User Tag List

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 07-08-2014, 11:22 AM #1
F1scher's Avatar
F1scher F1scher is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: NY
Posts: 196
Real Name: Tom
F1scher is on a distinguished road
F1scher F1scher is offline
Member
F1scher's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: NY
Posts: 196
Real Name: Tom
F1scher is on a distinguished road
5th Gen, Rear Cargo Area Storage Box Build, Top Open

Over the last few days, I have received a couple PMs about the rear storage box I built, so I thought I would put together a quick thread with some pictures and some insights.

I am one of those people that quasi live out of their car, and I always had a ton of stuff scattered around the backseat, and cargo area. I wanted a solution to clean that all up, but wasnt about to break the bank for a pre fab storage box that would be totally overkill for my needs.

I didnt need anything fancy, and knew it was liable to store running shoes, rather than 100 lbs of recovery gear. At the same time, I wanted something relatively low profile (still able to retain the use of the cargo area for boxes, coolers, bags, etc.), yet was large enough to actually put stuff in.

I spent a TON of time looking at some really unbelievable builds. Not knocking the 4Runner community, but some of the FJ drawer builders, and those on Exp. Portal are really outstanding. I knew a would never do anything like some of those, but they were good for ideas/inspiration!

Rear Cargo Drawer Build - Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum

Post up your drawer/storage system - Expedition Portal

My goal was to create a platform that covered the entire area (without crevices for crap to fall down into), sat flush with the back seats, and was sturdy enough for a 120 lbs Chesapeake to travel on. I also ended up opting out of pursuing a drawer build, simply due to my lack of wood working ability, and the fact that with a low profile box, drawers really cut down on available space.

Finally, I wasn't going to buy anything from store unless I really had to. This complicated things a bit, but I wanted to reuse a lot of wood materials I had laying around, and wasn't going to buy rather expensive sheets of 3/4" finish plywood if I could avoid it.

Unfortunately, as this wasn't a build I had planned out in terms of what was explicitly going to be used, I dont have a list of materials, nor a cut list for sizing. I did this kind of on the fly, but the pictures tell a good story. I measured pretty much only off of the storage area itself, and the old adage of measure twice, cut once, is a must.

At base, the materials utilized are:
  • Multiple Lengths of 2x4
  • 1/2" Plywood (Box Floor)
  • 3/4" Finish Maple Ply (Box Top)
  • Aluminum Angles (Corner Edging)
  • 4 Hinges
  • 2 Aluminum Turnbuckles
  • 2 Latches'
  • 2 Suspa Gas Struts ~25 lbs each
  • 48" Roll of Indoor/Outdoor Rubber Back carpeting
  • Foam Matting
  • 7” x 40 ¾” Stainless Steel Plate
  • Wood Primer
  • Rustoleum Satin Black Paint
  • Lots of Misc. Hardware!!

Pictures of the process - As I said, I really dont have a cut list, and just measured as I went. I angled the rear of the box to accommodate for the backseats, and the fit really was quite good. It would obviously have been more efficient, easier, and lighter to build the frame of the box with 3/4" finish ply, but I had all the 2x4s lying around, and I did not have a table saw available to me that day. Assembling the box frame to be square and sturdy took a bit of time, and it looks a bit haphazard, but it turned out really, really solid.

Framed Up







You can see how the frame was put together (poorly)


Floor In


Primed




Painted and Foam Floor In


Struts


Carpeted/Edge Banded


Steel Face




Installed/Turnbuckles (it fit, thank god)


Finished!


In the end, its about ~8.25" tall in total, has two separate top open doors (latched on the side - no pictures of that) which stay open with the struts, and it fits pretty perfectly in the back. Its flush to the backseats, and to the bumpouts on either side. Yesterday I had three people sitting on it, and it was fine w/ the weight.

Not perfect, but serves my purposes well and wanted to share!
Thanks guys!
__________________
2014 Trail Edition - Black - 18x9 FN BFD in Graphite, 275/65/18 Duratracs, Interior LEDs, Husky Liners, Custom Rear Storage Box, Rigid 20"/D2s

Last edited by F1scher; 07-08-2014 at 11:26 AM.
F1scher is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 07-08-2014, 12:04 PM #2
Rushca01 Rushca01 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: IN
Posts: 112
Rushca01 is on a distinguished road
Rushca01 Rushca01 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: IN
Posts: 112
Rushca01 is on a distinguished road
Thanks for posting and nice build. Same boat as you, don't want to spend 900-1500 dollars for a box so looking at making my own.
__________________
2019 White TRD ORP
2016 Black TEP (Sold)
2014 Black TEP (Sold)
Rushca01 is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 07-08-2014, 12:08 PM #3
F1scher's Avatar
F1scher F1scher is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: NY
Posts: 196
Real Name: Tom
F1scher is on a distinguished road
F1scher F1scher is offline
Member
F1scher's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: NY
Posts: 196
Real Name: Tom
F1scher is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rushca01 View Post
Thanks for posting and nice build. Same boat as you, don't want to spend 900-1500 dollars for a box so looking at making my own.
Thank you - To be honest, I have some things included that you really dont need obviously, but you could make something pretty similar for less than 100$ without question.
__________________
2014 Trail Edition - Black - 18x9 FN BFD in Graphite, 275/65/18 Duratracs, Interior LEDs, Husky Liners, Custom Rear Storage Box, Rigid 20"/D2s
F1scher is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 07-08-2014, 01:08 PM #4
Desert Dawg's Avatar
Desert Dawg Desert Dawg is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 624
Real Name: Paul
Desert Dawg is on a distinguished road
Desert Dawg Desert Dawg is offline
Member
Desert Dawg's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 624
Real Name: Paul
Desert Dawg is on a distinguished road
Wow...I really like that! Nice work!
__________________
Previous 2014 4Runner Build Thread: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-ge...at-switch.html
Desert Dawg is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 08-06-2017, 06:49 PM #5
Anthocar's Avatar
Anthocar Anthocar is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 17
Real Name: AC
Anthocar is on a distinguished road
Anthocar Anthocar is offline
Junior Member
Anthocar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 17
Real Name: AC
Anthocar is on a distinguished road
Great design

I particularly like the struts instead of drawers like some of the other solutions that I've seen. Where did you find the ones you used?

AC
Anthocar is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 08-07-2017, 04:07 AM #6
alcomedic alcomedic is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 120
alcomedic is on a distinguished road
alcomedic alcomedic is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 120
alcomedic is on a distinguished road
How much you want to build another? looks awesome, nice work
alcomedic is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Old 08-07-2017, 03:10 PM #7
pmostaghim pmostaghim is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Washington, D.C.
Posts: 61
pmostaghim is on a distinguished road
pmostaghim pmostaghim is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Washington, D.C.
Posts: 61
pmostaghim is on a distinguished road
Smile

Quote:
Originally Posted by F1scher View Post
Not perfect, but serves my purposes well and wanted to share!
Thanks guys!
Great post. Thanks for sharing! Glad to see more of this - those FJ forums are packed with storage concepts - and while I love the sleekness of the goosegear setups (and comparable options), it's cool to have some DIY options in the 5th Gen family.

I've been looking into this idea for a long time - seeing this is pushing me closer to doing it myself!
pmostaghim is offline   Reply With QuoteReply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Cargo Storage back right Area Bigpun334 5th gen T4Rs 19 12-25-2017 01:39 AM
Cargo Area "Tall" Storage DEKA3 5th gen T4Rs 35 12-25-2012 10:21 AM
2002 4Runner Storage Box for entire cargo area? Master Yoder General Discussions 3 05-31-2012 06:37 PM
Tuffy Products Cargo Area Storage Box DEKA3 5th gen T4Rs 11 07-27-2011 10:51 PM
Bike storage in cargo area.... hofs05 5th gen T4Rs 9 04-01-2010 07:47 AM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.2

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:59 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
***This site is an unofficial Toyota site, and is not officially endorsed, supported, authorized by or affiliated with Toyota. All company, product, or service names references in this web site are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Toyota name, marks, designs and logos, as well as Toyota model names, are registered trademarks of Toyota Motor Corporation***Ad Management plugin by RedTyger
 
Copyright © 2020