Hi everyone,

I have a 2020 t4r. I do a lot of traveling with my dog and typically have a good amount of equipment with me as I participate in competitions in tracking, obedience and protection. I have a custom made kennel that takes up my cargo area. I’m looking for storage solutions. I typically leave passenger rear seat folded down. The drivers side has the baby seat in it. Any ideas for making travel more comfortable would be greatly appreciated. I am considering abandoning the 4Runner and going with a different vehicle if need be, but this is my 3rd runner and I love them. Thanks.

Hey. I have a 4th gen and 3rd gen, and we have roof racks on all of them. We also have six dogs. Our daily 4runner has a roofbox on it for general use. One dog has a wheelchair so we keep his chair up there and additional things for his needs. Just get a roof box!

When we've done longer trips, prior to having six dogs, we've had two Yakima roof boxes side by side. It's perfect and dirty stuff can go up there without mucking-up the interior of the car too much.

^^^^^

What he said. Considering the whole trunk must be used for an alternate purpose than usual, you are only left with the roof. Unless you want to drag a small travel trailer behind you, or do both.

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If you can give up some vertical space, then look into some of the drawer storage systems that go in the cargo area. There have been some made by members here and now some are commercially available. There have been several threads here over the years you can search for to see pics etc. One is by Antman and may still be in the stickys.

You should look into hitch mounted swing away cargo carriers. Have use one from rola for 17 years and it is awesome. Easy to get to easy to open to access the rear. They don't make it anymore but there are similar ones on etrailer

Maybe abandon the Baby and seat? Maybe put the dog in the baby seat?

jk

Lots of roof storage options, Molly panels, custom draws. Happen to have a picture of the custom kennel in the 4R? When I camp I sleep on the passenger side and leave passenger rear seat folded down and have a back pack where u have the baby seat so I travel with a similar set up placement. Its just perfect. But i did add a roof top box.

I have only 1 ROAM box, but they make many sizes and you can easily fit 2 on the roof.

Some nooks and crannies that might be useful:

(1) Remove the lower trim panel on the passenger side, below the windows, between the rear hatch and the 2nd row door. This reveals a lot of storage space inside the rear quarterpanel. I fit four compression bags for shirts, pants, etc. there.

(2) Under the vehicle, between the frame side rails and the OEM running board, there is enough space to fit a 6" diameter PVC pipe about 2' long, and another about 1' long, on each side of the vehicle. This requires some work to make custom brackets to hold the PVC pipes in place. The brackets can be bolted to OEM threaded holes in the frame rails, using M8 bolts. You might have to chase the threads to clean them out in order to get the bolts to go in smoothly. It is inconvenient to access, but can provide some additional storage. The PVC pipes can be capped on both ends to keep the contents clean and dry.

(3) Inside the engine bay, just forward of the glove compartment, is a space that many people use for an auxiliary battery. After installing a battery tray, it could be used for storage if you have any items that can withstand the engine bay environment.

if you need serious cargo space get a thule motion XT L or larger. you're going to pay a premium for those boxes but they will hold a ton.

Roof rack or tow behind trailer

I was going to suggest the same, I used them in the past and really liked them. The only issue is to make sure whatever you put back there is in a fairly watertight box, or wrapped very well in a tarp. Aside from the dirt that collects back there, its pretty ideal...with 4Runners, I'm a fan of not adding to the wind resistance hahaha

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I appreciate it!

Awesome info!

lower trim panel on the passenger side, the interior wheel well drivers side rear? Pictures?