThe tube is cut down to suit drawers and slide-outs of different widths.

ApplicationSelectlok positions the kit for its 227kg locking heavy-duty slides, including van/ute drawers, fridge slides, slide-out kitchens, and pantries.

Important use noteSelectlok treats the bar as a release mechanism, not the main grab handle for pulling the drawer.

What I would borrow for a COREAX build

Not the Selectlok lever itself — our L2576 already has the L-shaped lever and the 5mm linkage hole built in. The part worth borrowing is the tube + replaceable end fitting/bushing idea.

For a clean COREAX setup, you could cut an aluminum or steel tube to width, put a suitable threaded insert, press-fit insert, or expansion-style tube bushing in each end, and fasten those ends through the two COREAX lever holes. It is simple to explain, easy to service, and does not require welding.

Reference 2: Kimberley2Cape Drawer Slide Handles

Kimberley2Cape takes a more DIY-first approach. Their product is aimed at builders who already have medium- or heavy-duty locking slides and want to turn two separate release tabs into one crossbar release.

View Kimberley2Cape reference

Original product images: Kimberley2Cape 4WD & Adventure Accessories, Drawer Slide Handles product page. Shown here for design reference.

What Kimberley2Cape is doing

Their kit uses a pair of glass-reinforced nylon handles, an aluminum crossbar tube, two small retaining screws, and two larger screws that fasten the bar to the handles. The handles have several height positions for the bar, which gives the builder some freedom to clear the drawer face or surrounding structure.

The interesting part is the tube-end connection. Their installation instructions have the builder measure the gap after the handles are installed, cut the aluminum tube square, then drive the larger screw into the end of the tube to form an internal thread in the tube’s reinforcing fins. The screw is removed again and then reinstalled through the handle into that newly formed thread.

They also deal with something that often gets missed in DIY hardware: small fit differences. Because their molded handles are meant to work across several slide brands, they suggest using a polymer adhesive in the handle cavity to take up unwanted play. They also call out return-spring alignment on some release tabs and warn builders to check that the crossbar has returned to the latched position before travel.

CrossbarAluminum tube supplied in cut-to-length sizes; the product page currently lists 800mm and 1000mm options.

AdaptersLeft- and right-side glass-reinforced nylon handles that fit over compatible slide release tabs.

Tube-end fasteningA large screw is driven into the tube end to form the thread, backed out, then reinstalled through the handle during final assembly.

Fit adjustmentPolymer adhesive can be used to reduce play between the molded adapter and compatible slide release tab.

Builder workflowFit handles first, measure the real gap, cut the tube square, prepare both tube ends, then assemble the bar between the handles.

What I would borrow for a COREAX build

Again, I would not copy the molded K2C handle. COREAX already gives you a purpose-made hole in each L-shaped lever, so you do not need an adapter that wraps around the original release tab.

The useful idea is the cut-to-width aluminum tube with a direct screw connection. If you choose a tube section with enough wall thickness or internal ribs to take a thread reliably, this can be a very clean DIY solution with fewer parts than the insert method.

DIY directions for COREAX L2576

Those two references are good starting points, but they are not the only ways to connect the two levers.

If this were my own drawer, I would start with one of the first two metal-tube methods. They give the neatest result and are easiest to adjust. But if you are prototyping, building with basic tools, or need flexible routing, there are other workable options.

Measure and cut

Center-to-center is your reference. The actual tube cut length depends on the ends you choose.

Once both slides are installed and working normally, put both levers in the same locked position and measure from the center of the left linkage hole to the center of the right linkage hole.

If your tube connects directly at those centers, that measurement is close to the finished linkage length. If you are using inserts, end brackets, spacers, or molded connectors, subtract the length that those parts occupy before cutting the tube.

Do not chase a perfect number on paper before the slides are mounted. The actual frame decides where the levers end up.

Basic tools

You do not need a machine shop for the simple versions.

A practical build sequence

Do the simple checks in the right order and the linkage is much easier to tune.

1. 01
   Install both slides and the drawer

   Get the basic rail alignment right before you add any linkage.

2. 02
   Operate both lock levers separately

   Make sure each side locks closed, releases cleanly, and locks again at full extension.

3. 03
   Measure hole center to hole center

   Take the measurement with both levers sitting naturally in the same locked position.

4. 04
   Choose the connection style

   Tube insert, direct-screw tube, flat bar, wood, cable, or another method that suits your tools and drawer layout.

5. 05
   Cut the linkage and deburr it

   Keep the cut square. If you are using end fittings, account for their length before cutting.

6. 06
   Attach both ends loosely

   Do not tighten the linkage while one lever is sitting higher or farther forward than the other.

7. 07
   Check simultaneous release

   Move the bar slowly. Both sides should disengage at nearly the same point without one side being dragged by the other.

8. 08
   Check the return

   Let go of the bar and confirm both levers return freely. The linkage must not hold either lock partly open.

9. 09
   Tighten and cycle it repeatedly

   Run the drawer open and closed several times while empty, then recheck every fastener.

10. 10
    Test with the real drawer load

    Only after the empty test passes should you load the drawer and check whether frame flex changes the release or locking behavior.

Release bar vs drawer handle

I would still give a wide heavy drawer its own centered pull handle.

This point is worth separating from the rest of the guide because it is easy to miss. The linkage only needs to move the two lock levers. Pulling a large loaded drawer puts a different and usually much higher load into the bar and its end joints.

Selectlok makes the same distinction in its own product guidance: their locking bar operates the release tabs, while the drawer should have a dedicated grab handle.

There is another practical benefit. On a wide drawer, pulling from the center helps keep the drawer square. Pulling hard from one corner is one of the easiest ways to make a long drawer feel rough even when the slides themselves are aligned.

Final test

Do not stop at “it unlocks.” Make sure it also locks again.